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The obese Nolan pics aren't the ones he's in bother for

I presumed it was the image of Nolan in braces that was claimed to be the sexually explicit  item. Still it's just a pile of outrage about nothing much, when Nolan's real crimes lie elsewhere.
It's akin to getting outraged over Al Capone's tax fraud.

Go and read the story properly.

Seeing as the hyper sensitive BBC are taking absolutely no action, you tell me what's got you riled up?
Ulster says no to half naked man in braces?

Flip sake Main Street. You have got the wrong end of the stick. Just go and read the story again.  I don't think the photo you're describing is the issue.

The obese Nolan pics aren't the ones he's in bother for

I presumed it was the image of Nolan in braces that was claimed to be the sexually explicit  item. Still it's just a pile of outrage about nothing much, when Nolan's real crimes lie elsewhere.
It's akin to getting outraged over Al Capone's tax fraud.

Go and read the story properly.

The provincial championships need to be seeded also for the current system to work.  Connacht allowing a system where the three strongest teams are on one side of the draw is nuts and just means that the final will be a damp squib. It means a team outside the top 20 is guaranteed a place in the super 16s and means that two of the strongest teams in the country (based on league standings) go into the group stages as a lower seed.   

For the sake of the integrity of the provinces alone (never mind the Super 16s), the provincial championships should be seeded.   Obviously this is more important in Munster, Connacht and to a lesser extent Leinster. 

I see some suggestions like Brian Stafford, Colin Corkery etc.  My memory of Stafford was kicking a lot of 21 and 30 yard frees off the ground in front of the post and Ger Canning talking about his clinical finishing. 

Watching Galligan yesterday and Colm Reape today, it occurred to me that the standard of dead ball kicking has never been higher. Some of those guys are capable of scoring from 60 metres which would hardly have been attempted in those days.

I'm not sure who is the best ever, but I'm fairly sure, whoever it is, is either still playing or was playing up to very recently. 

Relegation a disappointment for Armagh, but need some perspective.  In a very competitive division, Armagh have been blighted by injury (and loss of form in some cases), throughout the league and have been robbing Peter to pay Paul in a number of important positions.

They were competitive in every game, with a score difference of -3. Not taking away from Monaghan's achievement, it may have been different had Mayo something to play for yesterday.  But only 4 times in the last 10 years has 5 points been enough to keep you up, so we can have no complaints. 

The negativity in the games v Galway and Kerry was disappointing.  But in both cases, the opposition was also negative and as I said after the Galway match, it's like a zero sum game.  When one team goes that negative now, the other will have to do likewise. 

In terms of yesterday's game, it was probably the best Armagh played so far this year, despite some rustiness in the lads coming back from injury. The failure to push up and drive on in the second half manifested itself again after they went ahead with 10 minutes to go.  Management must take some responsibility for this, but so too must the players.  There needs to be better leadership and decision making on the pitch. 

In the last five years, Dublin, Mayo, Roscommon and Galway have all been relegated and each have bounced back quickly and improved.  Meanwhile, Kildare, Meath, Cavan, Cork and Down have stayed down. Armagh need to make sure to come back to the top table and they are well equipped to do so. 

Finally, for all of the giving out about McGeeney and there has been some fair criticism, I'd be far more concerned about the lack of underage success in Armagh since 2009. The real concern is that the current competitiveness of this team is built on a house of sand and that when the elder statesmen of this team retire, that we haven't many replacements coming through.  I think that is why some supporters are losing the run of themselves with impatience: they realise that we have a window to achieve something now, that will start to close in the next 18 months.

On Armagh's misfiring, Cahair O'Kane has a good article in today's Irish News.  He makes an important point about them not having a settled team and how their defence is working but attack is malfunctioning.  The management would probably argue that this lack of continuity has been forced due to injuries, but there are only about 5 positions that are settled assuming no injuries to these players.  Those being FB (Forker), CHB (McCabe), Grugan (CHF), Murnin (FF).  The only other certainties is that either Hall or Comiskey will start at 10.  McKay is generally in the full back line.

I couldn't really tell you who or what our midfield is.  To a large degree team-sheets are irrelevant and positions are only relevant for the throw-in.  Our full forward, corner forward and goalkeeper compete for kickouts.  When we defend, we flood the defense and when we go forward, we flood the attack. So the question isn't necessarily what position the player is playing, but whether they are given the same role every week and they know where they will slot in.  From no.7 up, it's very hard to tell.   

Just my own thoughts on where teams are at,

Mayo - the real deal. Can they find another 10% to win Sam?
Galway - Inconsistent and stuttering. Flashes of brilliance but not top 3 in country. Regressed from last year.
Kerry - Take out their key men and theyre ordinary. With key men, they can retain Sam. Returning to form, slowly.
Rossies - 3 wins in a row, 3 defeats in a row. Flattered to deceive. Lucky to escape relegation.
Armagh - Playing much more conservatively than '22. Progressed last year but not this year so far.
Tyrone - Only a fool would rule out Tyrone. Between them and Derry for Ulster. Have the players.
Monaghan - The jury is out. If they can stay up that will be a huge achievement. Playing better in attack.
Donegal - Lucky they are in Div 1 cos if they were in Div.2 they'd be relegated from there too. Playing terribly.

Not sure how Galway have regressed? We've been missing a good scatter of front line players for pretty much every league game. Yet, they're still heading into the last round with a chance of a league final. While it hasn't been flashy they already know they have that in their locker with a full deck. I'd say they are delighted to have expanded the viable squad options to be honest.

No way has Galway regressed.

Now that the dust has settled a bit I'll give you my two bobs worth on Armagh...We have lost the plot, Armagh have great forwards and playing them all in our own half back line is a sin. I get what KMcG is trying to achieve by pulling everyone back and trying to hit the other teams on the counter as we're poor defensively atm but it's not working. I love Armagh and have followed them all my life and I'm considering taking a sabbatical away as I genuinely can't watch that crap atm. I honestly would rather be beaten and having a go/rattle than get beaten in a close game that was like watch grass grow.
For some reason our top forwards are all below par and seem to be short of confidence...do we go for a shoot out with the Kerry's etc and get humped as we'll be left exposed at the back?...I dunno but if we're still losing anyway why not try it out and see. We have to go to Omagh next week and Tyrone will love nothing more than relegating Armagh and we will only have ourselves to blame for this mess as we had a chance to win every game so far and couldn't manage it, from what i have seen the 3 teams at the bottom are the worst teams in Div 1 and there's nothing between Monaghan and Armagh so whoever has the goolies for it next week will stay up.

I know i'm a bit old school here but can someone please tell me why all forwards are afraid to shoot from 30-45m out, this is from all the games in general. Are forwards told not to shoot unless it's in front of the posts...is this a % thing?. you see guys in what i think is a scoreable position but they won't shoot and recycle the ball across and back and across and back and across and back before someone gets dispossed and the counter attack starts...WTF. You're a County footballer, get within 30-45m and pop the the ball over the bar. Even at club level I played with guys who didn't think twice about shooting from those ranges and hardly ever missed...Maybe the footballer is being replaced with an athlete now and fitness/strength is preferred to a proper footballer...

Rant over...

That's a good synopsis of the situation. I simply don't get the tactics we have adopted during this years League but it would certainly suck the life out of you watching us play at times. I honestly don't know what the attacking plan is other than to work the ball up the pitch slowly and retain possession. We have no identity as I don't know what our playing style is. Most of our best players are in the forward line yet we persist in asking them to play a game that is not suited to their strengths. Whatever feel good factor we had from last years championship run has now gone. We have got very little out of this years League other than blooding one new player (McCambridge) whereas at least the likes of Monaghan can say that they are going through a transition phase blooding new players. When you substitute your best player with 5 minutes remaining with the game still in the melting pot you have to ask what is going on.   

If we remember we were also at a bit of a crossroads after the Donegal championship game last year when we played a similar running/possession type game where the players look stifled by fear. After that we threw off the shackles and went more gung ho where the players were encouraged to take risks. I'm holding out hope that we can still do something similar because its still the same bunch of players and we have shown last year that we are more than capable of beating Tyrone, however you wouldn't be confident that we can just turn it around in 8 days.   

Very frustrating!  I hear lots of complaints about McGeeney, but its fairly clear that he recognises that the gung-ho approach from last year, entertaining as it is, will not win championships. Enda McGinley mentioned this a few weeks ago in the RTE column and I think he was on the money. 

However, his assumption was that their attacking game is fine and in the back pocket to be used when appropriate.  On the available evidence, I don't think it is.  Good and all as Armagh's forwards are, they are wasting chances when they do come along.  I counted 5 shots dropped into the keepers' hands and two or three bad wides and a goal chance that they should have finished. 

Galway are no slouches and some of those misses were down to Galway pressure - they packed the defence every bit as much as Armagh did.  Teams are starting to realise that the answer to a packed defence is to pack your own defence.  It's almost like a zero sum game and these fast transitions you dream of, won't happen in reality.

Two things frustrated me about Saturday night: Firstly, that some players first instinct is to go back (or go simple) as soon as they receive the ball, regardless of the risk/reward of a more ambitious pass.  Secondly, there were players making runs off the shoulder last night that should have received the ball first time.  Instead, the ball carrier took a solo, turned inside and gave the ball backwards - we have a number of players guilty of this. There is no urgency whatsoever when we have a lead.  Players look busy, by scuttling about the 40" at speed, but they are going nowhere.

The frustrating thing about Armagh is that when they need scores they will play with urgency by pressing kickouts and flooding the attack when they turnover the ball.  They did this against Mayo for the last 10 minutes.  They did it against Monaghan for 10 minutes.  They went looking for a goal last night and should probably have scored after an excellent turnover from Forker and Mackin's combined efforts. 

They give you glimpses of this, but if they get any kind of a lead, all adventure deserts them. It's borderline psycological and not dis-similar to the 1999-2005 team.  Give them something to chase and they will be fine.  Ask them to defend a lead, they won't build on it, but retreat into their shells. 

Thought I'd resurrect the Division 1 thread. Six days and no posts - seems to be more interest in town squares, gender neutrality and landlordism

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0f8sdqc

Interesting week for Shane Walsh to go on the GAA Social.

Do we need a new thread for when youve been cancelled then uncancelled? The integrity of the board rests on matters like this

I think we need a working group to decide and the moderators need to consider appointing an ethical advisor to be involved in the process. 

Still all to play for
Great league so far
Armagh need to get at least a point from the Galway game as would hate to go to Omagh needing a result .

14 homes wins, 3 aways and 3 draws in Div 1. Don't remember home advantage ever being to important

Don't want to be too negative from an Armagh perspective, but in the last 10 league meetings between Armagh & Galway, going back to 1999, Armagh have won only three times, Galway have won 5 and there were 2 draws. 

Throw in 4 qualifier defeats in the same period and our record is pretty crap. 

If this game was in Salthill, I wouldn't give us a chance.  Home advantage means a lot - will be a fascinating game given the way things ended after normal time and extra time the last time we met.

[Too open defensively has been the Achilles heel in all the championship defeats under McGeeney. High octane attacking football as pleasing as it is to watch it leaves the defence exposed, should be no issue if the defence is worked on during the league that's what even Kerry did last year.]

What exactly is Kieran Donaghys role ?

Forwards coach as far as I know. Think he's responsible for a lot of the route one football we've played in recent years which has made us so good to watch.

In fairness from speaking to a good few lads on the panel, he is absolutely an top class speaker and great man to have involved in the set up.

If he is the forwards coach then he must have took time off since the start of the season as we have gone back to the lateral defensive tripe that we seen in Ballybofey during last years Ulster championship. Which is baffling when you consider the turnaround in our form after that match in the games against Tyrone, Donegal and Galway. Exciting attacking football where we kicked the ball to inside forwards, created loads of goal chances and got the supporters off the edge of their seats. If we continue playing the sort of football we seen on Saturday the big crowds that are currently following Armagh won't be long dwindling away again. The most disappointing thing of the weekend in Tralee was the actual match itself. Armagh are being stifled by fear at the minute and our players don't suit this slow possession based build up stuff. We need it fast and frantic but for some reason we have gone back to this over analytic approach.   

And what did you expect to see in February ?
Armagh's priority in this League is staying up.
The fancy stuff will come later.

I expected to see a continuation of the type of football we played after the Ballybofey defeat last season. Playing the type of high octane attacking football that suits the players we have. Keeping 3/4 forwards up the pitch and transitioning quickly and pressing the opposition on kick outs.

Realistically a balance has to be struck. We were far to open defensively against Galway last year.

Too open defensively has been the Achilles heel in all the championship defeats under McGeeney. High octane attacking football as pleasing as it is to watch it leaves the defence exposed, should be no issue if the defence is worked on during the league that's what even Kerry did last year.

Flooding the defence just by getting loads of bodies back is totally different to working on our individual defending. Kerrys attack was successfully stifled on Saturday but at what expense. McCambridge for example shut down Clifford well but he had loads of protection in front of him so I don't think we learned anything new about his ability to defend one on one in space.

If some supporters want us to play more defensively then fine but then don't expect the attack not to suffer as the ball will have to be worked up the pitch much more slowly through the hands. You'll see more of Murnin playing midfield as other players like Hall, Duffy, Kelly and Cumiskey are sacrificed to help form that defensive shield. We'll sit back on opposition kick outs and keep that rigid defensive shield in place. We'll keep the score down that way and will be competitive and will bring the game down to the last 10 minutes in most games but it won't improve our chances of being successful that some seem to think. And we will be bored to death in the process.

Its what Kerry,Dublin,Mayo and Galway all do this when out of possession regardless of what some in media say.  Armagh have to learn to adjust and move the ball quicker when possession is gained.  It's striking the balance between making ourselves hard to score against and doing enough damage the other end to win matches.   

One final point,  lets not forget it was Armagh 0-13 Galway 1-16 after 71 minutes last year could easily have been a different narrative but for the late rally to grab extra time.

One additional point,
Armagh didn't score for over 21 minutes in yesterday's game - between the 39th and 61st minute. That was over a quarter of the 79 minutes that were played.  They scored 11 points in the remaining 58 minutes, which is about a score every 5 minutes.  It was that 20 minute period during the middle of the second half that killed us.  We should have expected at least three points during that period based on the scoring pattern of the rest of the game.  This is what I meant by game management. 

During those 21 minutes they were turned over multiple times between the 50s. The cheap ones are in bold.
- Turbit after poor pass from O'Neill, 44mins
- Duffy swarmed from the Armagh kickout 45:30
- Burns fumbles the ball, 46:19
- McCabe stumbles carrying the ball 47:26
- Murnion dispossessed, 51:22
- Burns fists the ball to himself and loses it, 53:30,

During that period O'Neill also missed free (55 mins) and the referee probably cost us a point due to the stoppage for Murnion's injury (49 mins) when it looked like Armagh were through.

For all the talk of the lack of quick ball into the forward line, most of the times it happened in the first half we were dispossessed.  Remember, Kerry also set up very defensively yesterday, but their man-on-man defending was also excellent and were able to get a hand in with many of those long balls in. 

I guess the point I'm making is that it's not all about quick transition. When we tried the long ball yesterday it didn't work and it only worked once for Kerry when it went through Aaron McKay's hands at the end.     

[Too open defensively has been the Achilles heel in all the championship defeats under McGeeney. High octane attacking football as pleasing as it is to watch it leaves the defence exposed, should be no issue if the defence is worked on during the league that's what even Kerry did last year.]

What exactly is Kieran Donaghys role ?

Forwards coach as far as I know. Think he's responsible for a lot of the route one football we've played in recent years which has made us so good to watch.

In fairness from speaking to a good few lads on the panel, he is absolutely an top class speaker and great man to have involved in the set up.

If he is the forwards coach then he must have took time off since the start of the season as we have gone back to the lateral defensive tripe that we seen in Ballybofey during last years Ulster championship. Which is baffling when you consider the turnaround in our form after that match in the games against Tyrone, Donegal and Galway. Exciting attacking football where we kicked the ball to inside forwards, created loads of goal chances and got the supporters off the edge of their seats. If we continue playing the sort of football we seen on Saturday the big crowds that are currently following Armagh won't be long dwindling away again. The most disappointing thing of the weekend in Tralee was the actual match itself. Armagh are being stifled by fear at the minute and our players don't suit this slow possession based build up stuff. We need it fast and frantic but for some reason we have gone back to this over analytic approach.   

And what did you expect to see in February ?
Armagh's priority in this League is staying up.
The fancy stuff will come later.

I expected to see a continuation of the type of football we played after the Ballybofey defeat last season. Playing the type of high octane attacking football that suits the players we have. Keeping 3/4 forwards up the pitch and transitioning quickly and pressing the opposition on kick outs.

Realistically a balance has to be struck. We were far to open defensively against Galway last year.

Too open defensively has been the Achilles heel in all the championship defeats under McGeeney. High octane attacking football as pleasing as it is to watch it leaves the defence exposed, should be no issue if the defence is worked on during the league that's what even Kerry did last year.

Flooding the defence just by getting loads of bodies back is totally different to working on our individual defending. Kerrys attack was successfully stifled on Saturday but at what expense. McCambridge for example shut down Clifford well but he had loads of protection in front of him so I don't think we learned anything new about his ability to defend one on one in space.

If some supporters want us to play more defensively then fine but then don't expect the attack not to suffer as the ball will have to be worked up the pitch much more slowly through the hands. You'll see more of Murnin playing midfield as other players like Hall, Duffy, Kelly and Cumiskey are sacrificed to help form that defensive shield. We'll sit back on opposition kick outs and keep that rigid defensive shield in place. We'll keep the score down that way and will be competitive and will bring the game down to the last 10 minutes in most games but it won't improve our chances of being successful that some seem to think. And we will be bored to death in the process.

Ah come on! I doubt that there are any supporters that want to see that.  The team does need to play different tactics to cope with certain opposition.  This was an away game against the All Ireland Champions with vital league points at stake.  If they play like that next week against Donegal I'll be disappointed.   

[Midfielders:]

I'm surprised at some of the negativity that I've seen from Armagh folks about this game.  Sure, it was there to be won or drawn and we left it behind us. Look at the positives first. 

- That was a strong Kerry team and we competed with them playing a more defensive system
- Managed to bottle up their two star players with Clifford having an off-evening
- Good enough, well organised performance, despite missing numerous players through injury
- Some very good individual performances: McCabe very good, McCambridge done well on Clifford, albeit with help. Both Burns played rightly

Negatives:
- Poor game management - 20 mins without a score
- Not great in midfield (surprised that we went long with our kick outs so often)
- Quality of ball into the FF line in the first half was very poor - wasted so much possession, with bad early ball that the Kerry defense mopped up
- Decision making in the moment not good - O'Neill's short pass to Forker, McQuillan foul on O'Se when he was on his knees (maybe that's why he isn't starting)

Injuries wise, off the top of my head, we're currently missing about six potential starters:
Midfielders:
Ben Crealy
Connaire Mackin
Oisin O'Neill
Ciaran Higgins

Forwards:
Rory Grugan
Aidan Nugent

Defenders:
James Morgan

Supporting Armagh seems to be pure emotion.

Absolutely!!!

Despite winning nothing, this team has given its supporters (+opposition supporters) an unbelievable level of entertainment in recent years, paralleled I would say only by Mayo.  All in the eye of the beholder of course.  The quality and or entertainment value of many of the games has been outstanding.  Four examples below of games they lost, and two that they won that were pretty much unforgettable for a combination of atmosphere, excitement and/or the quality of the football. In some ways it makes it harder to accept defeat, but you don't resent the time spent supporting an entertaining team that lost in the same way as you do following a losing team playing unwatchable football.

- Monaghan 2021 USFC, Newry
- Cavan -2019 UFSC Drawn Game, Clones
- Galway -2022 AIQF, Croke Park
- Roscommon - 2018 Qualifiers, Portlaoise
- Down 2019 USFC, Newry
- Tyrone - 2022 Qualifier, Athletic Grounds