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Armagh Championship this year hasn't been overly exciting due to the tedious group stages followed by the completely unnecessary preliminary quarter finals.

If you are going to have group stages - and I accept there are many who don't want this - then preliminary quarter-finals are absolutely necessary, to ensure there are no dead rubbers, and every team has something to play for up to and including the third game.

I'll caveat that by saying that unbelievably, Mullabawn actually had nothing to play for in their third game this year, due to the previous results in their group and in particular the draw between Rangers and Clans, but this was very much an exception.

I've no figures to back it up, but my sense is that there has been excellent attendances at this year's Championships to date, and this was alluded to by the County Chairman at last Monday's County Board meeting. So the public seem to be buying into it.   

The win at Ipswich - who were unbeaten at Portman Road since last Autumn - was our first league win since April and incredibly only our twelfth league win since Bielsa was sacked 18 months ago. The nature of what has been happening was never better illustrated than the changes to the starting eleven from the West Brom game, which saw Sinisterra and Gnonto back in the fold and Piroe starting, after his transfer from Swansea. Suddenly things are looking up again, with an attacking line up that must be as good as any in the Championship.

On the flip side, we shipped three goals - one an OG, a second an intercepted back pass and the third a deflection, so there are areas that need strengthening.

There are an absolute maze of transfer stories on going, and the situation remains fluid. It appears we have missed out on the chance to get Nadiem Amiri. The player was in Leeds yesterday, but rumours suggesting the player wanted a sell on clause if we were still in the Championship next season. Farke has made it clear that such contracts will not be approved, going forward.

The move for Genk's Joe Paintsil also looks like running aground, with issues around loyalty payments for Paintsil, from Genk, if he leaves, being the issue.

Leeds currently after Glen Kamara from Rangers and Lewis O'Brien from Forest.

As for defenders, being linked with Luke Thomas of Leicester, and at the time of writing, a loan deal for Djed Spence looks almost done, which would be a great acquisition. Whole thing going down to the wire!!   

Leeds fans are pretty well used to upheaval and disaster but it usually happens a few months into a new season. This time around, we are in a full blown crisis after two championship games......

Great summation. The hope would have been that with a lot of Premier League standard players and parachute payments, and an excellent manager in place, it would have been possible to make a serious challenge to bounce back at the first time of asking. Unbelievably though, after just two matches, many would settle for retention of our place in the Championship. Thoughts now that this could be at least a two year project to return to the Premier League. To be fair to Farke, he has flagged this up, and underlined several times that we were in for bumpy times.

I'd have to say the previous Board - and in particular Orta - have a lot to answer for. Their recruitment was absolutely terrible and relegation meant that the Club was very vulnerable to what is now happening, with many players leaving. The situation was not helped in anyway by the change of ownership, which was a very long process, as the EFL had to go through a very long process of establishing that the new owners were fit and proper, and as a consequence we could not operate effectively in the transfer market.

Time is now of the absolute essence to get reinforcements in - a centre forward, midfielder, a number ten and a left back are the priorities. But with FFP, there is a need to generate funds to get new players in, and the outgoings situation remains very fluid. It's likely to be September 1st before we know for sure who and what we have in terms of playing staff.

However, this is Leeds so perhaps we will beat West Brom live on Sky on Friday night.

Friday night, live, at home to West Brom, will bring back memories of happier times when we destroyed West Brom 4-0 in a Friday Night live game,  after Pablo scored a first minute goal, in our promotion season. Let's hope that's an omen.

Folks, currently in Gran Canaria. Any advice for where would be showing the match live, around Maspalomas, Playa del Ingles? I see a number of Irish bars listed, but one or two reviews suggest Irish in name only and don't show the football. Thanks in advance.

Rufus, the Red Cow / Shenanigans Bar is definitely showing the 2 games today. Should be close enough to where you are. Though I like the sound of the Mulligans sausages

Thank you, my friend.

Thank you.

Folks, currently in Gran Canaria. Any advice for where would be showing the match live, around Maspalomas, Playa del Ingles? I see a number of Irish bars listed, but one or two reviews suggest Irish in name only and don't show the football. Thanks in advance.

Given the nature of a lot of the debate, I rarely feel motivated to post on the GAA side of this forum anymore. However, once in a while, there is a post that makes me break the rule.

Great post Edward. Agree with an awful lot of what is said therein and in particular the piece I have quoted below, which absolutely nails my own thoughts.

Finally, any chat about the management is futile at this stage of the year. Sure they could probably be doing some things better, and I'm certain there will be a thorough evaluation of the situation at the end of the season. But I'd caution those in Armagh baying for replacement to be careful what you wish for...

The current group of players didn't just land into McGeeney's lap - over many, many years he has crafted a team that has now reached a level where they are consistently competitive with the best in the country (nowhere near a given for a county like Armagh). In the absence of any sort of conveyor belt of underage talent over the last decade, resources have had to maximised and intercounty players have had to be moulded from what was available. There are men putting in good shifts for Armagh at the top level who probably wouldn't be near intercounty football under any other management - it's from these efforts that the county has its modest amount of squad depth. When the current management team does depart, which may be soon enough, it will very likely precipitate the retirement of up to half a dozen playing stalwarts. Armagh will then enter a rebuilding phase, and with little to shout about recently at underage, school, or club level, it looks not at all unlikely that the only way for the county will be down (or, Down - like in languishing in Div 3 and going nowhere fast). Anyone that thinks Armagh hit the next level just by landing Oisin McConville, or Tony McEntee, or Malachy O'Rourke in on top of the current playing group isn't living in the real world.

That is so on the money. Respect.

And so the whole issue gets curioser and curioser.

Overnight, Rarizzani made a public statement of apology to the supporters - an apology written on his company's headed paper - and written in such a manner that gave a strong sense that he is here to stay. It was his first statement concerning Leeds, since relegation on Sunday.

Late yesterday, the Athletic discovered that Radrizzani had offered to use Elland Road as security for a £26 million bank loan, to be used to complete the takeover of Sampdoria. It would appear that leading Board members Angus Kinnear (CEO) and Paraag Marathe (Vice Chair and 49ers representative) were totally blindsided by this move when it was put to them by the Athletic and Radrizzani reacted angrily when asked for comment, accusing the Athletic of looking to turn the fans against him. 

The move has all the hallmarks of his predecessor Cellino, but more importantly is serving to cause great uncertainty at a time when certainty is needed.     

Leeds United is an attractive target with an attaching metropolis.  It really should be in the top division.

Yes, and it's why the 49ers have been hooked. They see the potential. They own 44% but now want a full takeover, with one of the conditions being that Radrizzani leaves the building.

News overnight from Italy is that Radrizzani's bid for Sampdoria has now been accepted. He made a triumphant statement following that process, but the statement made no mention of Leeds. The hope is that his acquisition will now prompt the sale of Leeds to the Yanks.

I think that choosing Marsch was Leeds' Aughrim.

Many Leeds' supporters would agree with you.

There are so many 'sliding doors' moments over the last two years. Leeds finished the 2020/21 season absolutely on fire and the opportunity was there to build on a fantastic first season in the Premier League. However that opportunity was spurned, not least by the transfer activity over the Summer of 2021 and it has subsequently spiralled out of control, leading to a litany of poor decisions. 

Relegation to the Championship was finally confirmed for Leeds United today and it has to be said it was completely deserved.....

.....Marching on Together
🟡⚪🔵

Great post and more or less covered everything very succinctly.

Not a lot to add. Went out with a whimper, as was somehow appropriate at the end of what was a terrible season. There are a vast range of key moments that can be considered in terms of where it all went wrong - many supporters will argue that the victory at Liverpool was what sealed our fate, as it kept Marsch in charge for another few months - others will argue that getting rid of him was what cost Leeds in the end. The best line I've seen is that over the last eighteen months, the Board took too long to make the wrong decisions.

Definitely moving into the unknown now, but key of course is the ownership, with most Leeds' fans hoping for a full takeover from the 49ers. That of course will depend on Radrizzani's willingness to sell, which in turn is dependent on what happens with his takeover of Sampdoria. His latest bid was turned down yesterday by Sampdoria's current owners, which led to protests on the streets of Genoa. So still a very fluid situation.

If the ownership situation can be resolved, and in favour of the Yanks, then there is reason to feel optimistic in the medium to longer term, as the resources available, along with what should be a very professional set up, should mean that fully supported, sane decisions, are made that will give supporters hope.   

Had the vivioactive 4. Good watch. Heart and steps all spot on as you'd expect for a garmin. Doesn't have all the fancy bells and whistles for running like you get in a forerunner. But covers all the main things. Also got contactless etc as well which is handy. Charge is grand if you're not using gps for running. I found it needed charging every couple of days if doing runs. But decent watch.

Thanks very much. Very useful.

No completely helpful here but i have the Samsung Galaxy Active 2.  So certainly not the 5, but i find the steps are completely different that fitbit for example.  Now, i dont know which is accurate, but there is a large disparity with Samsung on the lower side.  I dont mind though, as you know yourself if youve had a good day or not with your own average step count.

Never had a problem with GPS accuracy.

Thanks for that.   

Bumping this thread after a few years.

Thinking of getting myself a new smartwatch, for doing a bit of walking. Given my price range, the two I have narrowed it down to are the Garmin Vivoactive 4 (£199) and the Samsung Galaxy 5 watch (£239).

The Samsung appears to have the much better spec but I've read reviews where people are complaining about the accuracy of the info it gives, e.g. steps, heart monitor etc.

Anyone with first hand experience?

Holy crap Everton might actually be relegated this time.

Very unlikely now. They live to fight again.

3-1
Suboptimal

  Suboptimal - I like that.

Not really an awful lot to be said. Poverty stricken performance against a side whose minds were elsewhere. Big Sam in his post match press conference basically alluded to a squad with many flaws.

Someone put up on Twitter that since Bielsa was sacked in February of last year, Leeds have won eleven league matches - absolutely damning stuff and ultimately the responsibility rests with the Board and Orta and Raddrizzani in particular.   

It's unbelievable that with 31 points from 37 games, Leeds go into the last game of the season with a long shot of staying up. It's been death by a thousand cuts. And to be honest, we don't deserve to stay up. I've been resigned to our fate for a couple of months now, so the pressure is off!