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Some of the posts on here you can tell people didn't really watch Murphy. You can name every Dub that has 6, 7, 8 All-Irelands til the cows come home, how many of them could you drop into the Donegal setup since Michael has been on the scene and they would have the same influence he has had? James McCarthy is one man I think is like Murphy that he is one of the most talented players to have played the game and he has that pure dog-headed, almost ignorant I'll-not-be-beat-today attitude. Diarmuid Connolly has that talent that Murphy has, and he could turn a game all on his own. Lee Keegan in Mayo, Sean Cavanagh for Tyrone as well. Outside of that, I can't think of many that played during the same time as Murphy that are on his level. Cluxton of course as well, and he's probably like Murphy in that you can't really look at the individual accolades to get an accurate feel for how good they are.

There's only so much one player can do but from following Donegal for 40 years, I have never seen any player, in any county, who had so much influence not only on the opposition but also his own team, as Michael Murphy. And it was every game. A 50 metre free that sailed over the bar from Murphy was worth 2, maybe 3 points with the lift it would give Donegal on the pitch and in the stands. Similarly, you just expected it from him then, so if he missed one, you could feel everyone lose a bit of inspiration or faith or whatever with how the game is going, and the opposition fans would go c**k-a-hoop over anything he did wrong, because they knew as well how important and how good he was.

If you can find a single Donegal person who would say he is not the greatest Donegal player of all time I'd love to know who they would put ahead of him. The Wee Man is the only one that comes close, and Lacey would be my third choice on the list. But Murphy stands apart. I'm obviously biased and I suppose I don't really care if people don't agree with it, I know what I've watched over the past 15 or 16 years and I know I'll be talking about Murphy as the best I ever saw play the game til the day I die.

Difficult to take the opinion of any Donegal person when you see what they allowed to be built in that county.

great point well made, you've convinced me

Some of the posts on here you can tell people didn't really watch Murphy. You can name every Dub that has 6, 7, 8 All-Irelands til the cows come home, how many of them could you drop into the Donegal setup since Michael has been on the scene and they would have the same influence he has had? James McCarthy is one man I think is like Murphy that he is one of the most talented players to have played the game and he has that pure dog-headed, almost ignorant I'll-not-be-beat-today attitude. Diarmuid Connolly has that talent that Murphy has, and he could turn a game all on his own. Lee Keegan in Mayo, Sean Cavanagh for Tyrone as well. Outside of that, I can't think of many that played during the same time as Murphy that are on his level. Cluxton of course as well, and he's probably like Murphy in that you can't really look at the individual accolades to get an accurate feel for how good they are.

There's only so much one player can do but from following Donegal for 40 years, I have never seen any player, in any county, who had so much influence not only on the opposition but also his own team, as Michael Murphy. And it was every game. A 50 metre free that sailed over the bar from Murphy was worth 2, maybe 3 points with the lift it would give Donegal on the pitch and in the stands. Similarly, you just expected it from him then, so if he missed one, you could feel everyone lose a bit of inspiration or faith or whatever with how the game is going, and the opposition fans would go c**k-a-hoop over anything he did wrong, because they knew as well how important and how good he was.

If you can find a single Donegal person who would say he is not the greatest Donegal player of all time I'd love to know who they would put ahead of him. The Wee Man is the only one that comes close, and Lacey would be my third choice on the list. But Murphy stands apart. I'm obviously biased and I suppose I don't really care if people don't agree with it, I know what I've watched over the past 15 or 16 years and I know I'll be talking about Murphy as the best I ever saw play the game til the day I die.

https://www.donegaldaily.com/2022/08/15/mchugh-and-maxi-emerge-as-donegal-management-team-possibility/

McHugh hasn't done much management lately. Would be a serious step backwards if these 2 were considered.

Serious step backwards was reappointing Bonner in 2017 and giving him another two years when his term was up in 2020.

Bonner was a breath of fresh air in 2018 and we played fantastic football in 18 and 19. Unfortunately the Ulster final defeat to Cavan, in hindsight, was a hammer blow and the setup never seemed to recover. This year was awful with some of the worst performances I've ever seen following Donegal but to say Declan's reappointment in 2017 was a step backwards after what we had witnessed in 15 & 16 is very harsh.

McHugh did a poor job with Kilcar all things considered but if he had good coaches in his backroom team, who knows. He was our greatest ever player before Murphy so could galvanise things across the county however there can be a lot of sniping in Donegal football circles (not unique in that regard) and I have a feeling that his appointment would turn into a bad enough atmosphere at the first sign of trouble unfortunately.

I'm not a huge fan of Maxi at all but there's no doubt he did a good job with the women, in reality they pushed Meath closer than anyone else this year in both the league final and the All-Ireland semi. I would have my doubts about him though and would hope if McHugh does get the job the ticket is more than him, his son, and Maxi Curran.

Lacey is heavily involved in Convoy and I doubt he would step straight into the seniors. Especially as he left Declan's backroom team due to commitments.

[A bit mad there was no candidate for the Donegal job from the clubs.I wonder what odds of a Murphy player/manager situation.]

I saw Collins is staying on in Clare there during the week - think it was in the Examiner

One year term for the time being.

A bit mad there was no candidate for the Donegal job from the clubs.

I wonder what odds of a Murphy player/manager situation.

Wonder when was the last time there a player/manager at intercounty level?

Yeah, I don't know what the story is with Donegal football. Bonner was extended last year because there were no other takers. Go back 20 years and McEniff, county chairman at the time, took the job as basically a caretaker for three seasons because they couldn't find anyone after Mickey Moran stepped down.

I'd say they'll bring someone in from outside.

Any Tyrone bucks interested in managing their beloved neighbours?

I heard it was Jim's if he wanted it and that put a few people off going forward. Now that Jim has said he's not going for it, I've heard Malachy O'Rourke has been talking to the county board last week.

Was a heartbreaking loss again for Donegal, that period after half time was a real killer and Meath were clinical where we were not. In the 2nd half that goal chance was really huge in the context of the game. Emma Duggan was brilliant for Meath.

I'd say that could be the end of the road for some of those Donegal players unfortunately, they've been great players.

Mckaigue will get derry's award. Rodgers still has a reasonable chance. Glass has been Derry's player of the championship, but midfield is competitive and it didn't happen for him at all yesterday, so think that's it for Derry.

Conor McCluskey has been brilliant for Derry all season including yesterday. He's the best all round corner back this year. Superb at marking and also attacking. Held Walsh scoreless from play yesterday and repeatedly put him on the back foot. If there's only one for Derry he deserves it although we might get 2.

I think McKaigue is nailed on because of all the noise around him but I agree that McCluskey has been unreal all year. He did some job on Walsh yesterday.

Has to be a red. Wreckless.

goalkeeper didnt have possession so had every right to kick it

Of course he'd every right to go for it.

And he missed it ending up with 2 feet in the keeper. All day long a red

He didn't miss it, he got to the ball and Comerford saved it diving at his feet. It's seen clear as day on the slow mo replay that O'Sé got there and Comerford saved it, what are you watching?

Only ever paid for two podcasts on Patreon - Wooly and Second Captains. I signed up for SC 5 or 6 years ago to hear a good Kevin McStay interview at time when he was Ros manager. I gave them a fair chance but eventually had to cancel because the waffle at the beginning was unbearable and the like of thing you'd hear from some poseurs trying to be funny at a University students Union. Wooly on the other hand understands audio and keeps the show moving well with a couple of great contributors. I hope they all make a few bob.

The Second Captains one is too soccer focused for me to pay for it.

I enjoy their soccer coverage, it's their rugby pods I can't stand. Rinse and repeat in terms of what the pundits say and god forbid if they have Gerry Thornley on and anyone dares venture any tiny criticism against the Ireland players. It's nauseating stuff. The only time their rugby coverage is good in my opinion is when they have on Craig Ray from South Africa or Scotty Stevenson from New Zealand, enjoy listening to them 2.

I subscribe to Second Captains mostly because of their soccer coverage though and as well, they'll quite often have a story you'll have never heard of that's pretty interesting, I've picked up a few books in the past based off interviews they've had or stories they've covered of different niche sports. They tend to get a wide variety of guests on. Their RTE radio show is decent as well, where they have a guest on and "rank" their sporting life, it's a bit of craic

But their GAA coverage has been poor overall this year, it's improved in recent weeks but they haven't spoken about the Tailteann Cup at all and the hurling has barely been covered until recently. I'm not a hurling man but it's been pretty noticeable. I also generally find your man Murph hard enough to listen to at times with the GAA coverage, when they just let Flynn and McConville go themselves it's a good listen but as someone else mentioned, Flynn can lose the run of himself as well.

I'd imagine most of the regular ones you see would have a fee, McConville and the likes. Maybe depends on the type of podcast it is too, if it's analytical or more of a story-telling, bitta craic sort of chat.

Fair play to Parkinson for the amount of subs he has. He's obviously not raking in the 20k all on his own but even with overheads and fees for guests etc. it'd still be a nice sum. I don't like listening to him to be honest I had gone away from the GAA Hour towards the end as I thought it was all a little "I'm right and everyone else is wrong, isn't that right Conan?"

He's carved out a following for himself though and I might subscribe to have a listen of the interviews he's done with various players and the likes of David Gough, most of the other pods don't have anything like that, it's just analysis and some of it can be very samey, mostly because McConville (as good as he is) seems to be on every one of them!

Paul Flynn can be interesting on the Second Captains pod when he gets going

I fancied Derry to beat whoever came out of Galway-Armagh regardless, but the mindset from Galway to be able to refocus after throwing it away in injury time and to come through the way they did in extra time and then penalties... can't put a price on how much that will be worth to the panel. I think this should be a cracker of a game between two sides that are on the up and believe they can go all the way this year.

I think Galway have better forwards overall so it will be interesting to see who McKaigue picks up. If Finnerty carries his form into the semi-final that will be a huge plus for Galway.

I think both keepers are weak enough so it could be a mistake that decides it.

It's 100% a red card.

If I was McGeeney I'd kick that eye gouger off the panel for a year myself.

The rest was handbags and a load of nonsense as usual, it looks bad but all they need to do is have the players go in at separate times. Easy fix.

An amazing game that I can't believe Galway let slip in normal time, they were much the better side once they rode the Armagh wave in the first 20 minutes. Credit to Armagh's mental strength to come back but they needed cool heads then at full time, if they just got down the tunnel with no nonsense I think they'd have come out and blown Galway away.

Finnerty, Tierney and McDaid were sensational for Galway. Can't wait for that semi-final, it should be a cracker.

On Patton, I would say it's a shared blame between him and the outfield players. We had gotten out of jail and maybe he shouldn't hit it short, but one of the key things that you want in a keeper is to stay calm even in those situations. So don't just lump it long because you want rid, you look at your options and pick the best one. However when you look back at it, it was definitely the wrong option. McCole is coming toward goal and I think it's EBG who is moving wide on that side. Ward and OMFF are both moving away from goal. So really it's just McCole in the central area with 3 Armagh forwards converging on him. McCole should hold onto it but even if he does, he'll get swallowed up and at the very least give up a free for overcarrying if he's not turned over.

But at the end of the day, both OMFF and McCole should have held onto the ball. They both spilled it. And if there are options out the field you know Patton is capable and would want to take them. So I'd say it's a team failure, but without a doubt Patton takes on most of the blame. Armagh were definitely in the ascendency at the point though, They'd gotten the previous 5 points I think it was.

The one in the Ulster final I thought was another bad decision. But I think people criticising him so harshly forget how he's saved us so much this year as well. He made an unbelievable save against Cavan and to be honest if that goes in I don't know if we come back. He also made some big saves against Armagh the first day out and another against Derry.

Donegal fans must be raging, a gutless performance. They always fail in the big tests. Armagh this year, Tyrone last year and then Cavan the year before. I'm afraid it is the Donegal of old. No heart for the battle.

I wouldn't count Tyrone last year to be honest. They battled really well considering Murphy missed the pen and was then sent off. Everyone says you take Murphy out of it and the team are nowhere, but considering the heat and everything they were excellent in that game until Tyrone pulled away in the final 10/15.

But to be honest we've never had a problem getting up for the battle against Tyrone. It's everything else we fail at. Sure even in 2020 we had a mighty battle with Tyrone in a storm in Ballybofey which we came out on top in, and then we go ahead and lose to Cavan. And in terms of finals, forget about it. I can't remember the last really tight game we won as a final. The two we've won under Bonner were blowouts.

Was it 2018 Tyrone went up and pulled them apart in Super 8 game. I'm telling you it's the Donegal of old without the drink. They should just go out and get smashed at least they could blame that rather than their heartless attitude. McBreaty's entitlement at being taken off speaks volumes. Bonner has taken them backwards.

2018 Tyrone blew us away yeah, we were well on top (I think we were 5 points up going in to the 60th minute or something) and Tyrone had a black card as well, yet scored something crazy like 2-8 in the last 15 minutes to win it. We chalked that down to the first year under new management and a lot of young lads in the squad at the time. I remember we lost Odhrán MacNiallis to injury that day and he was playing great.

I actually think Bonner was a bit unlucky in those first 2 years. 2018 we lost Paddy McBrearty to a cruciate and he was in absolutely sensational form that year, probably the best he has ever played for us. The Super 8s was a terrible system where winning Ulster got us zero benefit either year in the All-Ireland series. Any other year we'd have been sitting waiting for a qualifier in the quarter finals, but with that system we're in a group with Dublin & Tyrone and then Kerry & Mayo. At the end of the day we still failed, but I always felt the people who throw "no semi final" at Bonner miss that bit - I think any other manager who won Ulster with Donegal would be pretty likely to get to the semi final in the normal system.

But that's excuses as some would say. Since 2019 it hasn't been good. I think the 2020 Ulster final defeat must have left a significant mark on the squad. It was a huge opportunity to reach an All-Ireland semi-final and test ourselves against the Dubs in Croke Park. But we didn't have it in us against Cavan. Beginning of the end in my view.

One thing I'll say about the Armagh match is that I have been critical of the likes of McBrearty, McHugh and even Murphy in these key matches where we've lost. They've all been well shackled at different points and not shown up. But they brought the fight on Sunday, it was the supporting cast that really really let us down.

Donegal fans must be raging, a gutless performance. They always fail in the big tests. Armagh this year, Tyrone last year and then Cavan the year before. I'm afraid it is the Donegal of old. No heart for the battle.

I wouldn't count Tyrone last year to be honest. They battled really well considering Murphy missed the pen and was then sent off. Everyone says you take Murphy out of it and the team are nowhere, but considering the heat and everything they were excellent in that game until Tyrone pulled away in the final 10/15.

But to be honest we've never had a problem getting up for the battle against Tyrone. It's everything else we fail at. Sure even in 2020 we had a mighty battle with Tyrone in a storm in Ballybofey which we came out on top in, and then we go ahead and lose to Cavan. And in terms of finals, forget about it. I can't remember the last really tight game we won as a final. The two we've won under Bonner were blowouts.