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[I'd probably put a division one League title above a provincial title now since its a national title where you have beaten the best 8 teams in the country over a 2 month period.]

Armagh have shown glimpses of the 2022 championship form this year but I'd still be worried that they will slip back into last years negative mindset when faced with better opposition. The same thing happened in the League final again when the stakes were heightened and the fear of losing took over. 

The Ulster final, should we get there, could well be the defining game of the season because they won't be winning an All Ireland title. For a lot of those players it's probably the last chance saloon to try and win meaningful silverware.

Is it meaningful silverware?

At the start of the year there are 4 trophies you can win. Provincial pres season cup, divisional League, provincial championship and AI title. If you think it's not meaningful silverware then the 31 counties who fail to win Sam Maguire will have been failures at the end of the season. 

Success shouldn't be judged purely on silverware anyway imo since its all relative to a counties resources and current standing. No doubt the provincial championships have been devalued now but its still meaningful silverware and a prize worth lifting certainly for a county who haven't had much recent success. I'd probably put a division one League title above a provincial title now since its a national title where you have beaten the best 8 teams in the country over a 2 month period.   

Which is fair enough however in the terms of value winning Ulster will mean 1st seed and avoiding Kerry,Dublin in the group stage.

Which is true and does give it some extra value alright. However that only holds water if at the end of the season you win Sam and can look back and say that it was because of the easier pathway that the seeding provided to get us to the AI final. The main reason I would like to win Ulster is for the trophy itself and not a seeding into another competition.

He wrote an article the week before the league final saying it would be a success if Derry get within 6 points of this amazing Dublin team. Since then he's made a few comments that it's only the league. Then on his podcast last week he said he'll support those Derry lads no matter what as they are giving everything for the jersey, it's just Mickey Harte he doesn't like, but a few months ago he was saying no Derry player is good enough to start the Dublin team. The quality just isn't there and processed football can only get you so far.

From a football point of view he wants nothing more than Dublin to hammer everyone and he can then somehow link it to Pat Gilroy.

As a Dungiven man I find it very hard to listen to him these days. He is a walking contradiction. He's not stupid and I suppose he is staying relevant as we are talking about him so he's probably achieving what he set out to do.

I struggle to listen to Brolly anymore too. Used to enjoy him but he comes across now as slightly unhinged. Uses his platforms to target those who he hates incl Derry players and strikes me as a man who is content when Derry lose, he's not a real supporter. It's pretty clear to me of those who he targets have all one thing in common, he's highly jealous of them. He only ever has one objective and that is to make everything about him!!

That last podcast annoyed my head and I usually like the podcasts. I'm 100% a GAA man 1st and foremost but the constant it's nothing unless the GAA do it is bollox. My lads go to the local soccer club and they're very much a community club and do a lot for the people in the area and are absolutely delighted that they had a load of lads and girls from the surrounding GAA clubs playing with them.
He hadn't even the humility to check the history of the people he mentioned in it. "Do you think Gary Neville and David Beckham give a shit about Man Utd after they left them?" No wonder people from other sports don't like the GAA

Yeah its cringeworthy stuff from Brolly.

Why cant we say how great one sport is without having to run down another.

Unless its rugby just to wind them up haha.

I don't think he should be taken particularly seriously as either a journalist or a podcaster. It's all about the performance and that might have been what attracted him to the bar in the beginning. He is a performer and a propagandist where he puts his own viewpoint across and dismisses everything else. I used to enjoy his GAA punditry on RTE as he could articulate his point better than anybody else and was an important cog railing against some of the excessive commercialism of the GAA. However it has become clear that they made the right decision to get rid of him as he had just become too toxic and vitriolic. Most people tweeting incessantly tend to have an overinflated opinion of their own importance in the world.   

Armagh have shown glimpses of the 2022 championship form this year but I'd still be worried that they will slip back into last years negative mindset when faced with better opposition. The same thing happened in the League final again when the stakes were heightened and the fear of losing took over. 

The Ulster final, should we get there, could well be the defining game of the season because they won't be winning an All Ireland title. For a lot of those players it's probably the last chance saloon to try and win meaningful silverware.

Is it meaningful silverware?

At the start of the year there are 4 trophies you can win. Provincial pres season cup, divisional League, provincial championship and AI title. If you think it's not meaningful silverware then the 31 counties who fail to win Sam Maguire will have been failures at the end of the season. 

Success shouldn't be judged purely on silverware anyway imo since its all relative to a counties resources and current standing. No doubt the provincial championships have been devalued now but its still meaningful silverware and a prize worth lifting certainly for a county who haven't had much recent success. I'd probably put a division one League title above a provincial title now since its a national title where you have beaten the best 8 teams in the country over a 2 month period.   

Armagh have shown glimpses of the 2022 championship form this year but I'd still be worried that they will slip back into last years negative mindset when faced with better opposition. The same thing happened in the League final again when the stakes were heightened and the fear of losing took over. 

The Ulster final, should we get there, could well be the defining game of the season because they won't be winning an All Ireland title. For a lot of those players it's probably the last chance saloon to try and win meaningful silverware.

I'd honestly think more of management if we went gung ho and ended up losing rather than going out and playing cowardly football like the Monaghan quarter final.

Hopefully we can strike a happy medium though!

Yes, I'd ageee with that. I've no problem losing providing we do so by trying to win the match rather than playing not to lose and engaging in another arm wrestle. As well as being pain staking to watch it doesn't actually suit the type of player we have.

The Galway defeat in 2022 was one I could live with as it was enjoyable football to watch and we certainly had a go that season.

The split season cant help either.  I remember when the 1st round of the Ulster championship was a great day out played in late May or early June with decent weather.  Families could make a day of it and watch two knock out matches.  Yesterday only me and my brother could go.  His kids have exams coming up, there was no minor game, it was expensive, it was cold, it was wet it was windy and little to nothing rested on the outcome. Win and you had at least 4 matches left this season lose and you have at least 3 matches left.  I never liked the backdoor for what it did to the provincial championships it was the first nail in their coffin for me.  This current format is the final nail.

It definitely doesn't feel like championship as every game is heavily watered down in terms of what is at stake. It's not proper cup/championship football until the quarter finals. It will meant practically the same handful of teams will be in the last 4/8 every season.

There will be no more Cavan's or Tipperary giant killings as with the 2020 Covid championship season. 

Armagh have shown glimpses of the 2022 championship form this year but I'd still be worried that they will slip back into last years negative mindset when faced with better opposition. The same thing happened in the League final again when the stakes were heightened and the fear of losing took over. 

The Ulster final, should we get there, could well be the defining game of the season because they won't be winning an All Ireland title. For a lot of those players it's probably the last chance saloon to try and win meaningful silverware.

Sixty thousand empty seats in Croke Park for a Dublin Meath championship match.  What a sad state of affairs.

Sad indeed

A number of obvious reasons for it , but one thing I have to say  from watching  a numbers of games this weekend, is that  the quality of football right now is  absolutely dire

As a spectacle it really has become a poor game to watch. Ruined by over coaching and stats, the level of crowd engagement at a match has never been lower.

Yes and no.  The league final was a fantastic game. The latter stages of the AI last year were pretty compelling.  Lots of mismatches in the early stages, like every year, but that's not uncommon in sport. Look at the top 5 or 6 European soccer leagues this year, and the top teams are pretty much scunnering everyone else.

The League final was great but it was a rarity. I don't think we should be measuring it against soccer but it's almost become possession orientated in the way that soccer is. The difference is that the level of technical skill required in soccer is much higher to retain possession.

Gaelic football was not designed to be a possession sport. It should be a game of duels, collisions and end to end action played at fast pace. It has become anything but that due mostly to data analytics and professional coaches exploiting the rules.

Watched it on the replay and it didn't even register on the Sunday Game highlights which tells you all you need to know. A yellow card was the correct decision, no force in the challenge.

Paul Flynn talking about KPIs, pockets of space and horseshoes tonight. New age punditry.

Sixty thousand empty seats in Croke Park for a Dublin Meath championship match.  What a sad state of affairs.

Sad indeed

A number of obvious reasons for it , but one thing I have to say  from watching  a numbers of games this weekend, is that  the quality of football right now is  absolutely dire

As a spectacle it really has become a poor game to watch. Ruined by over coaching and stats, the level of crowd engagement at a match has never been lower.

Your money at the turnstile is effectively funding a host of professional coaches and over inflated backroom teams.

Awful game.
Fermanagh had their chances of goals but either miskicked, took the wrong option or just messed it up.
Armagh deserved winners - but goals aside, they didn't look overly impressive.
Missed a lot of frees. Didnt look fluid, should have scored more points from play given the way Fermanagh just kind of stopped. If I was from Armagh I'd be worried enough.

Jarly Og lucky to stay on the pitch imo.

Jarly Og is one of the least aggressive players on the Armagh squad so I'd be very surprised if there was any intent there. A yellow card was fair in that instance.

Sorry but I hate that "he's not that type of player"


It was high and dangerous what's his personality got to do with it? It was a red all day!

It's only relevant in so far as being useful when trying to gauge whether there was intent to hurt the opponent. I would doubt if there was. In real time it didn't look like a red card to me but I'd have to see it again.

In the bigger scheme it was irrelevant though as Fermanagh were already a beaten docket at that point.

Who, where and when has anyone "bigged up" Down?

I've seen plenty of comments on these threads and in the media. They were shoe ins for last years Tailteann Cup and the division 3 title and tipped by lots of pundits to win both of those finals.

They've definitely improved alright under Laverty but from what I've seen of them they lack players who can kick the ball, it's basically the Kilcoo blueprint being employed at county level. 

Awful game.
Fermanagh had their chances of goals but either miskicked, took the wrong option or just messed it up.
Armagh deserved winners - but goals aside, they didn't look overly impressive.
Missed a lot of frees. Didnt look fluid, should have scored more points from play given the way Fermanagh just kind of stopped. If I was from Armagh I'd be worried enough.

Jarly Og lucky to stay on the pitch imo.

Jarly Og is one of the least aggressive players on the Armagh squad so I'd be very surprised if there was any intent there. A yellow card was fair in that instance.

A fairly underwhelming performance from Armagh. Good for some players to get a bit of match fitness under the belts but for others you really have to wonder what it is they have on McGeeney. Fermanagh threw the towel in fairly early on and with no plan B were bullied into half time at which stage Armagh could see the game out without breaking a sweat. Down will be a much sterner test you'd imagine irrespective of their showing yesterday evening. A similar performance from Armagh won't do.

Armagh done what they needed to, were very clinical before putting the game to bed early once the second goal went in. We got good success early out of pressurising the Fermanagh defence high up the pitch and breaking at speed. After that it was a bit more subdued as we basically just seen the game out since the second half was a non event.

I don't get all of this bigging up of Down, they are about the same level as Fermanagh so that performance today absolutely would be enough. Derry on the other hand would be a different matter.

Very impressive half from Armagh, makes such a difference when we push up and put the opposition defence under pressure and the off the ball running has been excellent.