AISF Mayo v Dublin

[moysider]

This game could be played on the Strawberry Beds that sweep down to the Liffey, reffed by Mrs Brown and have Brush Shields sing a few songs at half-time and Mayo would still wipe the floor with Dublin.

One of the Dubs remarked earlier (and I'm sorry I can't namecheck you, but I haven't the time to go looking back) that it was unfair to attribute Dublin's recent success to the millions spent and the home advantage thing and all the rest. He's correct. Dublin have always had home advantage, have always had more, ahem, resources than other counties and all the rest. But it's only now that they've started to really dominate the landscape.

There are two reasons for this. The first is the failure of any other Leinster team to mount even a token resistance. But the second is that the current Dublin team are blessed with players of not alone outstanding talent, but talent that's ideally suited to the modern game. Stephen Cluxton and Michael Dara MacAuley are the players who are supremely adapted to the modern game, while Connolly would be a great on any team in any era. A child could see that.

However. If I were Jim Gavin I'm not sure I'd be one bit happy about this game. I'd be wondering just which side the hill some of my key older players are. I'd be wondering what exactly is in the belly of some of my other players. Dublin haven't played a team as physically conditioned as Mayo all summer. You can theorise about it all you like, but the theory of being hit by Colm Boyle and the actuality of that explosive and crippling impact are two different things. How quickly will it take Dublin to adjust to that?

The other thing that isn't making news but maybe ought to is the absence of Eoghan O'Gara. O'Gara is a little like MacAuley - he's not a footballer from central casting, but he does a very specific job for Dublin, and nobody else does it quite as well. I could never quite figure out the fuss over him until I saw him live in 2013. I got it then.

But O'Gara's on the DL now. Before his traumatic trip outside the M50, over which the nation naturally weeps, Indiana made a valuable point here about what Dublin would lose in putting Connolly inside in terms of another target for Cluxton. You may also have read Jim McGuinness's thoughts in today's Irish Times about how Cluxton can get a little jittery if the kickouts aren't quite going his way. Dublin need Connolly out the field but if he's out the field, who'll be the O'Gara-esque bull in the china shop on the edge of the square?

This has been an excellent Dublin generation, without question their best since the 70s. Which generation was better is a harder question, for another thread. But I'm afraid, my metropolitan friends, that the End is Near. It's coming from the West on swift wings, and desolation comes with it. Best to brace yourselves now, while you still have time. If you're heading west again between now and then Indiana, give Ballina a skip and head for Knock. Catch a few novenas. Stock up on the rosary beads, just in case.

Up Mayo.

100 percent agreed. Exceptional post

Agree. Reassuring to see a perspective that is not suspicious and fatalistic as mine is. Hope you've nailed it Iolar. You,re judgement is usually sound.

[moysider]

This game could be played on the Strawberry Beds that sweep down to the Liffey, reffed by Mrs Brown and have Brush Shields sing a few songs at half-time and Mayo would still wipe the floor with Dublin.

One of the Dubs remarked earlier (and I'm sorry I can't namecheck you, but I haven't the time to go looking back) that it was unfair to attribute Dublin's recent success to the millions spent and the home advantage thing and all the rest. He's correct. Dublin have always had home advantage, have always had more, ahem, resources than other counties and all the rest. But it's only now that they've started to really dominate the landscape.

There are two reasons for this. The first is the failure of any other Leinster team to mount even a token resistance. But the second is that the current Dublin team are blessed with players of not alone outstanding talent, but talent that's ideally suited to the modern game. Stephen Cluxton and Michael Dara MacAuley are the players who are supremely adapted to the modern game, while Connolly would be a great on any team in any era. A child could see that.

However. If I were Jim Gavin I'm not sure I'd be one bit happy about this game. I'd be wondering just which side the hill some of my key older players are. I'd be wondering what exactly is in the belly of some of my other players. Dublin haven't played a team as physically conditioned as Mayo all summer. You can theorise about it all you like, but the theory of being hit by Colm Boyle and the actuality of that explosive and crippling impact are two different things. How quickly will it take Dublin to adjust to that?

The other thing that isn't making news but maybe ought to is the absence of Eoghan O'Gara. O'Gara is a little like MacAuley - he's not a footballer from central casting, but he does a very specific job for Dublin, and nobody else does it quite as well. I could never quite figure out the fuss over him until I saw him live in 2013. I got it then.

But O'Gara's on the DL now. Before his traumatic trip outside the M50, over which the nation naturally weeps, Indiana made a valuable point here about what Dublin would lose in putting Connolly inside in terms of another target for Cluxton. You may also have read Jim McGuinness's thoughts in today's Irish Times about how Cluxton can get a little jittery if the kickouts aren't quite going his way. Dublin need Connolly out the field but if he's out the field, who'll be the O'Gara-esque bull in the china shop on the edge of the square?

This has been an excellent Dublin generation, without question their best since the 70s. Which generation was better is a harder question, for another thread. But I'm afraid, my metropolitan friends, that the End is Near. It's coming from the West on swift wings, and desolation comes with it. Best to brace yourselves now, while you still have time. If you're heading west again between now and then Indiana, give Ballina a skip and head for Knock. Catch a few novenas. Stock up on the rosary beads, just in case.

Up Mayo.

I stopped at Colm Boyle,  another in the guise of Aidan OMahony with the Garda hardman act

You will be quoting Donal Vaughan next 

Ah now! If you feel that way about Boyle then there is no way I could have a conversation with you about football at all.
Boyle is a footballer first and if his development had gone another way he could have done it at the other end of the pitch as well. In fact I ve seen him destroy teams as a forward as a young fella. Johnno could have destroyed him but he came back. Any team would have him.

[Mayo4Sam]

Wow. Whingefest meets Cringefest 

The notion that CP is some kind of Mecca or Taj Mahal is way off the mark also. It's already a crumbling pigeon sanctuary, that was never completed and is poorly serviced by public transport. In a part of a city very difficult to reach.

Yeah, a place within a short walk of Connolly Station and Bus Aras is very difficult to reach!
But at least it puts the rest of your posts in context

We wouldn't feel safe walking through all the kn**ker's and junkies around there

Funny felt the same last time I walked around Ballina with all the itinerants. You should feel right at home then so

Nail on the head there, Ballina is full of itinerants and Dublin full of junkies and knackers, most of them posting here!!
I'm glad I only have to pass through either occasionally!

[INDIANA]

Wow. Whingefest meets Cringefest 

The notion that CP is some kind of Mecca or Taj Mahal is way off the mark also. It's already a crumbling pigeon sanctuary, that was never completed and is poorly serviced by public transport. In a part of a city very difficult to reach.

Yeah, a place within a short walk of Connolly Station and Bus Aras is very difficult to reach!
But at least it puts the rest of your posts in context

We wouldn't feel safe walking through all the kn**ker's and junkies around there

Funny felt the same last time I walked around Ballina with all the itinerants. You should feel right at home then so

Nail on the head there, Ballina is full of itinerants and Dublin full of junkies and knackers, most of them posting here!!
I'm glad I only have to pass through either occasionally!

Goes without saying you do come across as living in the closet alright.

You remind me of one of these young Gards that come to work in Dublin from the arsehole of nowhere. They'd get stage fright unless they'd a bit of livestock to talk to

[Mayo4Sam]

Well I am a farmer, it's a way of life outside of Dublin, ask Farr and Moy there

[Mayo4Sam14]

Its difficult to see us winning this one, unfortunately

[INDIANA]

Its difficult to see us winning this one, unfortunately

The stars have aligned. Have faith.

[Mayo4Sam14]

Its difficult to see us winning this one, unfortunately

The stars have aligned. Have faith.

The Dubs are just a better team than us IMO especially in the forwards

[INDIANA]

Its difficult to see us winning this one, unfortunately

The stars have aligned. Have faith.

The Dubs are just a better team than us IMO especially in the forwards

Those forwards have never been up Croagh Patrick before . The reeks was cancelled. The Gods have spoken . It's the year of Mayo.

Must book my ticket for the 20th to the after party . Might go back to that nightclub in Ballina

[highorlow]

Iolar is correct.

The Dubs are really feeling the pressure.

Why did Jim Gavin feel the need for all those media interviews yesterday?

Are the Dublin P.R staff on the rampage and trying to counter the Jim McGuinness article? If that's the case the vibe from the Dublin camp is not good at all.

[Tubberman]

Iolar is correct.

The Dubs are really feeling the pressure.

Why did Jim Gavin feel the need for all those media interviews yesterday?

Are the Dublin P.R staff on the rampage and trying to counter the Jim McGuinness article? If that's the case the vibe from the Dublin camp is not good at all.

I'd imagine the Gavin interviews are from the press evening for the semi-final. Mayo had theirs the other evening as well. It seems the media are more interested in this game than the Kerry v Tyrone one this weekend, and of course Dublin always gets a huge media coverage on any utterance (e.g. MDMA a couple of weeks ago).

[The Hill is Blue]

This game could be played on the Strawberry Beds that sweep down to the Liffey, reffed by Mrs Brown and have Brush Shields sing a few songs at half-time and Mayo would still wipe the floor with Dublin.

One of the Dubs remarked earlier (and I'm sorry I can't namecheck you, but I haven't the time to go looking back) that it was unfair to attribute Dublin's recent success to the millions spent and the home advantage thing and all the rest. He's correct. Dublin have always had home advantage, have always had more, ahem, resources than other counties and all the rest. But it's only now that they've started to really dominate the landscape.

There are two reasons for this. The first is the failure of any other Leinsteur team to mount even a token resistance. But the second is that the current Dublin team are blessed with players of not alone outstanding talent, but talent that's ideally suited to the modern game. Stephen Cluxton and Michael Dara MacAuley are the players who are supremely adapted to the modern game, while Connolly would be a great on any team in any era. A child could see that.

However. If I were Jim Gavin I'm not sure I'd be one bit happy about this game. I'd be wondering just which side the hill some of my key older players are. I'd be wondering what exactly is in the belly of some of my other players. Dublin haven't played a team as physically conditioned as Mayo all summer. You can theorise about it all you like, but the theory of being hit by Colm Boyle and the actuality of that explosive and crippling impact are two different things. How quickly will it take Dublin to adjust to that?

The other thing that isn't making news but maybe ought to is the absence of Eoghan O'Gara. O'Gara is a little like MacAuley - he's not a footballer from central casting, but he does a very specific job for Dublin, and nobody else does it quite as well. I could never quite figure out the fuss over him until I saw him live in 2013. I got it then.

But O'Gara's on the DL now. Before his traumatic trip outside the M50, over which the nation naturally weeps, Indiana made a valuable point here about what Dublin would lose in putting Connolly inside in terms of another target for Cluxton. You may also have read Jim McGuinness's thoughts in today's Irish Times about how Cluxton can get a little jittery if the kickouts aren't quite going his way. Dublin need Connolly out the field but if he's out the field, who'll be the O'Gara-esque bull in the china shop on the edge of the square?

This has been an excellent Dublin generation, without question their best since the 70s. Which generation was better is a harder question, for another thread. But I'm afraid, my metropolitan friends, that the End is Near. It's coming from the West on swift wings, and desolation comes with it. Best to brace yourselves now, while you still have time. If you're heading west again between now and then Indiana, give Ballina a skip and head for Knock. Catch a few novenas. Stock up on the rosary beads, just in case.

Up Mayo.

A very well written piece but full of conjecture.

There are so many ways that this game can pan out. What if the Dubs come out like tigers and if Mayo realise early in the game that the the expectations of their fans are just too high? What if it becomes clear that the result against Donegal was an aberration and that Mayo's true capabilities are closer to their league performance against the Dubs rather than anything they produced in the championship?

What if every training ground strategm crumbles before Mayo's eyes? Will the ghosts of 2013 join forces with the Dubs on the field and crush Mayo's resolve?

More conjecture I know, but as likely as any other. 

COYBIB

[Farrandeelin]

Perhaps Iolar is correct, but Mayo haven't met a team with the capacity to break at speed as fast as Dublin. Another worry is that Dublin may be feelung pressure, but they most likely will manage to deal with it. Mayo, hopefully will have another trick up their sleeve, but Barry Moran may be the only one. If that's the case, I'd imagine Dublin to have their homework done on how to countwr it.

[macdanger2]

I see Cunniffe and Clarke are both likely to be fit for the SF which is good news.

What's the story with Regan, is he back training yet or what??

[Mayo4Sam14]

Dublin's All Ireland to lose