Messages

Delighted for Villa. Hope they finish the job now.

Have got numerous vaccines previously when going travelling but I would be slightly apprehensive about getting a rushed through Covid vaccine.

Don't expect we'll be first on the list however so by the time it becomes widely available here I'll get it.

John Horan on the radio there asking for GAA attendances to be increased to 500.

The problem Utd still have is winning games at one nil! They still give away too many cheap goals, while they have put in some decent performances they've drawn some games where they should have been outta sight

even as crap as Brighton were the other night, that Utd team coughed up some decent chances for Brighton the better teams put away.

There's still a bit of work in progress with this team.

United are most definitely a counterattacking team now and they're pretty good at it, but the amount of possession afforded to Southampton at Old Trafford was unreal. better teams than them will make many more chances and punish that defence accordingly.

Still a good bit away from challenging for the title IMO.

Two centre back required for a start.

They're more than just a counter attacking side now with a midfield of Matic, Pogba and Fernandes. For whatever reason, a lot of players just underperformed yesterday. Martial and Rashford the only bright spots really.

The Stephen Kenny interview yesterday was interesting when he talked about the lack of young players who came through the last few years. Shane Duffy, John Egan, Matt Doherty, Robbie Brady and Jeff Hendrick were all born in 1992 so 28 this year. The next player younger than them who has broken through, played some competitive games and definitely part of the squad is Aaron Connolly, born in 2000. Maybe Alan Browne who is 25?

That's a serious gap with nobody breaking through.

What's with all the recent fixation re: Italia '90? We were outplayed in most games and played crap football. Definitely an era in bad need of revisionism.

Because it was our first WC and had an impact beyond sport.

Put em under pressure. Caveman football. The Gegenpress. Inspired tactics. Its the same thing.

True but, really, it was a foundation built on sand. It was a time more culturally important than sporting. We never led in any game, only scored 2 goals, the Dutch one at least coming from an error. We created practically nothing v Romania, the English match was derided by foreign (or at least Italian) media as one of the worst WC games ever, while the Egyptian match was probably even worse. (Until the Norway game 4 years later came along). It's debatable whether the 2002 squad was superior, but at least they were encouraged to play better football; that for me remains our best finals campaign (despite or perhaps because of the absence of you-know-who).

A so called analysis built on a foundation of shít for football brains.

Am I wrong? Did I miss the day where we played total football or jogo bonito?

What do you mean when you say 'foundation built on sand'?

We got to two subsequent world cups and 2 Euros.

The only country with ballpark population I can think of who do better is Croatia.

Uruguay have a population less than 4m. Don't think they have many other competing sports however, which Croatia and ourselves do.

OK they are on a decent run at the moment but we know they are still a way off competing regularly for the top spots.

So what is it going to take signings wise to get them there?
Priorities for this summer?

A centre back, preferably a pacy one, to compliment Maguire.

If Pogba stays, I think midfield is fine.

Probably a right winger like Sancho. Greenwood looks a serious talent but that's all there is for that position. I don't rate James tbh. Having rashford, Martial, Greenwood and Sancho for the 3 front positions would be needed over an entire season.

It's alright telling people not to go on a holiday to Spain, Amsterdam etc but I know people over in London that haven't seen their parents since January or February. They have flights booked home in the next few weeks and that will surely result in more clusters around the country.

McCaffrey was on the second captains podcast a couple of weeks after the lockdown started and still seemed enthusiastic for inter county football then. Said he was training away individually to be ready for its return.

I'd say he'll be back next year.

Dara Calleary was shafted completely. FF deputy leader and didn't get a senior ministry job.

I've given numerous examples of him scoring and creating things off scraps but you won't acknowledge that. You just make these arbitrary comments like - I've never seen a mayo game when he was the dominant player. Or I've never seen him get 3 quick fire points at the end of a qualifier game (when his team needed a goal) like some Armagh forward.

Anyway that's me out.

[2-5 vs Kerry, 1-8 vs Dublin and 1-9 vs Dublin]

Taking what too far? I think I've made some very fair points on O'Connor, others have disagreed but I haven't see anything to change my mind. I do think O'Connor is very overrated and its lazy analysis to point to his scoring records alone, I think any decent forward would have the same scoring records as O'Connor if they played in that team and were entrusted with the same duties and faith that he's had there.

You're absolutely taking it too far but that's nothing new with you. I still don't know why/how he's overrated or a weak link on the team. What national pundits proclaim Cillian as one of the top forwards in the country? The old cliché of mayo having no forwards has persisted right throughout his career. There's 14 pages on this thread of people pointing out everything he can't do.

The fact he scored a hat trick against Limerick is used as a stick to beat him with. Apparently that's just padding his stats but ignores the fact he has scored 2-5 vs Kerry, 1-8 vs Dublin and 1-9 vs Dublin. But all the Armagh forwards are better than him because they looked good in qualifiers or Ulster championship games which they generally lost.

You ask who is proclaiming him as a top forward? That's been the entire theme of the thread. One of your comrades is claiming they'd take him over Michael Murphy and Conor McManus. You then spend paragraphs trying to defend him as if he were a top forward.

The 3 scores you mentioned there? Kerry score had 1-3 out of the 2-5 from placed balls in 100 mins, with the other goal being a tap in. The middle score doesnt exist. The last 1-9 mentioned v Dublin was all from placed balls. If you're trying to argue that he's a good freetaker (inside 35) or penalty taker, noone is arguing with you there

Surely for somebody to be overrated there must be national pundits praising him constantly? Not a couple of posters on gaaboard. I consider him a top forward but that's my opinion of course. The main reason I posted all that previously was to debunk Angelo's theories of him being a weak link on the team.

He also won that penalty vs Kerry. Mea culpa, it was only 1-6 he got in that other game vs Dublin.

National pundits do talk him up, somebody posted up David Brady calling him Mayo's greatest players. He's regularly talked of as a top forward, for me he's the weak link in that Mayo forward line and it's guys like Doherty, Diarmuid O'Connor and McLoughlin who are criminally underrated.

O'Connor is the guy I see on that Mayo team and the one I look at and say they need more from. He can finish but they could do with him winning more ball, creating his own chances, making space for others with his movement. The top players can do all of that as well as finish and that is why he's not a top forward.

I mean, they obviously talk about him sometimes. It's pretty hard to avoid when he's scoring hat tricks and last minute equalisers in an all Ireland final. He never never gets the same praise of other top forwards in the country. Brady is an entertaining guy to listen to, but as a pundit he always wants to say something controversial. Having Keegan number 1 wouldn't have grabbed anyone's attention.

I posted numerous examples previously of him creating his own chances and setting up others. It's no use with you though. The cork game in 2017 is another example. I doubt any Armagh forwards have had a better performance than that in the last decade. I obviously haven't checked this but I'd guess around half of Lee Keegan's scores have been set up by Cillian.

[2-5 vs Kerry, 1-8 vs Dublin and 1-9 vs Dublin]

Taking what too far? I think I've made some very fair points on O'Connor, others have disagreed but I haven't see anything to change my mind. I do think O'Connor is very overrated and its lazy analysis to point to his scoring records alone, I think any decent forward would have the same scoring records as O'Connor if they played in that team and were entrusted with the same duties and faith that he's had there.

You're absolutely taking it too far but that's nothing new with you. I still don't know why/how he's overrated or a weak link on the team. What national pundits proclaim Cillian as one of the top forwards in the country? The old cliché of mayo having no forwards has persisted right throughout his career. There's 14 pages on this thread of people pointing out everything he can't do.

The fact he scored a hat trick against Limerick is used as a stick to beat him with. Apparently that's just padding his stats but ignores the fact he has scored 2-5 vs Kerry, 1-8 vs Dublin and 1-9 vs Dublin. But all the Armagh forwards are better than him because they looked good in qualifiers or Ulster championship games which they generally lost.

You ask who is proclaiming him as a top forward? That's been the entire theme of the thread. One of your comrades is claiming they'd take him over Michael Murphy and Conor McManus. You then spend paragraphs trying to defend him as if he were a top forward.

The 3 scores you mentioned there? Kerry score had 1-3 out of the 2-5 from placed balls in 100 mins, with the other goal being a tap in. The middle score doesnt exist. The last 1-9 mentioned v Dublin was all from placed balls. If you're trying to argue that he's a good freetaker (inside 35) or penalty taker, noone is arguing with you there

Surely for somebody to be overrated there must be national pundits praising him constantly? Not a couple of posters on gaaboard. I consider him a top forward but that's my opinion of course. The main reason I posted all that previously was to debunk Angelo's theories of him being a weak link on the team.

He also won that penalty vs Kerry. Mea culpa, it was only 1-6 he got in that other game vs Dublin.

The super 8s isn't happening this year. The old format always matched the u21/20 championship. Which had Connacht v Ulster in 2018, Connacht v Leinster last year.

Wrong about what?

The reported proposed football Championship just suits Kerry and Dublin

It still suits only Kery and Dublin.
Angelo  sure Galway have been favourites to take over from Dublin every year since 2016
On a serious note will many players opt out of Club and/or County?
Players who work in the Health Service e.g. Mc Caffrey, R Wylie or need to protect vulnerable relatives.

Galway only need to win 4 games to capture the All Ireland and the first one of those is against a Div 4 side who they have beaten in Connacht the previous two years by 13 and 21 points.

Connacht were due to meet Ulster in the semi and Dublin due to meet Kerry in the other. Theyve switched this to make it Leinster v Ulster. Connacht and Ulster counties should be up in arms.

Don't think so. It was Connacht v Munster in 2011, 2014 and 2017 so it's due again this year.