I think the game is dying in front of us - Manus Boyle

[Cunny Funt]

Football was much better in Manus's heyday.

Take the provincial finals in 1993, for instance.

Derry 0-8 Donegal 0-6
Dublin 0-11 Kildare 0-7
Mayo 1-5 Roscommon 0-7

Free flowing classics all. And the kicking skills were wonderful, certainly Manus's kick on Johnny McGurk, which saw him get the line, was anyway.

That Mayo Roscommon game was arguably the worst ever Connacht final with two very average teams involved. Mayo ended up losing to Cork by 20 points. Derry Donegal game was played on a waterlogged pitch. I found the 1993 Leinster final more intriguing than this year final which the media/pundits were very patronizing to Kildare for getting within 9 points of Dublin who didn't get out of 2nd gear.

[sid waddell]

Football was much better in Manus's heyday.

Take the provincial finals in 1993, for instance.

Derry 0-8 Donegal 0-6
Dublin 0-11 Kildare 0-7
Mayo 1-5 Roscommon 0-7

Free flowing classics all. And the kicking skills were wonderful, certainly Manus's kick on Johnny McGurk, which saw him get the line, was anyway.

You had a much better spread of potential winners 20 years ago. You didn't have a procession. 

The four 2017 provincial finals had an average winning margin of 0-9, the four quarterfinals concluded with an average margin of 0-15, and the semi-finals' concluding average was 0-9.

I was at two of those 1993 provincial finals and believe me, they were shit. Derry and Donegal might have had some excuse given the state of the pitch but the participants in the other two matches had no such excuses.

In terms of competitiveness, the 1990s were a historical aberration, with no true all-time great team on the scene.

From 1974 to 1990 there were at most three potential winners(often less) in each year and the championship was generally a procession until the All-Ireland final, which was often a procession itself.

From around 2000 to 2009 there were generally three potential winners at most.

In 2010 to 2012 there were five potential winners.

This has now declined again to the historical norm of three.

[Blowitupref]

In terms of competitiveness, the 1990s were a historical aberration, with no true all-time great team on the scene.

All time greats maybe not but IMO the 90s had

Donegal probably their best ever side built on two U21 All Ireland winning teams
Down the best Down sides since the 60s
Derry,Kildare arguably their best ever sides
Good Meath sides that were hard to beat only their 87,88 sides were probably better.
Galway and Mayo rivalry 95 to 99 was arguably good as it ever was and Tuam,Castlebar was packed for those games

The last five years we have Dublin stocking up on the trophies won and Mayo their biggest challengers doing the opposite. Donegal are in decline,Kerry in transition in the hope their minors will make the step up. Tyrone are along way from quality of their AI winning teams. Meath,Kildare,Down,Galway are unlikely to see All Ireland semi finals anytime soon.

The 2000 All Ireland championship which included a number of replays had 40 games next year the All Ireland championship will have i think 74 games more games equals more money for those at HQ but will it be a case of quantity over quality in the years ahead?

[seafoid]

Football was much better in Manus's heyday.

Take the provincial finals in 1993, for instance.

Derry 0-8 Donegal 0-6
Dublin 0-11 Kildare 0-7
Mayo 1-5 Roscommon 0-7

Free flowing classics all. And the kicking skills were wonderful, certainly Manus's kick on Johnny McGurk, which saw him get the line, was anyway.

You had a much better spread of potential winners 20 years ago. You didn't have a procession. 

The four 2017 provincial finals had an average winning margin of 0-9, the four quarterfinals concluded with an average margin of 0-15, and the semi-finals' concluding average was 0-9.

I was at two of those 1993 provincial finals and believe me, they were shit. Derry and Donegal might have had some excuse given the state of the pitch but the participants in the other two matches had no such excuses.

In terms of competitiveness, the 1990s were a historical aberration, with no true all-time great team on the scene.

From 1974 to 1990 there were at most three potential winners(often less) in each year and the championship was generally a procession until the All-Ireland final, which was often a procession itself.

From around 2000 to 2009 there were generally three potential winners at most.

In 2010 to 2012 there were five potential winners.

This has now declined again to the historical norm of three.

Down had a fabulous team. There was no back door either.

[Blowitupref]

St Vincents 1-8 Ballymun 0-8 in the Dublin senior final tonight. The main talking point was the St Vincents blanket defence that i think only allowed 13 shots on their goal. Ballymun manager complained after that game that they weren't allowed to play and that Vincents did what they had to do.

[Rossfan]

Let's keep handpassing and blanket defending.
We won't need any stadiums in a few more years as there will be no spectators.

[Christmas Lights]

Sid Waddell dropping a few truth bombs in here 

[yellowcard]

Horrible stuff from St Vincents in particular and they will argue that the end justified the means. It was a brutal spectacle for what was effectively the Leinster club final. 

[tonto1888]

St Vincents 1-8 Ballymun 0-8 in the Dublin senior final tonight. The main talking point was the St Vincents blanket defence that i think only allowed 13 shots on their goal. Ballymun manager complained after that game that they weren't allowed to play and that Vincents did what they had to do.

Ulster football for ye, oh, hold on.......

[thewobbler]

Sid Waddell dropping a few truth bombs in here 

As I generally find out when I discuss this sort of thing in the "real" world, most people actually have poor memories, and the bits that are still coloured in tend to be those that have been recently flavoured by media opinion. Its unusually frustrating to explain to people that Gaelic Football has always had a high percentage of its matches either one-sided or low scoring.

[dublin7]

St Vincents 1-8 Ballymun 0-8 in the Dublin senior final tonight. The main talking point was the St Vincents blanket defence that i think only allowed 13 shots on their goal. Ballymun manager complained after that game that they weren't allowed to play and that Vincents did what they had to do.

Poor game in front of a huge crowd. The long season caught up with dub players on the ballymun team, they looked wrecked.

One benefit for Connolly's 3 months off during the summer is he is fresh at this time of the season and he ran the show last night

[joemamas]

Horrible stuff from St Vincents in particular and they will argue that the end justified the means. It was a brutal spectacle for what was effectively the Leinster club final.

Living abroad so did not see.

I do find myself not tuning into TG 4 on a Sunday, as for the most part, a lot if not most club games are becoming more and more difficult to watch.

Why ?, I am sure there are multiple answers, I will take a shot at one,
Most if not all,(of course there are exceptions) managers of senior clubs are being paid, and to justify this big financial commitment, especially by a lot of clubs who cannot afford it, the manager is then under pressure to produce something tangible.

In a lot of cases, this means winning a few early games in the league to have a chance at winning the league or more importantly to avoid relegation. Throw in having a decent run in the championship and bingo. To his defense, in some cases he may be very well outmatched from a talent point, but growing up playing club football you just went out and played and tried to win. If you won, you went for a few pints and had the crack, if you lost you did likewise, and you went back the next week and tried to win.

Today, it appears the end game justifies the means, problem is "the means" in a lot of cases, is that a lot of club players are programmed like robots in how the act on and off the ball.
What is the end game for Gaelic Football, not sure, but I truly fear the days of spontaneity and freedom of expression and seeing a gifted individual expressing his skills may be disappearing for the greater good of the team, (i.e. the result), and the manager.

Hopefully not too cynical, but this is from someone who up until ten or so years ago, would walk across to the local pitch to watch two dogs fighting (bad analogy maybe), and would always come away having enjoyed some if not a lot of aspects of the game. Not so today, I would be more inclined no to bother going.

[sid waddell]

Horrible stuff from St Vincents in particular and they will argue that the end justified the means. It was a brutal spectacle for what was effectively the Leinster club final.

How are Vincent's to blame?

Ballymun barely rose a gallop for the first half an hour, had a two man forward line which was completely isolated, and were far too slow both in terms of moving the ball and in terms of getting players into attack in support. They made numerous elementary mistakes.

Vincent's played much smarter football, kept players forward, and crucially, always had an out ball. They moved the ball far more fluently and were more than deserving of their win, which should really have been by a bigger margin.

Ballymun had no idea how to handle Connolly. They frequently left him unmarked and had no idea how to handle him roaming around the pitch. You'd have thought having a plan for him would have been uppermost in their minds beforehand, but they had none.

[AZOffaly]

I thought Philly McMahon was supposed to be picking up Connolly? He was badly, badly exposed.

[vallankumous]

The Dublin final was as good as it gets most of the time. There are expectation that aren't based on anything.
Cracking games are an exception as it is with most sport. 
I enjoyed it, and it got me out for a few pints on a Monday 

I was the only one in the pub watching it and with 5 minutes to go they switched to the Premiership for a costumer.
Thankfully they put it back on for me.