Messages

[reasonable debate]

Can everyone please not respond to Angelo on this thread? He will then bugger off to another thread to wind people up.

There's already more mentions on Leyton Hewitt than Shane Lowry on the golf thread. We don't need this. Nobody needs this.

The sensitive McIlroy fanboys certainly don't want to hear about it anyway and are adamant they will censor reasonable debate and critiques of his overall ability.

No one is censoring anything, your debate is based upon irrationality rather than any understanding or golf or the facts.

That's nonsense. I deal in subtance, I have shown clearly the parallels with Hewitt, nobody has been able to disprove them because they can't.

What you will notice here is that when people lose the argument they default to attacking me.

We are back off down the same route as all your other conspiracy theory type fallacies. I'm off to hunt the invisible dragon.

That's an inane post because you can't tackle the argument.

Stick to argument, put some strong substantiated points behind your view - the issue is that there are none available to rebut the Hewitt and McIlroy career trajectory analogy.

[Majors are the only currency worth their salt.]

Is McIlroy actually a choker or is he just overrated?

I'd say it's more the latter. I wouldn't have called Lleyton Hewitt a choker for instance, he just broke on the scene at a weak era, won a few slams in that brief weak era and then fell off the radar when better players came along. I would say that's very similar to McIlroy.

If the field was a lot weaker now, McIlroy would be winning majors but the reality is there's probably 10-15 or so better players out there for the past 6/7 years than him and he just has a very sensitive fanbase who have issues dealing with that.

Top trolling again. Bar maybe arguing Tiger and Jack, golf majors have never been dominated by a few players like tennis so it's another false equivalence.

It's amazing how that someone who openly admits knowing nothing about golf, clearly doesn't play or play to a decent standard seems to ignore that McIlroy was no. 1 in the world during that past 6/7 years a few times and is currently 9th in the world. So how could there be 10-15 or so better players  Also during that tim he had a few long term injuries.

Keep trying though.

Majors are the only currency worth their salt.

He's only missed 1 major through injury in his career.

What I am seeing here is a load of excuses that don't really seem to back up the reason why he won his 4 majors in a weak post-Tiger era.

I think some people are far too emotionally invested in McIlroy to face up to reality. He's done, a new generation has arrived and he's been left behind.

The parallels with Lleyton Hewitt are extraordinary and I think the reason people want to dismiss them is because there is so much basis there to support that. Dare they actually engage that conversation they will find very little of it they are able to rebut.

DJ by that measure is probably sh1te too? What about Speith, is he a busted flush too?

Majors are hard to win in golf, there is at least 50 players in most of the major fields that could win. FFS 115th player in the world won last weekend and was only there because he was a past champion 16 years before.

DJ and Spieth have won 5 major collectively since McIlroy last won one, these are the type of players McIlroy can no longer compete with.

I think meyler has been the biggest plus with the new management. Playing with his head up, kicking the ball and taking scores. Looks a different player.

100%

He's playing with great confidence and hopefully he can continue this form.

[reasonable debate]

Can everyone please not respond to Angelo on this thread? He will then bugger off to another thread to wind people up.

There's already more mentions on Leyton Hewitt than Shane Lowry on the golf thread. We don't need this. Nobody needs this.

The sensitive McIlroy fanboys certainly don't want to hear about it anyway and are adamant they will censor reasonable debate and critiques of his overall ability.

No one is censoring anything, your debate is based upon irrationality rather than any understanding or golf or the facts.

That's nonsense. I deal in subtance, I have shown clearly the parallels with Hewitt, nobody has been able to disprove them because they can't.

What you will notice here is that when people lose the argument they default to attacking me.

Is McIlroy actually a choker or is he just overrated?

I'd say it's more the latter. I wouldn't have called Lleyton Hewitt a choker for instance, he just broke on the scene at a weak era, won a few slams in that brief weak era and then fell off the radar when better players came along. I would say that's very similar to McIlroy.

If the field was a lot weaker now, McIlroy would be winning majors but the reality is there's probably 10-15 or so better players out there for the past 6/7 years than him and he just has a very sensitive fanbase who have issues dealing with that.

Top trolling again. Bar maybe arguing Tiger and Jack, golf majors have never been dominated by a few players like tennis so it's another false equivalence.

It's amazing how that someone who openly admits knowing nothing about golf, clearly doesn't play or play to a decent standard seems to ignore that McIlroy was no. 1 in the world during that past 6/7 years a few times and is currently 9th in the world. So how could there be 10-15 or so better players  Also during that tim he had a few long term injuries.

Keep trying though.

Majors are the only currency worth their salt.

He's only missed 1 major through injury in his career.

What I am seeing here is a load of excuses that don't really seem to back up the reason why he won his 4 majors in a weak post-Tiger era.

I think some people are far too emotionally invested in McIlroy to face up to reality. He's done, a new generation has arrived and he's been left behind.

The parallels with Lleyton Hewitt are extraordinary and I think the reason people want to dismiss them is because there is so much basis there to support that. Dare they actually engage that conversation they will find very little of it they are able to rebut.

Can everyone please not respond to Angelo on this thread? He will then bugger off to another thread to wind people up.

There's already more mentions on Leyton Hewitt than Shane Lowry on the golf thread. We don't need this. Nobody needs this.

The sensitive McIlroy fanboys certainly don't want to hear about it anyway and are adamant they will censor reasonable debate and critiques of his overall ability.

[but the reality is there's probably 10-15 or so better players out there for the past 6/7 years than him]

Is McIlroy actually a choker or is he just overrated?

I'd say it's more the latter. I wouldn't have called Lleyton Hewitt a choker for instance, he just broke on the scene at a weak era, won a few slams in that brief weak era and then fell off the radar when better players came along. I would say that's very similar to McIlroy.

If the field was a lot weaker now, McIlroy would be winning majors but the reality is there's probably 10-15 or so better players out there for the past 6/7 years than him and he just has a very sensitive fanbase who have issues dealing with that.

Based on what?? McIlroy has been in the top 10 golfers in the world continuously for nearly 11 years. Lleyton Hewitt won 2 Grand Slams in a career that is so much more condensed than a golfer's.

At McIlroy's age Mickelson hadn't even won 1 major.

Yes he's going through a slump but people saying he's over rated or finished is just not true.

Based on the fact that he hasn't won a major in 7 years and probably won't win another one.

Yes. Age is relative.

Hewitt and Roddick won their only slams in a weak era at 20/21. Meanwhile someone like Wawrinka won his only 3 slams in his late 20s/30s.

McIlroy has played his best golf, he was very fortunate that his best golf came at a time when Woods was in decline and the new generation that are about now hadn't really established themselves.

Azpilicueta is the only right back too in the squad.

He has left out Carvajal who was the obvious option here and he's another Real man.

Is McIlroy actually a choker or is he just overrated?

I'd say it's more the latter. I wouldn't have called Lleyton Hewitt a choker for instance, he just broke on the scene at a weak era, won a few slams in that brief weak era and then fell off the radar when better players came along. I would say that's very similar to McIlroy.

If the field was a lot weaker now, McIlroy would be winning majors but the reality is there's probably 10-15 or so better players out there for the past 6/7 years than him and he just has a very sensitive fanbase who have issues dealing with that.

Enrique still very bitter from his time at Real.

No.

I like the 7 game league campaign, the variety in opposition and the chance that teams get to look at players in a competitive environment.

[R2: (Celtic seeded so one of):]

Hopefully Howe is appointed this week so we can start the big rebuild job in store.

CL path looks like this:

R2: (Celtic seeded so one of):
Rapid Wien
Galatasaray
Midtjylland

R3: (Celtic seeded if they go through)
Genk
PSV (or winner of their game in previous round)
Spartak Moscow
Sparta Prague (or winner of their game in previous round)


Playoff: (Celtic unseeded)
Benfica or team who beat them
Shakthar or team who beat them

Rapid Vienna, Genk and Shakthar is probably the best route there.

It's more than doable so hopefully Howe is backed significantly before the end of June and we make a big go and qualifying for the CL.

[GAA's new subs rule]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/gaelic-games/57215679

"Kieran McGeeney complained afterwards that the GAA's new subs rule which will allowing seven substitutes, only has five windows for them to happen, meant he was forced to make a double substitution in the first half amid his team's plethora of injuries.
And Armagh had to finish the game with 14 men after Patrick Burns, who himself had come on for Forker, was injured and could not be replaced with no more subs windows available."

So what exactly is the new substitution window rule?

You can make 7 substitutes but you can only make subs at 5 points in the game.

Therefore if you are to use your allotted 7 subs you would needed to use one (or two) of the slots to make multiple subs.

Mickleson - another one of the new generation of golfer that McIlroy just can't complete with.  Glad he wasn't around when McIlroy was picking up all those handy major titles. 

Would be some craic on here today had McIlroy played the same as Koepka or Oosthuizen in that last round.

Deary me, I didn't think the McIlroy fan boys would get so rattled.

Mickleson was winning majors when Tiger was at his peak. If he was in his prime at the same time McIlroy was about he'd probably have double his current amount.

The Team played better as a whole because they had natural forwards. The limits of McGeary and Myler aren't as evident when McCurry and Canavan are providing a threat.

McCurry simply has to start. He has all the talent you'd ever need.
Mattie Donnellly, and Harte were much better.
McGeary gives the ball away far to much.
Burns is a very limited footballer
Myler needs to offer more, much more.
McKenna was quiet.

What game were you watching?

Meyler had another very good game again.

Set up a number of scores including a brilliant 50 yard pass right onto the chest of Bradley which was converted by a mark and a brilliant score on the outside of the foot at the end. And the volume of work he gets through, the tackles he makes and the defensive work he does is all taken for granted. He's probably the most improved player I've seen in the first two games under the new management.

Exactly, anyone who thinks Myler needed to do much much more in the game vs Armagh needs to have a word with themselves.  He was excellent.

Some people just don't understand the modern game. Joe Brolly is one of them. You can't have 15 corner forwards on the pitch. You need to get that balance right.

I actually thought we played better against Donegal last week than we did against Armagh this time.

It's clear that some people just have a bee in their bonnet about some players - Meyler, McGeary and Burns being the obvious ones - and will slate them no matter what.

McGeary was very good against Donegal and was quiet against Armagh before being subbed after picking up a yellow.
Meyler has had two very good outings and brings a lot of things to the table that never get credited. Every team needs a player like him.
Burns has had two really poor outings and I'd question the management on his selection.

It's a difficult task for the management in such a condensed season

Monaghan is a big test for us. Their forward play and running game was really slick v Donegal and we will seriously need to clog up that central channel this weekend and improve our defensive work from the Armagh game.