Quote from: RedHand88 on April 20, 2024, 11:59:45 PMDerry were not serious All Ireland contenders ffs. They are at a level below Kerry/Dublin, same as Armagh/Mayo/Galway/Tyrone/Donegal.
A few facts:
They beat Clare and Cork to get to AISFs the last 2 years.
Kerry played sh1te against them last year and still bate them.
They won the league final against Dublin reserves and believed the hype.
I also really think the new structure hurts teams in Derrys position. 4(?) weeks of no championship football before potentially playing Dublin or Kerry.
My prediction: they'll get through the group by beating the guff but will go out at the quarter final stage to a bigger team. Questions will remain over Harte but he will get to stay and we will see the same next year, only a bit worse.
golden! Taking time to work out how Derry can't possibly succeed. Surely they can't? Can they? Nah
On the game, the appetite those Donegal players had yesterday was incredible. McGuinness is obviously a very shroud operator tactics wise etc, but it's his man management that is a level above most. Those players gave it absolutely everything. Donegal had a handful of stand out players, but Ryan McHugh is something else. What a smart player, knows when to hold them, knows when to show them...only Ethan from our side got anywhere near that level of performance.
I've been around long enough to not get overly excited about a Derry win or loss. The last couple of years, those players have given us some amazing days out. Defeats are inevitable, it happens. 12 points from the 4 goals was an insurmountable challenge for any team, never mind a team that just, for whatever reason didn't click. A well earned rest now and a bit of soul searching as always happens in a defeat. Kinda getting used to Croke Pk, hopefully we're back again this year.