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McGeeney goes higher and higher in my estimation.

In the face of stupid journalism and obvious heartbreak he did not overplay the incidents that went against his team and went out of his way to emphasise how well Down played singling out individuals for praise.

Much is made of him not smiling much, spending £20 a day on fruit etc but he is a winner and has a touch of class about him. Compare his reaction to Jack O'Connor after Down beat Kerry,who had less to whine about.

On the field for Armagh he left everything out on the field everytime and despite some initial cynicism about rough house tactics he seems to have won over the Lillywhites ( was speaking to few Kildare fans in the Clonliffe inn yesterday and they are not letting us have him any time soon). The players cannot speak highly enough of him either.

Always remember reading that Cormac McAnallens father told how McGeeney wrote a 3/4 page letter to them when Cormac died.

Class act.

Are this Waterford team destined never to win an AI

Reading today they have won only 1 of 7 AI Sfs and with Kilkenny ( even without Shefflin) hell bent on 5 in a row are warriors such as John Mullane, Ken Mc Grath and Tony Browne destined never to win the ultimate prize?

Being from Armagh football would always come first ( although we have made great strides at all levels of hurling this year) but nothing would give me more pleasure than to see these men lifting the AI in September.

They have given so much to hurling over the last 10 years or so and it is a pity that the best team they had in 60 years coincided with this Kilkenny team. If they had been around in the 90s when there was a spread of winners they probably would have won 1.

" If I stay there will be trouble
  If I go there will be double"

Banty is due to decide next week whether he will stay for another year ( would this be his 7th?).

Will he have another crack at it or get out while the goings good?

Reasons for going

1) His reputation is still high, he has brought Monaghan from being in the bottom 10 teams in the country to consistently in the top 10.

2) This team aside from Walshe, Hughes, McManus has been on the go for more or less 10 years. Maybe this as far as he can take them.

Reasons for staying

1) He desperately would love an Ulster title and feels there is 1 last kick from this team.

2) Stubborness - Like PeteMcGrath and Sean Boylan he might decide to hang on too long.


If he goes he will be missed by all GAA supporters, definitely one of the most passionate managers around today, he would bleed blue if you cut him open.

Why does this play a part in games at club/county level up and down the country?

For instance Dublin were hyped to the rafters against Tyrone/Kerry in 2008/2009 and imploded yet this year were wrote off and played as though a weight was lifted off them.

Fermanagh also if wrote off can raise their game but if favourites seem to shrink into themsleves.

Every year the lengths players/managers go to relieve pressure on themselves seems to get more and more ridiculous.

For instance this week both Kildare and Down will do their best to paint themselves as underdogs.

i.e " If we play like we did the last day it won't be enough", " X and Y are probably the best forward line in the country" etc.

If Kerry drew Leitrim in the qualifiers you can picture Marc O'Shea being asked about the draw and saying " No one gets an easy game in Carrick On Shannon".

When did this start? Did players in the 60s/70s come out with this or did they say things like "Roscommon should be no bother to us"?

Did stories of opposition players/managers statements being pinned up on dressing room walls for motivation cause teams to make sure they didn't provide this sort of ammunition?