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Common knowledge in Donegal for a long time. Can remember hearing about it when he was managing Donegal. The people around Killybegs could tale you a few horrible stories. Derry have to stand him down, no other choice. Good luck to the ex wife, life hasn't been easy for her.

I'd heard the same, albiet from people closer to the border. Wasn't that why he left (was ran) from his hometown club?

Lord Prenty declared at an early stage the Final was fixed for McHale.
Helping his favourite County pay off their debts.
Sod Sligo or capacity or how many might turn up, look after his own.

It's a long-standing rule though that the final must be played at a neutral venue if (one of the) participating counties, i.e. Sligo or Leitrim, haven't a ground big enough to host final and its expected crowd. Pre-match estimates said that there would be > 15k at the game on Sunday; even as it was, Markiewicz Park would have been well full with Sunday's attendance. There's no point in saying that it could have been held in Sligo, no-one knew in advance what crowd would turn up.

No way was 15k the expected crowd for this match up. Last two Sligo v Galway championship games had 5 to 8k in attendance. This was one rare opportunity for Markievicz Park to host a final.

https://www.mayonews.ie/news/gaa/1154235/sligo-venue-not-an-option-for-connacht-final.html

Correct it wasn't 15k expected. See "more than 20k expected" from Mayo's finest bureaucract

He is correct on one score though, Markevic has a capacity of 10k, not the 15-18k that people reading outdated wiki pages etc seem to assume. Aside from the obvious integrity concerns with ripping up the prior arrangement days before the final, and the fact that Sligo and Galways home/away situation is still under dispute (Sligo pulled out of the last game due in Galway), the crowd the last day wouldn't have fit in Markevic

Like John Prenty doesn't tell tall tales.  To repeat not a hope going on previous attendances for Sligo v Galway championship games was it going to get 15k never mind  20k and Markievicz Park holds a lot more than 10k and an option B should have been Hyde Park with 19k currently allowed capacity.

Prior arrangement was brought in for when Leitrim and Sligo reached finals  and would attract 20k plus to finals those days are now over especially if they don't play Mayo in the final.

Why does Markievicz "hold a lot more than 10k"? Because you say so?
Considering how health and safety have absolutely slashed grounds with non bucket seating/standing all over the country, I see nothing in Markievicz to think it would be allowed to hold 'a lot more' than 10k. McHale Park for instance was 42k in the noughties and is now 25k max. There would've been a larger demand had one team been at home also. All a moot point anyway, as you can't change agreements with days notice, it's unfair on whichever team would have to travel to the others home ground

Im sure Prenty did think there was far more coming than realistic. As any amount of history has shown us, this is hardly the most competent individual we're dealing with. I'd agree that Hyde Park was probably a better option, but he's nothing if not consistent and did another twist for his own

Lord Prenty declared at an early stage the Final was fixed for McHale.
Helping his favourite County pay off their debts.
Sod Sligo or capacity or how many might turn up, look after his own.

It's a long-standing rule though that the final must be played at a neutral venue if (one of the) participating counties, i.e. Sligo or Leitrim, haven't a ground big enough to host final and its expected crowd. Pre-match estimates said that there would be > 15k at the game on Sunday; even as it was, Markiewicz Park would have been well full with Sunday's attendance. There's no point in saying that it could have been held in Sligo, no-one knew in advance what crowd would turn up.

No way was 15k the expected crowd for this match up. Last two Sligo v Galway championship games had 5 to 8k in attendance. This was one rare opportunity for Markievicz Park to host a final.

https://www.mayonews.ie/news/gaa/1154235/sligo-venue-not-an-option-for-connacht-final.html

Correct it wasn't 15k expected. See "more than 20k expected" from Mayo's finest bureaucract

He is correct on one score though, Markevic has a capacity of 10k, not the 15-18k that people reading outdated wiki pages etc seem to assume. Aside from the obvious integrity concerns with ripping up the prior arrangement days before the final, and the fact that Sligo and Galways home/away situation is still under dispute (Sligo pulled out of the last game due in Galway), the crowd the last day wouldn't have fit in Markevic

Nah 2007 was about a 4 point spread I believe. The 2013 final between Mayo and London may have been the shortest odds wise (or highest spread wise). At a guess that was a 16-17 point spread

This fixture was a 13 spread in Markevic in 2019. Sligo seem in a much better place, while Galway are probably a reasonable amount better also, albiet that team was coming off a semi final. The venues probably in Galways favour. I don't think there's a ground in Ireland outside of Tuam (at a push) that this team would prefer to play at

[Armagh]

Connacht winner will probably get a tougher group than any other Connacht side eliminated earlier lol.

If Galway do win Connacht, that's twice in 2 years their 'reward' for winning their province has been the rotten draw against the good Ulster side. Last year, 1 of Clare, Cork Armagh. This year, one of Clare, Louth, Armagh/Derry

I think Carroll just came out the field on kickouts late when Ros were chasing.

The goal was a combination of things. 3 Galway players were back near Enda including Maher but the ball was superb and Enda got first run on the jump. Then Sweeney lost sight of tracking Murtagh

It's been a year of surprises personnel wise. I'd have offered long odds on McGrath, Maher or Hernon being near a starting team when the year began, and while I knew Eoghan Kelly was going places, and Burke was proven, they still seemed unlikely. Proven players such as Walsh, Finnerty, Cooke and McDaid have all been more peripheral for differing reasons, lack of form or injuries etc. It's the first time in a long time I can remember seriously healthy competition for places. The season might happen a bit fast for the long term injuries (Molloy and Mulkerrin) but in the medium-long term, they'll just add to the mix also

[Conroy wasn't great either.]

Galway won 10 out of 39 kickouts but had 26 attempts compared to Roscommon's 18, shows stats aren't everything but Galway won't be winning any All Ireland unless the kickouts improve.

As been covered a shocking 5 minutes from Galway, think every score for Roscommon during the period come from really poor kick passes. I'm sure once they watch the video of the game they'll be disappointed they didn't score around 2-16, they were excellent goal chances for Comer & Kelly who are both normally excellent in front of goal. On a positive note Galway responded very well to going behind and were back 5 points clear within about 10 minutes.

That was a brilliantly worked goal from Roscommon but not sure how their tallest player from himself isolated on Galway's smallest player but even then Sweeney has to understand where the danger is and not vacate the space for an easy goal for Murtagh; Apart from that Sweeney & McGrath were excellent, looked very comfortable at this level.

Walsh's shooting was poor, must have had 3 or 4 wides from play and Conroy wasn't great either. Ian Burke did very well, clearly he was going well in training but you can see why he was picked against a team which is very well organised defensively.

Maher again was excellent with 2 points from play as well as keeping Enda Smith quiet, he's been a huge bonus for Galway. McHugh too had another great game whilst Comer was superb.

Whatever the succession plan for Conroy is needs to start kicking into gear I'm afraid. Conroy has had a great last few years since returning from the double leg break and has been an incredible servant but I'd worry over whether he is going to be able to stick the pace at this advanced stage of his career, ground and matches will both be playing quicker and harder from the group stages on. Last year he was on fire in the league and up to the Q final stage in championship before two really tame performances at the real business end, no coincidence that was when we hit CP and it will be hard to reverse that this year. He has had some good to great performances in the odd game this year as well, but the graph looks to be trending only one way.
The problem is that Galway are very reliant on Conroy and Daly for setting up attacks and unlocking defences with kick passes, neither had their greatest games yesterday. Conroy handles the most ball of any Galway player in every match almost, I don't see any lad that can do the same job that's ready to step in unfortunately. I think this is going to be an issue unless Conroy can find one final Indian summer in him.

Conroy mixed sublime with appalling. His balls for 3 scores, to Heaney, Burke and Tierneys mark were exceptional. The Burke one in particular was outrageous. However, some of his old failings for kicking ball away needlessly is an issue and doesn't tally with games Galway are attempting to control. He had two shockers in the second half. The first in particular at a moment of pressure directly caused Conor Daly's goal chance which shouldve been taken. He really shouldve known better in that moment

However I think back to when our season looked in the doldrums in the second half of the Tyrone game, and Conroy seemingly taking the game over on his own. He's still an absolutely pivotal leadership figure imo and also still the one player id trust to play a ball to unlock a defence (think of the pass to Comer in the league final). That's ahead of John Daly even who himself can't be excused, he's given away a number of stupid balls in the last two games. With two runners now seemingly around him in Maher and McDaid (wherever he fits back in), we can surely find a way to protect his legs on fast pitches.

Incidentally, i'd also have also said Conroy's gets our most touches by far. However I now think its Peter Cooke. The lad is a magnet for the ball in slow play. Whether anything good is coming from that is up for debate

Having been someone long frustrated by David Gough's very unique interpretation of the rulebook, but also impressed with his consistency, I watched back yesterdays game with an open mind.

It wasn't any better on second viewing. The first free against Cooke was both of them at it, but probably 60/40 the forward. A free out if something had to be given. The third free against Ben O'Carroll was an absolute phantom free. If neither of those occur its 7-1 at HT. There's a very high tackle late when Sean Kelly goes through for his goal chance not called, would've resulted in a tap over point. Those are the 3 that stick as changing scores directly but there was a number of strange decisions throughout.

I was cursing Galway as Roscommon seemed to win every breaking ball from kickouts. Usually these go to the hungrier team, however there were plenty of Galway players there on each occasion, the ball just seemed to bounce the wrong way repeatedly. My initial feeling of good fortune from Comer winning the break off the post faded hugely when tallying up all the above

The Cox slip is seen as a huge turning point, however John Daly was comfortably goalside. It was a half chance if he collected the ball but he'd have had to have rounded Daly first. Conor Daly's chance was a gimme when Enda got the ball but Enda's pass over was a poor one, kind of square to Daly rather than in front of him. It was a certain goal if played in front, but as it was, Power wouldve saved had it been slapped on target

Hard to give out about Comer but both he and Walsh were clueless in their running for Comer's goal chance. Comer closed off his own angle and Walsh did nothing to offer himself or drag defenders away. Dublin over the last decade score that goal 95%+ of the time

Lastly on a positive, I was very questioning of the decision to play Ian Burke but it was a masterstroke. They had clearly identified that this game was going to turn into basketball similar to the league game. Outside of Sean Kelly, Burke's movement and hands are the best on the panel. While the modern game has become a struggle for inside forwards, he's equipped to excel far more than most in these types of games. That he looked so sharp having played no intercounty (and indeed much football at all) in 3 years is a credit to him. On the Roscommon side, outside of the obvious with Murtagh, Cian McKeon really was superb in the second half. He was involved in everything and the score from the right while under pressure is one of the scores of the championship so far

If that team lines out then you can probably forget about much if not all of what you saw from Galway in the league. I hate the term shadow boxing but that lineup doesn't suggest much else.

Not the first time Joyce has started Ian Burke completely out of left field. Let's hope he's seen something to convince him. I'd have Finnerty in the top 10-15 forwards in the country at the moment, so injury aside it'd be a strange move

I'd be very interested to see your list of top 15 forwards if Finnerty is on thr list

Did you see what he was doing in the Sigerson before the league started? He was by far and away the standout player in the competition until he got injured. Besides that he was the top forward in Galway club championship last year, one of the top championships in the country. He looked to have improved significantly from last year coming into the league

If that team lines out then you can probably forget about much if not all of what you saw from Galway in the league. I hate the term shadow boxing but that lineup doesn't suggest much else.

Not the first time Joyce has started Ian Burke completely out of left field. Let's hope he's seen something to convince him. I'd have Finnerty in the top 10-15 forwards in the country at the moment, so injury aside it'd be a strange move

Some strange stadium choices for the Euro bid
Croke Park is bigger than the AvivaCasement doesn't existOld Trafford is bigger than EtihadNew Everton stadium doesn't exist

I think its reasonable enough. London's the only city with two stadiums and its about 10 times bigger than Dublin. Croker isnt a good experience for a Soccer game at all either, the pitch is far too big. The assumption is that Croker will get Casement's games if Casement isn't built in time.

Old Trafford is likely to be getting redeveloped in 2028. Everton's planned stadium looks great and Liverpool as a city was always going to get games, and half of Anfield is very behind the times. That Everton stadium is already half complete

Why would Dublin get a 2x venue derogation? Edinburgh or any number of English cities could fill the gap

I'm just going by what I've seen from Journalists on twitter. I'd assume if Casement can't make it then it's seen that logically games fixed for Ireland would remain on the island.

But anyway, that wouldn't be a decision made until such a scenario arose and it's surely extremely likely Casement gets sorted now that theyve been named, which is great. The UK government has to give substantial backing to it now. Should be full steam ahead

Some strange stadium choices for the Euro bid
Croke Park is bigger than the AvivaCasement doesn't existOld Trafford is bigger than EtihadNew Everton stadium doesn't exist

I think its reasonable enough. London's the only city with two stadiums and its about 10 times bigger than Dublin. Croker isnt a good experience for a Soccer game at all either, the pitch is far too big. The assumption is that Croker will get Casement's games if Casement isn't built in time.

Old Trafford is likely to be getting redeveloped in 2028. Everton's planned stadium looks great and Liverpool as a city was always going to get games, and half of Anfield is very behind the times. That Everton stadium is already half complete

The only thing on Walsh's frees was the ones he missed were 45's basically. Croker's always been more difficult than provincial grounds to kick from the ground with the grass cut so short. He did kick a monster one from the left witht the hands in the first half, I wouldn't worry anyway given how consistent he's been recently

Joyce likes to tag Enda Smith with a runner anyway, the previous few times its been Kieran Molloy. Has worked excellently well (league game in Pearse stadium) and not so well (D2 final). Will be interesting to see who gets the role, possibly Cathal Sweeney although he might lack the physicality. Dylan McHugh another option.

Paul Rouse said last week McDaid couldve played v Mayo. Thats good news if correct as he's absolutely essential. Sean Kelly on Diarmuid Murtagh is probably set in stone, with Glynn or McGrath (provided they start) following Ben O'Carroll around. I assume Stack won't want to be following Walsh around the field and will tag Finnerty, with Daly on Comer? Would be hoping for a bounceback game from Tierney, who figures to have a size advantage on whomever he's marking. Might be an option to play slightly close to goal, or definitely following in high balls as he did throughout the league

Rhubarbs and Herrins very quiet about th'oul League Final.
Is there any bit of  interest at all?

Hard get excited when the Rhubarbs are out against the bigots the week after

There's no home advantage to being a top seed really because each team has a home, away and neutral game. While it would obviously help to be a 1 seed, when you delve into it, the result if not isn't that scary. Kerrys group as a 1 seed is going to have Sligo or Leitrim as a 2 seed. With all respect, that's a bye to a prelim QF at least. The Ulster champions group will have a Leinster runner up as a 2, and none of those potential counties are going well atm, save maybe for Louth. The one to avoid would be Dublins group with an Ulster runner up as the 2 seed. There's a fair chance that'll be Cavan though looking at Armagh's injuries and that's not going to scare Galway, Mayo or Ros.