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[faWhatever about the pub scene in Dublin post match, I've been at a good few All Ireland finals in both codes as neutral and as partisan supporter, there was no real sense of the enormity of what this Dublin team has achieved at the end of the match in terms of an emotional outpouring from their ns. Was a far better atmosphere in the ground during the drawn match when there was a real sense of jeopardy, once O'Brien made a hames of the Kerry goal chance there was no real sign of Kerry actually winning the match at all, I thought Dublin were very comfortable 2nd half. Some Dubs fans were streaming out of the ground as soon as the match finished, it's absolutely become routine to win Sam for them and whether this was the 5 in a row or not wasn't impacting on the overall atmosphere and excitement in my opinion.]

faWhatever about the pub scene in Dublin post match, I've been at a good few All Ireland finals in both codes as neutral and as partisan supporter, there was no real sense of the enormity of what this Dublin team has achieved at the end of the match in terms of an emotional outpouring from their ns. Was a far better atmosphere in the ground during the drawn match when there was a real sense of jeopardy, once O'Brien made a hames of the Kerry goal chance there was no real sign of Kerry actually winning the match at all, I thought Dublin were very comfortable 2nd half. Some Dubs fans were streaming out of the ground as soon as the match finished, it's absolutely become routine to win Sam for them and whether this was the 5 in a row or not wasn't impacting on the overall atmosphere and excitement in my opinion.

There is a lot of talk about a golden Dublin generation but at the end of the day some of the absolute stalwarts from the start of this run have been phased out and the average starting age is coming down not going up. What other county could so easily cope with the loss of the prototypical modern footballer in Paul Flynn, an absolute Rolls Royce of a player. Likewise with Connolly, the Brogans, O'Sullivan, McMahon, etc. - we were told this was just a once off batch of talent, all have been or are in the process of being phased out without any impact on the team. O'Callaghan, Mannion, Howard, Scully, Murchan have slotted in and the likes of Archer are coming down the tracks as well. Cluxton remains imperious even at 37 and will be the most difficult to replace if he goes, the ongoing disgrace that is his lack of an All Star since 2013 - with all due respect to Beggan and Clarke, it is a bizarre situation - will surely be rectified this year. Even without Cluxton there, it will merely mean that Dublin probably just have an adequate to good keeper between the sticks - much like every other county.

Expecting Dublin to come back to the pack is a pipe dream, while I cannot imagine that they will win every single year, they will remain the major player in the sport for the foreseeable. It is interesting to hear Eamonn FitzMaurice say that for this Kerry team having not prevented the five in a row that:

"the roll of honour is a more important thing to protect and that becomes a challenge for the next decade".

It would have been unthinkable at the turn of this decade to envision Kerry's status at the top being challenged, I would venture that it is now inevitable that Dublin will overtake them at some point in the next (at the very latest) 25 years.

Even if Kerry win the next one or a few in the next 10 years, the range of winners and different final matchups that we saw in the 90's and 2000's seem like a very distant and almost quaint memory at this remove. What good is it to see the Dublin and Kerry duopoly continue to an even greater extent than it has already over the course of the last 130 odd years?
The lack of professionalism and rank bad planning in other counties is certainly something that not Dublin's fault, clearly not all counties are operating to the optimum level, some of the county boards are not fit for purpose, but even those organised well are battling with constraints and issues that will never impact Dublin, they will never be in a position to exploit the same advantages that Dublin have no matter what is done.
No one from Dublin is going to acknowledge that there is any problem with the current situation, that is just natural human bias, I'm 100% certain that if my own county were in Dublin's shoes at the moment I wouldn't give a toss what anyone outside of the county thought either.
Dublin have organised themselves to the best of their ability but the GAA must know that it is an unsustainable situation if the current pattern continues, what will they do if the All Ireland series starts to resemble the Leinster football championship? I truly hope that a more balanced championship will return and that we will see other counties getting to and winning All Ireland's but it is only a hope, if the GAA are reliant on the same thing, good luck to them.

While i respect your opinion and your enititled to it, its wrong. As stated above, the sense of enormity was there and there was outpouring of it afterwards.

While i understand your not a Dub true diehard like myself, pershaps its difficult to understand it.

Sure even Jim Gavin did a lap of Croke Park for the first time after victory 

[Apart from Dublin GAA circles]

Apart from Dublin GAA circles (naturally enough) and the Croke Park hierarchy there's little interest and certainly no excitement about the Final or the 5 in a row.
It's just all so predictable and inevitable like if  Real Madrid were in the Irish Soccer League.
The rest of us are getting on with Club championships while Co Boards are trying to come up with more and ever more fundraising initiatives to try and pay for their inter Co teams and managers.
They have just about enough time and energy left for the mundane tasks of administering GAA affairs in the County.

Funny you say that...
I mentioned on the AI thread on Saturday morning that I never saw such little interest in the final here in my part of Dublin and as far as I could see, the same could be said about the entire city.
Three were far fewer flags hanging out of windows and very little bunting strung up either. Most of the decorations anyway were now new- leftovers from other years.
A local barman told me that there were less than a dozen punters in the pub at closing time Saturday night and every one of them was a regular anyway.
He had a good crowd for the game and he sold a fair amount of drink but the place was back to normal by 9 o'clock. In recent years it would be well after one before the pub would be cleared and he'd have sold more than twice as much.
Maybe the whole goddamn lot of them are saving up for the fix for six.

Dublin city was hopping saturday night, every pub packed that i could see. Best atmosphere since 2011.

Flagging and bunting is not for everyone and not everyone living in Dublin is a Dub or is a Dub who supports Dublin GAA.

I don't think it's a criticism of Gavin. His point just tells us that it's hard to know how good you are when you manage a team streets ahead of everyone.
I thought bringing Connolly back was poor. He wasn't near the level as far as I could see while other lads who have been there all year never got a sniff of action.
He can get away with these things where others wouldn't.

Having said that, while they keep winning, you can't fault him.

The reason Connolly was brought back was a lack of depth at half forward. We've loads of lads who can play in the FF line, but very little at half forward and midfield. Subs breakdown yesterday was 1 mid, 1 HF, 5 FF.

Not so sure that was the reason Connolly was brought back in, read Darcy Q&A in the Examiner today for insight.

Good piece by McStay. Himself and Canavan are the only ex players so far (that I've heard) to sort of tell it as it is.

He says in his piece that it's no coincidence that Kerry didn't score in the last 15 minutes, any other opposition team rarely scores against them in the last 15 in the championship.

Wrong, Canavan said teams must match Dublin off the field, the template for what they do off the field must be followed and then discussed Culllen coming from Leinster Rugby to Dublin, but the opposite happened in Tyrone, he is calling from more of a professional approach at board level, and from what i seen a lot of people agree with him.

Didnt read the thread, but has to be the Mayo contingent. have a great day 

How is it known that he got the boot and didnt make the decision himself? and if its for good of short term.

Spillane id worse to Connolly, put him out of the game for nearly 2 years by character assassination, he should of got the boot.

Love him or loathe him, he will be a loss to RTE and the viwing public.

They might as well let them go straight to the Final

https://m.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/why-dublin-could-play-one-less-championship-game-in-2020-38472464.html

Finally gettign the same advantage Kerry and Cork have had since the inception of the GAA.

Kerry played 2 hard matches a year to win most AIs.

What a great final, the quality of football not overally good but the game had everything, loads of talking points, fair play to Kerry to putting it up to the Dubs. The last 10 minutes was so intense, i was shaking, similair to the Mayo finals.

I know the incidents will be analysed to death but personally i have no complaints, Gough was good for the majority of the game, some calls go you way some days, some dont, just get on with it.

Dublin missed the chances to win it, 6 wides in the last 10 minutes, made some good turnovers too, too many big players didnt show up for Dublin, i cant see that happening again.

Hopeing for another great match between the Aristocrats of game.

Going to sign off for the weekend. Win Lose or draw for the Dubs, they will always be the greatest of them all. Only begrudgers would say different.

Safe travel to the Kerry fans.

I went to the off the ball event in St Vincents the other night, i have to say that Andy Moran is a sound man. Well able to talk, some good stories and came accross very well. Honest and genuine and held no grudges or regrets about his playing career. Id say hes good buachaill to go for a few pints with.

There are a few things of dubious source this guy has posted before if he's the same person I am thinking of...

Who TheGreatest? Who claims James Horan got 70k from Mayo from a 'source' without backing it up with one shred of evidence?

Doesnt mean its not true.

I would say Dublin fans are more nervous this year than last year. Tyrone don't offer any threat to Dublin and that game was over at half time. No one I know believed they had a chance

Kerry have a punchers chance with their forwards and their ability to get goal. That's what makes it nervous for me. Like I said earlier a good start for Kerry can really set up the game for them, especially if Dublin have to push on and chase the game at any stage.

I do wonder do the Dublin posters really believe what they are saying. Dublin should be 5 to 10 points better here. I'd love to see a tight game so hope I am wrong but can't see it. Yes Dublin a bit weaker in fb line than they have been but the Kerry defense is very poor and possibly the weakest in quite a few years in a final.

All you have to do is look at the finals the this decade, all very tight games. Something goes wrong early, early goals, red card, finals are always different.

Doesnt prove anything to me.

Anyway he seems like a nice guy so let it be.

Good player, a servent of 17 years to the cause is to my admired. I am being genuine here, in his prime, would he make the Dublin team in the 6 forwards? Or Kerry or Tyrone forward 6 of the noughties?

Seeing that his prime was probably two years ago when named footballer of the year and scored 3-24 from play that summer the short answer would be yes.

I dont think he deserved it that year. There was a bit of a campaign to give it to him.

His average per game was 3.3, O Connor's was 7.5 and Rocks 6.7, Mayo played a lot of games that year against weak opposition. And its not always about the players who score, James McCarthy should of won it.

There are a few things of dubious source this guy has posted before if he's the same person I am thinking of...

Its a video i seen which is going around, im sure others have seen it.. Sin e.