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Whats David Bradys take on all this ?

David tried to use the words "illusionist" and "delusionalist" (I think thats another DB makeyuppy word) in the same sentence re the ponygate scandal on newstalk last night. Much like JH not wearing a baseball cap, it just didnt work.
Whoever writes his stuff needs to tailor it more towards his "shtyle"

I think we should have a new thread, the DB championship dictionary where every week DB brings us a new word

When the referee is appointed for this clash , he needs to have a good look at the Galway /Kerry game from yesterday, they are the real streetwise team ,
Yerra shur Kerry only win All Irelands by bullying and being dirty, tis true for you.

Meanwhile in the real world...This game is going to be interesting. Neither team showed top form yesterday, Mayo could definitely have been caught, but then again will have learned a bit more than Kerry did.

Fascinating tactical battle and given that Donie is on the line with Mayo, I would be very worried that Mayo will have a tactical edge on us.

None of the Kerry v Mayo meetings since 96 are really relevant to the discussion as this is clearly a different Mayo team and a slightly lesser Kerry team aswell to be honest, but I still don't see a whole lot being between the teams either way.

Sure havent ye got Cian "with the bad back who cant travel very far in the car because of it" O'Neill, so theres a double agent in both camps

barry Moran full forward
A o'se in the corner

Barry Moran at full forward isn't a surprise. Doubt Aidan O'Shea will start where he is named.

Surprised Gould isn't starting for the langers.

Ah he probably will, its just Cubby trying to pretend hes an evil genius again. He'll probably have 16 marching in the parade ala Johnno back in the 00's

Joss Moore being back is a big help, should strengthen up the back line a bit.
I see Fitzmaurice is taking a leaf outta James Horans book and putting a third midfielder at 11, does O'Donnell follow him and leave a big hole in the middle or sit and defend and give him free reign.
Personally I'd like to see Mulhullond put the thinking cap on and tell Kavanagh to follow Sheehan and allow O'Donnell sweep across the CHB line and protect the full back line. If ye go man for man I cant see it working.

Well you could have shared that with us earlier 'tubber. We all need good news now and then.

The selection I heard about would change the dynamic considerably.

I'll guess at it, Mikey Sweeney starts in the corner?.

Good housekeeping can address defensive issues. Mayo have some of the best defenders about, even among the forwards. Kevin Mac is probably the best corner back in the Mayo panel. Cillian O Connor's first defensive work rate is brilliant - cue the langers whinging about him in particular. The reason we ve been shaky Sy is our lack of respect for possession in a lot of our games. The amount of 'unnecessary' turnovers v Galway approached 30 and largely explained Galway s respectably score on the day.When we should have been killing them we coughed up soft ball and our backs were exposed several times by silliness in possession. I m hoping that will be reduced by 70% the next day and we will be in business. But if that turnover rate continues we haven t much future. I expect that will have been sorted though. That s the easy bit. I don t get your concern about the defence. It was our forward limitations that did for us last 2 years. As well as tactically being raw on the big day as well.

Can it though? I worry that when you see a pattern develop in a team its almost there for the season. Its not like premiership soccer where for example with so many games and the players working every day on something you can see a bad habit be rectified. We were alot looser in the league this year conceding 133 points when it other years it was 90 and 89 respectively. Having said that the "For" column was up significantly for us as well, as it was for everyone else reflecting the "black card effect" I presume. We scored 148 (14 goals! What forwards?) so maybe this "looseness" was brought about by a change in tackling by the black card. I dunno.
We turned over alot of ball v the Rossies also, although in a different manner, it was more about aimless kicking which was clearly a tactic, and it didnt work. We spent alot of time v Galway either hitting daft passes or getting caught in possession. Christ, listen to me, I'm starting to sound like we lost those two matches. Must go have a lie down.
One thing is gas though, this craic that Mayo don't have forwards that the media keep going on about is an irrelevant statement. If any of them took the time to go look up some stats, outside of the Dubs Mayo are one of the highest scoring teams and in particular in the last three quarter finals where we have just laid wreck (Cork, Down and Donegal). In fact we've arguably peaked at quarter final stage those 3 years which is statistically another reason to back Mayo, for this game anyway.

What's Roscommon like for a sat night out on the town? Maybe get an over night trip for the game? Can you suggest any decent hotels or b&b in the town.

Best B&Bs closest to Roscommon are in Claremorris or Ballyhaunis. Failing that you should base yourself in Ballinasloe or Carrick on Shannon.
Fill up the car with disel, bring some sandwiches, keep the doors and windows locked on the way in, park near the gate of the Hyde, get in and out quick and back across the border as quick as you can, even if that means leaving early and catching the last 10 minutes on the radio.

Oh and look up the HSE site for the list of vaccinations you'll need if visiting Rossieland, its long

In addition to this there should be someone writing a thesis on when shoulders are deemed fair or not. It seems refs seem more focused on whether the receiver gets buckled by the shoulder or not to determine if its legal or not. Witness Boyle's shoulder on someone in maroon yesterday, it was perfectly fair and shoulder to shoulder. Just because the crowd went "oooohhh" and the Galway player nearly ended up in the stand and couldnt get up, Mr Hickey decided it was a foul. Shoulder to shoulder when challenging for the ball was always the rule. Some refs want to take all physical contact outta the game I fear.

Was surprised to read at the weekend that Mayo have more Connacht titles than Galway. Always assumed Galway were way ahead.

That'd be that media bias again, Galway are the darlings of the press with their fancy dan ways Imagine if Mayo hadnt won a game in Croker since 2001, Eugene and Martin would be setting their clocks to write two insightful "specials" a year on the failure of Mayo football.
Having said that, that last match they won was the one that counted in fairness, so unfortunately, while everyone does recognize the achievement of yesterday with 4 provincial crowns in a row (even if we were all saying beforehand "doesntmatteradamn"), until we manage to win the big one again, the incorrect and inaccurate statements about "Mayo choking in Croker Park" will continue to be made and theres only one way to stop it.

But didn't Breheny et al say it was all about him?

Wasn't he jig-acting and jive-talkin' about Galway being the biggest threat to Mayo's four-in-a-row this week? You get better analysis from drunk Hogan Stand posters.

In fairness both he and Eugene McGee have been robbing a living since 1994 or thereabouts

Moran and Dillon as starting forwards are now a luxury we cant afford. Dillo is a legend of the game but it doesnt serve anyone, least of all the player himself for him to be starting. Bring him on with 20 to go and he will make defenders have to think again and is always good for a couple of points

If there is a concern about JH's time it would be that no young kid has been developed. Dublin have had their Mannions, McCafferties and Costellos. All innocent but quality. Horan has put his trust in the older lads and he is going to sink or swim with them now. And that is fair enough imo. But I doubt it will be good enough if we get into last 4 never mind next Sunday. This selection would indicate to me that some senior players and maybe others had a word with management after the Ros. game. The Ros. selection did not make sense and this team is not a development from that. It s like the game in The Hyde was an indulgence. I cant see how that match would have brought on the younger O Sés and O Connors.

I dont think that is JH's fault, I know theres an ongoing debate about Even Regan but whatever the reasons there, and I can only presume they are good ones, the problem has been there hasnt been any young fellas really up for it. The two he had on the last day, probably have it. Cian Hanley, Tommy Conroy and a couple of others from the current minor team might as well, but they are for the future. JH has bemoaned the fact that not enough U-21s have been putting their hands up during his tenure, if they were there I'd say he would be playing them. Its very difficult to make it as a senior IC player, think of all the attributes generally required:
- Skill (obviously)
- Strength and stamina, there are plenty of good young fellas who because of their body types dont really respond well to the S&C programs required for IC standard. They might have the skill but then fall down here. Either they end up getting injured or just dont make the gains required and fall off the pace and cant make it up. That could be improved by getting to them younger, but even looking at something like professional soccer there are plenty of dazzling 14 year olds in academies who never make the cut either despite daily intervention and programs
- Attitude, some players dont have the discipline required to follow the diet and training programs required.
Temperament - Some also cant handle the pressure of playing in a big game. You can see that even at minor level, some fellas thrive in a big game environment, some wilt away. That can be changed and learned, but there are very few third and fourth chances. If you dont have it or learn it quick then your chance could be gone
Luck and selections - very difficult for some positions because either its your bad luck that there is an abundance of talent already in that position and you cant play your way in or you just run into some bad luck
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Where would Moran be - CHF? Kevin Mc surely back to 10?

As it often pains me to say Leeside, if ye were playing anyone else that day except us, ye would have lost 3 in a row. When Larry's goal went in they were shaken but I think we nearly half thought that was enough, we hadnt disgraced ourselves and we could celebrate on that fact alone. And many did.

Bit of a shakeup alright from Fitzmaurice, hard to know where either team or at from the semis. Will the hurlers focusing on football for Cork for 2 weeks make that much of a difference.
Everyone keeps talking about Cork as being contenders but Cuthbert certainly doesn't seem to have much support amongst the grass roots so on balance i think Kerry might sneak it. Fitmaurice is better tactically than Cuthbert and confused the sh*ite outta Clare by man marking Podge Collins when he went back into the half forward line. He acted fast as well when Moran was getting roasted, no choice I suppose but some other managers might have dithered. Cork certainly have the forwards, rest of the team besides Aidan Walsh you would have to wonder about

nobody is safe when the stampede for the back seats in the Rossie bus starts
Lads tog off on the bus now just so they can get it

Bit surprised that O'Donnell wouldn't let the young lads have it to themselves, surely he'd want to be up the front, No?