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[the only team to come within 3 points of them is Mayo who have drawn with them twice.]

Since the 22nd August 2010 Dublin have only lost 2 championship games. Once to Donegal and once to Mayo
Micky seems to have gone all in on the Donegal tactics as the way to be the third team to beat them.

Since that fateful day in August 2014 Dublin have not lost a championship match and the only team to come within 3 points of them is Mayo who have drawn with them twice.

Why is Mciky Harte so convinced this is the way to beat Dublin

Kerry lost by 2 points to Dublin the All Ireland semi final last year, the sides were level with 72 minutes played and the last two Dublin points were scored deep into injury time in the 74th and 75th minute.

Not sure how convinced he is but Mr Harte probably believes Tyrone are as good as both Kerry and Mayo.

Oh I've no doubt Mickey Harte feels his team are better then Kerry or Mayo. On what basis he feels this I don't yet know  but why is he so convinced the style of football he has spent the last couple of years at is the way to go

You'd be a pretty shite manager if you weren't convinced that what you were working on for the last couple of years, was the way to go. Mickey isn't a shite manager and is probably convinced that his team are better than last year when they really should have beaten Mayo.

Mickey  has gone all in on this system despite the fact they couldn't even beat Mayo with it last year. What happens if come Sunday it transpires that Jim Galvin has it sussed. Donegal 2014 was 3 years ago and Dublin are playing a different game now.

[the only team to come within 3 points of them is Mayo who have drawn with them twice.]

Since the 22nd August 2010 Dublin have only lost 2 championship games. Once to Donegal and once to Mayo
Micky seems to have gone all in on the Donegal tactics as the way to be the third team to beat them.

Since that fateful day in August 2014 Dublin have not lost a championship match and the only team to come within 3 points of them is Mayo who have drawn with them twice.

Why is Mciky Harte so convinced this is the way to beat Dublin

Kerry lost by 2 points to Dublin the All Ireland semi final last year, the sides were level with 72 minutes played and the last two Dublin points were scored deep into injury time in the 74th and 75th minute.

Not sure how convinced he is but Mr Harte probably believes Tyrone are as good as both Kerry and Mayo.

Oh I've no doubt Mickey Harte feels his team are better then Kerry or Mayo. On what basis he feels this I don't yet know  but why is he so convinced the style of football he has spent the last couple of years at is the way to go 

[Since that fateful day in August 2014 Dublin have not lost a championship match and the only team to come within 3 points of them is Mayo who have drawn with them twice.]

Since the 22nd August 2010 Dublin have only lost 2 championship games. Once to Donegal and once to Mayo
Micky seems to have gone all in on the Donegal tactics as the way to be the third team to beat them.

Since that fateful day in August 2014 Dublin have not lost a championship match and the only team to come within 3 points of them is Mayo who have drawn with them twice.

Why is Mciky Harte so convinced this is the way to beat Dublin

Kerry lost by 2 in 2016 and by 3 in 2015...but carry on.

Ya your right. Point stays the same. Care to offer anything else

Since the 22nd August 2010 Dublin have only lost 2 championship games. Once to Donegal and once to Mayo
Micky seems to have gone all in on the Donegal tactics as the way to be the third team to beat them.

Since that fateful day in August 2014 Dublin have not lost a championship match and the only team to come within 3 points of them is Mayo who have drawn with them twice.

Why is Mciky Harte so convinced this is the way to beat Dublin

Horan got his match ups wrong in Limerick and all the plamás in the world won't hide the fact that Donaghy destroyed Cafferkey that day. What good Horan undoubtedly did for Mayo football should not be used as an excuse for allowing Donaghy to score 2-7 and end Mayo's chances for another year.

Donaghy got one score in the drawn game one goal, JOD got 2-6.

This is the 2nd time today you said that Donaghy got 2-7.

Fair enough. It's just that JOD got most of his scores from breakdowns/ assists by Donaghy and I was writing in a hurry. Donaghy's goal was one of the softest I have seen at this level.. The ref was also responsible for making a bags of the game. Even Colm O'Rourke, his fellow-county man, said he gave an awful display and at the time he wrote this, Graham Reilly hadn't been given another intercounty game to ref. There were several factors that swung the game in Kerry's favour but Donaghy/O'Donaghue been were allowed a free hand throughout the game and that was an issue that Horan could have done something about.

Just out of interest Lar what tactic would you have used that day. Now before answering just remember that Donaghy came in midfield  with about 10 minutes to go in the first game when his team were 2 points down. They subsequently ended up 5 points down before a last throw of the dice he wandered into full forward. He won two ball here. One over Kevin McLoughlin and the other on Cafferkey.
Also remember that on the same day Mayo started with a sweeper system because of James O Donoghue. This was probably only the second time this happened under Horan, the first been against London in his first championship match. This ended up with Mayo 5 points and a man down at half time before this was abandoned.
So Lar, what tactic would you have used that would have despite a dodgy referee, the 2 main players getting concussed and everything else that came with that day, have prevented Donaghy from scoring that deflected goal.

I suppose it's always easy to be wise after the event and in any case, no amount of "if only..." will change anything either.
However, as you have already said, Donaghy had a profound influence on proceedings after he came on in the drawn game. Now, unless my memory is playing tricks (and not for thr the first time either) it was obvious that he'd be moved to FF for the replay. Maher was fit again and it was clear that he and Moran had the beating of whoever Mayo played against them. Donaghy was definitely going to start and the only logical place to put him was the full forward position.
As for the goal itself, I thought it was a case of waiting for an accident to happen. I know Graham Reilly made a bags of the reffing, where he got a few major calls wrong but it could also be said that Caff could have been blown up more for repeatedly fouling Donaghy.
I think Tom Cunnifee was assigned to double mark O'Donoghue in the drawn game but I don't think a sweeper of any sort was used in Limerick. Keith Higgins and Jamesy had one hell of a duel all through the game but with Donaghy outfielding Caff every time and without Cunniffe to lay the ball off to, it was inevitable that Keith had to attempt to block down a number of shots and one of them spilled into Donaghy's path. He was unchallenged as he gratefully took the chance offered to him and was able to lift his hoof and tap the ball in.
The Mayo fullback line was (still is?) liable to leak at least one goal per game for loose marking, eg Murphy in 2012 and Bernard Brogan the following year.
Anyhow, if I had to pick a reason for the damage Donaghy/ O'Donoughue were causing, I'd look to midfield. Barry Moran and Seamie were no match for Maher and Moran and, IMO, Mayo's problems started here. The Kerry midfielders and the likes of Buckley, Walsh and just about anyone who cared, were able time after time, to kick long, high ball dropping in front of the Mayo goal.
It was obvious that Kerry had worked on this in training and, even though, it was always going to be a danger for Mayo, no preparations had been made to prevent them having the free space and time to pick out Donagy and land the ball in on top of him.

Ok. So originally Horan's mistake was pairing Cafferkey with Donaghy. Now it's midfield. 
When you say no preparations had been made to prevent them having free space and time to pick out Donaghy, you couldn't be further from the truth. This was always Horan's mantra to try and prevent decent ball coming in. After the 2012 final it was the men out the pitch and not the full back line who received the criticism from Horan for Donegals goals. If players didn't do it on the day, so be it, but to blame management for this is just silly.
Yes Mayo were prone to leaking goals but they also put up good scores as well. When you play without a sweeper you run the risk of this and if you start pulling a forward out of the much maligned Mayo forward line to start sweeping well you have to think of the effect all over the pitch
As regards Ger Cafferkey, you'd swear he was just some chump that Horan picked from the stand to mark Donaghy. Cafferkey was an All Star in 2012 and probably played even better in 2013. In the 2011 semi final Donaghy didn't get a sniff of him.
Cafferkey was royally shafted by Reilly in Limerck and this is the reason Donaghy had such an effect on the game.
So Lar,  back to the question, what would you have done that wouldn't be considered a poor tactical decision

Horan got his match ups wrong in Limerick and all the plamás in the world won't hide the fact that Donaghy destroyed Cafferkey that day. What good Horan undoubtedly did for Mayo football should not be used as an excuse for allowing Donaghy to score 2-7 and end Mayo's chances for another year.

Donaghy got one score in the drawn game one goal, JOD got 2-6.

This is the 2nd time today you said that Donaghy got 2-7.

Fair enough. It's just that JOD got most of his scores from breakdowns/ assists by Donaghy and I was writing in a hurry. Donaghy's goal was one of the softest I have seen at this level.. The ref was also responsible for making a bags of the game. Even Colm O'Rourke, his fellow-county man, said he gave an awful display and at the time he wrote this, Graham Reilly hadn't been given another intercounty game to ref. There were several factors that swung the game in Kerry's favour but Donaghy/O'Donaghue been were allowed a free hand throughout the game and that was an issue that Horan could have done something about.

Just out of interest Lar what tactic would you have used that day. Now before answering just remember that Donaghy came in midfield  with about 10 minutes to go in the first game when his team were 2 points down. They subsequently ended up 5 points down before a last throw of the dice he wandered into full forward. He won two ball here. One over Kevin McLoughlin and the other on Cafferkey.
Also remember that on the same day Mayo started with a sweeper system because of James O Donoghue. This was probably only the second time this happened under Horan, the first been against London in his first championship match. This ended up with Mayo 5 points and a man down at half time before this was abandoned.
So Lar, what tactic would you have used that would have despite a dodgy referee, the 2 main players getting concussed and everything else that came with that day, have prevented Donaghy from scoring that deflected goal.

Who's the ref for this?

Maurice Deegan 

Maurice brought in to ensure the dream final. The only surprise is Dublin Joe or the St Judes man aren't reffing the other semi.But no doubt McColdrick will step up to the mark

[I don't think our lads are whinging about it much.]

The booing was more likely from a small band of jarred up lads. I don't think our lads are whinging about it much.

You Sy, are now whinging because if we were whinging in the first place about it we now will stop because of the Roskie CB statement.

Ye should be more worried about Enda Smith limping off the field at the end rather than our supposed whinging.

You mustn't visit MayoGAABlog, Midwest or Mayo GAA Banter or major national outlets much so.

Enda's no more hurt than Andy's feelings.

Syf, surely you have a job to go to? You seem to spend an unhealthy amount of time scrutinising the likes of MayoGAABlog, Midwest or Mayo GAA Banter or whatever yer havin' yerself and coming back here to bother us with what ever tidbit of nonsense you find there.
Who gives a f**k damn about any of those sites or what some gobshite may or may not have posted there?
Surely you have something similar in the land of the sheep stealers?
Mac and his panel disassociated themselves from the behaviour of certain louts last Sunday. That's laudable but you shouldn't get orgiastic pleasure from the mere fact that the behaviour of some Rossie "fans" was so bad that your management and players felt the need to condemn this sort of behaviour.
There may be other counties where some elements resort to this objectionable carry on but we are not discussing other counties here.
Two wrongs don't make a right not even east of the Lung river  where general behaviour can be a bit agricultural at times.
Leave it be, there is no need to keep on fecking your soother outa yer pram.

I think child labour laws in this country prohibit him from working

In other words STFU and stop embarrassing us

Hopefully the earlier throw in will give some of the thick asses less chance to get juiced up before the match.

[McLoughlin seemed to have developed into a very effective sweeper last year and in the big games against Tyrone and Dublin it seemed to add them with a bit of defensive structure and security which they always seemed to lack in the big games.]

What's your verdict on Rochford, lads?

They seem to be ambling along under him and while unquestionably they were unlucky against Dublin last year, they used up a fair amount of their lives against Fermanagh, Tyrone, Derry and Cork as well as two exits in Connacht against Galway.

McLoughlin seemed to have developed into a very effective sweeper last year and in the big games against Tyrone and Dublin it seemed to add them with a bit of defensive structure and security which they always seemed to lack in the big games. This year he seems to have been completely abandoned it and the ease at which Cork cut right through the middle of Mayo yesterday is very worrying from their point of view. Mayo really are the own worst enemies at times.

I remember last year in injury time against Tyrone they hit a really loose free across their own goals which was intercepted and McCurry snatched at a great chance to draw us level. Yesterday you had an experienced player like Alan Dillon doing pretty much the exact same thing again. Mayo's ability to self destruct is unrivaled in the game and more that a porous defence, management and player discord or lack of a marquee forward, it is what has cost them an All Ireland.

My problem with what the players did with Holmes and Connelly in 2015 was that there seemed to be zero introspection on their own part in why they never won an All Ireland, 2 years on and the same sort of meltdowns are still happening with Mayo footballers in pressure cooker situations. They're good enough to win but they seem determined not to address their propensity to explode.

John Small got Man of the Match in the drawn final last year because McLoughlin was back playing sweeper. Time and time again Small received the ball with nobody near him and set up attack after attack scoring a point to booth. I would discount the own goal as that was unfortunate but personally I love seeing McLoughlin playing sweeper against us.

Dublin scored 5 points from play in that very same game. Hardly the best example you  could have used

If we're not good enough for Senior.......
We are this year though
So "just winning the AI" is just a nuisance thing?
Sure why have competition at all? Why keep scores? Why does the team who scores most go on to another round? Why have cups and medals?

The underdog stories like Down,Roscommon winning against the odds v Monaghan,Galway this summer or Tipp reaching AI semi final last year is what is makes this competition a bit special. Look at any cup competitions across the world, the top teams more often or not will win them but its the underdog stories that will last a lifetime e.g non or lower league team in England causing a few upsets in the FA Cup.

Exactly and the memories Tipp players and supporters got from winning last years All Ireland quarter final is something they will never forget while in comparison winning a B competition will be quickly forgotten.

That is a value judgement.
Is winning the Pro 12 a joke ?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBALg4xBWXQ
Or would it be better to lose valiantly in the pool group of TAFKA Heineken cup?

I don't know what your point is. The pro 12 is not a B competition.

It effectively is. How many English and French clubs does it have ?

Ok you have me totally lost. Why would English and French teams be in a competition for teams from Ireland, Scotland Wales and Italy. Does this make the English Premiership or French Super 12 also B competitions. Where does it stop. Are you suggesting in Soccer the  Premiership or La Liga are B competitions because they don't have all the top sides from Europe.

If you're looking at it like that then we already have B championships. The Connacht or Ulster Championship doesn't involve Kerry or Dublin.

Carlow captain Darragh Foley says a second tier championship does not appeal to him.

A championship for lower-ranked counties has been mooted again this year but Foley feels it would be of no benefit to the Barrowsiders, whom face Monaghan at home this weekend in round three of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.

"It wouldn't appeal to me. If you're playing in a 'B' championship you're seen as a lesser player," Foley told the Irish Independent.

"We'd never get a chance in a 'B' championship like we're getting on Saturday - playing a Division 1 team in a Round 3 qualifier at home before Sky TV cameras. That's where you want to be."

You see that's where he is wrong! If there was a last 12 or quarter final place for the second tier winners there would be a chance of playing a Division 1 team before Sky cameras. And they would have had a couple of games in the Championship and Silverware!

Sure what would he know about it.

So he goes into a last 12 or last 8. So lets say 16 in top tier, 16 in bottom. How do we go about this craic where the winner of bottom tier all of a sudden landing into the last 12 of the top tier. This means the bottom tier will have to be wrapped up before the top tier even attempts to take of properly.

If we're not good enough for Senior.......
We are this year though
So "just winning the AI" is just a nuisance thing?
Sure why have competition at all? Why keep scores? Why does the team who scores most go on to another round? Why have cups and medals?

The underdog stories like Down,Roscommon winning against the odds v Monaghan,Galway this summer or Tipp reaching AI semi final last year is what is makes this competition a bit special. Look at any cup competitions across the world, the top teams more often or not will win them but its the underdog stories that will last a lifetime e.g non or lower league team in England causing a few upsets in the FA Cup.

Exactly and the memories Tipp players and supporters got from winning last years All Ireland quarter final is something they will never forget while in comparison winning a B competition will be quickly forgotten.

That is a value judgement.
Is winning the Pro 12 a joke ?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBALg4xBWXQ
Or would it be better to lose valiantly in the pool group of TAFKA Heineken cup?

I don't know what your point is. The pro 12 is not a B competition.

a "nothing" incident involving Cillian O'Connor.

You should be thankful that none of the pundits pointed out how your darling innocent lad very cynically threw himself to the ground as though he had been shot immediately after raising his hands to the Clare lad's face in order to avoid getting sent off during that highlighted incident.

Dirty players like CoC deserve to have their antics exposed and shamed.

Jaysus how did Miissy miss that one. And to think the county board are paying him for this shit

[the Commercial and Marketing Manager for Dublin GAA]

Thought Tomas Quinn was excellent tonight.

RTE must be under severe pressure from sponsors to get back in Dublins good books.

Like ffs, the Commercial and Marketing Manager for Dublin GAA brought on as a pundit on the show.Can nobody see the irony of this after the ass Jim Gavin made of himself a couple of weeks ago. I could only laugh when I seen him talking about zoomed in grainy footage of Cillian O'Connor that shows nothing

I completely forgot he was in that role. That HAS to be a pander to Dublin GAA to try to smooth relations. Could you imagine if they invited on the Mayo PRO as an analyst ffs!
You're spot on about the Cillian O'Connor incident - even zoomed in, there is nothing to see, yet they choose to highlight that over the many ACTUAL red card incidents that occurred in games over the weekend.
Dublin and Kerry men trying to sew the seed in referees minds for further down the line - their media machines are working very nicely. Des Cahill is either complicit in it or doesn't even see what's going on around him  

The paranoia is setting in early this year.

Do you not see how ridiculous it looks two weeks after Jim Gavin makes such a huge issue out of the Sunday Game coverage of Diarmuid Connolly,  that Mossy Quinn the Dublin GAA Commercial and Marketing Manager appears as a pundit on the very same program and tries to make an issue of a nothing incident involving Cillian O'Connor.