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Would you say it was an act of honour and integrity for half the Laois football panel to piss of to America after the first rd of the Leinster Championship? Leaving the rest of their teammates and mananagement to face into the qualifiers without them.

It was only 4 and not all counties can hand out pretend jobs and have them paid for.

Ah right it was only 4. That makes it ok then. I'm sure Justin McNuty and the long suffering Laois supporters didn;t mind seen as it was only quarter of the team abandoning the county.

Pretend jobs me hole? Any chance of some detaiil on these pretend jobs or are they as fictitious as your 7 miliion nonsense

[The money was mostly used to improve the playing standard of Dublin in football and hurling, elite squads with elite coaches and top level equipment and facilities.
I don't have the details of the plan, I can't tell you about the specifics.
Those things are irrelevent to this thread. This is about Dublin being bought success.
Start a new thread about unionism.

This is vague unsubstatiated nonsense. The reason you don't have any detail is your making it up. 7 million of taxpayers money my hole!

Dublin haven't won an All Ireland since 1995, they've bought 2 however and I agree there will be more on the way.
Laois may be useless but at least we're competing with honour and integrity.

Would you say it was an act of honour and integrity for half the Laois football panel to piss of to America after the first rd of the Leinster Championship? Leaving the rest of their teammates and mananagement to face into the qualifiers without them.

I fixed your post as the young people would say.

You keep spouting your vile anti Dublin propoganda and we'll keep winning All Irelands. Maybe not 7 million of them but lots and lots. Meanwhile Laois will contue to wallow in its own mediocrity, blaming everyone else for their own inadequacies.

[I just pondered the needless throwing in of a phrase in every second line.]

Of course, let me add that there is nothing a detest more than snobbery in terms of irish or any other language. Those that think they are great at it, and give no time or respect to the problems of learners putting in the effort. I would consider myself to have a good understanding of the language, but I don't claim to know more than coggins by any means, I just pondered the needless throwing in of a phrase in every second line.The main point is: Clucko didn't speak any irish

No you didn't just ponder the needless throwing in of a phrase. You accused Goggins of bluffing and claimed you had never heard so much nonsense in your whole life. Your original post is a masterclass in the snobbery you claim to detest!

At least Geezer showed a bit of emotion when lifting Sam. You would have thought Cluxton's puppy had just been mowed down.

I'll send a memo to DUblin County Board to get this and the Irish thing sorted out for future All Ireland presentations and theres going to be lots of them. Thanks a million for pointing it out lads.

I've heard many reports of disgusting incidents from Dubs on the Hill directed to other fans. So I would imagine some counties fans don't want to go near the Hill for such reasons, so they leave it to the knackers Dubs.

Hey Benny. 2 All Irelands in 3 years. Not bad for a shower of kn**ker fuckwits! Suck it up now like a good boy.

Regarding the cynical fouling at the end of the match. Mayo did exactly the same to us at for the last 20 minutes of last years semi final. As a Dub I'm not proud of it and would of preferred if we had stayed playing attacking football. However the rules as they currently stand don't penalise it sufficently. Maybe the black card will solve the problem.

Secondly, if McQuillan told COC that there was 30seconds left as Andy Moran claims well COC wasted most of those 30 seconds taking the free. I couldnt believe how long he took over it.

Thought this was worth sharing.


An open letter to the Mayo team

" What we are living a lifetime for"

Dear lads

Here we go again. Another September and we rest our dream on your young shoulders. It's a lot for you to carry on All-Ireland Final day. But if we can't trust you, where else can we turn. We're squeezing the ticket of a lifelong journey into your safe hands for you to get us a travel pass so as we can live a dream.

Who are we? We're the woman serving the meal at a wedding in the Castlecourt. We're the kid playing in the schoolyard. We're the girls on the B shift in Baxter. The exiles in London or Long Island. The five Ballinrobe lads who took off one morning for Australia.

The patient in hospital wearing her Mayo neckband. We're the mother who worries daily about the price of the school books or the uniform. We're the fly by nights, the chancers, the sleeveens, and the all right sort of an 'auld character'.

We're the singletons, the married, the divorced, the widowers and the widowed. We're the dreamers and believers and the legends of the road. We're Mayo.

You're the gift we inherited when dad brought us to see you play. It's the Sunday of childhood that has become every day or our life since. From high infants you were there.

We were Morley and Prendergast in sixth class. In secondary school you were with us too. Tickeen and Joeeen. We were you wearing our Mayo socks in Presentation College Headford. No replica jerseys then. It was years later we proudly adorned ourselves in Larry's (McEllin) famous shirt.

You were there playing gooseberry when we fell in love. If she had no heed in football she was ditched. Didn't matter a damn if she had a dowry and road frontage. Ours was a different kind of love. Monday's when we woke with our football hearts broken.

You were there when the kids were born. We passed on the baton on. The easiest gospel we ever preached. All the roaring getting them up for Mass we could have saved ourselves if the priest wore red and green vestments. They are mothers themselves now. In the car with us now on this crusade. Full driving license too. The next generation in the back. Too big a stack to be strapped in the baby seat either. A growing reminder that precious time is slipping away.

Because of you we have to put an extra set of tyres and tax the car most years. Never had a right holiday either.
Wouldn't know Lanzarote from Pavorotti.

Met a woman once who was going to Cornwall. "Ah lovely," I said by way of saying something. "Were you ever there?" she asked. "No" I replied, feeling a right idiot.

Didn't bother asking her was she in Scotstown on a cold crisp January Sunday in 1996, the day Kenny Mortimer was sent off. We burdened Kenny and his brothers with this dream too. Left it on Noel Connelly's shoulder also. Others too like Ronaldson, Geraghty, the genius Ciaran McDonald, Willie Joe and McStay. They were worthy of our hopes and aspirations. Their want was ours.

You're the reason we clutched at straws in the gale. 1985 when Mayo and Monaghan were in the All-Ireland semi-finals and some pleb told us Old Moore's predicted two M's would meet in the All-Ireland. We scoured every page for confirmation, but two M's for the Maam Cross Fair was as near as we got. We just want from you one September Sunday when an unimaginable world unfolds.

Small things will do us thereafter. A night around Christmas when the family are gathered. A warm fire and we watching the video of Mayo winning the All-Ireland Final of 2013. Hair still standing on the napes of our necks.

We'll get a nice picture too standing between Donal, Kenneth, Mickey and Colm holding the Sam Maguire. For the coffin. Our jersey strewn on the lid beside it and the congregation singing our Mayo anthem "The Green and Red of Mayo" when they wheel us out. That's what we're living a lifetime for. You're carrying us on your shoulders now. In Mayo we trust.

Good Luck

Willie McHugh

Jaysis, I'm a Dub and thats after making me cry a little bit. If the worst happens on Sunday amd Mayo win, reading that again will make me feel a small bit better.

So Brennan is dropped for Bastick, and Cian O Sullivan is going centre back.
Also Philly McMahon starting at corner back. A lot of changes.

Sounds like the Dubs are putting their best foot forward but it smacks of fear a little bit too.

Sure they expect O Suillivan to take Dillon but that takes a lot of pace from the Dublin midfield. Brennan was always the link man out of defence, crucial for short kickouts and generally set up the play for Dublin. He is a loss despite what they say in the media this week.

Is that official?? Seems like a lot of changes alright - the problem is that they could do with COS playing at both CHB and in MF. Would have preferred to see Brennan in there as I think he's a weak link.

Seems like Liam McHale agrees with you

http://hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=201241

[Now Dublin met Tyrone in the league final and only won by a single point. And don't bother telling me that the league doesn't count either.]

But Lar, this Mayo team hasn't been tested yet.....

Arra, g'wan outa that and don't be encouraging that Sidney fella. He'd give a cabbage head a migraine as it is without your help.
So both of ye think Mayo hasn't been tested yet, do ye? Hah?
I'd say the rest of civilisation as we know it would regard the Tyrone match as a test of Mayo's character and self-belief. They managed to pull off a ten point turnaround into the bargain.
Now Dublin met Tyrone in the league final and only won by a single point. And don't bother telling me that the league doesn't count either. 'Twas no secret that Tyrone were using that game to fine tune their preparations for their opening championship match against Donegal. They took it seriously alright and so did the Dubs.
To get out of Leinster, Dublin beat Westmeath, Kildare and Meath along the way. None of them could be called serious contenders for anything with only Kildare playing in the first division of the league.
In fact, the lowest placed league team, Meath, put the frighteners on the Dubs before running out of gas in the closing stages.
Kildare were feck all use either; Tyrone accounted for them handy enough and we all know what happened to Tyrone, don't we?
The Dubs played Cork in the quarters and if you were to go by all the blather spouted about that game, they got a right good test from the langers. At that stage, some of Dublin's fair weather supporters were talking in terms of winning the fecking premiership as well as the Triple Crown, never mind being a sure cert for the AI.

Let the hype build up, Farr; don't go into meltdown just yet.

After all, Cork barely scraped by Galway and you know what happened to the heron chokers when we met them.
For the last few weeks I've been getting an earful of hype about the Dublin v Kerry match and sure enough it was a damn fine game but Kerry knocked in three goals in the first 20 minutes and the Dubs only pulled clear in the last five minutes or so. Mayo won't have any thirty somethings to slow them down when the craic starts on Sunday.
Rory O'Carroll better than Cafferky? Alan Freeman will knock all thoughts of football right outa his head.

Well if the league counts as much as you claim ye are in real trouble. We beat ye handy in this years semi final!

I genuinely feel that the Mayo full back line is as suspect as Dublin's Brogan has always done well on Caffrerkey and has given him at least one roasting. Cunniffe and Barrett have done well this year but through no fault of their own have not really had to play on the back foot at all except for 20mins against Tyrone and then they looked a little ropey.

You seem to be forgetting the little matter of the All Ireland semi final last year, it was the Wednesday before Brogan got out of his pocket

I thought Brogan got a couple of points. Cafferkey also badly misjudged a line ball from Kilkenny which let Bernard through on goal with a couple of mins to go. Granted Bernard made a b***ix of it. Anyway I'm not denying Cafferkey is a good player and an all star I just feel Mayo are a little suspect in the full back line. As an outsuder looking in I would of thought that Keith Higgins would be the best Corner Back in Mayo and he is playing Centre Forward. He does a decent job there but would Richie Feeney not be just as effective?

[Now Dublin met Tyrone in the league final and only won by a single point. And don't bother telling me that the league doesn't count either.]

But Lar, this Mayo team hasn't been tested yet.....

Arra, g'wan outa that and don't be encouraging that Sidney fella. He'd give a cabbage head a migraine as it is without your help.
So both of ye think Mayo hasn't been tested yet, do ye? Hah?
I'd say the rest of civilisation as we know it would regard the Tyrone match as a test of Mayo's character and self-belief. They managed to pull off a ten point turnaround into the bargain.
Now Dublin met Tyrone in the league final and only won by a single point. And don't bother telling me that the league doesn't count either. 'Twas no secret that Tyrone were using that game to fine tune their preparations for their opening championship match against Donegal. They took it seriously alright and so did the Dubs.
To get out of Leinster, Dublin beat Westmeath, Kildare and Meath along the way. None of them could be called serious contenders for anything with only Kildare playing in the first division of the league.
In fact, the lowest placed league team, Meath, put the frighteners on the Dubs before running out of gas in the closing stages.
Kildare were feck all use either; Tyrone accounted for them handy enough and we all know what happened to Tyrone, don't we?
The Dubs played Cork in the quarters and if you were to go by all the blather spouted about that game, they got a right good test from the langers. At that stage, some of Dublin's fair weather supporters were talking in terms of winning the fecking premiership as well as the Triple Crown, never mind being a sure cert for the AI.

Let the hype build up, Farr; don't go into meltdown just yet.

After all, Cork barely scraped by Galway and you know what happened to the heron chokers when we met them.
For the last few weeks I've been getting an earful of hype about the Dublin v Kerry match and sure enough it was a damn fine game but Kerry knocked in three goals in the first 20 minutes and the Dubs only pulled clear in the last five minutes or so. Mayo won't have any thirty somethings to slow them down when the craic starts on Sunday.
Rory O'Carroll better than Cafferky? Alan Freeman will knock all thoughts of football right outa his head.

Well if the league counts as much as you claim ye are in real trouble. We beat ye handy in this years semi final!

I genuinely feel that the Mayo full back line is as suspect as Dublin's Brogan has always done well on Caffrerkey and has given him at least one roasting. Cunniffe and Barrett have done well this year but through no fault of their own have not really had to play on the back foot at all except for 20mins against Tyrone and then they looked a little ropey.

McStay cutely giving examples of Referees giving wrong decisions.

http://hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=201108

He has lost any credibilty he had with that nonsense.

Billy Morgan managed Cork from 1986, lost two finals in 87 and 88 before the breakthrough.

Pat O'Neill managed the Dubs in 1995 and it was his first year.

Both prove opposite points.

Pat O Neill actually took over in 1993 after the Donegal fiasco in 1992. There was actually a small heave to get rid of o Neill after Down beat us narrowly in 194 but the DCB held firm.

I also really can't see how people think / believe that refs are intentional bias (if they do think that I, than it must be there own bias opinion).  It's just not in refs interest!!!  All the top inter-county refs have worked hard and spend huge amount of there personal time to reach that level. Some are better than others, but I firmly believe they're all trying to be impartial and fair where possible.  That said, I won't disagree with anyone who says they need to keep improving.

Thats an excellent point well made.