Messages

Phew....Huge 3 points.  Plenty to work on though

Frampton winning this easily at the minute.

A class act. Could rule the roost in this division.

[Yeah, I've never seen a forward pull and drag out of a tight marking defender]

Yeah, I've never seen a forward pull and drag out of a tight marking defender

Works both ways and giving umpires 'more power' is a ridiculous idea, less power but two refs makes a lot more sense.

roll your eyes all you want dangleberry. I was at an ulster championship match this year, the first thing the full back down was to grab the forward by the throat and squeeze. then threw a couple of elbows into his back. All before the ref threw the ball in. Should the umpire not have brought this to the refs attention as was watching it with a shocked look on his face instead of looking at his feet?

And?

My point is that forwards pull and drag too.  this was aimed at the view that only backs foul...... so yeah

eh? obviously you're a deep thinker. So I'll just let you get on with your thinking

Eh? Obviously you're not, so yeah, move on there. Next time read it a few times before replying, good lad.

You're a dangleberry

[Apparently completely untrue but doesn't stop the raft of conversation about it online]

Rumours circling on Twitter Super Mario laced the boot in a Wolves player's head today in a closed doors game.

Apparently completely untrue but doesn't stop the raft of conversation about it online. Won the game 1-0 Borini scored. Magical Italian front line - B&B.

:-)

[but deliberate bodily contact (such as punching, slapping, arm holding, pushing, tripping, jersey pulling or a full frontal charge) is forbidden]

At the top level the game, the sport is too fast and too professional for amateur refs. Is it time for professional refs? An additional ref may help as a ref closer to the decision might have more chance of getting it right and less chance of being conned by a cute player.

Also on the rule about 2/3/4 etc men tackles. The rule is a player(s) May tackle an opponent for the ball so there is nothing wrong with multiple defenders tackling and the offensive player should be blown for over carrying if they have over carried

on that last point Dave. Show me footage of 2/3/4 men all tackling the ball at the same time. Dont even think it is physically possible without the player in possession getting slapped, which is a foul

The rule doesn't say they have to tackle the ball only that a player in possession may be tackled by an opponent or opponents. If no individual defender is fouling then it's not a foul simply because there are three or four of them there

The tackle is defined in the official rules as 'the tackle is aimed at the ball, not the man'. A plethora of men slapping at a man in position is a foul all day long. Seeing a reck of men near dry riding an opponent to get the ball is a poor spectacle

The tackle is defined as "The Tackle is a skill by which a player may dispossess an opponent or frustrate his objective within the Rules of Fair Play. The tackle is aimed at the ball, not the player. The tackler may use his body to confront the opponent but deliberate bodily contact (such as punching, slapping, arm holding, pushing, tripping, jersey pulling or a full frontal charge) is forbidden. The only deliberate physical contact can be a Fair Charge i.e. Shoulder-to-shoulder with at least one foot on the ground. More than one player can tackle the player in possession"

So again the rule doesn't say the ball has to be tackled just that it has to be the aim of the tackle and that no deliberate contact other than a charge is allowed so again if no individual defender is fouling then the fact there are two, three or more defenders there doesn't make it a foul. 

Also as stated in the definition, the tackle is a skill just like any other skill in the game and well organised defences can be just as interesting as any man to man system of yesteryear. 

To avoid multiple men tackling, move the ball quickly and make sure the man in possession always has plenty of options and doesn't have to go into contact.

I completely appreciate tackling is a skill. I was a defender myself. The first bit in bold, the slapping etc is forbidden, ie a foul. How many times have you seen 3/4/5 men all tackling the ball? Its pretty much physically impossible without the man in possession getting slapped about surely? To me, its a foul pretty much everytime.
Tackling is the biggest issue for refs. How many times would you watch a match a tackle happens and you think, whats he gonna give? a: a free to the man in possession or b: penalise for over carrying. 4 men tackling a man might be OK one time, 2 mins later its a foul. Game after game its the same.

For me, Id allow only one man to tackle a player. The game should be skills lead, tackling, shooting , passing etc, with the brut force scrum like tackling sidelined . Trial it at least

[Yeah, I've never seen a forward pull and drag out of a tight marking defender]

Yeah, I've never seen a forward pull and drag out of a tight marking defender

Works both ways and giving umpires 'more power' is a ridiculous idea, less power but two refs makes a lot more sense.

roll your eyes all you want dangleberry. I was at an ulster championship match this year, the first thing the full back down was to grab the forward by the throat and squeeze. then threw a couple of elbows into his back. All before the ref threw the ball in. Should the umpire not have brought this to the refs attention as was watching it with a shocked look on his face instead of looking at his feet?

And?

My point is that forwards pull and drag too.  this was aimed at the view that only backs foul...... so yeah

eh? obviously you're a deep thinker. So I'll just let you get on with your thinking

[armatures.]

Stupid idea and a non runner, in football there should be no reason why a referee should not be more 15/20 metres away from the a player with the ball. That's a hell of a lot closer than supporters (who know all the rules). The referee at the other end will be standing about like a dick!!

In hurling it's different one puck of the ball and you can be 60/70 yards away from the ball. But with good positioning and a good knowledge of the players you can get yourself in an area that you can see almost everything. We are going over the top on this, amateur sport played and officiated by armatures.

armature:   the part of an electric motor or generator that produces an electric current when it turns in a magnetic field

I haven't heard much torque about this!

Thats funny in fairness MR2 :-)

Half Backs
   
Dessie Mone 3/1

Should not be in the equation.

you know little about football if you think Dessie Mone shouldnt be in the reckoning. Has been consistantly top class all year and while others were floundering, he kept on battling. Fierce competitor who rarely fails to deliver and fine footballer (ps, can be a right royal pain in the hole at times too)

People going overboard on Spillane. He's decent but it's not as if he's doing wreck every game. Got 0-1 from play in Munster final.
If we're talking best minors in last 20 years or so he is nowhere near the top of the tree. Guys like Jack Ferriter, Noel Kennelly (3 years a minor, 5 at u21!) Dara O'Cinnéide are the best I've seen. Beano McDonald from Laois played minor at 16 and was brilliant. The Tyrone team of 97/98 had Declan McCrossan, McAnnallen, Mark Harte and a guy called Richard Thornton who were all brilliant. I was convinced Raymond Mulgrew was the next Seán Kavanagh when I saw him dominate the 2004 AI minor final for Tyrone.

Try Cormac Costello lads. As good as all the above and better then most.and he carried it through to u21 and senior.

Granted things didn't go his way last Sunday.

I thought Con O'Callaghan was the new hotness in Dublin, Indy.

Was always a big ask for any young lad to deal with a team as physical as Dublin. Jack Mc and Kilkenny hit a wall in the later stages of last year's championship too.

Both excellent players all the same. But Cormac is perfectly two footed the others aren't quite there at that.

Cormac is the best underage footballer I've ever seen in Dublin and I've seen a lot. Cormac made some fantastic runs last week even with the blanket defence and yet never once did he receive the ball. But he should have remained for impact- that was the wrong game for him.

Best minors I've seen this year would be Campbell and Mc Brearty from Donegal, O Callaghan from Dublin, a corner back for Mayo whose name escapes me and Spillane.

As much as I dislike Bonner he's done a fine job with that Donegal team.

But Donegal should be good at Gaelic Football - they play no other sports up there and really their structures have been a shambles until about 5 years ago.

What are you talking about?  Soccer is huge in Donegal.  Even the intercounty GAA players play in the Donegal leagues (or at least did- not sure if McGuinness allows it). And we have a LOI team, modest as it is, that sucks up a fair few lads with senior Gaelic football potential. Even the local junior rugby leagues are manned by quite a few GAA players.

And you dislike Declan Bonner too? 

soccer is king in north Donegal. Ive seen the Donegal team play live and Ive never seen a bigger more physically imposing minor team, who can obviously play football.

A friend was in Gweedore a good few years ago and watched na Rossa take on Gaoth Dobhair in a senior match. There was a squad of Bonners playing and seemingly Declan was the looker  :-)

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/regional/top-gaa-man-withdraws-application-to-pro-union-club-claiming-it-was-a-joke-1-6257387

What's everyone's opinion on this?

Surely Mc Geeney Mc Grane Canavan Cavanagh Mc Conville Mc Guigan Mc Menamin The Mc Entees Mulligan Dooher Mc Donnell all would make that current Donegal team an im sure I have left out plenty others

Canavan, McMenamin , Mulligan and Dooher are not up to it physically and would be thrown around like rag dolls in any Donegal training session. McConville and McDonnell did not produce the goods to get that second AI so their temperament is very questionable. Murphy and McFadden are much more consistent.

McGeeney makes atrocious acceptance speeches and should be ruled out on that basis alone.

I've read some balls on this board, but this comes pretty close to eclipsing all of it !

[Anyone can sneak an AI]

I bet you'd swap back to back qfs for a 2005 Sam.

Not a hope. Anyone can sneak an AI, even Galway. Winning 2 in a row is where it is at.

Thats great news for many many many counties

[given what sky are at]

Repeating a "joke" he used on Twitter earlier in the week

brollly is getting a little bit out of date...the format of that show, bar the soundtrack, will have to change for next year, given what sky are at...maybe its time joe took time out

what are Sky at apart from moving the TV3 show to a platform with less people who provide the games being able to watch? RTE could mimic Sky OK and employ Keith Woods and Rosanna Davidson to front the show. Oh, and buy a big wall mounted tablet as a display....WHAMMY !

Why don't Dublin just buy Johnstown? 2015 Sam in the bag

At the top level the game, the sport is too fast and too professional for amateur refs. Is it time for professional refs? An additional ref may help as a ref closer to the decision might have more chance of getting it right and less chance of being conned by a cute player.

Also on the rule about 2/3/4 etc men tackles. The rule is a player(s) May tackle an opponent for the ball so there is nothing wrong with multiple defenders tackling and the offensive player should be blown for over carrying if they have over carried

on that last point Dave. Show me footage of 2/3/4 men all tackling the ball at the same time. Dont even think it is physically possible without the player in possession getting slapped, which is a foul

The rule doesn't say they have to tackle the ball only that a player in possession may be tackled by an opponent or opponents. If no individual defender is fouling then it's not a foul simply because there are three or four of them there

The tackle is defined in the official rules as 'the tackle is aimed at the ball, not the man'. A plethora of men slapping at a man in position is a foul all day long. Seeing a reck of men near dry riding an opponent to get the ball is a poor spectacle