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That last one is so contorted and contrived that my head hurts. 3 groups here, 4 groups there, you go that way, now you stand over there, you don't bother. Too many contortions.

The NFL based one prior to it has a fundanental flaw which destroys it: there is no draft system in GAA, so there is absolutely no way to artificially control the quality of county teams. Supporters might put up with the occasional dead rubber but won't put up with a year full of them or several years worth of them. The second flaw is that nobody will care a damn if they win their group, so you can save money and not bother with the trophies for doing so.

The way around the first flaw is for teams to take the second and third tier knock-out competitions, and qualification for same, seriously so there is always something at stake. By my count only 11 counties have won the All-Ireland since 1960 so for, say, 20 odd (not necessarily the same) counties winning the All -Ireland is a totally unrealistic objective. Teams outside the top 12 should be aiming to win a second or third tier competions and look to build. Supporters would also need to buy in to this.

110% accept, however, that there is no appetite for 2nd/3rd comps at the moment so I agree, until this mindset changes it is a fatal flaw.
Something needs to change though, at the moment the entire Leinster Championship is a dead rubber.

Fair enough re the second flaw. Could hand out special rainproof 'division winners' flat caps as an alternative.

[Ulster West]

I'm an NFL fan and have often thought about adapting the NFL system to GAA as both competitions have 32 teams and, albeit very loosely in the NFL's case, maintain a local element to a national competition. I accept this plan has many flaws but I thought I would put it out there for the craic as much as anything.

Firstly, get rid of the league.

Secondly, create 8 provincial divisions based loosely on the current provinces both with tweaks to ensure competiveness. Here is my stab at 8 divisions:

Ulster West
Donegal
Derry
Tyrone
Fermanagh

Ulster East
Antrim
Down
Armagh
Monaghan

Leinster North/Ulster South
Cavan
Meath
Longford
Louth

Leinster Central
Dublin
Westmeath
Offaly
London

Leinster South
Kildare
Wicklow
Laois
Carlow

Munster South/Leinster South
Cork
Tippearary
Waterford
Wexford

Munster West/Connacht South
Kerry
Galway
Clare
Limerick

Connacht North
Mayo
Roscommon
Sligo
Leitrim

Play 13 games in total. Play your 3 divisional opponents home and away ensuring high levels of local interest and attendance and 7 other teams (from the 28 outside your division) on a rotational basis every 4 years. Run regular season between April and July.

Trophy for winning each division

Top 4 ranked divisional winners through to 1/4 finals.

5-8 ranked divisional winners plus top 4 ranked divisional runners up into Wildcard round. Winners progress to 1/4 finals and straight knock out for there.

Would love to see teams ranked 12-20 and 20-28 playing off for second and third honours but for some reasons there is no appetite for lesser competitions in senior football.

Some obvious flaws in that it's very hard to get even divisions in the south of the country but this is a major flaw in the current system as well. Another negative would be you will get a couple of bad teams getting into knock out football every year due to being in a weak division.
Also in the NFL because of the draft even terrible teams can become competitive in a short space of time so you don't often get permanently terrible divisions. That said look at Tipperary and Clare, no reason why the likes of Wicklow, Wexford etc. couldn't do something similar and we could see some competive football across the board.

Pro's
Good chance for all teams to win honours (particularly if a second and third tier knock out tournament were adopted).
Consistent number of matches
Shorter season
Local rivalries maintained.
Dubs travel to London every year could help games promotion overseas.
Every county gets to play the big guns every 4 years

Cons
Potentially weak divisions
Impossible to exactly maintain provincial boundaries as they are now.
Adoption of words like 'wildcard' into GAA parlance would seem a long long way away.
Resistance to second and third tier competitions.

Anyway I know the idea is mad but I think we need to start thinking creatively as the current system is killing the game at the minute.

The biggest embarrassment for Roscommon since the Gay Referendum

Sheeran?

Huh?

You'd have to be over 40. Gay Sheeran was a Rossie stalwart of the 70s and 80s. Great player.

Was still there well into the 90's. Played in the 93 Connacht Final anyway.

Despite everything Roscommon are probably where they expected to be at the start of the championship. Need to put the last few weeks in the past and refocus for a potentially winnable match next weekend. While I'm not hopefull Roscommon have the capacity to surprise when nothing is expected.

Well done Galway. Like Kevin Walsh in his playing days they are improving as the season goes on. Think they can make a big impact on this years championship if they keep on their current trajectory.

Thought MD McAuley was outstanding today when he come on. I wonder if he hadn't been black carded last week would Mayo have been able to force a replay.

Well done Sligo. Returned the ambush the Rossie inflicted in 2010. A Connacht final and a chance t get Mayo on an off day.
For the Rossies, all is not lost. Important to regroup and use the Qualifiers. The extra games (if they get their heads right) will help them grow and get ready for Division One football next year. The players are there, but as we know in Mayo it takes more than good footballers to win titles.

Are the players there though? Are Roscommon as good as they're made out to be? Yes they've the best underage structures in place but it isn't worth a shit if they can't produce the goods at senior. At least they have the 2006 minors coming through... That was a good excuse for a few years, but I don't know what they can say now.

Agree with this assessment. Appalling result for Roscommon today.

Well done Tipperary, they deserved to win. Roscommon struggled in mid-field again for long periods and Tipp managed to get plenty of good ball in to quick forwards who took some lovely scores in the 1st half. I thought Tipp worked a bit harder too. They had one score where their corner back went on a storming run to set up a score while Shane Jordan hadn't even made an attempt to track back after him. That type of stuff makes the difference. Kevin Finn also missed a good goal chance at a crucial stage.

I also thought Tipp should have had a free in just before the sending off - I thought the Roscommon defender hit the Tipp midfielder in the chest with a shoulder, although the sending off should have been a straight red IMHO. Anyway plenty of credit to our lads for sticking at it and nearly salvaging a draw. I thought Thomas Corcoran shouldn't have attempted that free from 50m. It was never on and I think he lost his rhythm after that. I don't want to sound negative though - the lads tried their hearts out again and Tipp are a fine side who will be better equipped to take on (most likely) Dublin in the final than us.   

There was some crazy stuff posted before the Leitrim game with fellas saying that it would be a draw or that Leitrim would  win in fortress Carrick etc etc. Leitrim are rubbish and Roscommon go into this game without a clue as to how good they are. Hence Mayo have to assume the mantel of favourites after out scoring Galway by 1-8 to 0-1 in the second half of their semi. It has been well documented how poor Galway were but it's the most concrete evidence of form that we have to hand in my view. If the game were in Castlebar there wouldn't be many going for a Roscommon win. 

I recall a post from a Mayo poster here a few years ago where Mayo were described as being in "permanent transition". I get a sense that this may still be the case and Roscommon, while younger, are a bit further along in terms of building a team. Some of Mayo's result in the league were a bit all over the place. I'd imagine the management were really upset after the Dublin game - to concede 4 goals in a half of football is extremely careless. Roscommon are used to winning games this year and if we are still in touch with 10 minutes to go I'll be reasonably confident that we will pull through.

First and foremost I hope that this is a good game of football although high winds seem to be forecast which won't help. It will be interesting to see how good both teams are. I think it's vital for a Connacht team to make it past the quarter final stage and if either team can achieve this they will have made progress this season regardless of the outcome on Sunday.

Anyway hopefully home advantage will swing it for us and we will hold on to the Nestor Cup for another year!
 

[significant]

The difference IMO between the sides is Mayo could play as poorly as they did v London & still win while Roscommon could play their best championship game for 10 years but still lose.

Maybe I'm just a bit slow but I don't understand what the above statement is trying to prove/say.........

At the moment Mayo are a level ahead of Roscommon & sometimes better teams can play poorly but still win & it's rare that happens with the underdog.

I hope I'm wrong as i would always follow the underdog & a win for Roscommon here would be their most significant victory for over a decade.

Okay, I think I'm fairly clear about what you are getting at which is a relief.

First point - Mayo could play as poorly as they did v London & still win.

Correct, if Roscommon play really badly.

Second point -  Roscommon could play their best championship game for 10 years but still lose.

Correct again...but only if Mayo play well.

Third point - Mayo are a level ahead of Roscommon -

Once again correct. Mayo are in Division 1, Roscommon inhabit(ed) Division 4. I wasn't previously aware of this fact.

Fourth point - sometimes better teams can play poorly but still win & it's rare that happens with the underdog.

Yet again you are correct.  Underdogs are not as good as favorites. Usually because they are in a lower division or don't beat many other teams.

Fifth point - a win for Roscommon here would be their most significant victory for over a decade.

Preamble over, into the meat of it now. Key point here is we are going back over a decade, so back to 2000. We have won 2 Connacht titles during this time. Both wins ended 9 and 10 year waits for Connacht titles. I don't know about you but for me as a life long Roscommon supporter I would describe both of these wins as significant.  I'd love to know why winning the Connacht Final this year would be anymore significant than winning the Connacht Final, say.... I don't know...last year.  Obviously given the ground breaking analysis in points 1 to 4 above I will have accept your findings and concur that this will indeed be Roscommon's most significant win since .....(why stop at 2000).......1944.

The difference IMO between the sides is Mayo could play as poorly as they did v London & still win while Roscommon could play their best championship game for 10 years but still lose.

Maybe I'm just a bit slow but I don't understand what the above statement is trying to prove/say.........

Don't know about that beard, in 2000 we turned up almost blew Leitrim away in the 1st half & only for leitrim's passion,desire & a knock out punch from Regan got them over the line, we weren't crap as we were established div 1 team & won a Connacht title the following year.

I think your selling Leitrim short they have been unlucky in alot of games v Mayo,Galway,Meath,Donegal & indeed v us in 2003. Leitrim always have a big performance in the locker i just hope they used that up v Sligo.

In 2000 we should have scored 7 goals in the first half....we didn't....we thought we had the job done at half time and but we hadn't.....Leitrim played with passion and deserved to win however this does not mean they were any good, far from it, Galway annihilated them in the Connacht Final that year without getting out of 1st gear.

I firmly believe that you make your own luck.

Plenty of nerves in the Roscommon camp for this one, with good reason given the disappointing performances that have dogged Roscommon in recent years however this is not a daunting fixture IMHO. I'm not saying we are world beaters but Leitrim are in rooted Division 4, have never won a game in the qualifiers and I happen to think they are actually a bit crap. 

When I looked at the draw for the Connacht championship I was sure we would be facing a fired up Sligo in this round and I was fairly dubious about us beating them 2 years in a row.

Leitrim is a different matter and I regard their win over Sligo, in which they accumulated a massive 1-10, as a bit of a lucky break for us.

I know we are all supposed to be politically correct these days but I hate watching Leitrim play. Their huffing and puffing, honest endeavor and inaccurate shooting is not the type of football I like to pay money to see.  They are a limited team, play poor quality football and drag teams down to their level especially in Carrick. Their lack of real quality is evidenced by the fact they don't win very many games. Some of the worst games I have ever seen have involved Leitrim. Leitrim only beat teams who:-
a.) forget to turn up;
b.) are also a bit crap; or
c.) are suffering from clinical depression.

While all of the above could also apply to Roscommon I'm hoping that we show what we are made of on Sunday and win playing well. If we meet Leitrim's honest endeavor head on we will have the quality to win it, possibly with a couple of points to spare. If Emelyn Mulligan scores 10 or 11 points and Leitrim win a good quality game playing well then I will be the first to congratulate them. However if either team scrapes through in a game that resembles the dire renewal of this fixture which took place in 2004 I will be displeased.

Come Beard... Come right out and say what you really think !
Brave post buddy.

I know...I'm going hard on the Rossies for this one....hope I don't have egg on my face tomorrow evening!!

Plenty of nerves in the Roscommon camp for this one, with good reason given the disappointing performances that have dogged Roscommon in recent years however this is not a daunting fixture IMHO. I'm not saying we are world beaters but Leitrim are in rooted Division 4, have never won a game in the qualifiers and I happen to think they are actually a bit crap. 

When I looked at the draw for the Connacht championship I was sure we would be facing a fired up Sligo in this round and I was fairly dubious about us beating them 2 years in a row.

Leitrim is a different matter and I regard their win over Sligo, in which they accumulated a massive 1-10, as a bit of a lucky break for us.

I know we are all supposed to be politically correct these days but I hate watching Leitrim play. Their huffing and puffing, honest endeavor and inaccurate shooting is not the type of football I like to pay money to see.  They are a limited team, play poor quality football and drag teams down to their level especially in Carrick. Their lack of real quality is evidenced by the fact they don't win very many games. Some of the worst games I have ever seen have involved Leitrim. Leitrim only beat teams who:-
a.) forget to turn up;
b.) are also a bit crap; or
c.) are suffering from clinical depression.

While all of the above could also apply to Roscommon I'm hoping that we show what we are made of on Sunday and win playing well. If we meet Leitrim's honest endeavor head on we will have the quality to win it, possibly with a couple of points to spare. If Emelyn Mulligan scores 10 or 11 points and Leitrim win a good quality game playing well then I will be the first to congratulate them. However if either team scrapes through in a game that resembles the dire renewal of this fixture which took place in 2004 I will be displeased.

It was a second yellow for Mulligan anyways so he should be back for the Rossies. That could be a very good game, I think Ros would take them with a bit to spare in the Hyde, but in Carrick it could go either way.

Really?? Leitrim haven't beaten Ros in Carrick since the late sixties.

Good piece from Eugene McGee on yesterday's Leitrim v Carlow game.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/eugene-mcgee/eugene-mcgee-high-prices-hitting-crowds-2596950.html

Very good article, a couple of paragraphs I liked....

"Now these are matters that should be possible to rectify in training, but I find that players in weaker counties rarely manage to make such basic improvements to their game"

"Even Division 4 teams use the mass defence nowadays, which looks silly in terms of their overall ability, and Division 4 forwards rarely require such crowding of extra defenders. But it is in fashion with the big boys, so the rest follow like sheep"

I hate the way coaches of crap teams often refuse to work on the basics in favour of stupid copy cat tactics. Football is a simple game and if you are not willing to put in the hard graft and improve your skill level you shouldn't be playing.

[There is a huge myth too about tactical cuteness. Look at Gaelic games today - how many geniuses are there? Micky Harte? Jack O'Connor? then who? Grimley ... it's a myth. Harte is good but there is a very large body of opinion that argues Harte is blessed with players who on the field adapt to what is happening. In other words, don't over estimate tactical nous.]

There is a huge myth too about tactical cuteness. Look at Gaelic games today - how many geniuses are there? Micky Harte? Jack O'Connor? then who? Grimley ... it's a myth. Harte is good but there is a very large body of opinion that argues Harte is blessed with players who on the field adapt to what is happening. In other words, don't over estimate tactical nous.

Waffle......and plain wrong on so many levels it's ridiculous.

Just one of what could be 2 million examples to disprove that statement would be Fergal O'Donnell getting his tactics spot on in the Connacht Final, which was the winning of the game.