Messages

1

GAA Discussion / Re: Ulster Championship 2019

« on: May 23, 2019, 10:05:45 AM »

Why the general move away from the minor games being on before the senior games?

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General discussion / Re: Elections North and South

« on: May 22, 2019, 11:31:47 AM »

Cant bring myself to transfer votes to any party I fundamentally disagree with on the majority of issues, Europe aside.  I feel if I did transfer my votes to them I would be no worse that the people who vote DUP just to keep them'uns out. It is hypocritical.

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General discussion / Re: Game of Thrones - Spoilers

« on: May 21, 2019, 04:49:28 PM »

Yeah I've read the books.  There are a right few changes. Big characters still alive in the books who had been killed off at that point in the TV series.  I always passed that type of thing off as, "sure GRRM was probably just planning to kill them off at a later date".

I thought the ending was grand. Greyworm did become very annoying and it would have been nice to see him and John have a wee fight at the end.

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GAA Discussion / Re: Down v Armagh (Park Esler 16:00) 19/05/2019

« on: May 20, 2019, 12:00:30 PM »

A curate's egg of a performance.  Firstly, well done to all involved in the win. To win in the Ulster Championship has been a very big psychological hurdle for this group but an important thing was that there were 4-5 who have not played or played very little in Ulster so the baggage was not there and they had some freedom to play.  Also, beating Down in Newry is always a good result and given that they hadn't been beaten in 63 years in championship makes it even better.

The positives are there.  Some good defenders but still a bit below level as a unit.  Thought Kennedy out in a very good shift for a newbie and Morgan did well when he came in.    In MF Burns did well and I think he will compliment Niall Grimley very well when he gets back fully fit.  Vernon is not the man for MF anymore but may be useful on the square as some have suggested as there is a serious lack of strength back there.

Up front Nugent impressed on his debut and he has a good opportunity now to establish himself.  Clarke played better than he has for a while which makes his refusal to play for his club even more frustrating.  I have major reservations about this whole scenario and it seems to be being brushed under the carpet to an extent.  The notion that a player can openly refuse to play for his club and then play for the county is unsettling.  I recall during my playing days when we were going for an All Ireland and the Armagh management at the time threatened to have Oisin, the Twins and Paul Hearty suspended from the club scene as they wouldn't play National League.  We were playing in an Ulster Final the week after a National league game,  back when there were games pre-Christmas.  This notion of the county outweighing the club is something I find unfair and really it sends a bad message that a lad can play for the county and not play for the club.  It won't happen but questions should be raised as this open action of refusing to play for your club while playing for the county is wrong and goes against the ethos of the game in my opinion.

Anyway,  the performance of Rian was outstanding and he certainly has it all.  If Grimley, Murnin and Oisin O'Neill can get back fit I think between them there is a central spine from MF forward that can be devastating if properly utilized.  The pure talent these lads have is exceptional and if the right players are played round them then they can do anything in my opinion.  If I was picking the team from MF forward and all were fit I would play Grimley and Burns in MF, a half forward line of Clarke, O O'Neill and Nugent and a FF line triangle of 2 targets in Rian and Murnin with Soupy floating either side of them.  Soupy and Jamie could interchange from HF to FF lines. 

As you will see Grugan is not in the team and to be honest this brings me to my negatives.  I thought he was poor and has been poor for some time.  He is captain and it is not suiting him.  He is not a big game player and certainly not a leader.  I actually thought that was one of the big concerns yesterday in terms of leadership and calmness at key times.  The game should have been won in normal time.  Down were a busted flush with 14 men (rightly so,  clear red card), and with a keeper gone for a black card.  The game management was poor and the experienced players like Grugan, Donaghy, Forker, etc should have been taking control of the game at different times and calming the whole thing down.  Lying down, cramp etc, break up momentum.  This didn't happen.  Some of the football was kamikaze and the OG goal summed that up.  Leadership is needed.  There is no disputing the drive and desire but there needs to be a bit more cuteness.

As alluded to already there is an issue at the FB and GK position in my opinion.  I have suggested Vernon at FB but that is just a sticky plaster.  Blaine Hughes is a decent keeper but he is a weak link as he has limited presence.  I have heard a story about an outfield player was approached to play goals and he subsequently removed himself from the panel.  This player would have a significant better presence that Hughes so maybe that was the thinking.  Long term there needs to be a bit of clever thinking about this position.

Management made decent substitutions but also made a few head scratchers.  Also the whole McGeeney incident with McKernan was embarrassing and out of line for his part. As a manager you need to have a bit of coolness and leadership and in that one incident this was lacking.  If the rules are applied he could be looking at 12 weeks in the stand.

Finally,  and not to piss on people's chips,  but this is  a very poor Down team.  They couldn't get out of Division 3.  We played against 14 men for 40 minutes,  we were 5 points up with time almost up and drew and we were 4 up with time up in ET and conceded poorly again. This will not do against Cavan, whom I thought looked excellent on Saturday night. 

Some good some bad but the key thing is a win.  Confidence and momentum can hopefully build.

Heard a similar rumour about a big FF in our club being approached to play GK but he refused.  I passed it off as bullsh*t but maybe there was a little truth to it after all.

I was amazed that the team that was named was actually the team that started to be honest.  Surely our strongest team includes Morgan, Shields and Soup (Grimley and Murnin too but i'll give them a bye ball with injuries).  Real problems in the full back line and it's something that will have to be addressed very quickly.  How Donaghy retreats to the line instead of closing O'Hare down for the 2nd goal I will never know. Nobody seemed to read the flight of the ball for the 3rd.  I'd be disappointed at club level with those goals fs.

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General discussion / Re: The Official Golf Thread

« on: May 17, 2019, 10:04:25 AM »

Golf is sooooo frustrating.  Played Down Royal yesterday and had a shocker (again).  I can drive a ball rightly and do regularly enough find a decent position off the tee.  Irons continue to be a complete disaster. If I'm not hitting a mile behind the ball then I'm topping it. Just cant get it nailed down. Might have to invest in a few lessons.

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GAA Discussion / Re: Down v Armagh (Park Esler 16:00) 19/05/2019

« on: May 16, 2019, 11:52:37 AM »

Is there a curtain raiser?

Down v Tyrone minor, I think. Hard to know who to cheer for there.

South/North Armagh - Tyrone
Mid Armagh - Down

I would imagine North Armagh would support Down.

F*ck

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General discussion / Re: The Official Golf Thread

« on: May 16, 2019, 09:46:14 AM »

Fair play to McIlroy.  Get it put to bed early this time around.

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General discussion / Re: The Super(ish) Leeds United Thread

« on: May 16, 2019, 09:41:37 AM »

Bielsa could be in the EPL next season if not given a commitment from the Leeds board, an ovbiously very good manager just hands tied stuff from the Leeds board, this all coming from a very depressed co worker of mine who was venting this moring

Brighton?

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General discussion / Re: The Official EFL Championship

« on: May 16, 2019, 09:29:02 AM »

I must say though too that I thought Dallas was absolutely superb all night.

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General discussion / Re: The Official EFL Championship

« on: May 16, 2019, 09:24:55 AM »

Play off final between 5th v 6th. Finishing 3rd and 4th wasn't much use this season in the championship.

I'll not complain.  It was between 3rd and 4th last season with 3rd going up.

Enjoyed that game last night.  Both teams went for it and I expect the final to be something similar. Jansson could have made a big difference for Leeds I feel.  Roofe too of course. 

Villa beat Derby quite easily twice in the league but this game will be a completely different.

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General discussion / Re: The Official EFL Championship

« on: May 15, 2019, 02:12:55 PM »

I'd agree that McGinn was probably Villa's best player last night.  I can certainly understand why anyone watching Villa for the first time this season would say that Grealish stood out though. He has a very classy style of play. He beats players with ease and dictates play from many different areas of the pitch.  In saying that though I though by his standards be was probably slightly below par.  Credit to West Brom.  They were very hard to break down.  I expect a completely different type of game in the final whoever makes it with Villa.  It will be a lot more open and I am hoping the likes of Grealish gets a little more freedom to operate.

Tonight's game looks like it should be Leeds all over, even with there absences. If Derby do manage to get the first goal though it will certainly be a big test of character.

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General discussion / Re: Game of Thrones - Spoilers

« on: May 15, 2019, 02:03:04 PM »

Saw this listed on a website. Even giving it a bye ball for certain things on the basis its a fantasy show, it highlights a few major internal inconsistencies from this episode.

1. Did Varys try to poison Daenerys?
2. Where did Varys send those letters?
3. What happened to Martha? Is Martha still alive?
4. How did Daenerys and her dragon sneak up on the Golden Company and burst through the walls of King’s Landing from the inside?
5. Since when did Tyrion become such a complete idiot? Why does he continue to appeal to Cersei’s good nature when she’s tried to kill him a dozen times?
6. Why are those scorpions worthless all of a sudden?
7. If Drogon could to do that much damage to one city, despite about 20 scorpions aimed at him, then why were the dragons functionally useless against the White Walkers?
8. In the end, what even was the point of including the Golden Company in this show?
9. How does dragonfire destroy a fortified stone wall? Does it come out with enough force to actually explode the ramparts of King’s Landing?
10. What was the point of Arya even going to King’s Landing?
11. Why burn a city to the ground that you’re trying to take?
12. Why kill everyone in King’s Landing to hurt Cersei when Cersei made it very clear she doesn’t care about anyone in King’s Landing?
13. How did that horse survive all the destruction?
14. How did Arya survive the attack?
15. How did Arya and Jaime and The Hound—three very recognizable people—so easily sneak into the impenetrable Red Keep?
16. Where did Jaime and the Hound get their matching hooded cloaks? Why are Westerosi soldiers so bad at looking under hoods?
17. If it’s that easy to get into the Red Keep why not just assassinate Cersei?
18. If Cersei’s only motivation was to protect her child, then why did she not seem to have any battle strategy whatsoever?
19. Why didn’t Cersei know the Iron Fleet had been burned? Shouldn’t she have been keeping track of that kind of stuff?
20. Why didn’t Cersei actually do anything with her wildfire? Wouldn’t that have been useful?
21. Why didn’t she have an escape plan prepared for herself and her unborn child?
22. Or why not just fly to the top of the Red Keep, assassinate Cersei with the dragon and end the war in a matter of minutes?
23. How did Euron find Jaime? What was his character motivation in trying to kill Jaime other than for writers to give him another Deus Ex Machina moment?
24. Was the Valonqar prophecy wrong?
25. What happened to the Prince That Was Promised prophecy?
26. Or the Azor Ahai prophecy?
27. Was Varys Dany’s Third Betrayal? Was Tyrion her fourth? How many betrayals has she had anyway?
28. Were all of these nothing? Or will they come into play in the final episode?
29. Wouldn’t it be far more satisfying to get revenge by killing Cersei personally rather than slaughtering a bunch of innocent people for no reason?
30. Why did The Undead Mountain look like a moldy, bloated Varys?
31. Who rang the bells?
32. Sup with Bran rn?
33. What are Sansa and Bran and Brienne and everyone doing back at Winterfell?
34. Does Arya’s horse have some special significance? Or is it just a horse?
35. Will Dany just be queen of the ashes?
36. Why didn’t Jon do anything at all in this battle or in trying to talk some sense into Dany? Or is he just so stupid and stubborn that he believed she was fine?
37. Is Dany still Jon’s queen?
38. Why was Missandei’s shackle literally her only possession? All these years of travel and she never picked up a book or keepsake? Did she have a change of clothes even?
39. Did the Mountain die, or is he just a well-done zombie now?
40. Where was Gendry?
41. Who took the time to light all those torches in the secret escape tunnels in the Red Keep?
4. Why was Cersei so sad that Jaime was hurt after she just sent an assassin to kill him?
43. Why did they put Davos in the front line of the battle? He old.
44. How did Cersei communicate a surrender to her peeps from all the way up in the tower?
45. Is the Iron Throne still standing or did it get destroyed with everything else?
46. Will Dragonstone be the new seat of power in Westeros?
47. Does this mean we now have to root for Jon to kill Dany?
48. Will Dany kill Tyrion now because he let Jaime escape? Does she even know he escaped? And why was it so easy for him to escape?
49. Why not make this season twice the number of episodes, scale back the massive, unnecessary production values and actually tell a story that fans deserve? Why not give Daenerys at least a few more episodes to show her descent into madness instead of flipping a switch on her?
50. Does this mean we have to wait however many years it takes George R.R. Martin to finish writing his damn books to get a worthwhile conclusion to this story?

I bet this person is some craic.

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General discussion / Re: The Official EFL Championship

« on: May 14, 2019, 11:03:41 PM »

Yeah really played below par this evening and should be finishing that game off before pens. Brunt should have went twice before he did. That performance wouldn't be good enough for villa in the final but it's great to still be in it.

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General discussion / Re: Game of Thrones - Spoilers

« on: May 14, 2019, 04:16:43 PM »

The show is wrapping up. Storylines are finally coming to an end.  I don't really see it as being rushed.  I would much prefer this process to dragging out a few more series to make a few quid and the whole thing becoming a pile of sh*te.... see the walking dead as a prime example.

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General discussion / Re: Game of Thrones - Spoilers

« on: May 13, 2019, 11:18:55 PM »

Enjoyed that. In fact I've enjoyed this whole series and would have little to complain about. Yeah maybe episode 3 was a little to dark at times and I suppose I would have enjoyed Ceresi to have a gruesome death. Small things considering how gripping the series has continued to be. Really looking forward to next week.

I'm amazed at how difficult people are to please, or perhaps I am just easily pleased... any, each to their own.