Messages

Some move. On the time thing I don't understand why the clock goes on before the ref blows the whistle to allow the free to be hit.

It's pure daft and introduces a needless flaw that's so easily avoided: If the clock is stopped while a player addresses a free, it should only go back on the moment he kicks the ball.

Galway fucked around and found out. Meath full value for it but thought the ref sided with them overall.

I wish Tyrone would play that poorly against Cavan. They'd only beat us every year by 6 points instead of 12.

Jim might need to manufacture an ould flashpoint on the sideline, that usually lights the fires for them!

Just feels like Cork haven't held their nerve, which you need to close out big tight games like this. Dublin don't look any great shakes either tbh, any of the 4 teams waiting will fancy a crack at them I'd say

If Cork had a proper leader they'd be contending.

Absolutely littered with quality athleticism and physicality.

No kickout strategy killing them

They're such an enigma. They're seriously impressive athletes and have a sprinkling of top class talent but they massively underachieve. There's this curious tentativeness about them every year and a lack of identity or sense of mission. They're crying out for a manager that can really get inside their heads.

Is the interest in Cork County Board to appoint that man?

And do Cavan need a figure like that?

As far as I can see, Cavan first need a huge clearout and reset, administratively and strategically. Two Ulster SFC titles in 56 years, no All-Ireland final appearance since 1952, no underage All-Ireland titles since God knows when? All this should raise massive questions about the possibly overly political and clerical outlook of the people charged with stewardship of on-the-field matters in our county board, but we always and forever only focus on a narrow subset of the manager and the current crop of players, while the real hard questions go unasked time and again. We don't lack for resources or passion or hunger but you'd think even by accident, in all that time, we'd get it right even occasionally, so given the embarrassing cycle of failure you'd think there'd be some self-examination going on? But, not a squeak and as far as I can see, it's just one big circle-jerk at Cavan HQ where all the focus is on spending millions redeveloping the stadium, likely for other counties to come play their neutral ground championship matches in. Our one-time fellow strugglers show us how to get your house on order; Duignan shakes things up in Offaly, Louth pass us out, Meath exit the wilderness years, Down look somewhat resurgent and Monaghan routinely outperform us with a lower population. Donegal and Armagh have waxed and waned considerably over the more recent years too but Cavan's only consistency has been to prove resolutely allergic to any sort of lasting advancement. We're going nowhere until someone grasps the nettle and calls it out.

Just feels like Cork haven't held their nerve, which you need to close out big tight games like this. Dublin don't look any great shakes either tbh, any of the 4 teams waiting will fancy a crack at them I'd say

If Cork had a proper leader they'd be contending.

Absolutely littered with quality athleticism and physicality.

No kickout strategy killing them

They're such an enigma. They're seriously impressive athletes and have a sprinkling of top class talent but they massively underachieve. There's this curious tentativeness about them every year and a lack of identity or sense of mission. They're crying out for a manager that can really get inside their heads.

Was there a rule change for this game, banning defending? It's very chivalrous stuff so far, lads knocking over points at their ease without so much as a puff of wind off an opponent a lot of the time.

Brian O'Driscoll is such a calm, efficient, economical footballer. In the league, at Breffni this year, he absolutely ran the game and he's very prominent here too.

I like a lot of Damien's tactical analysis, and he showed promise as our u20 boss by turning out a side with a lot more resilience and mental fortitude than the usual appalling Cavan contemporary standard, but in media analysis he's a cult of positivity type when it comes to Cavan seniors. Too much negativity is no use either, of course, but it's delusional ould soft-soaping shite like this that stops Cavan football acknowledging the various elephants in various rooms, and we remain stuck where we are, blowing smoke up our own arses and resolutely going nowhere - unless you count backwards as a sporting direction.

Stupid nonsense by Carolan although in general Cavan suffer from being naive and too nice most of the time. It's nice to see a bit of the dog in a few lads in blue for a change, at least it signals a bit of blood in their veins.

I stand by my comments about this ref too, typical big stick for the weak man mentality about him.

Bit of dog is grand like, but when the lad has rinsed you for 3-07, screaming in his face because you won a free off him ain't a great look.

Wasn't defending him, to be fair. But I wouldn't dislike the attitude in general if channeled with a bit of common sense.

Well done, Kerry. Far from a vintage Kingdom team though, and I can't see them winning Sam.

Cavan briefly threatened a comeback but Kerry were never in serious trouble there, although getting back to within a score or two will be seized on as a comfort blanket now, and used to mask the litany of systemic issues and rank lack of vision infecting all levels of the game in our county. Our coaching ticket is out of its depth also and can't generate any momentum outside league football, so as loyal and passionate as Ray Galligan has been, it's time for a clean slate and some sort of inspirational manager with a longer-term plan for what's threatening to be a horrendous four or five years ahead.

Special word for David Clifford - got a lot of old yap and verbal bullshit off Cavan players today and it all slid off him, and he sportingly shook everyone's hand at the end. A role model for all.

Stupid nonsense by Carolan although in general Cavan suffer from being naive and too nice most of the time. It's nice to see a bit of the dog in a few lads in blue for a change, at least it signals a bit of blood in their veins.

I stand by my comments about this ref too, typical big stick for the weak man mentality about him.

If Kerry had any little niggling doubts in their minds in the early stages of this one, Cavan offered them ample benign convalescence with a string of unforced schoolboy errors that allowed them rack up some scores and clear all the dirty petrol. Some of the fumblesome execution with the limited possession we've eked out is laughable, Junior B-type stuff. Ref seems to happy to give his harshest decisions against the underdog too, a typical GAA ref trait, but it's not a factor overall.

There's a lot of soul-searching and a massive reset needed in Cavan but I have no confidence it's going to happen.

Do Cavan see themselves as being on par with their neighbours in Meath? Kerry will be wounded but are still vulnerable, if Cavan approach it like the Mayo game you never know.

Cavan might have felt themselves on a par with Meath after the league, but as usual, when the championship started and the heat turned up, they exposed themselves for the paper tigers they are. Eamon McGee's quote from a few years back, assessing Cavan as all noise but soft-centred foldups when you put it up to them, has never rung truer.

I don't feel in any way disrespected. Cavan have had an appalling championship and shrivelled in the face of any sort of examination by a decent team. It looks to me that McStay had lost that Mayo dressing room and Cavan, a broken clock, were fortunate enough to get them on a rare day we'd be able to tell the time correctly.