An Mhí v Cill Dara

[Hardy]

Super show by Kildare. Sorely disappointing capitulation by us.

I'm writing this without having seen a paper or this board or anything else, so that I can say to myself what I think.  What I think is that this is a team going nowhere but backwards. Anything positive that happened this year, including the good performances against Dublin and Laois, were just pot luck, as far as I can see.

I cannot see any strategy, game plan or tactics that this team is playing to or has been coached to. When you have a number of good players on the field and they get good possession, they will turn in an impressive performance if the opposition lets them. That's what happened against Dublin and Laois.

When they meet a team like Kildare, playing to a system, with an organised defence and a game plan that everyone fully understands and implements, they flounder. And there is no support at all from the sideline. This is not a team without a Plan B. It's a team with no plan at all.

I've bemoaned here many times before the lack of reaction from the management to obvious problems. It's beyond conjecture now. This management doesn't do anything tactically. The team would fare as well if they came with just the bagman and his bag of jerseys.

Yesterday it was the full back line (again) being torn to pieces. The other 30 teams in the country (feckit even the 31st, Kilkenny) would have brought a forward back to be an extra defender in front of the full backs. Our pet goldfish would have seen the need to take Harrington out of his purgatory. But Eamonn O'Brien stood on the sideline for 75 minutes with his chin in his hand and did nothing. It's not as if this can have been a surprise to him and his selectors. We've had no defence for two years. What have they been doing to deal with that? Nothing I can see.

I'll buy a pint for any Meath supporter who can point to one tactical change made from the sideline in any championship game this year or last. I don't count the substitutions from the set list that doesn't seem to vary no matter what the circumstances of the game.

That's all there is to say, really. We managed to get to an All-Ireland quarter final with no input from the sideline. I think we knew, but didn't admit to ourselves, that it would come to a bad end.

Congratulations to Kildare. A great performance by a team that knows what it's doing. But I'd caution them not to take too much from yesterday. They beat nothing much.

[From the Bunker]

Congrats Kildare on your victory.
You may have not won The Leinster Championship but you are easily the best team in a Province where the standard is very weak.

Why do you say this? Granted the likes of Laois, Offaly, Westmeath, Longford, Wicklow, Wexford and Carlow are all poor enough at the moment, but Longford beat Mayo, and gave Down a run for it in Newry, Offaly could have caught Down in Tullamore, Wicklow beat several Ulster teams last year, Kildare have beaten 3 this year, Dublin have just beaten Tyrone, Meath and Louth have had decent years.

I know it's popular to say how poor Leinster is, but really all Leinster is missing is a top, top team and that was Kerry and Tyrone for years. I think Leinster is quite competitive as a province, and this year we will hopefully have 1 if not 2 All IReland finalists.

I agree with you when you say Leinster is competitve but for what reasons? IMHO the back door system is creating a false picture for some counties. They may not be as strong as what they think they are.
In my own county Meath we got to the all ireland semi final last year [with no disrespect to other counties ]by beating weak teams on the way. This year was no different beating Offaly, Laois, Dublin [a very false scoreline victory] and Louth.
Ulster and Connaught are just as weak.

Ye, lost to louth as well, ye may have the Cup and Medals but ye will never be rightly acknowledged.

[demusicman]

So basically Ulster, Connacht and Leinster are all weak. And The Munster Champions were just beaten by a team that Offaly lost to by 2 points, so basically Munster is weak as well.

Just so's I know like

I suggest you look at the greater picture. E.G. where would you rate Meath.? Are they in the top eight in the country ? I wish but I dont think they are.
The same can be said for many other counties. Prior to this weekend results where would you rate Kerry and Tyrone? now where are they in the rankings.
The championship i yes is competitive  and exciting but the quality of the teams leave a lot to be desired.

[AZOffaly]

But sure you can't have it both ways. If you are going to rank the teams, and everyone is bad (as you are suggesting) then someone has to be in the top 8.

I think what you are saying is that the standard overall is poor, which is certainly a point of view that is held by many people, but that is not to say that Leinster is any worse than any of the other provinces. Apart from not producing a Tyrone or a Kerry, Leinster is fine. Dublin were our Kerry, but they didn't have the confidence or moxey in themselves to go on from Leinster.

I think if you were to rank the teams, at least 3 or 4 Leinster teams would be in the current top 10. You might say that the entire top 10 are poor, but that's a different argument.

[From the Bunker]

So basically Ulster, Connacht and Leinster are all weak. And The Munster Champions were just beaten by a team that Offaly lost to by 2 points, so basically Munster is weak as well.

Just so's I know like

I suggest you look at the greater picture. E.G. where would you rate Meath.? Are they in the top eight in the country ? I wish but I dont think they are.
The same can be said for many other counties. Prior to this weekend results where would you rate Kerry and Tyrone? now where are they in the rankings.
The championship i yes is competitive  and exciting but the quality of the teams leave a lot to be desired.

Still in the Top 4 or 5.

[demusicman]

FROM THE BUNKER- grow up you and Spillane must be the same person.
At least he won medals for Kerry.
When did Louth win a medal of any sort? Oh sorry they  got one one a few years ago  they collected one was it in Chicago. Congrats

[AZOffaly]

FROM THE BUNKER- grow up you and Spillane must be the same person.
At least he won medals for Kerry.
When did Louth win a medal of any sort? Oh sorry they one one a few years ago  they collected one was it in Chicago. Congrats

Where would you rank Kerry and Tyrone? And there's no need for the smart comment re Louth. They should have had another Leinster this year, so as a Meath man I'd not be drawing attention to that fact. You also seem to be mixing up Louth and Cavan.

[From the Bunker]

FROM THE BUNKER- grow up you and Spillane must be the same person.
At least he won medals for Kerry.
When did Louth win a medal of any sort? Oh sorry they  got one one a few years ago  they collected one was it in Chicago. Congrats

Grow up, Louth were not the one's with the ball under their arm running off home cause they were afraid they would be beat in a replay. And by the way you should never judge people by the medals they have especially Leinster 2010 medals. 

[demusicman]

AZ OFFALY
Not mixing up anything . Meath are LEINSTER CHAMPIONS. Whether they should be is a now dead debate. The mistakes made are not not of Meaths doing.
http://www.irish-news.sceala.com/irish-news/irish-news-headlines-10063278.htmlt
At least we are not BOSTON BURGLARS

[AZOffaly]

I see. Apologies on the Tommy Muphy Cup thing. Very clever.

The point I was making was that if I was from Meath, the last thing I'd be doing is sneering Louth for not having medals, given the extremely fortunate way in which Meath won theirs.

Now, what way would you rank the top teams at the moment, especially in regard to, say, Tyrone and Kerry.

[demusicman]

AZ OFFALY
Glad to see we are not taken life too serious. Bank Holiday Blues.
My County Ranking as of to-day are as follow
1. CORK
2.KERRY
3.KILDARE
4.DUBLIN
5.DOWN

[DB_An_Mhi]

I cannot see any strategy, game plan or tactics that this team is playing to or has been coached to. When you have a number of good players on the field and they get good possession, they will turn in an impressive performance if the opposition lets them. That's what happened against Dublin and Laois.

When they meet a team like Kildare, playing to a system, with an organised defence and a game plan that everyone fully understands and implements, they flounder. And there is no support at all from the sideline. This is not a team without a Plan B. It's a team with no plan at all.

I've bemoaned here many times before the lack of reaction from the management to obvious problems. It's beyond conjecture now. This management doesn't do anything tactically. The team would fare as well if they came with just the bagman and his bag of jerseys.

Hardy, you have a refreshing candour and a way with words.

If only we learned from our shortcomings rather than denying them and setting out the following year with false hope. Are power politics at county board level preventing us from getting the right person and backroom team in place (a progressive one) to effect the necessary changes. Restructure things and move with the times.

[AZOffaly]

AZ OFFALY
Glad to see we are not taken life too serious. Bank Holiday Blues.
My County Ranking as of to-day are as follow
1. CORK
2.KERRY
3.KILDARE
4.DUBLIN
5.DOWN

So it's only Tyrone you'd have a problem with in the top 4 or 5? I don't think I'd have Kerry as high as Tyrone to be honest. These are all sort of pointless, but I'd probably have it along the lines of

Cork
Tyrone
Kildare
Kerry
Dublin
Down

[demusicman]

AZ OFFALY
Glad to see we are not taken life too serious. Bank Holiday Blues.
My County Ranking as of to-day are as follow
1. CORK
2.KERRY
3.KILDARE
4.DUBLIN
5.DOWN

So it's only Tyrone you'd have a problem with in the top 4 or 5? I don't think I'd have Kerry as high as Tyrone to be honest. These are all sort of pointless, but I'd probably have it along the lines of

Cork
Tyrone
Kildare
Kerry
Dublin
Down

Kerry were favs on saturday morning to retain their all ireland title. Just an opinion

[AZOffaly]

Yeah, I see where you're coming from, but I think Kerry without Darragh O'Sé, Tommy Walsh and Tadgh Kennelly are weaker than last year. In all cases the people replacing them Quirke, Sheehan and Donnacha Walsh are lesser players.

So even with Galvin and Tomás I'd have downgraded Kerry slightly, and would be thinking Tyrone would beat them.