Ulster and Connacht losers still out six days later!

[ross4life]

From hoganstand.

A county from Ulster and one from Connacht face a six-day turnaround between losing a provincial final and a round four qualifier tie.

Hopes that there would be a return to a 13 day turnaround next year have been dashed with the news that the losers in Connacht and Ulster will face the handicap once again in 2011.

The Connacht and Ulster finals will take place on July 17th and with the All-Ireland quarter-finals two weeks later, the Round 4 qualifiers will be played in between.

"Our hands are tied when it comes to All-Ireland quarter-finals," explained Croke Park spokesman Fergal McGill.

"By rule they must be completed by the first Monday in August and with some provincial finals only played two weeks earlier, we have no room for manoeuvre with the fourth round qualifiers."

[GalwayBayBoy]

Feck's sake it takes them about 2 months to run off a couple of games in the Connacht championship and it still leaves the provincial losers banjaxed at the end of it. No excuse for it no matter what rubbish they come out with.

[Maguire01]

I don't think the quarter finals have to move at all. All that needs to happen is for the provincial championships to be started earlier or played in a shorter space of time. There's no reason why all quarter finals have to be on separate weekends in Ulster for example. This should be a no-brainer.

[Rossfan]

Large black marks to the Connacht and Ulster EEjits Councils who despite the furore this year come along and run with the same bullshit fixtures again in 2011.

[moysider]

Large black marks to the Connacht and Ulster EEjits Councils who despite the furore this year come along and run with the same bullshit fixtures again in 2011.

+1. No need at all to stretch out the Connacht Championship anyway. New York and London matches on different weekends so that the provincial blazers get two trips abroad when both could be played same weekend. Three weeks between semi and final excessive when the provincial loser has then to turn about in 6 or 7 days.

[SLIGONIAN]

Large black marks to the Connacht and Ulster EEjits Councils who despite the furore this year come along and run with the same bullshit fixtures again in 2011.

+1. No need at all to stretch out the Connacht Championship anyway. New York and London matches on different weekends so that the provincial blazers get two trips abroad when both could be played same weekend. Three weeks between semi and final excessive when the provincial loser has then to turn about in 6 or 7 days.

+2 fcking clowns repeating the same mistake when it easily could be changed at provincial level

[joemamas]

It is a total disgrace. The players, managers, supporters are obviously an afterthought. I wonder will any of the media highlight it .

It also puts in jeopardy the q/finals on August weekend, as a draw of either provincial final, or the following qualifier round, puts paid to that. It reeks of a power struggle, Croke Park obviously not calling the shots when they let the province's pull this nonsense year in year out. You would imagine, that the provincial fixture committees, if there is one, would learn from prior mistakes. The Connaught c/ship could be run off in six weeks if necessary, not three months.

I am sure some excuse will be conjured up, tradition may also be thrown in.

Finally, as what happened to Mayo and Meath in 2009, two counties may find out with six days notice that they will not be playing on August Bank holiday weekend, as for the clubs from those prospective counties, well who cares about their fixtures.

[cornafean]

Why do the quarter-finals have to be played on the August weekend? Compressing four of the biggest football fixtures of the year into a 27-hour period might suit the alickadoos who like to spend the weekend on a bender in the city, but I would argue that a more even spread of fixtures in early August would be a better way to promote the GAA (and maximise attendances) at that time of year.

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

I would presume that TV schedules dictate that not all 4 provincial finals can be on the same day or weekend. (I'm not saying that this should be a principle but at the present time I've no doubt that it is).

Given that position, 2 provincial finals will always be 3 weeks before the scheduled quarter finals. That leaves two other provincial finals. The choice is to;

a. Have 2 provincial finals 2 weeks before the quarter finals, leaving the losing provincial finalists with only a week before their qualifier; or

b. Have the provincial finals 4 weeks prior to the quarter finals, leaving the provincial winners kicking their heels and possibily going stale before their quarter finals which make them susceptible to being caught by more battle hardened side coming from the qualifiers.

So do we go for a or b? My view would be (a) as I'd rather see the provincial champions get the advantage.

That said, there is validity to the argument that it is unnecessary to have all 4 quarter finals on the one weekend. In previous year (2005 certainly) the q/finals were split up. Part of the objection to this was that the draws themselves were restricted as only certain teams could be drawn in certain qualifiers to ensure that sides didn't face only a one week break between their semi-final and quarter-final.

[Mano]

What happens if one of the Connaught/Ulster finals ends in a draw? Surely that would disrupt the next round of games in qualifiers

[Hound]

Big bladdy deal.

Losing one week is absolutely no excuse for losing the next week. Our lads are well able to play intercounty matches on consecutive weeks for a helluva lot longer than 2 weeks in a row.

Its 100% mental. Lads should be itching to get out to fix what went wrong the previous week, instead of crying about it and feeling sorry for themselves.

[SLIGONIAN]

Big bladdy deal.

Losing one week is absolutely no excuse for losing the next week. Our lads are well able to play intercounty matches on consecutive weeks for a helluva lot longer than 2 weeks in a row.

Its 100% mental. Lads should be itching to get out to fix what went wrong the previous week, instead of crying about it and feeling sorry for themselves.

No shit sherlock, but we are human after all and its not easy to get right mentally in 6 days, i know im only a supporter but it took me 2/3 months to get over the connacht final pain in its worst state, it still hurts but not near as much.

What happens if one of the Connaught/Ulster finals ends in a draw? Surely that would disrupt the next round of games in qualifiers

Good point, wonder what theyd do..

[GalwayBayBoy]

Its 100% mental. Lads should be itching to get out to fix what went wrong the previous week, instead of crying about it and feeling sorry for themselves.

All very well saying it but you lose a provincial final one weekend and history had shown that it is extremely difficult to raise it again 6 days later. Lads build up physically and mentally for a final and losing that final takes more than a few days to get out of the system like it or not.

[ONeill]

Often there's an usually long period between the provincial semis and finals. Tyrone had nearly a month wait between the Down and Monaghan games this year. Fix that first.

[magpie seanie]

What happens if one of the Connaught/Ulster finals ends in a draw? Surely that would disrupt the next round of games in qualifiers

The referee will be told to make sure this doesn't happen, like last year for example.