NFL Division 1 2013

[J70]

Bollocks to that anyway, but if we come out in seven weeks and beat Tyrone and go on to win Ulster and reach the last four of the AI, then no one will give relegation a second thought, especially as if Mayo had not scraped through late or we'd held on ourselves and added another point or two, we'd actually be in the semis! On the other hand, if we do as most non-Kerry champions do and fall back a bit the second year, the relegation will be seen as part of a post AI hangover. But at this point, given the fine margin this year, I don't think too many Donegal people will be hitting the panic button yet.

[yellowcard]

Bollocks to that anyway, but if we come out in seven weeks and beat Tyrone and go on to win Ulster and reach the last four of the AI, then no one will give relegation a second thought, especially as if Mayo had not scraped through late or we'd held on ourselves and added another point or two, we'd actually be in the semis! On the other hand, if we do as most non-Kerry champions do and fall back a bit the second year, the relegation will be seen as part of a post AI hangover. But at this point, given the fine margin this year, I don't think too many Donegal people will be hitting the panic button yet.

The relegation in itself will not worry Donegal too much I don't think, but the fact that they failed to beat an under strength Dublin team at home in a must win fixture probably WILL hurt. McGuinness as a manager is probably the best in the country but however hard he tries to guard against a drop in appetite you really only find out if this is the case in the final stages of do or die matches. At this stage it's the question marks over their hunger to do it all again coupled with their lack of options on the bench that may be their biggest obstacles. They are still strong contenders but I'd fancy Dublin at this stage, Gavin's biggest headache will be picking a starting 15.