Kerry v Kildare August 2nd Croke Park

[INDIANA]

It's not a question of winning sometimes DH. Its how you lose sometimes can be as important as winning. A team that refuses to be beaten easily can evolve over time as better personnel become available.

team that throws in the towel will always throw in the towel regardless of whether better personnel becomes available or not. It becomes cultural. We did it in 2009 against Kerry and Gilroy gutted the team. You need to do the same.

Dublin team from the All Ireland final in 2011. In bold played against Kerry in 2009.

S Cluxton, C O'Sullivan, R O'Carroll, M Fitzsimons, J McCarthy, G Brennan, K Nolan (0-01), D Bastick (0-01), MD MacAuley, P Flynn, B Cahill, B Cullen, A Brogan, D Connolly, B Brogan

Most teams would make that amount of changes in two years however the biggest change with the Dublin team was the quality they brought into defence and MacAuley into midfield.

Midfield and defence is what Kildare need repairing they have won a few Leinster underage titles now they surely have some talent coming through to improve on todays performance.

Dont' agree because you've completely ignored where the surgery took place. There was plenty of media articles from 2003-2008 about Dublin and where their weakness was. A team's backbone comes from defence. Always has and always will.

[grounded]

Wouldn't agree Kildare gave up at all. Kildare played with a sweeper for most of the game but they went man for man in an attempt to win the game. Unfortunately for them they got hit with a goal straight away but still had to push on and try and win the game and just got hit for goals after that. Lyons, Doyle and Fitzpatrick all played well and Smith and Kelly showed well up front. The problem for Kildare was lack of penetration and getting cleaned at midfield for long periods. Thought Kerry were average enough and I'd be much happier if I was in the Dublin camp than the Kerry one after today.

I watched the game from the Hill today and the Kildare defence were in front of me in the second half. And in the 72nd minute they had a sweeper. At no stage today had they less then one man spare at the back.

I don't how you can say some of those guys played well when DOS ran past 2 of them on two seperate occasions in the second half without one of them laying a hand on him.

It was comparable to Dublin's gutless effort in 2009 against Kerry.

Don't agree Indiana. I was in the Hogan and Murnaghan was the sweeper but when he went off they went man for man but conceded almost immediately. Doyle was outstanding today with both Lyons and Fitzpatrick excellent for large parts of the game. Kildare were much closer to Kerry than Fermanagh were to Dublin though the scoreless would suggest different. I'd actually be quite encouraged by Kildare's performance if I was a Kildare man, they were nowhere near as bad as the scoreline suggests.

Can't agree bunker.

I think Dublin still have a lot of problems at the back. To concede 2-15 against Fermanagh is not good in any language.

Dublin sleepwalked through that game and the ref can take a good deal of credit for Fermanagh's tally.

Can't agree with that I'm afraid. Any Kildare fan that was encouraged by that would need their head examined. At the very least, I thought Fermanagh (for all their limitations) never gave in. In a few instances in the first game the Kildare defenders were easily beaten 1 on 1 and in a few other didn't even attempt to block or put a hand on the Kerry player shooting. They had simply thrown in the towel.

[INDIANA]

That's the difference between just looking at the scoreline and looking at the performance. Kildare are closer to the top than Fermanagh and a good few others.

No they aren't . A div 3 team who were hammered by Dublin and Kerry and who only beat two Div 4 teams in the qualifiers aside from a tired Cork team missing 3 of its best players.

Straw-clutching at best.

[Teo Lurley]

It's not a question of winning sometimes DH. Its how you lose sometimes can be as important as winning. A team that refuses to be beaten easily can evolve over time as better personnel become available.

team that throws in the towel will always throw in the towel regardless of whether better personnel becomes available or not. It becomes cultural. We did it in 2009 against Kerry and Gilroy gutted the team. You need to do the same.

Dublin team from the All Ireland final in 2011. In bold played against Kerry in 2009.

S Cluxton, C O'Sullivan, R O'Carroll, M Fitzsimons, J McCarthy, G Brennan, K Nolan (0-01), D Bastick (0-01), MD MacAuley, P Flynn, B Cahill, B Cullen, A Brogan, D Connolly, B Brogan

Most teams would make that amount of changes in two years however the biggest change with the Dublin team was the quality they brought into defence and MacAuley into midfield.

Midfield and defence is what Kildare need repairing they have won a few Leinster underage titles now they surely have some talent coming through to improve on todays performance.

The difference was that the money invested in the youth started paying off.

[Teo Lurley]

That's the difference between just looking at the scoreline and looking at the performance. Kildare are closer to the top than Fermanagh and a good few others.

You don't have a clue about football.

[From the Bunker]

That's the difference between just looking at the scoreline and looking at the performance. Kildare are closer to the top than Fermanagh and a good few others.

Agree with you Zulu! Today was Kerry's first game of the Championship season in Croker against Kildare (a team who beat Cork and ask questions of Kerry). They were up for it! For Dublin they were playing another team of a similar standard to what they had already met in Croker (again, no novelty there). Focus was different for both teams. The two fortunate goals for Fermanagh makes the scoreline look better. And you know what, because of their great following and their players great heart they did not deserve any less!

[Zulu]

That's the difference between just looking at the scoreline and looking at the performance. Kildare are closer to the top than Fermanagh and a good few others.

No they aren't . A div 3 team who were hammered by Dublin and Kerry and who only beat two Div 4 teams in the qualifiers aside from a tired Cork team missing 3 of its best players.

Straw-clutching at best.

That's all true but Kildare have some very decent footballers. They aren't the first team to take a tanking with excellent players on the pitch. Dublin come to mind.

[Zulu]

That's the difference between just looking at the scoreline and looking at the performance. Kildare are closer to the top than Fermanagh and a good few others.

You don't have a clue about football.

I'd be quite certain I know a lot more about it than you.

[Syferus]

That's the difference between just looking at the scoreline and looking at the performance. Kildare are closer to the top than Fermanagh and a good few others.

You don't have a clue about football.

I'd be quite certain I know a lot more about it than you.

Fermanagh are closer to the top than Kildare. Even Kildare would likely admit that.

[Captain Obvious]

That's the difference between just looking at the scoreline and looking at the performance. Kildare are closer to the top than Fermanagh and a good few others.

I seen both games and have since looked back at the scorelines and my conclusion is Fermanagh gave a better account of themselves than Kildare did. Fermanagh were promoted to division two and Kildare relegated to division three its been a better all round year for Fermanagh. Pete McGrath and his team can now look forward to next year with confidence while Kildare will be looking to rebuild likely under new management.

[Zulu]

That's the difference between just looking at the scoreline and looking at the performance. Kildare are closer to the top than Fermanagh and a good few others.

Agree with you Zulu! Today was Kerry's first game of the Championship season in Croker against Kildare (a team who beat Cork and ask questions of Kerry). They were up for it! For Dublin they were playing another team of a similar standard to what they had already met in Croker (again, no novelty there). Focus was different for both teams. The two fortunate goals for Fermanagh makes the scoreline look better. And you know what, because of their great following and their players great heart they did not deserve any less!

I agree. The Fermanagh fans were brilliant today.

[Zulu]

That's the difference between just looking at the scoreline and looking at the performance. Kildare are closer to the top than Fermanagh and a good few others.

You don't have a clue about football.

I'd be quite certain I know a lot more about it than you.

Fermanagh are closer to the top than Kildare. Even Kildare would likely admit that.

They are not IMO and I think that will be proven in the coming years.

[Teo Lurley]

That's the difference between just looking at the scoreline and looking at the performance. Kildare are closer to the top than Fermanagh and a good few others.

You don't have a clue about football.

I'd be quite certain I know a lot more about it than you.

You said Kildare fans should be encouraged by a 27 point defeat, I think that proves you know nothin!!!!

[Zulu]

That's the difference between just looking at the scoreline and looking at the performance. Kildare are closer to the top than Fermanagh and a good few others.

I seen both games and have since looked back at the scorelines and my conclusion is Fermanagh gave a better account of themselves than Kildare did. Fermanagh were promoted to division two and Kildare relegated to division three its been a better all round year for Fermanagh. Pete McGrath and his team can now look forward to next year with confidence while Kildare will be looking to rebuild likely under new management.

Fermanagh did give a better account of themselves but the ref gave them plenty of help and the Dubs weren't up for it. On the other hand Kildare got no luck and a lot of small things went against them. Of course conceding 7 goals doesn't reflect well on them and they should have shown more resolve but they are nowhere near as bad as the scoreline suggests.

[Zulu]

That's the difference between just looking at the scoreline and looking at the performance. Kildare are closer to the top than Fermanagh and a good few others.

You don't have a clue about football.

I'd be quite certain I know a lot more about it than you.

You said Kildare fans should be encouraged by a 27 point defeat, I think that proves you know nothin!!!!

I said I'd be quite encouraged by the performance which I stand by. There was plenty to be happy about and Dublin, with many future All Ireland winners in the team, got tanked by Kerry in 2009 so getting a bad beating doesn't always mean you've bad players. If you knew anything about football you'd know that but you clearly don't.