Armagh Vs Dorty Dubs

[maddog]

All-Ireland SFC 2008  Outright Betting -- Top contenders according to Paddy Power
Kerry  11 - 8   
Dublin  7 - 2   
Tyrone  8 - 1   
Cork  12 - 1   
Galway  12 - 1   
Mayo  14 - 1   
Monaghan  20 - 1   
Armagh  20 - 1 
Derry  20 - 1   
Meath  25 - 1   
Donegal  28 - 1   

Obviously Monaghan's draw and Armagh's hammering of Dublin don't cut much ice with Paddy Power!

Think they have clipped 5 points off us

[armaghniac]

From a bookies perspective, Armagh's defeat of Dublin has to be put in context with Meath beating us the week before and our failure to reach the top of Div 2. But we were 25/1 and 22/1 and are now 20/1 so some notice has been taken. There is still 22/1 on Betfair. I posted something last week to the effect that Armagh gave up in the second half, so perhaps they were listening to me rather than Coyle. The Meath game seems a bit of an outlier, perhaps the cancelled game the previous week led to some change in training routine which caused the problem. Yesterday was much more encouraging, as many people had pointed out if Clarke and McDonnell are going well and get some decent ball they are hard to stop. Better backs would cut down the damage, but we don't need to win by 9 points, only 1. We did gave away a soft goal, shades of 1977 there, and we'll have to stop doing this. MOR not only did his usual high intensity coverage of the pitch, but is now doing better when he wins the ball, delivering better passes. C McKeever is now keeping the head and playing football, something he is extremely good at. P McKeever had a decent game, but historically he doesn't have a run of these, but we all hope that he'll start now.

In the Indo, Eugene McGee said "any team hoping to win the Ulster championship will need to be up very early in the morning to catch this impressive set of Armagh players", there is reason to think that he may be right.

[INDIANA]

jesus kerry are good odds aren't they?- i mean for a foregone conclusion you simply won't get better odds than that.

[tyssam5]

All-Ireland SFC 2008  Outright Betting -- Top contenders according to Paddy Power
Kerry  11 - 8   
Dublin  7 - 2   
Tyrone  8 - 1   
Cork  12 - 1   
Galway  12 - 1   
Mayo  14 - 1   
Monaghan  20 - 1   
Armagh  20 - 1 
Derry  20 - 1   
Meath  25 - 1   
Donegal  28 - 1   

Obviously Monaghan's draw and Armagh's hammering of Dublin don't cut much ice with Paddy Power!

[/b]


Nor does it seem that Derry have won many friends in the bookmaking fraternity either - available at a very generous 20-1 !

I wonder would Paddy Power lay me 20's on the NFL final with Kerry - I'd have a  bit of that if they did !

I'm afraid PP is only offered 2-1 on Derry Orangeman. Think it will be an interesting game though.

[Uladh]

An excellent morale booster for armagh yesterday which should at least give us comfort that they are capable of competing with anyone come the summer.

A whole pile of positives and deliveries on months and sometimes years of promise but i think we need to temper the hysteria with the reality that the dubs are a long way off all ireland contenders and were below par yesterday. also, piller must be one of the most tactically inept coaches in the intercounty arena.

For armagh, the main positives were that the 2 inside men were firing again and working as a pair, the half back line returned to their pre meath dominance and the half forward line functioned better than possibly ant time in the last ten years.

Donaghy is really starting to impress me. he attacks the ball and has great hands. it'll be a good contest for the number 3 jersey if francie can get himself up to speed. AK produced his usual quality going forward and is a reliable pair of hands when the defence is under pressure. i guess we have to live with his man picking off scores and hope to minimise it. AOR has been outstanding. he commpletely eliminated cullen from the game and his pass to clarke from the halfway line was an example of what he adds to armagh's counterattacks. Leaving him off the panel last year is looking worse and worse as the games go by. McKeever is a hell of a defender. he took care of vaughan with ease and shut brogan down completely when swithched onto him.

SK had his best ever game in an armagh jersey and it is great to see evidence of what we've been promised he can deliver. He has certainly earned his start now and that is all anyone ever wanted. Joe obviously had hoped he could find this type of form for the county but the big stumbling block was that he did not wait for steven to earn his chance in his own right as every other footballer in the county must. MOR produced his usual performance. unspectacular but fantastic. McKeever was possibly the biggest bonus of the day. he showed well for the ball coming out of defence and used it well when he got it.

McDonnell and clarke are as good as is in the country inside when the supply is right and the right supply is early kicked ball. another major plus from last week was the lack of soloing the ball and clarke and mcdonnell were the chief beneficiaries.

On the other hand...

Although hearty produced no bloopers yesterday, his kickouts seem terrible hard to judge. I'm not sure mcgrane is his biggest fan as i saw him remonstrating and pointing on several occasions in the first half. Again, moriarty fails to impress me though McDonnell seems to have a lot of faith in him. the mistake yesterday was the type of thing you're always expecting and when his man gets the ball you expect the foul. Paul Kernan had a torrid day and its way too soon for the lad. to be honest, he has yet to impress for his club and i think a summer of club football rather than kicking his heels might bring him on quicker.

Midfield struggled and vernon probably was the better of the 2. McGrane hasn't really found that spring in his heels yet but i'd expect him to have that right come the summer. Vernon is a very attacking option from the middle sector but it remains to be seen if he can win enough posession to hold down a starting berth.

Tony K was probably the weakest of our starting forwards and has really struggled from play since the cavan game. McDonnell seems to be hitting the majority of the frees anyway so i'm not sure he's worth his start. i think the addition of Brian Mallon or miceal o'rourke might add more firepower to the forward line but there's options and that's the main thing.

Another crest on what has been a roller coaster league in terms of performances. we could do without a trough against cork!

[his holiness nb]

but i think we need to temper the hysteria with the reality that the dubs are a long way off all ireland contenders

[heffo]

i think we need to temper the hysteria with the reality that the dubs are a long way off all ireland contenders and were below par yesterday.

Lets not carried away now. There were ten changes from the previous game, it was Dublin's first defeat in 2008 and of the two corner backs, one (Andrews) was making his second senior appearance as a sub, and the other (Murray) won't be anywhere near the championship 15.

[his holiness nb]

By the talk about who will contend and who will not, and how far Kerry are ahead, its amazing to think Kerry were within a kick of a ball of losing the 1/4 final and semi final last year.

They are the best team yes, no doubt.

But some people are going on as if they are invincible, which they are certainly not.

I must admit though, as bad as Dublin were yesterday, Armagh were better than I expected.

[INDIANA]

they are  a better side than last year holiness- they have more options for starters and play with a consistency that no other county can match. It's up to the otehr counties to get there and match their standard- but at the moment there are no credible contenders to their crown based on the football i've seen this year.

[Uladh]

i think we need to temper the hysteria with the reality that the dubs are a long way off all ireland contenders and were below par yesterday.

Lets not carried away now. There were ten changes from the previous game, it was Dublin's first defeat in 2008 and of the two corner backs, one (Andrews) was making his second senior appearance as a sub, and the other (Murray) won't be anywhere near the championship 15.

eh, is that not what my point was?

[heffo]

i think we need to temper the hysteria with the reality that the dubs are a long way off all ireland contenders and were below par yesterday.

Lets not carried away now. There were ten changes from the previous game, it was Dublin's first defeat in 2008 and of the two corner backs, one (Andrews) was making his second senior appearance as a sub, and the other (Murray) won't be anywhere near the championship 15.

eh, is that not what my point was?

Sorry, I thought your point was that the Dublin team who were beaten by a point by Kerry, who were unbeaten in 2008 and have been making huge changes in every game in order to build a panel throughout the league who will be capable to challenging for a spot in the championship team, will be a 'long way off all ireland contenders'..

[corn02]

Couple of other points:

- Annoying to Armagh fans booing a free taker, Dublin fans did not do this.
- Since when has club Armagh sold prostitution and decided to display them at half time?
- how many times will the half time draw be won by a Cross fan before we shout 'fix'?

[his holiness nb]

- Since when has club Armagh sold prostitution and decided to display them at half time?

The old St tropez was in full effect too!

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Quote from: INDIANA on Today at 09:22:59 AM
tis amazing to see the praise stephen kernan is getting- considering the disgraceful ritual and systematic abuse he received from his fans last year. How ironic he is now one of their key players! A lot of Armagh fans must feel pretty stupid now.


No doubt about that Indiana - he was given dog's abuse on this board - I think it was more to do with his father picking him than SK himself

No i don't feel stupid. I wouldn't say that I gave SK abuse but I did express an opinion that he didn't deserve the amount of chances in the starting XV that he got since 2005. On many occasions he played poorly for Armagh and as a supporter, I think I have the right to express an opinion (a perfectly valid one in my view). I firmly believe that he was given many more chances than other players who showed similar promise.

This year (and probably since last year's championship) he's been a vastly improved player and is finally making a real contribution to the team. He has excellent vision although I'd worry how he'll react when put under real pressure by a defender. I also still think that Brian Mallon is a better option in the half forward line and I'd query the view that "nobody" else would have picked out Stevie for the goal, I thought it was a fairly obvious pass given that he was standing absolutely free 8 yards from goal.

how many times will the half time draw be won by a Cross fan before we shout 'fix'?

In fairness Cross people are far more likely to buy a ticket. I know I'm far more likely to give money to my own club than any other. Really think its verging on paranoia to think that the draw is fixed.

[corn02]

Bit of humour TAM, no conspiracy theory.