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And you wonder why Irelands mental facilties are not over-run with space cadets. Just had look at that, worrying, i may be wrong but Jet engines trails always been there since jet air travel.

Well they used to be. Not everything has improved since they closed the asylums.

Yes.History rightly looks back on mental asylum etc and on people who shouldn't have been there, but of course there are people who should have been there.

While watching Kerry v Donegal I was thinking this will be a great eye opener for Armagh, there'll be zero complacency,going to be a tight game tho.

There should be no complacency. Tyrone and Monaghan took us to extra time and Derry are as good. Armagh were a bit unsettled at times against Monaghan, if I were McGeeney then I'd be looking for a consistent performance this time, with comebacks not tolerated.

McGuinness and Clifford getting bans will have a huge say.

Tyrone , Armagh and Galway will feel they have a serious chance in that scenario.

Tyrone odds slashed from 25/1 to 14/1 for good reason.

Surely 0 chance Clifford gets a ban. Jim probably will which will be a laugh but doesnt deserve one to be fair

Clifford might have got away, his team were well beaten. However, Jimmy does have to get a rap otherwise you are making an eejit of Ger Brennan, and if like in any game if one team gets a red card then the other team are then at risk.

Tyrone odds were probably good value, I still recall betting on them at 33/1 in 2008.

What way does draw work now and when is it?

A. Winners play winners for a QF place.
B. Losers play losers, to get rid of 4 teams

Losers of A play winners of B for the remaining QF places.

draw is Tuesday 2nd June, as there are 4 games next weekend.

Genuine question but with the current format are you better losing or winning this round?

I know the obvious answer is winning as it gives you two shots at making the quarterfinal but my concern is this.

If you win and we assume everyone at this stage is trying to win then you have the best teams in round 2A so it's a hard match potentially away.

Lose that you are playing the following week against a team coming off a win. You also have to play the following week again.

Alternatively if you lose the first round you have the jeopardy of straight knock out immediately but theoretically against an easier team and then you have some momentum into a preliminary quarterfinal against a team coming off a defeat the weekend before.

I can see advantages to both approaches. I think the teams playing round 1 a bit later have obviously more knowledge who is in which pot for round 2 and they may be a factor.

The point is that the teams are not seeded directly, it is only their reaching the provincial finals.
In terms of risk, getting the losers of Westmeath/Cavan are below the losers of Kerry/Donegal. You are not guaranteed a weaker time as a loser because the two top-rated teams in the country are playing each other.

The break will suit an out of sorts Tyrone but need to hang in there for first half til cobwebs get blown out.

There is a decent Tyrone crowd going from my contacts, a lot of people think they could finally bring it all together having not been too far off Armagh who are now deserving Champions of Ulster and a real contender for Sam.

The Tyrone support against Armagh was very poor, given the good effort the team made. Perhaps more will now get involved.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cvgzjpd1jjgt

Hmmm turns out Keirs open borders are not very open after all!
Funny that.

Even funnier is that fact they've now pushing this as a 'good thing', when for years they were saying immigration was a 'good thing'.

Both of those statements can be true though.

You can have too much of a good thing.

Hard to see how Dublin are 34% to reach a semi final, think they are miles off it.  Would fancy most of the teams below them to have a right cut at them. 

These calculations are probably based on odds. The odds for Dublin always overestimate their chances.
If Monaghan were playing Dublin, I'd be betting on the Farneymen.

Is that damning with faint praise?
[/quote]

Saying that Monaghan would beat a county with 20 times its population is just praise, nothing faint about it

When's the season ticket window end?

Tues 26th at 11an.

Hard to see how Dublin are 34% to reach a semi final, think they are miles off it.   Would fancy most of the teams below them to have a right cut at them. 

These calculations are probably based on odds. The odds for Dublin always overestimate their chances.
If Monaghan were playing Dublin, I'd be betting on the Farneymen.

[Think we should be ok around the middle against Derry but I'd be fearful enough against a Kerry/Donegal/Galway with the big brutes they have.]

Reading the Derry club thread Derry ones seem fairly confident. Not an unreasonable stance either.

Armagh seemed to be able to park the Ulster Final defeats very well and come out very strongly in the AI series after, what will the heads be like after a bit of mid season success?

I'd worry a bit about MF myself,  Crealey's loss will be felt a lot more as this progresses, but we're doing OK there to date.

Think we should be ok around the middle against Derry but I'd be fearful enough against a Kerry/Donegal/Galway with the big brutes they have. At the minute we're doing rightly at the shorts with the bad weather playing a big part on Sunday with the ones we lost. Hopefully we're able to park Ulster again and push on.

This sums it up, Derry have a mobile midfield but not a big enough midfield to trouble the Kerry/Donegals etc. Armagh will have the same problem eventually. Don't see midfield being the game winner in the Derry game. Crealey a huge lost.

Despite Galway having some big men around the middle, they were cleaned out by the Rossies in that department. I think there's as much to be said for having a bit of grit and doggedness and getting stuck into the battles for breaking ball etc. Not to mention a clever kickout strategy can go a long way.
Armagh seem to be on the way back, the hunger they had in 24, that was missing in 25, looks like it's back in them again. At least as an outsider looking in that's what I see.

I don't believe Armagh lacked hunger in 2025. They went into the Kerry game as favourites and had been playing well up to then. Armagh were 4/5 up at start of the second half until they were met by a perfect 15 minute spell from Kerry who then went and won the All Ireland pretty easily.

Armagh couldn't change gear quickly enough when Kerry upped it to play the best football of the year showing a clear understanding of the possibilities of the new rules. If Meath had not beaten Kerry then that performance might not have resulted.

https://x.com/StatsAndSolos/status/2057058407534715328

I thought Derry were more impressive v Monaghan in the first 60 minutes of normal time than Armagh. Monaghan missed more v Armagh when their come back was on.

I expect a tight game with Armagh to pull away in the last 10 given their stronger bench.

However, I haven't heard a word from the Derry camp since the Monaghan game. I assume they are hurting and will have a point to prove with all the choker labels being thrown around. The Armagh camp on the other hand are probably still sobering up. This could be a leveller. I remember it happened to Derry v Monaghan after the 2023 ulster final - we drew that game after hammering them in Ulster.

Interestingly i checked the spread with the bookies for the Armagh Derry game before and after the Ulster final, they've reduced it from 4 points to 2 points.

Monaghan played better for 70 minutes (but not 90) against Armagh than they did for most of their game against Derry.But that is useful experience for Armagh, the Down game was an outlier as the opposition was useless. I think Armagh can beat Derry by a few points. Apparently, Armagh have been involved in almost 30% of championship extra time, perhaps we can do the job in 70 mins this time.

Westmeath v Cavan match tickets sold out in 5 minutes

If any Cavan people got one, they can resell at a profit on the dark web.

Roscommon are now 5th favourites for the All-Ireland at 16/1, after Galway and Armagh 11/1.
Tyrone are 25/1

I had typed yerra earlier but I deleted it haha.

If this game was in Croker I'd be a lot more confident but with us having very poor support now and the Hyde will be noisy.

Re Tyrone's team there is still a few injuries about I've heard but hopefully we get a big game from K&K at midfield and McKernan and McGeary start getting back to themselves. Mattie was excellent v Armagh and hopefully Jordan kicks on from his good league showing.

What bookie is offering Armagh at 11/1 ?

I'd be interested in this also, as you only get 6/1 on Betfair. Not so good as 2024, when I got 33/1 on Betfair 

Perhaps 11/2 was intended, as usual Kerry are not great value.