NFL Division 1 2024

[highorlow]

I know i'm a bit old school here but can someone please tell me why all forwards are afraid to shoot from 30-45m out, this is from all the games in general. Are forwards told not to shoot unless it's in front of the posts...is this a % thing?. you see guys in what i think is a scoreable position but they won't shoot and recycle the ball across and back and across and back and across and back before someone gets dispossed and the counter attack starts...WTF. You're a County footballer, get within 30-45m and pop the the ball over the bar. Even at club level I played with guys who didn't think twice about shooting from those ranges and hardly ever missed...Maybe the footballer is being replaced with an athlete now and fitness/strength is preferred to a proper footballer...

In Mayo if James Carr was doing what he is doing in the James Horan era he would be getting subbed. He takes some wild shots but he makes up for them by scoring a good percentage, at least his wild shots go over the line and not into the goalies hands. I think the answer is somewhere between coaching players to retain possession util the shot is almost guaranteed and the players themselves afraid of messing up.

Having attending the Armagh v Mayo game it was clear that day that unless ye changed something tactically then ye become very beatable. Ye should use the forward mark more and press up on opposition kickouts more, instead ye leave this too late into matches. Ye would've beaten us if ye pressed up on our kickouts with 10 mins to go rather than 5.

[yellowcard]

Now that the dust has settled a bit I'll give you my two bobs worth on Armagh...We have lost the plot, Armagh have great forwards and playing them all in our own half back line is a sin. I get what KMcG is trying to achieve by pulling everyone back and trying to hit the other teams on the counter as we're poor defensively atm but it's not working. I love Armagh and have followed them all my life and I'm considering taking a sabbatical away as I genuinely can't watch that crap atm. I honestly would rather be beaten and having a go/rattle than get beaten in a close game that was like watch grass grow.
For some reason our top forwards are all below par and seem to be short of confidence...do we go for a shoot out with the Kerry's etc and get humped as we'll be left exposed at the back?...I dunno but if we're still losing anyway why not try it out and see. We have to go to Omagh next week and Tyrone will love nothing more than relegating Armagh and we will only have ourselves to blame for this mess as we had a chance to win every game so far and couldn't manage it, from what i have seen the 3 teams at the bottom are the worst teams in Div 1 and there's nothing between Monaghan and Armagh so whoever has the goolies for it next week will stay up.

I know i'm a bit old school here but can someone please tell me why all forwards are afraid to shoot from 30-45m out, this is from all the games in general. Are forwards told not to shoot unless it's in front of the posts...is this a % thing?. you see guys in what i think is a scoreable position but they won't shoot and recycle the ball across and back and across and back and across and back before someone gets dispossed and the counter attack starts...WTF. You're a County footballer, get within 30-45m and pop the the ball over the bar. Even at club level I played with guys who didn't think twice about shooting from those ranges and hardly ever missed...Maybe the footballer is being replaced with an athlete now and fitness/strength is preferred to a proper footballer...

Rant over...

That's a good synopsis of the situation. I simply don't get the tactics we have adopted during this years League but it would certainly suck the life out of you watching us play at times. I honestly don't know what the attacking plan is other than to work the ball up the pitch slowly and retain possession. We have no identity as I don't know what our playing style is. Most of our best players are in the forward line yet we persist in asking them to play a game that is not suited to their strengths. Whatever feel good factor we had from last years championship run has now gone. We have got very little out of this years League other than blooding one new player (McCambridge) whereas at least the likes of Monaghan can say that they are going through a transition phase blooding new players. When you substitute your best player with 5 minutes remaining with the game still in the melting pot you have to ask what is going on.   

If we remember we were also at a bit of a crossroads after the Donegal championship game last year when we played a similar running/possession type game where the players look stifled by fear. After that we threw off the shackles and went more gung ho where the players were encouraged to take risks. I'm holding out hope that we can still do something similar because its still the same bunch of players and we have shown last year that we are more than capable of beating Tyrone, however you wouldn't be confident that we can just turn it around in 8 days.   

[seafoid]

I think Ros had a very good league. They stopped yoyoing, they showed some good skills, they have a good panel , they can finish games well and they should be ready for the championship.

[Rossfan]

If we win next Sunday it will be a good League.
I'd say we'll be ready for the AI Championship in mid/late May but probably not for the Connacht one on 9th April.

[APM]

Now that the dust has settled a bit I'll give you my two bobs worth on Armagh...We have lost the plot, Armagh have great forwards and playing them all in our own half back line is a sin. I get what KMcG is trying to achieve by pulling everyone back and trying to hit the other teams on the counter as we're poor defensively atm but it's not working. I love Armagh and have followed them all my life and I'm considering taking a sabbatical away as I genuinely can't watch that crap atm. I honestly would rather be beaten and having a go/rattle than get beaten in a close game that was like watch grass grow.
For some reason our top forwards are all below par and seem to be short of confidence...do we go for a shoot out with the Kerry's etc and get humped as we'll be left exposed at the back?...I dunno but if we're still losing anyway why not try it out and see. We have to go to Omagh next week and Tyrone will love nothing more than relegating Armagh and we will only have ourselves to blame for this mess as we had a chance to win every game so far and couldn't manage it, from what i have seen the 3 teams at the bottom are the worst teams in Div 1 and there's nothing between Monaghan and Armagh so whoever has the goolies for it next week will stay up.

I know i'm a bit old school here but can someone please tell me why all forwards are afraid to shoot from 30-45m out, this is from all the games in general. Are forwards told not to shoot unless it's in front of the posts...is this a % thing?. you see guys in what i think is a scoreable position but they won't shoot and recycle the ball across and back and across and back and across and back before someone gets dispossed and the counter attack starts...WTF. You're a County footballer, get within 30-45m and pop the the ball over the bar. Even at club level I played with guys who didn't think twice about shooting from those ranges and hardly ever missed...Maybe the footballer is being replaced with an athlete now and fitness/strength is preferred to a proper footballer...

Rant over...

That's a good synopsis of the situation. I simply don't get the tactics we have adopted during this years League but it would certainly suck the life out of you watching us play at times. I honestly don't know what the attacking plan is other than to work the ball up the pitch slowly and retain possession. We have no identity as I don't know what our playing style is. Most of our best players are in the forward line yet we persist in asking them to play a game that is not suited to their strengths. Whatever feel good factor we had from last years championship run has now gone. We have got very little out of this years League other than blooding one new player (McCambridge) whereas at least the likes of Monaghan can say that they are going through a transition phase blooding new players. When you substitute your best player with 5 minutes remaining with the game still in the melting pot you have to ask what is going on.   

If we remember we were also at a bit of a crossroads after the Donegal championship game last year when we played a similar running/possession type game where the players look stifled by fear. After that we threw off the shackles and went more gung ho where the players were encouraged to take risks. I'm holding out hope that we can still do something similar because its still the same bunch of players and we have shown last year that we are more than capable of beating Tyrone, however you wouldn't be confident that we can just turn it around in 8 days.   

Very frustrating!  I hear lots of complaints about McGeeney, but its fairly clear that he recognises that the gung-ho approach from last year, entertaining as it is, will not win championships. Enda McGinley mentioned this a few weeks ago in the RTE column and I think he was on the money. 

However, his assumption was that their attacking game is fine and in the back pocket to be used when appropriate.  On the available evidence, I don't think it is.  Good and all as Armagh's forwards are, they are wasting chances when they do come along.  I counted 5 shots dropped into the keepers' hands and two or three bad wides and a goal chance that they should have finished. 

Galway are no slouches and some of those misses were down to Galway pressure - they packed the defence every bit as much as Armagh did.  Teams are starting to realise that the answer to a packed defence is to pack your own defence.  It's almost like a zero sum game and these fast transitions you dream of, won't happen in reality.

Two things frustrated me about Saturday night: Firstly, that some players first instinct is to go back (or go simple) as soon as they receive the ball, regardless of the risk/reward of a more ambitious pass.  Secondly, there were players making runs off the shoulder last night that should have received the ball first time.  Instead, the ball carrier took a solo, turned inside and gave the ball backwards - we have a number of players guilty of this. There is no urgency whatsoever when we have a lead.  Players look busy, by scuttling about the 40" at speed, but they are going nowhere.

The frustrating thing about Armagh is that when they need scores they will play with urgency by pressing kickouts and flooding the attack when they turnover the ball.  They did this against Mayo for the last 10 minutes.  They did it against Monaghan for 10 minutes.  They went looking for a goal last night and should probably have scored after an excellent turnover from Forker and Mackin's combined efforts. 

They give you glimpses of this, but if they get any kind of a lead, all adventure deserts them. It's borderline psycological and not dis-similar to the 1999-2005 team.  Give them something to chase and they will be fine.  Ask them to defend a lead, they won't build on it, but retreat into their shells. 

[tonto1888]

Now that the dust has settled a bit I'll give you my two bobs worth on Armagh...We have lost the plot, Armagh have great forwards and playing them all in our own half back line is a sin. I get what KMcG is trying to achieve by pulling everyone back and trying to hit the other teams on the counter as we're poor defensively atm but it's not working. I love Armagh and have followed them all my life and I'm considering taking a sabbatical away as I genuinely can't watch that crap atm. I honestly would rather be beaten and having a go/rattle than get beaten in a close game that was like watch grass grow.
For some reason our top forwards are all below par and seem to be short of confidence...do we go for a shoot out with the Kerry's etc and get humped as we'll be left exposed at the back?...I dunno but if we're still losing anyway why not try it out and see. We have to go to Omagh next week and Tyrone will love nothing more than relegating Armagh and we will only have ourselves to blame for this mess as we had a chance to win every game so far and couldn't manage it, from what i have seen the 3 teams at the bottom are the worst teams in Div 1 and there's nothing between Monaghan and Armagh so whoever has the goolies for it next week will stay up.

I know i'm a bit old school here but can someone please tell me why all forwards are afraid to shoot from 30-45m out, this is from all the games in general. Are forwards told not to shoot unless it's in front of the posts...is this a % thing?. you see guys in what i think is a scoreable position but they won't shoot and recycle the ball across and back and across and back and across and back before someone gets dispossed and the counter attack starts...WTF. You're a County footballer, get within 30-45m and pop the the ball over the bar. Even at club level I played with guys who didn't think twice about shooting from those ranges and hardly ever missed...Maybe the footballer is being replaced with an athlete now and fitness/strength is preferred to a proper footballer...

Rant over...

That's a good synopsis of the situation. I simply don't get the tactics we have adopted during this years League but it would certainly suck the life out of you watching us play at times. I honestly don't know what the attacking plan is other than to work the ball up the pitch slowly and retain possession. We have no identity as I don't know what our playing style is. Most of our best players are in the forward line yet we persist in asking them to play a game that is not suited to their strengths. Whatever feel good factor we had from last years championship run has now gone. We have got very little out of this years League other than blooding one new player (McCambridge) whereas at least the likes of Monaghan can say that they are going through a transition phase blooding new players. When you substitute your best player with 5 minutes remaining with the game still in the melting pot you have to ask what is going on.   

If we remember we were also at a bit of a crossroads after the Donegal championship game last year when we played a similar running/possession type game where the players look stifled by fear. After that we threw off the shackles and went more gung ho where the players were encouraged to take risks. I'm holding out hope that we can still do something similar because its still the same bunch of players and we have shown last year that we are more than capable of beating Tyrone, however you wouldn't be confident that we can just turn it around in 8 days.   

You'd wonder if McKeever has had more of an influence on how we play this year

[ck]

Just my own thoughts on where teams are at,

Mayo - the real deal. Can they find another 10% to win Sam?
Galway - Inconsistent and stuttering. Flashes of brilliance but not top 3 in country. Regressed from last year.
Kerry - Take out their key men and theyre ordinary. With key men, they can retain Sam. Returning to form, slowly.
Rossies - 3 wins in a row, 3 defeats in a row. Flattered to deceive. Lucky to escape relegation.
Armagh - Playing much more conservatively than '22. Progressed last year but not this year so far.
Tyrone - Only a fool would rule out Tyrone. Between them and Derry for Ulster. Have the players.
Monaghan - The jury is out. If they can stay up that will be a huge achievement. Playing better in attack.
Donegal - Lucky they are in Div 1 cos if they were in Div.2 they'd be relegated from there too. Playing terribly.

[Armamike]

Now that the dust has settled a bit I'll give you my two bobs worth on Armagh...We have lost the plot, Armagh have great forwards and playing them all in our own half back line is a sin. I get what KMcG is trying to achieve by pulling everyone back and trying to hit the other teams on the counter as we're poor defensively atm but it's not working. I love Armagh and have followed them all my life and I'm considering taking a sabbatical away as I genuinely can't watch that crap atm. I honestly would rather be beaten and having a go/rattle than get beaten in a close game that was like watch grass grow.
For some reason our top forwards are all below par and seem to be short of confidence...do we go for a shoot out with the Kerry's etc and get humped as we'll be left exposed at the back?...I dunno but if we're still losing anyway why not try it out and see. We have to go to Omagh next week and Tyrone will love nothing more than relegating Armagh and we will only have ourselves to blame for this mess as we had a chance to win every game so far and couldn't manage it, from what i have seen the 3 teams at the bottom are the worst teams in Div 1 and there's nothing between Monaghan and Armagh so whoever has the goolies for it next week will stay up.

I know i'm a bit old school here but can someone please tell me why all forwards are afraid to shoot from 30-45m out, this is from all the games in general. Are forwards told not to shoot unless it's in front of the posts...is this a % thing?. you see guys in what i think is a scoreable position but they won't shoot and recycle the ball across and back and across and back and across and back before someone gets dispossed and the counter attack starts...WTF. You're a County footballer, get within 30-45m and pop the the ball over the bar. Even at club level I played with guys who didn't think twice about shooting from those ranges and hardly ever missed...Maybe the footballer is being replaced with an athlete now and fitness/strength is preferred to a proper footballer...

Rant over...

This is very frustrating to watch, especially when nothing comes of it and the opposition hit you on the break.  Not just Armagh at this, it's something that has been coached into players.  It's fine telling a player not to take a pot shot from the sideline or a really bad angle but 35 yards out, relatively central, take a shot ffs.  We have forwards who are more than capable to score from this range.

We've just got too much space between the defence and attack at the minute.  The counter attack isn't working.We can't afford to have probably our best player - O'Neill - on the periphery of the game for large spells. The defence isn't good enough one on one but keep a bit more structure up front to allow for an outball and targets to hit on the break. Against Galway Rian was standing on his own in Galway's half with oceans of space between him and the rest of the team.

[Applesisapples]

Now that the dust has settled a bit I'll give you my two bobs worth on Armagh...We have lost the plot, Armagh have great forwards and playing them all in our own half back line is a sin. I get what KMcG is trying to achieve by pulling everyone back and trying to hit the other teams on the counter as we're poor defensively atm but it's not working. I love Armagh and have followed them all my life and I'm considering taking a sabbatical away as I genuinely can't watch that crap atm. I honestly would rather be beaten and having a go/rattle than get beaten in a close game that was like watch grass grow.
For some reason our top forwards are all below par and seem to be short of confidence...do we go for a shoot out with the Kerry's etc and get humped as we'll be left exposed at the back?...I dunno but if we're still losing anyway why not try it out and see. We have to go to Omagh next week and Tyrone will love nothing more than relegating Armagh and we will only have ourselves to blame for this mess as we had a chance to win every game so far and couldn't manage it, from what i have seen the 3 teams at the bottom are the worst teams in Div 1 and there's nothing between Monaghan and Armagh so whoever has the goolies for it next week will stay up.

I know i'm a bit old school here but can someone please tell me why all forwards are afraid to shoot from 30-45m out, this is from all the games in general. Are forwards told not to shoot unless it's in front of the posts...is this a % thing?. you see guys in what i think is a scoreable position but they won't shoot and recycle the ball across and back and across and back and across and back before someone gets dispossed and the counter attack starts...WTF. You're a County footballer, get within 30-45m and pop the the ball over the bar. Even at club level I played with guys who didn't think twice about shooting from those ranges and hardly ever missed...Maybe the footballer is being replaced with an athlete now and fitness/strength is preferred to a proper footballer...

Rant over...

That's a good synopsis of the situation. I simply don't get the tactics we have adopted during this years League but it would certainly suck the life out of you watching us play at times. I honestly don't know what the attacking plan is other than to work the ball up the pitch slowly and retain possession. We have no identity as I don't know what our playing style is. Most of our best players are in the forward line yet we persist in asking them to play a game that is not suited to their strengths. Whatever feel good factor we had from last years championship run has now gone. We have got very little out of this years League other than blooding one new player (McCambridge) whereas at least the likes of Monaghan can say that they are going through a transition phase blooding new players. When you substitute your best player with 5 minutes remaining with the game still in the melting pot you have to ask what is going on.   

If we remember we were also at a bit of a crossroads after the Donegal championship game last year when we played a similar running/possession type game where the players look stifled by fear. After that we threw off the shackles and went more gung ho where the players were encouraged to take risks. I'm holding out hope that we can still do something similar because its still the same bunch of players and we have shown last year that we are more than capable of beating Tyrone, however you wouldn't be confident that we can just turn it around in 8 days.   

You'd wonder if McKeever has had more of an influence on how we play this year

They are playing with fear going forward, Derry will blow them away, if they get that far.

[yellowcard]

Now that the dust has settled a bit I'll give you my two bobs worth on Armagh...We have lost the plot, Armagh have great forwards and playing them all in our own half back line is a sin. I get what KMcG is trying to achieve by pulling everyone back and trying to hit the other teams on the counter as we're poor defensively atm but it's not working. I love Armagh and have followed them all my life and I'm considering taking a sabbatical away as I genuinely can't watch that crap atm. I honestly would rather be beaten and having a go/rattle than get beaten in a close game that was like watch grass grow.
For some reason our top forwards are all below par and seem to be short of confidence...do we go for a shoot out with the Kerry's etc and get humped as we'll be left exposed at the back?...I dunno but if we're still losing anyway why not try it out and see. We have to go to Omagh next week and Tyrone will love nothing more than relegating Armagh and we will only have ourselves to blame for this mess as we had a chance to win every game so far and couldn't manage it, from what i have seen the 3 teams at the bottom are the worst teams in Div 1 and there's nothing between Monaghan and Armagh so whoever has the goolies for it next week will stay up.

I know i'm a bit old school here but can someone please tell me why all forwards are afraid to shoot from 30-45m out, this is from all the games in general. Are forwards told not to shoot unless it's in front of the posts...is this a % thing?. you see guys in what i think is a scoreable position but they won't shoot and recycle the ball across and back and across and back and across and back before someone gets dispossed and the counter attack starts...WTF. You're a County footballer, get within 30-45m and pop the the ball over the bar. Even at club level I played with guys who didn't think twice about shooting from those ranges and hardly ever missed...Maybe the footballer is being replaced with an athlete now and fitness/strength is preferred to a proper footballer...

Rant over...

That's a good synopsis of the situation. I simply don't get the tactics we have adopted during this years League but it would certainly suck the life out of you watching us play at times. I honestly don't know what the attacking plan is other than to work the ball up the pitch slowly and retain possession. We have no identity as I don't know what our playing style is. Most of our best players are in the forward line yet we persist in asking them to play a game that is not suited to their strengths. Whatever feel good factor we had from last years championship run has now gone. We have got very little out of this years League other than blooding one new player (McCambridge) whereas at least the likes of Monaghan can say that they are going through a transition phase blooding new players. When you substitute your best player with 5 minutes remaining with the game still in the melting pot you have to ask what is going on.   

If we remember we were also at a bit of a crossroads after the Donegal championship game last year when we played a similar running/possession type game where the players look stifled by fear. After that we threw off the shackles and went more gung ho where the players were encouraged to take risks. I'm holding out hope that we can still do something similar because its still the same bunch of players and we have shown last year that we are more than capable of beating Tyrone, however you wouldn't be confident that we can just turn it around in 8 days.   

You'd wonder if McKeever has had more of an influence on how we play this year

Well McKeever did play a very defensive conservative style of football during his time managing Armagh minors and with Mayobridge so it is definitely possible. However McKeever was part of the management team last season so it doesn't explain why we have resorted back to this style. We are playing so as not to lose games rather than trying to win them and there is a massive difference in the psychology and mindset of players with both approaches.

[Ethan Tremblay]

Few points from watching Armagh this year:

- teams have got to grips with their style of play, and know exactly how to counteract it.  They were moving the balls down the channels and having the inside line cut in from the sideline at pace in the earlier league games which worked great for them.  Once this has been nullified, they seem out of ideas. 

- their strength does lie in the forward line, and for several of the games I would have suggested a old fashioned shootout they would have prevailed, but they have been prevented from doing this.  At one point O'Neil was on our own 21 marking a man.  Baffling.  Had they played Galway in an open game of football, I would be convinced they would have won, but they are forced to retreat into themselves. 

- any Armagh fan knows the flair some of the players have, the fact that they are being restricted is frustrating the fans to no end and will likely result in current management being made redundant at the end of the year.  Simply because we cannot risk the first Armagh team with top quality in 15 years to under achieve. 

- the goalkeeper has been the biggest attacking threat this year, which tells a story in itself.  Granted he has the ability to take on men and shoot from distance, but the troublesome thing is, our outfield players are unable to do that, bar maybe 2 or 3. 

Final thoughts.  Not to sound disrespectful to other teams, but the draw of the championship on Armagh's side favors them a run to the final all being well.  In my head I am half thinking McGeeney hasn't unleashed Plan A and is reserving that for championship.  If not he may roll the dice, as even the most loyal of fans are losing patience with him. 

Tyrone seem like they are enjoying themselves again at the moment, and no doubt it is the wrong time for Armagh to come up against them.  Again, a good old fashioned shootout and I would favor Armagh.  Even if they went down  fighting for scores as opposed preventing them, I would be content knowing they are giving it a rattle.  Big week ahead. 

[The Trap]

State of the Nation
Munster
Kerry will still win comfortably despite Cork improving and the only side that can win Sam
Clare could be in with a shout the Tailtean cup
Not sure if Kerry will retain Sam though, think they have regressed slightly and others may catch them
Leinster
Dubs will win this again and only realistic challenger for Sam.
Fair play to Louth so far this year but this may not be the week to talk them up as could be in for it in croke park.
Kildare Meath Westmeath very poor and the rest well......don't even think they will have a Tailtean Cup challenger unless meath or kildare are in it
Ulster
Derry the best by a good bit at the moment and probably have best chance of Sam if they can keep all the main men fit.
Even though they are going through a bad patch Armagh may give derry most to do in ulster as they have the hunger for an ulster title
Tyrone getting a bit better but still a long way to go.....donegal and Monaghan in poor shape. Fermanagh had a good season, could they rattle derry at home? Cavan maybe rattle Armagh and fait play to Antrim on their bounceback at the weekend. A couple of Tailtean contenders including Down who may beat Donegal at home
The West
Mayo and Galway the 2 stand out teams of 2023 and big challengers for Sam. Can't see the Rossies beating both of them to win the title and not going to win Sam either.

Only teams for Sam
Kerry
Dublin
Derry
Mayo
Galway
Tyrone

[weareros]

Happy with Ros's performance. Fully expect us to finish on 8 points which will leave us anywhere from 2nd to 5th in the table.  While we have lost 3 on the trot, none of the 3 losses damaged us because we were within a kick of the ball in all 3 - and we arguably got a stronger, fitter Kerry team at home in Tralee in desperate need of 2 points at home. Just getting a bit of consistency and survival in Division 1 was our only aim in league, and that is pretty much achieved. There's an outside chance of a league final, which would be a major surprise and indeed a strange game given we are meeting Mayo in Castlebar the following week on Easter Sunday. But that's not in our hands and requires some results to go our way. Burke still has a lot to work on - slow starts has been an issue. I think he needs to be more careful when playing physically imposing sides like Mayo and Kerry, in who he starts. While there's a lot to be said having a strong bench for the last twenty minutes, it's ef all good if you are 7 points down in the first 20 minutes. That said, feel both Mayo and Galway are in really good shape so a tough draw in Connacht awaits. 

[GalwayBayBoy]

Just my own thoughts on where teams are at,

Mayo - the real deal. Can they find another 10% to win Sam?
Galway - Inconsistent and stuttering. Flashes of brilliance but not top 3 in country. Regressed from last year.
Kerry - Take out their key men and theyre ordinary. With key men, they can retain Sam. Returning to form, slowly.
Rossies - 3 wins in a row, 3 defeats in a row. Flattered to deceive. Lucky to escape relegation.
Armagh - Playing much more conservatively than '22. Progressed last year but not this year so far.
Tyrone - Only a fool would rule out Tyrone. Between them and Derry for Ulster. Have the players.
Monaghan - The jury is out. If they can stay up that will be a huge achievement. Playing better in attack.
Donegal - Lucky they are in Div 1 cos if they were in Div.2 they'd be relegated from there too. Playing terribly.

Not sure how Galway have regressed? We've been missing a good scatter of front line players for pretty much every league game. Yet, they're still heading into the last round with a chance of a league final. While it hasn't been flashy they already know they have that in their locker with a full deck. I'd say they are delighted to have expanded the viable squad options to be honest.

[APM]

Just my own thoughts on where teams are at,

Mayo - the real deal. Can they find another 10% to win Sam?
Galway - Inconsistent and stuttering. Flashes of brilliance but not top 3 in country. Regressed from last year.
Kerry - Take out their key men and theyre ordinary. With key men, they can retain Sam. Returning to form, slowly.
Rossies - 3 wins in a row, 3 defeats in a row. Flattered to deceive. Lucky to escape relegation.
Armagh - Playing much more conservatively than '22. Progressed last year but not this year so far.
Tyrone - Only a fool would rule out Tyrone. Between them and Derry for Ulster. Have the players.
Monaghan - The jury is out. If they can stay up that will be a huge achievement. Playing better in attack.
Donegal - Lucky they are in Div 1 cos if they were in Div.2 they'd be relegated from there too. Playing terribly.

Not sure how Galway have regressed? We've been missing a good scatter of front line players for pretty much every league game. Yet, they're still heading into the last round with a chance of a league final. While it hasn't been flashy they already know they have that in their locker with a full deck. I'd say they are delighted to have expanded the viable squad options to be honest.

No way has Galway regressed.