Longstone out of the Down SFC and St.John's out of the Antrim SFC. Does it make the selection any easier???
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GAA Discussion / Dub darlings of the Hill
August 24, 2007, 09:33:18 AM
Dublin v Kerry - for big match build up and analysis buy today's Gaelic Life - available in your local newsagent throughout Dublin today, Friday 24th August.
Gaelic Life - GAA's only weekly newspaper. Interesting article below:
By Ciaran Woods
c.woods@gaeliclife.com
IT'S not easy being a Dublin senior footballer. The pressure is immense, from both within and without, and if you fall short there's never any shortage of people ready and waiting to knock you down. That's the belief of one of the Metropolitan side's most famous sons, former attacking ace Charlie Redmond.
"The belief is there every year, and the expectation is there every year. When you go out and start playing for Dublin you realise that the pressure comes naturally. It doesn't really matter how good or how bad the team are, there's always that pressure. It's par for the course, you learn to deal with it at a very early stage because if you don't then you're going to have difficulties with it," he said.
Redmond is currently enjoying his first break from football in more than 25 years, as firstly a player and then as a club manager. He calls it his "gardening break," and reveals that although it's tough not being involved in football, he's enjoying life as a spectator.
Redmond knows all about the demands put on the Dubs by their massive support, who can often be quick to vent their frustrations if things are not going the way of their Boys in Blue. However, with their semi-final clash with Kerry looming large this weekend, he believes that regardless of the outcome on Sunday this season's championship can be viewed as a success.
"I don't think there's any more pressure on them now than there was in their first match of the summer. In fact, I'd say that there was more pressure for that first game against Meath than there is for this game with Kerry, because if you lose to Kerry in an All-Ireland semi-final then at least you've been there and there's been a tangible degree of success that season. If we'd lost to Offaly in the Leinster semi-final then there would have been serious consternation in the county about where we were at and where we were going to.
"While the pressure isn't off by any means, the fact that they've had a degree of success regardless of the outcome this weekend means that come the end of the season the players will be able to look back on it and know that there's been progress."
Dublin's two attacking young guns, Mark Vaughan and Bernard Brogan, have proven to be two of the finds of the summer, making a remarkable breakthrough at the highest level with some accomplished displays. Their form and the quality they have displayed has come as no surprise to Redmond or other followers of Dublin football, and he is glad to see the duo finally getting their chance to shine on the big stage.
"They're the sort of players who have been on the periphery of the team for a couple of years now, and everybody has been screaming at the management to give them their opportunity. The management team to a large extent were biding their time, and while Mark had got a few chances and played a few games Bernard certainly hadn't and I think we've possibly seen the benefit of that because this season the two of them have blossomed into marvellous footballers. We all knew around Dublin how good of a footballer Bernard Brogan is, and we were all wondering why he wasn't getting an opportunity. We were all glad to see him get it this year, and even more glad that he's taking it."
As a former "Darling of the Hill" himself, Redmond is in an ideal position to run the rule over the man who has taken over not only that role but also become scorer-in-chief for Paul Caffrey's men. The raised profile brings its own set of problems for Vaughan, but Redmond is full of praise for what he has accomplished this summer.
"When you've done what he's done this season, the crowd are going to love him, there's no doubt about that. But he will realise that with that certain degree of icon status comes with it an added pressure that the other players don't have to deal with. Credit to him, he's dealt with that very well for such a young lad and hopefully he can keep on doing that, and more importantly I hope the supporters stick behind him."
Dublin's hard-fought win over Derry in the previous round will have provided a huge boost to Pillar's boys, according to Redmond, who was heartened by the determined display they showed. However, despite the positive result, he still feels that Dublin's inability to maintain sustained pressure and intensity for 70 minutes is a cause for concern.
"The fact that we were well ahead and seemed to take our foot off the pedal would seem to indicate to people that if you keep playing for 70 minutes against the Dubs then you're obviously in with a chance. That's something that won't be lost on the Kerry boys, who are the most astute of Gaelic people when it comes to tactics. They're bound to be saying that no matter how far Dublin get ahead, just keep going and you'll pull them back.
"The same can be said of Dublin though, they seem to ease their foot off the pedal and then put it down again for the last 10 minutes or so, and do enough to get out of jail sometimes. It's an aspect of their play though that can cause you severe problems in close games."
The ability of the Dublin forwards to unlock what is such a tight Kingdom rearguard will be the key to the game according to Redmond, who feels that the showdown in the middle of the park between two of the summers biggest performers, Darragh O Se and Ciaran Whelan, will also have a huge bearing on proceedings.
"There'll be clashes all over the field which are going to be intriguing. At the end of the day each of the 15 players taking to the field for each team has an individual battle to win against his direct opponent, and whichever side wins the majority of those individual battles will generally win the game, I'm sure that's something that Paul Caffrey will be imparting upon his players throughout this week. But I think that both forward lines have the ability to convert chances and that will ultimately decide who comes out on top."
Meath's defeat at the hands of Cork last weekend ended the chances of a Dublin-Meath All-Ireland final showdown between the fierce Leinster rivals, and Redmond says it would have been quite a novel occasion had the two teams been given the opportunity to cross swords on the biggest stage of all. As a Dublin man living in enemy territory in the Royal county, the former attacker admits that it would have been a very difficult time for whichever side lost the now hypothetical decider.
"It would have been interesting alright, especially considering that I'm living in Meath along the border with Dublin. Around there, things are very polarised, and it would have been a great time coming up to an All-Ireland Final to be living here and everything that went with it, but heaven help whoever lost it because not only would they have been very hurt at losing but they wouldn't have lived it down for years to come. But that's not going to happen now at this stage so we'll just look ahead to our game and try to make sure there's a Leinster side in the All-Ireland."
It might be the second year in a row that Ulster has no representation in the last four of the All-Ireland series, but they certainly get Redmond's vote of confidence. Having had countless showdowns with Ulster sides over the years, Redmond is sure that Ulster will soon be back contesting for silverware, with a new set of strategies and players competing at the highest level.
"Everything goes in cycles. You look at the early 90's when Ulster won three All-Irelands in a row with Donegal, Down and Derry, then they went away for a while before Armagh took it back in the early stages of the 2000's, then Tyrone took their two titles. Football goes around and comes around, it never stands still, and it's only a matter of time before the balance of power goes back to the Ulster sides.
"You only have to look at Connacht this year, where everyone expected Mayo to have a good shot at it but they put up a meek performance. You look at the Galway team and the talent that they have, you'd think that they'd have had a good chance at it as well, and they also fell away rather quietly.
"Leinster football has been down for a long time, with only Dublin going through to the latter stages, and we've only reached two All-Ireland semi-finals in the last dozen years or so. That doesn't auger great for Leinster football, but things have taken a bit of an upturn this year with two teams in the semis.
"But Ulster will be back, I've no doubt about that because they're quality sides, and there'll probably be even more of them making it through to the latter stages next season," Redmond concluded.
Gaelic Life - GAA's only weekly newspaper. Interesting article below:
By Ciaran Woods
c.woods@gaeliclife.com
IT'S not easy being a Dublin senior footballer. The pressure is immense, from both within and without, and if you fall short there's never any shortage of people ready and waiting to knock you down. That's the belief of one of the Metropolitan side's most famous sons, former attacking ace Charlie Redmond.
"The belief is there every year, and the expectation is there every year. When you go out and start playing for Dublin you realise that the pressure comes naturally. It doesn't really matter how good or how bad the team are, there's always that pressure. It's par for the course, you learn to deal with it at a very early stage because if you don't then you're going to have difficulties with it," he said.
Redmond is currently enjoying his first break from football in more than 25 years, as firstly a player and then as a club manager. He calls it his "gardening break," and reveals that although it's tough not being involved in football, he's enjoying life as a spectator.
Redmond knows all about the demands put on the Dubs by their massive support, who can often be quick to vent their frustrations if things are not going the way of their Boys in Blue. However, with their semi-final clash with Kerry looming large this weekend, he believes that regardless of the outcome on Sunday this season's championship can be viewed as a success.
"I don't think there's any more pressure on them now than there was in their first match of the summer. In fact, I'd say that there was more pressure for that first game against Meath than there is for this game with Kerry, because if you lose to Kerry in an All-Ireland semi-final then at least you've been there and there's been a tangible degree of success that season. If we'd lost to Offaly in the Leinster semi-final then there would have been serious consternation in the county about where we were at and where we were going to.
"While the pressure isn't off by any means, the fact that they've had a degree of success regardless of the outcome this weekend means that come the end of the season the players will be able to look back on it and know that there's been progress."
Dublin's two attacking young guns, Mark Vaughan and Bernard Brogan, have proven to be two of the finds of the summer, making a remarkable breakthrough at the highest level with some accomplished displays. Their form and the quality they have displayed has come as no surprise to Redmond or other followers of Dublin football, and he is glad to see the duo finally getting their chance to shine on the big stage.
"They're the sort of players who have been on the periphery of the team for a couple of years now, and everybody has been screaming at the management to give them their opportunity. The management team to a large extent were biding their time, and while Mark had got a few chances and played a few games Bernard certainly hadn't and I think we've possibly seen the benefit of that because this season the two of them have blossomed into marvellous footballers. We all knew around Dublin how good of a footballer Bernard Brogan is, and we were all wondering why he wasn't getting an opportunity. We were all glad to see him get it this year, and even more glad that he's taking it."
As a former "Darling of the Hill" himself, Redmond is in an ideal position to run the rule over the man who has taken over not only that role but also become scorer-in-chief for Paul Caffrey's men. The raised profile brings its own set of problems for Vaughan, but Redmond is full of praise for what he has accomplished this summer.
"When you've done what he's done this season, the crowd are going to love him, there's no doubt about that. But he will realise that with that certain degree of icon status comes with it an added pressure that the other players don't have to deal with. Credit to him, he's dealt with that very well for such a young lad and hopefully he can keep on doing that, and more importantly I hope the supporters stick behind him."
Dublin's hard-fought win over Derry in the previous round will have provided a huge boost to Pillar's boys, according to Redmond, who was heartened by the determined display they showed. However, despite the positive result, he still feels that Dublin's inability to maintain sustained pressure and intensity for 70 minutes is a cause for concern.
"The fact that we were well ahead and seemed to take our foot off the pedal would seem to indicate to people that if you keep playing for 70 minutes against the Dubs then you're obviously in with a chance. That's something that won't be lost on the Kerry boys, who are the most astute of Gaelic people when it comes to tactics. They're bound to be saying that no matter how far Dublin get ahead, just keep going and you'll pull them back.
"The same can be said of Dublin though, they seem to ease their foot off the pedal and then put it down again for the last 10 minutes or so, and do enough to get out of jail sometimes. It's an aspect of their play though that can cause you severe problems in close games."
The ability of the Dublin forwards to unlock what is such a tight Kingdom rearguard will be the key to the game according to Redmond, who feels that the showdown in the middle of the park between two of the summers biggest performers, Darragh O Se and Ciaran Whelan, will also have a huge bearing on proceedings.
"There'll be clashes all over the field which are going to be intriguing. At the end of the day each of the 15 players taking to the field for each team has an individual battle to win against his direct opponent, and whichever side wins the majority of those individual battles will generally win the game, I'm sure that's something that Paul Caffrey will be imparting upon his players throughout this week. But I think that both forward lines have the ability to convert chances and that will ultimately decide who comes out on top."
Meath's defeat at the hands of Cork last weekend ended the chances of a Dublin-Meath All-Ireland final showdown between the fierce Leinster rivals, and Redmond says it would have been quite a novel occasion had the two teams been given the opportunity to cross swords on the biggest stage of all. As a Dublin man living in enemy territory in the Royal county, the former attacker admits that it would have been a very difficult time for whichever side lost the now hypothetical decider.
"It would have been interesting alright, especially considering that I'm living in Meath along the border with Dublin. Around there, things are very polarised, and it would have been a great time coming up to an All-Ireland Final to be living here and everything that went with it, but heaven help whoever lost it because not only would they have been very hurt at losing but they wouldn't have lived it down for years to come. But that's not going to happen now at this stage so we'll just look ahead to our game and try to make sure there's a Leinster side in the All-Ireland."
It might be the second year in a row that Ulster has no representation in the last four of the All-Ireland series, but they certainly get Redmond's vote of confidence. Having had countless showdowns with Ulster sides over the years, Redmond is sure that Ulster will soon be back contesting for silverware, with a new set of strategies and players competing at the highest level.
"Everything goes in cycles. You look at the early 90's when Ulster won three All-Irelands in a row with Donegal, Down and Derry, then they went away for a while before Armagh took it back in the early stages of the 2000's, then Tyrone took their two titles. Football goes around and comes around, it never stands still, and it's only a matter of time before the balance of power goes back to the Ulster sides.
"You only have to look at Connacht this year, where everyone expected Mayo to have a good shot at it but they put up a meek performance. You look at the Galway team and the talent that they have, you'd think that they'd have had a good chance at it as well, and they also fell away rather quietly.
"Leinster football has been down for a long time, with only Dublin going through to the latter stages, and we've only reached two All-Ireland semi-finals in the last dozen years or so. That doesn't auger great for Leinster football, but things have taken a bit of an upturn this year with two teams in the semis.
"But Ulster will be back, I've no doubt about that because they're quality sides, and there'll probably be even more of them making it through to the latter stages next season," Redmond concluded.
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