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[With 53 of a backroom team]

They have very good hurlers but what sets them apart is their level of physical conditioning. They are the fittest team I've seen playing GAA with a lot of massive men. With 53 of a backroom team and JPs unlimited funds they are all but professional in name.

Clare tried to match them physically today and managed to stay in touch for a good part of the game but you never got the feeling that Limerick wouldn't win it. I think they'll get the 5 in a row and will then have another target next year with Dublins 6.

Surely that was sarcasm?? Hats off they are a serious team filled with absolute animals of men who can hurl too.

Hannon said it himself in his speech after the match. Imagine a county board trying to fund all of that, it gives them a serious advantage. They make the Dubs look like a division 2 side when it comes to preparation.

They have very good hurlers but what sets them apart is their level of physical conditioning. They are the fittest team I've seen playing GAA with a lot of massive men. With 53 of a backroom team and JPs unlimited funds they are all but professional in name.

Clare tried to match them physically today and managed to stay in touch for a good part of the game but you never got the feeling that Limerick wouldn't win it. I think they'll get the 5 in a row and will then have another target next year with Dublins 6.

If it's one thing I've learned over the years is not to get carried away with Armagh as they will bite you on the ass at some stage, the win against Derry was great but i'm not losing the run of myself over it either. My mind hasn't changed much from a month ago, Dublin are no 1 and Kerry are no 2 teams in the Country. There is little to nothing separating the other Counties below who can all beat each other in any given day with a bit of luck. (They're in random order BTW)

Armagh
Derry
Tyrone
Mayo
Donegal
Cork
Galway

Roscommon and Monaghan can still pack a punch but seem to have dropped a bit this year. TBH I've not looked at the draw if in fact it has been made at this stage but if Dublin and Kerry can meet at a potential Semi final then one of the 7 teams above will get to an All Ireland Final and anything can happen in a one off game.

I don't see either Tyrone or Cork as being good enough to get to an AI final. With Derry's self implosion I don't see them salvaging anything from their season now either - a quarter final is the best they can hope for now. Armagh, Donegal, Mayo or Galway all have the potential to make a final depending on the draw. Otherwise I can only see it as being another Dublin v Kerry final.   

He got it 100% Dare anyone suggest it was doomed to failure got the worst abuse, now everyone has turned on Mickey and is a subject of ridicule, including that Hitler skit...

The only people who seemed to think it was a good idea at the time were the Derry County board and Mickey Harte himself. It was the wrong choice then but I don't think anybody thought it could have got so bad so quickly especially after winning the League title.

The Brendan Rogers fist pass that went badly off target leading to the second goal, it's difficult to legislate for such poor implementation of the basics ...  never mind Rogers lack of an attempt to get a tackle in on the way up the field ...

https://youtu.be/N_N7bbRteTA?t=156

Rodgers had more than a couple of sloppy plays yesterday, but in fairness to him, he sprinted the whole way back. Not sure who you want him to tackle when the ball is 20 yards up the field ahead of him.

I think it's wrong to pin point mistakes like this - they things happen to every player.  Look at the Louth ball out yesterday, plus the Westmeath cross-field pass.  All three resulted in goals.
These things happen. All players, managers and referees etc. make mistakes.  They don't need to.

The pass didn't loss Derry the game. It was lost when the referee threw up the ball.   

Nothing more than an observation. Derry's midfield is normally such a platform for them and yesterday they were wiped out

The three Armagh boys across the middle were phenomenal, haven't enjoyed a game so much in a long long time. Just hope we can follow it up with a performance against Galway

It was reminiscent of 2022 when we steamrolled Tyrone and Donegal. Fast, front foot and aggressive in the tackle. We have nothing to lose as nobody expects us to win Sam. Just keep playing like that and see where it takes us, we've shown we have the firepower.

That was the best midfield performance in a long while. Crealey has won me over with his performances this championship and we know what Rian is capable of. The big surprise was Grimleys selection but he more than justified it, he's always had the ability but seemed luckless with injuries at times.

Conor McGregors rant about Arthur Guinness being a traitor but mcgregor wore a poppy...

You'd nearly feel sorry for McGregor at this stage. It's like a public case study in how not to handle fame, money and power. But too many people enabled it because he was a cash cow for them.

I'd say Derry's current problems are more to do with injuries, fatigue and abandoning the highly disciplined way they played under Gallagher. They've been hard at it for a few years now moving up the league tables, pushing themselves hard. Great footballers and will be back. Would not rule out Derry beating a 2nd placed team in the prelims. Mayo Derry would be tasty.

I wouldn't rule out Westmeath beating them in the final group game. The nature of that defeat yesterday can't be turned around in the space of a few weeks and it doesn't look like a happy camp at all. Either way they can no longer be considered All Ireland pretenders.

Much too simplistic to put it down to Portugal. That has nothing to do with them repeatedly leaving no defenders in one half of the pitch. It has been a tactical disaster, anything else is just trying to pin the blame on the players.

It will go down as the worst appointment in GAA history. Both from Derrys perspective and from Mickey Harte's perspective. How either side thought it was a good idea to begin with is baffling.

That was probably Armaghs best performance under geezer. So many players performed well on the day and the only negative was that we butchered a few other goal chances - it should have been 6 or 7 goals. It proved that when we play front foot, aggressive football we are much better and some of the tackling to turnover possession followed by quick attacks was excellent.

On the other side Derry were a complete shambles. The Mickey Harte appointment was never likely to end well and Chrissy McKaigue will have a bit of explaining to do to his team mates for appointing him. They look like a team waiting for the season to end.

How come McKaigue is taking the flack for this appointment, pretty sure he didnt ratify it on his own.

Not a fan or McK or MH. Just curious

You're right he mightn't have ratified it himself, but how anyone thought it was a good idea to begin with is the problem. And that's got absolutely nothing to do with his credentials as a manager which were top level.

The surprise is that it has imploded as badly as it actually has. If this was soccer he'd be gone this morning.

That was probably Armaghs best performance under geezer. So many players performed well on the day and the only negative was that we butchered a few other goal chances - it should have been 6 or 7 goals. It proved that when we play front foot, aggressive football we are much better and some of the tackling to turnover possession followed by quick attacks was excellent.

On the other side Derry were a complete shambles. The Mickey Harte appointment was never likely to end well and Chrissy McKaigue will have a bit of explaining to do to his team mates for appointing him. They look like a team waiting for the season to end.

I'm actually fairly hopeful that we can win on Sunday now and its not because I'm convinced that Armagh have totally got over the Ulster final defeat. It's more got to do with how vulnerable Derry look following their recent championship defeats and their injuries picked up along the way. This time last year Derry were riding the crest of a wave and their support base seemed energised in a way that I hadn't seen them before. However recent defeats (particularly the Donegal one) have seen that feel good factor disappear and their fans were surprisingly very downbeat about their chances prior to the Galway match which transpired to be well placed in hindsight. There are signs of disharmony and indiscipline within their camp and if Mickey Harte suffers another defeat here and they finish 3rd in the group, it will be difficult for them to progress beyond a quarter final. That would be a disastrous way for Derry to end the season given that they were supposed to be Ulsters great hope at the beginning of the year.   

Tyrone much the better side and they played good football in the process, I think Dooher will be picking up the phone for no.11 very shortly.

Derry will feel that was an AI that got away as they were the 2 best teams in the country and they should have beaten Tyrone in the Ulster final.

Mickey now accusing Comer of theatrics, Derry aren't helping themselves today he would have been just better saying he didn't see it.

I thought Derry had a bit of an inferiority complex before the game with all the talk of a Galway jinx which proved to be true.

It will be interesting to see if Mickey Harte faces up to the media this time after this defeat. There are more questions than answers over Derrys AI chances after the last 2 defeats.