Messages

Ball went directly into net so not a square ball.

That's not the rule.
Rule states that from set play an attacking player cannot enter the square before the ball.
There is nothing in the rules about touching the ball.
Correct decision.

Given their size and pick, Cork must be the biggest underachievers in football.  Maybe the focus is more on hurling.

If Cork were in a different province they would win more.
Kerry are relentless and driven to win. They have a psychological hold over Cork. They beat them in the 2007 and 2009 finals.

They were the only team to beat Cork in championship in the 6 years from 2005-2010.

Villa have extracted the maximum here. It's a good deal for them as clearly the lad wants to go, and good luck to him. Not sure why he has chosen Chelsea over Arsenal.

Mad move, Villa a club with better prospects than Chelsea but money talks I suppose. Decent player but nowhere close to that value.

Hopefully Villa decide to blow 40 of that on Rashford.

Id take Rashford at 40m but not on those crazy wages, so that'll not happen.

Id be worried about throwing money at Nicholas Jackson fs

Won't be signing Jackson unless it's on loan. Any purchase within 45 days is counted as a swap by UEFA, so can't amortise the purchase. Chelsea also under UEFA restrictions , but not in Europe this season, so have time to balance the books.
More likely Villa sign Summerville or Mbaye.

Why are the hurling lads not doing any media stuff this week?

Any chance of Clare/Galway giving us something worth watching this weekend?

All 4 teams have refused to do media in the lead up.
And yet we still have people saying we need to push all-Irelands in to August to "promote the game" or to "allow the championship to breathe".
The championship structure is not causing a lack of promotion. A lack of promotion is causing a lack of promotion.

Why have they refused?

Management teams don't want their players talking to the media I guess. This isn't new - it's being the norm for some time.
It's their prerogative , and they don't owe the media their time. But when I hear the argument that the split season is affecting the promotion of the intercounty competitions, this is the first thing I think of. They could have the entire year for intercounty and the promotion wouldn't improve.

Why are the hurling lads not doing any media stuff this week?

Any chance of Clare/Galway giving us something worth watching this weekend?

All 4 teams have refused to do media in the lead up.
And yet we still have people saying we need to push all-Irelands in to August to "promote the game" or to "allow the championship to breathe".
The championship structure is not causing a lack of promotion. A lack of promotion is causing a lack of promotion.

Thought with Villa winning Europa League 6th would get a Champions League spot?

For a reason I didn't hear explained they had to finish 5th.

The additional Champs League spot is added at the end of the sequence , after all places are sorted already. It went to Liverpool. As they were in the Europa without it.
If Villa had finished 5th, they would not have needed it , having already qualified via Europa , so 6th would have got it.

Villa done well for a 4th, highest finish in a long time!

Well, 2 years isn't a particularly long time. But they certainly did well to come 4th after being 6th last year and then getting slapped with transfer restrictions.

[Ronaldo was the best striker in world when at Inter winning the competition in 1999]

I dunno, I cant buy into these trophies.  The old UEFA Cup n even cup winners cup were much more prestigious

Excellent competitions.  The top 4 in the major leagues qualifying for the Champions League has had a knock on effect on the quality in the other European competitions.  Preferred when the Champions League was Champions only but that will never be changed at this stage. 

Not sure on what basis the old Uefa Cup was more prestigious? It might be childhood nostalgia - and the fact that the final was on free to air TV, that's effecting perceptions.
Villa have been the 4th best team in the Premier League since Emery took over. That's exactly the type of team you'd expect to be winning the second tier European competition. Freiberg came 7th in Germany this year. Roma and Bologna are 4th and 8th in Serie A. Porto won Portugal. Lille 3rd in France. Feyenoord 2nd in Netherlands.
These are the teams who were in Europa this year. 
Who do we expect to be in it?
And when was the standard more prestigious? When Middlesborough made the final in 2006 while coming 14th in Premier League? The classic in Dublin in 2011 between Porto and Braga? Italian clubs dominated in the 90s - Parma for example won twice - but they never won Serie A. Very similar to Villa really, who won't win the Premier League.

The Italian league was significantly stronger in the 90s than it would be now.  They had 7 winners in the 90s and a couple of all Italian finals. 

Parma, Inter, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Ajax all clubs that won the UEFA Cup in 90s but would be Champions League teams today given qualification is alot easier.  Ronaldo was the best striker in world when at Inter winning the competition in 1999.   

Well done Aston Villa on the win, McGinn comes across as a great guy so was glad to see them get over the line. 

Yep , and Inter came 8th in Serie A that season.
Very little has changed, when you actually look at it.
Just the relevant strength of the leagues

I dunno, I cant buy into these trophies.  The old UEFA Cup n even cup winners cup were much more prestigious

Excellent competitions.  The top 4 in the major leagues qualifying for the Champions League has had a knock on effect on the quality in the other European competitions.  Preferred when the Champions League was Champions only but that will never be changed at this stage. 

Not sure on what basis the old Uefa Cup was more prestigious? It might be childhood nostalgia - and the fact that the final was on free to air TV, that's effecting perceptions.
Villa have been the 4th best team in the Premier League since Emery took over. That's exactly the type of team you'd expect to be winning the second tier European competition. Freiberg came 7th in Germany this year. Roma and Bologna are 4th and 8th in Serie A. Porto won Portugal. Lille 3rd in France. Feyenoord 2nd in Netherlands.
These are the teams who were in Europa this year.   
Who do we expect to be in it?
And when was the standard more prestigious? When Middlesborough made the final in 2006 while coming 14th in Premier League? The classic in Dublin in 2011 between Porto and Braga? Italian clubs dominated in the 90s - Parma for example won twice - but they never won Serie A. Very similar to Villa really, who won't win the Premier League.

A massive mistake by Westmeath to bring back Heslin. The Dubs will be laughing at this.

They won't , as they'll be paying no attention to it.
Heslin scored 2-9 for his club in division 1 league game last week. Outside of Loughlin, who is injured, he's still the next best forward in the county.

Heslin back in with Westmeath?

Out of retirement and back in training ahead of Leinster SFC final against Dublin.  Be interesting to see will he feature Sunday, quality player but surely other forwards training since November should be ahead of him in the pecking order.

Not many of them left. Had a lean panel to begin with and now have a number of injuries. I think there were just 2 available forwards who didn't feature against Kildare, and they have no intercounty experience.

Villa superb from the first minute. Intensity and intent.

Played in the qualifiers in 2014. Cavan won by a point.
Interesting one with Cavan manager Dermot McCabe being up against his nephew Eoghan, who came on as a sub (twice) against Kildare.

Nationally and locally we hear about Kildare having talent, but from following them for years it's often overblown. We are great when things are going well but make horrible mistakes under pressure.

And I know underage success is brilliant, but these lads often flounder at senior level. We have lads who can do it in Div 3 or against a lower league outfit, but then can't get the shot away or cough up the ball once a team is at or above their level.

It's not purely down to flakiness or mentality, it's just they are not as good as people think. Players who are good do the right things more often than not.
I still think that if we get some key men back in and get more closer to 100% we can beat Westmeath, but we just don't have a lad like O'Loughlin or a Wallace for that matter.

On the other side I fancy Louth to beat the Dubs as they just seem to trust each other and have great control. Plus they were missing so many who got a run out the last day.

O'Loughlin out for Westmeath.  It kildare leinster now to lose.

Loughlin.
Massive blow for Westmeath. Their one top bracket player. Irreplaceable.

[or, Man City win FA Cup]

Chelsea beat and overtaken by Brighton. 6th get Europa I take it? How many for Conference league then?

The baseline is....

Champions League:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th

Europa:
5th and FA Cup Winner

Conference:
Carabao Cup winner

- Man City won Carabao Cup , so that Conference spot goes to the League
- If they win the FA Cup, that Europa Spot goes to the League
- England have "won" the extra Champions League spot

so,

Champions League:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Europa:
6th and FA Cup Winner (Leeds, Chelsea, Southampton)

Conference:
7th

or, Man City win FA Cup

Champions League:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Europa:
6th and 7th

Conference:
8th


Then, Europe outcomes...

- If Villa win the Europa League and finish top 4 - nothing changes above
- If Villa win the Europa and finish 5th - then the 6th place Europa Spot becomes a Champions League spot. The Europa spot disappears. 6 English teams in Champions League
- If Forest win the Europa, then they are in Champions League
- If Palace win the Conference, then they are in the Europa. Unlikely to have a knock on impact , as Palace would need to qualify via league also , for the place to move down.