Yawn

[Duine Inteacht Eile]

Attendances this year tell you where the game is. More like a game of chess. Ruined by coaches. Says it all that soccer is now more entertaining.

Exactly. People are "finding another sport".
And while I appreciate that it was a throw away remark, it's a poor one and not the attitude the game needs.

Club games can at times have the same blight but many are very good so I'll stick with them. Kerry-Derry was an insult to our game. Imagine travelling and paying good money to see that.

Unfortunately, I don't need to....

[naka]

Attendances this year tell you where the game is. More like a game of chess. Ruined by coaches. Says it all that soccer is now more entertaining.

Exactly. People are "finding another sport".
And while I appreciate that it was a throw away remark, it's a poor one and not the attitude the game needs.

Tbf a condensed season and ticket prices aren't  helping
5 out of my house were in croke on Saturday €225 euros , 2 weeks later €250
That's after the 3 group stages and an Ulster championship
This is all in 3 months
In the old days it was over the whole summer

[Milltown Row2]

Attendances this year tell you where the game is. More like a game of chess. Ruined by coaches. Says it all that soccer is now more entertaining.

Exactly. People are "finding another sport".
And while I appreciate that it was a throw away remark, it's a poor one and not the attitude the game needs.

Club games can at times have the same blight but many are very good so I'll stick with them. Kerry-Derry was an insult to our game. Imagine travelling and paying good money to see that.

Club games, certainly at senior level, have the exact same approach, one lad up front the rest behind the ball, even running past lads who have the ball and could challenge them but prefer to get back and set up that defensive wall

[DuffleKing]

People with an agenda like to load the attendance drop this year on the game itself when actually the biggest factor is cost of living. I've been at one championship game this year - the Ulster final - simply because I can't afford it. I won't be at the semi-final either for that reason.

Soccer is not next nor near as entertaining. It's 90+ minutes of drab possession with fleeting moments of effort/inspiration. There are of course occasiona l "classics" but they are rare. If these Euros haven't reminded you of that then there is no hope. Soccer audiences are much more understanding that playing fast and furious like the Busby Babes is a bygone era and ineffective. The English learned that in Europe through the 80s and 90s.

Our worst games have intermittant periods of possession that still need skill / initiative in every attack to create something. Our best games are still majestic. The first half of Dublin / Galway at the weekend was tense and very structured. Once tiredness and changes kicked in the space opend up and it was a brilliant game of football. That's our game played well in a nutshell.

I'm not opposed to looking at improvement through rule changes but i'm sick of constant moaning about the good old days and "contests" which is code for stupid close your eyes and kick.

Every sport has games that are somewhere on a spectrum of brutal through to brilliant. We have more games on the positive end of that scale than most field sports but we yearn for the days when players and coaches were all stupid.

[Milltown Row2]

Very good post DuffeKing

Any changes brought in anyways will be looked at and methods of using them to a teams advantage will be done also, which may bring about the cry for change!

[imtommygunn]

Exactly. If Derry v Kerry had been a cracker then attendances wouldn't have been mentioned and it's not like the supporters knew beforehand that it was going to be so bad.

As someone else said Mayo one of the best supported teams about and they got knocked out early so that was  big factor in dropping attendances.

I like the idea of kickouts must go past 45 yards... I think that would make a major difference.

[Milltown Row2]

Exactly. If Derry v Kerry had been a cracker then attendances wouldn't have been mentioned and it's not like the supporters knew beforehand that it was going to be so bad.

As someone else said Mayo one of the best supported teams about and they got knocked out early so that was  big factor in dropping attendances.

I like the idea of kickouts must go past 45 yards... I think that would make a major difference.

Lets see that at the Southy games  Be toe pointers the whole game, the ball will resemble a rugby ball after about 10 kickouts

[Armagh18]

People with an agenda like to load the attendance drop this year on the game itself when actually the biggest factor is cost of living. I've been at one championship game this year - the Ulster final - simply because I can't afford it. I won't be at the semi-final either for that reason.

Soccer is not next nor near as entertaining. It's 90+ minutes of drab possession with fleeting moments of effort/inspiration. There are of course occasiona l "classics" but they are rare. If these Euros haven't reminded you of that then there is no hope. Soccer audiences are much more understanding that playing fast and furious like the Busby Babes is a bygone era and ineffective. The English learned that in Europe through the 80s and 90s.

Our worst games have intermittant periods of possession that still need skill / initiative in every attack to create something. Our best games are still majestic. The first half of Dublin / Galway at the weekend was tense and very structured. Once tiredness and changes kicked in the space opend up and it was a brilliant game of football. That's our game played well in a nutshell.

I'm not opposed to looking at improvement through rule changes but i'm sick of constant moaning about the good old days and "contests" which is code for stupid close your eyes and kick.

Every sport has games that are somewhere on a spectrum of brutal through to brilliant. We have more games on the positive end of that scale than most field sports but we yearn for the days when players and coaches were all stupid.

That's a massive thing. Wouldn't like to count up what it would take a family of 4 to go to every Armagh game this year. 7 league games one of which in Cork, league final in Dublin, 3 Ulster games, 3 group games 3 of which involved a long enough travel and then 2 and God willing 3 trips to Croker. Factor in tickets, diesel/bus prices, bite to eat and maybe a pint and you're out a small fortune.

If they halved ticket prices it would go a long way to selling games out.

[imtommygunn]

Exactly. If Derry v Kerry had been a cracker then attendances wouldn't have been mentioned and it's not like the supporters knew beforehand that it was going to be so bad.

As someone else said Mayo one of the best supported teams about and they got knocked out early so that was  big factor in dropping attendances.

I like the idea of kickouts must go past 45 yards... I think that would make a major difference.

Lets see that at the Southy games  Be toe pointers the whole game, the ball will resemble a rugby ball after about 10 kickouts

  

It's not just straightforward cost in terms of cost being prohibitive too. More games than ever in less time than ever and more expensive than ever so basically if you're from successful counties you are hit every which way.

[Armagh18]

Yeah the expensive days out are coming hard and fast- years ago there was less of them and the championship was obviously more spread out.

[Milltown Row2]

Yeah the expensive days out are coming hard and fast- years ago there was less of them and the championship was obviously more spread out.

Whether its spread out or or in short weeks, if you are successful and following your team then over the season, is it not the same price?

[naka]

Yeah the expensive days out are coming hard and fast- years ago there was less of them and the championship was obviously more spread out.

Whether its spread out or or in short weeks, if you are successful and following your team then over the season, is it not the same price?

Might be but it's over less pay packets ,
There are more matches than ever
And no real rebates
Matches every two weeks impact upon disposable income

[Milltown Row2]

Yeah the expensive days out are coming hard and fast- years ago there was less of them and the championship was obviously more spread out.

Whether its spread out or or in short weeks, if you are successful and following your team then over the season, is it not the same price?

Might be but it's over less pay packets ,
There are more matches than ever
And no real rebates
Matches every two weeks impact upon disposable income

I'll be honest, take me back to the normal set up any day of the week, out your out, no back doors, groups and all the other crap..

Saturating the sport with all these games, while great for advertising, and promoting the game, does that out way the negatives?

[Duine Inteacht Eile]

Exactly. If Derry v Kerry had been a cracker then attendances wouldn't have been mentioned and it's not like the supporters knew beforehand that it was going to be so bad.

As someone else said Mayo one of the best supported teams about and they got knocked out early so that was  big factor in dropping attendances.

I like the idea of kickouts must go past 45 yards... I think that would make a major difference.

I'm not saying don't try it but it seems to me like a lot of the proposals are actually rewarding the negative tactics.
The short kickout is only a thing because teams are dropping back and setting up defensively. They will do this even more if they know the ball has to go long. In fact, why wouldn't you flood the 2 45s with all of your forwards? You know the team kicking out aren't going to push all of their backs up.

[Itchy]

No idea, what age are you?

"This generation" are the players at any given time. How many of those are there currently and how many are complaining?

I don't profess to love the game as a spectacle now more than I did 20 years ago but I love it more from a a strategic perspective than I did.

The levels of skill required to execute attacks under the pressure there is now is criminally undervalued and overlooked.

You think it's the players who are shaping the way the game is played? Seriously.

It's not, it's coaches who are using the rules as they currently are to come up with ways to win. I've no issue with them or that. However the result is a very poor, uninspiring spectacle. If people like you were listened to in other sports we'd have no shot clock or back court in Basketball and keepers would still be picking up back passes in soccer. Rules need tweaking to keep the game stay exciting, only those with their heads buried in the sand think otherwise at this stage.