Every year we usually have 5 or 6 teams that are strong contenders for sam
this year there are only 3 teams in the running. Dublin Cork and Donegal.
Lets take a closer look Dublin are the form team at the moment they will win
the league but they wont be able to keep going at the pace they are at right
now and go unbeaten through the summer.
Cork are improving with every game but we all know this team should have won
a few more Ai they need a couple of new players if they want to cross the line
this year. Donegal are doing enough to keep there league status with the summer in
mind. Jim Mcguinness has said he can get another 10% out of this team and that
means Jimmy will keep winning matches Jimmy will keep winning games so it
Donegal to do the back to back AI

wfkerry (USA) - Posts: 933 - 11/03/2013 12:42:41    1346954

Donegal's masterplan of winning Sam without anyone noticing is coming badly unstuck!!

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5030 - 11/03/2013 12:50:08    1346967

We went unbeaten bar the league final in 2011 and win the all ireland so it can be done. Not saying it will be but it can be!!

Jackeen (Dublin) - Posts: 4097 - 11/03/2013 12:54:20    1346974

As much as it pains to say id have Mayo ahead of Cork. Dont let Mayoboy see this lol.

kerry74 (Kerry) - Posts: 1354 - 11/03/2013 12:59:34    1346985

Dublin or Donegal will win Sam this year. Not sure which one, but lump your money on either of them and hope for the best :)

MourneArmy (Down) - Posts: 1787 - 11/03/2013 13:07:54    1346990

Only 3 teams for me are Mayo, Donegal nd Cork .... ;) ;)

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13659 - 11/03/2013 13:08:38    1346992

11/03/2013 12:42:41
wfkerry
County: USA
Posts: 596

1346954
Every year we usually have 5 or 6 teams that are strong contenders for sam
this year there are only 3 teams in the running. Dublin Cork and Donegal.
Lets take a closer look Dublin are the form team at the moment they will win
the league but they wont be able to keep going at the pace they are at right
now and go unbeaten through the summer.
Cork are improving with every game but we all know this team should have won
a few more Ai they need a couple of new players if they want to cross the line
this year. Donegal are doing enough to keep there league status with the summer in
mind. Jim Mcguinness has said he can get another 10% out of this team and that
means Jimmy will keep winning matches Jimmy will keep winning games so it
Donegal to do the back to back AI

And how exactly can you predict this? Future predicting crystal balls available in Walmart now? Just for your info we have at least 8 players to come back into that panel. A. Brogan, Mick Fitzsimons, Kevin Nolan and E O'Gara (back from injury), and then we have the Ballymun players Dean Rock, James McCarthy and Philip McMahon. There is genuine hunger in that panel and 'keeping it up' will not be a problem. Dublin kept it up in 2011 to get to a league final and and an AI final. And Jimmy winning matches, well theres more than one jim managing at inter county. Your incredibly quick to write of Dublins chances based on 'burn out' which is complete shit. Theres more than one Jim 'winning' matches..

And cork wining more AI than they should have? Well they didn't because they where not good enough (with the exception of 2011 when they where riddled with injuries), simple as that.

bluedubstar (Dublin) - Posts: 835 - 11/03/2013 13:16:11    1346998

early days wfkerry with a bit of water to go under the bridge yet. Various things can still happen that can potentially have a very big impact i.e. injuries picked up and players coming back from injury, how teams respond to league performance/criticism/praise/ridicule etc. Different ball game, surely there is much more expected of Kerry for example in the championship than the league. A wounded animal and all that stuff.

ballybannongael (Down) - Posts: 547 - 11/03/2013 13:19:13    1347004

Dublin just like our U-21's are very much beatable

Beelzedub (Dublin) - Posts: 508 - 11/03/2013 13:28:32    1347016

I suppose there will be another thread in 3 weeks with "only 2 teams can win sam" - following by one in June called "4 teams can win sam" - Way too early for these sort of threads even though it can be interesting to see people's views.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 12127 - 11/03/2013 13:37:36    1347031

It's too early to say that there are only three teams in it. I agree that the three mentioned are showing good form at the moment but they each have their own challenges to overcome. For Donegal, it's very difficult to win back to back All Irelands especially without the help of the back door. For Dublin, it might be expecting a lot of Jim Gavin to win an All Ireland in his first year & for Cork, well this team has underperformed at the business end especially in last year's semi-final when in the words of Colm O'Rourke Donegal "humiliated" the in the second half.

All three are showing well at the moment, especially Dublin, but it is far from a three horse race & I would certainly add both Tyrone & Mayo to the list.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5030 - 11/03/2013 13:43:12    1347040

I'll put it this way, before the national league started who would have predicted that Kerry would have 0 points after four games!!! Things change very quickly in a month and it's a long road til September. No team (including Dublin) have shown their full potential yet.

Tir Conaill Abu (Donegal) - Posts: 1686 - 11/03/2013 13:53:27    1347057

My three teams fo Sam this year are Dublin, Cork and Kildare and then maybe Donegal.

I favour Cork to win it after seeing them in Omagh, its not because they beat Tyrone as we were shocking but how they done it. Cork as we all have become use to play an orthodox game with power. However they did not play like that against us and it was all about defense. Maybe they have learnt from the defeat to Donegal last year. They always had a man or two back in the defense on Sunday and played the defensive system very well.

Cork for me are a team of talented players but lacked a system that could compete with Say Donegal or Dublin for example. With my own eyes i saw a very defensive system in place against Tyrone and they were very good at it.

cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts: 1294 - 11/03/2013 14:07:23    1347074

Fact of the matter is , Anybody playing in division one this year can win the All Ireland bar down. (No disrespect to Down i just don't think they will win it)..

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13659 - 11/03/2013 14:08:14    1347076

Donegal, Kerry, Dublin - in that order

pdempsey (Mayo) - Posts: 1313 - 11/03/2013 14:09:28    1347079

What is it about the 11th of March and this kind of prediction??

link

RunOfThePigs (Donegal) - Posts: 131 - 11/03/2013 14:18:09    1347091

cacsmckilly
County: Tyrone
Posts: 595

1347074 My three teams fo Sam this year are Dublin, Cork and Kildare and then maybe Donegal.

I favour Cork to win it after seeing them in Omagh, its not because they beat Tyrone as we were shocking but how they done it. Cork as we all have become use to play an orthodox game with power. However they did not play like that against us and it was all about defense. Maybe they have learnt from the defeat to Donegal last year. They always had a man or two back in the defense (sweepers) on Sunday and played the defensive system very well.

Cork for me are a team of talented players but lacked a system that could compete with Say Donegal or Dublin for example. With my own eyes i saw a very defensive system in place against Tyrone and they were very good at it.

cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts: 1294 - 11/03/2013 14:20:06    1347095

Donegal and Cork out in front for me. Settled teams, settled management, know how to win an All-Ireland.

The Dubs will do okay, prob make a semi-final or maybe even a final. But I don't think a rookie manager playing a bunch of kids are realistic All-Ireland contenders.

Tyrone are possible dark horses too.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13846 - 11/03/2013 14:26:58    1347104

What is it about the 11th of March and this kind of prediction??

As Caesar said: "The ides of March have come."
It's time for cloaks and daggers; what people say from here in, might actually be the opposite to what they believe.

muffin (Antrim) - Posts: 128 - 11/03/2013 14:34:31    1347119

I really really hope we meet Donegal at the later stages
Dublin Donegal 2013 would be absolutely EPIC!

Liamwalkinstown (Dublin) - Posts: 8170 - 11/03/2013 14:37:45    1347126