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Targeting - What a load of *****

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To all the managers and pundits complaining about this I would ask this question: What would you rather teams do? Allow dangerous players time and space?

unclegerry (Mayo) - Posts: 1222 - 18/08/2016 13:43:30    1902758

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No surprise to see this coming from a Mayo man

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20600 - 18/08/2016 14:24:46    1902778

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Replying To unclegerry:  "To all the managers and pundits complaining about this I would ask this question: What would you rather teams do? Allow dangerous players time and space?"
I think it's more to do with the outside of the rules stuff that teams go out with.

Starting fights with guys to get them booked and the like.

If officials were better there'd be less of it
and to be honest players should be well used to it by now they shouldn't react.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4210 - 18/08/2016 14:25:19    1902779

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it's just the latest craze for people to yap about,do people really think the best players or players who were known to give reactions never got special treatment in years/decades gone by?ya used to get it at u12s ffs!

achara (Monaghan) - Posts: 561 - 18/08/2016 16:25:16    1902861

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Replying To jimbodub:  "No surprise to see this coming from a Mayo man"
At least we don't spend our time talking about Mayo like ye dubs! 5 minutes have past isn't it time for you to start another thread about those mean boys from Mayo are upsetting everyone?

Spoddgy (Mayo) - Posts: 660 - 18/08/2016 16:46:06    1902874

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Posted about this a few weeks ago..anyone that's been involved in football knows it goes on and as much as people hate to hear it's part of the game..it's what makes the best man markers the best in the business..even the perceived nice guys are at it..don't worry though I'm sure there will be a dive or a punch or a slap this weekend for all the begrudgers to moan about this weekend...

Dangerman17 (Mayo) - Posts: 26 - 18/08/2016 16:51:36    1902880

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Replying To Spoddgy:  "At least we don't spend our time talking about Mayo like ye dubs! 5 minutes have past isn't it time for you to start another thread about those mean boys from Mayo are upsetting everyone?"
Yeah no Mayo poster ever talks about Dublin

How observant of you

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20600 - 18/08/2016 16:59:45    1902887

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Replying To unclegerry:  "To all the managers and pundits complaining about this I would ask this question: What would you rather teams do? Allow dangerous players time and space?"
You could just legally try to deny them time and space. you know it can be done. But not by walking on their heels, pinching, a sly dig, diving, feigning injury, provocations etc etc and certainly not by just being a total idiot who should probably be on stage.

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4895 - 18/08/2016 17:51:33    1902929

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Replying To jimbodub:  "Yeah no Mayo poster ever talks about Dublin

How observant of you"
Whataboutwhataboutwhatabout!

Spoddgy (Mayo) - Posts: 660 - 18/08/2016 18:01:44    1902940

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Replying To achara:  "it's just the latest craze for people to yap about,do people really think the best players or players who were known to give reactions never got special treatment in years/decades gone by?ya used to get it at u12s ffs!"
I agree, PC/Social Media, over analysis, said it before, nothings changed in regard to winding up players to get them sent off, I can assure you.

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8586 - 19/08/2016 01:58:47    1903065

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Targeting the opponents best player(s) has always gone on, I doubt if it is any worse than year's ago. Most fans are up in in arms if their players gets targeted but it's ok for their player's do it. Over the past few years I have seen all of the top teams do it.

This has caused a storm in the media because managers like Jim Gavin and EF have come out and complained about it. However they let their own players do the very same thing.

Green_Gold (Donegal) - Posts: 1873 - 19/08/2016 13:18:25    1903188

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Replying To Green_Gold:  "Targeting the opponents best player(s) has always gone on, I doubt if it is any worse than year's ago. Most fans are up in in arms if their players gets targeted but it's ok for their player's do it. Over the past few years I have seen all of the top teams do it.

This has caused a storm in the media because managers like Jim Gavin and EF have come out and complained about it. However they let their own players do the very same thing."
How dare you! Jim sends the Dubs out to play clean beautiful football! Take it back ;-)

JayP (Dublin) - Posts: 1772 - 19/08/2016 13:48:23    1903205

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As many posters have already pointed out targeting of marquee forwards or of players likely to react to a bit of foul play has always been in the game. Anyone who has played the game at any level knows this. What I have found recently is that some GAA supporters and so called pundits are getting targetting and genuine man marking of a player mixed up a bit. It's seems some people want the man marker taken out off the game so that the marquee players can run riot.

For as long as I rememeber all top teams have had a man marker or someone who will keep the star player on the opposition as quiet as possible. If he plays on your team you love him but if he plays for the opposition you probably hate him and think he's a sc*mbag etc. I never had/have any problem with a marker getting in the opponents face and not giving him an inch, the odd jersey pull or accidental trip off the ball is part and parcel of this. Nor have I ever have/had any issue with a bit of verbals as long as it isn't personal or aggressive jumping into a man's face while shouting abuse looking for a reaction. If a marker gets caughts pulling a jersey or tripping his opponent then he should be punished but a defender will always try to get away with what he can and every team has players like this in their team but people seem to get blind sighted on their own players infrigements. I think some of the recent cases of so called targetting have been completely blown out of proportion with exception to the treatment AOS received against Tyrone. I did think the Tyrone defenders went overboard on him with the obvious verbals and jumping into him trying to get a reaction but in fairness to AOS they were wasting their time.

I do think that players could conduct themselves in a better manner and I would like the silly blantant verbals (like against AOS) to disappear from the game and maybe retrospective punishment could be looked into sorting this but apart I don't think much more can be done. If there is any fouling off the ball it's up to the officals to pick it up and give the correct punishment but it's a part of the game. Always has and always will.

Mobot (Donegal) - Posts: 459 - 19/08/2016 14:19:50    1903219

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Replying To JayP:  "How dare you! Jim sends the Dubs out to play clean beautiful football! Take it back ;-)"
Never a truer word was spoken Jayp. The only time the Dubs ever targeted a player was when Keith Barr used to be tasked with marking O'Rourke. O'Rourke would come out with a support on his knee so great in size you could wrap an Egyptian mummy in it. He'd hobble over to the 45. Poor Keith didn't know whether to mark him or call the Order of Malta. Barr would do more talking to O'Rourke than the late Micheal O'Hehir would do on AI final day. Still O'Rourke would hobble around trying to give the impression that he urgently needed a visit to Lourdes. The first ball would come in interrupting Keith's commentary to O'Rourke on his seeming disabled state. O'Rourke would rise like a phoenix, glide by poor Keith and swing the bandaged leg like a ballerina pirouetting to Swan Lake while despatching the ball over in a perfect arc to dissect the posts. Keith would remark to O'Rourke on his miraculous recovery and complement him on his sublime skill. The next ball would come in and O'Rourke with be met with a double bumber juggernaut with a Finglas reg plate on it in the form of a Barr/Herry sandwich. O'Rourke would get up and walk straight now having been given a real cause to limp on one side now to balance out the fake one on the bandaged knee. Keith would say sorry about the accident and wish him well. Ah the days before diving and when sledging was just a thing that you did at Xmas when it snowed.

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4700 - 19/08/2016 14:52:06    1903227

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Have to say to the Dubs, what's the point in acting high and mighty over targeting when none of you were condemning Philly after last years all Ireland.

If i'm a player being marked I'd rather have someone talking nonsense to me and nipping at me than have my eye gouged!

I don't want to hear about what Donaghy did in that game or any other game to warrant that. I don't want to hear about McMahon going for the ball either.

You're going on about marking a man legally without talking, well there's a perfect example of a player who defends legally...he chips in an auld incident like that once in a while as well though

Seansy48 (Tyrone) - Posts: 237 - 19/08/2016 14:56:42    1903228

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Those who say its always been done so that makes it perfectly ok are completely wrong.
it may not have had a punishement back then but it is at present a black card offence. So no it's not part of the game as it stands.
also think the reasoning behind people thinking it's ok is unbelievable.
because the player is talented it's ok to do this haha to think the same people whinged about cynical fouling being a disgrace.
at this rate people will be all for drug doping sure why wouldn't a team who isn't as good naturally as the other team take up this tactic to win haha

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 19/08/2016 15:20:50    1903242

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Replying To Joxer:  "Never a truer word was spoken Jayp. The only time the Dubs ever targeted a player was when Keith Barr used to be tasked with marking O'Rourke. O'Rourke would come out with a support on his knee so great in size you could wrap an Egyptian mummy in it. He'd hobble over to the 45. Poor Keith didn't know whether to mark him or call the Order of Malta. Barr would do more talking to O'Rourke than the late Micheal O'Hehir would do on AI final day. Still O'Rourke would hobble around trying to give the impression that he urgently needed a visit to Lourdes. The first ball would come in interrupting Keith's commentary to O'Rourke on his seeming disabled state. O'Rourke would rise like a phoenix, glide by poor Keith and swing the bandaged leg like a ballerina pirouetting to Swan Lake while despatching the ball over in a perfect arc to dissect the posts. Keith would remark to O'Rourke on his miraculous recovery and complement him on his sublime skill. The next ball would come in and O'Rourke with be met with a double bumber juggernaut with a Finglas reg plate on it in the form of a Barr/Herry sandwich. O'Rourke would get up and walk straight now having been given a real cause to limp on one side now to balance out the fake one on the bandaged knee. Keith would say sorry about the accident and wish him well. Ah the days before diving and when sledging was just a thing that you did at Xmas when it snowed."
I enjoyed reading that.

Llaw_Gyffes (Mayo) - Posts: 1113 - 19/08/2016 16:12:43    1903270

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Replying To hill16no1man:  "Those who say its always been done so that makes it perfectly ok are completely wrong.
it may not have had a punishement back then but it is at present a black card offence. So no it's not part of the game as it stands.
also think the reasoning behind people thinking it's ok is unbelievable.
because the player is talented it's ok to do this haha to think the same people whinged about cynical fouling being a disgrace.
at this rate people will be all for drug doping sure why wouldn't a team who isn't as good naturally as the other team take up this tactic to win haha"
It's a physical game where players will test the limits of what the can get away with. Do you expect Philly McMahon and Johnny Cooper to give O'Donoghue and Geaney the freedom of Croke Park next week? Or whatever Kerry defenders are assigned too Connolly and co? You sound like you want good aggressive man marking banned from the game. As I said earlier it would be good to get the excessive in your face verbals punished either at the time if spotted by the officals or retrospectively by the CCC to try and get rid off it as it's terrible to look at. People think good man marking is the same thing as targeting and it kind of is when you think about it. The defenders know days before the game who they will be assigned to and they will do the best for their team to keep that player quiet and will do it anyway they can and are allowed to. The 2 Dublin lads I mentioned earlier are great at this, as are Lee Keegan, Neil McGee, Keith Higgins, Killian Young and Aidan O'Mahony to name a few as were Ryan McMenamin, Sean Marty Lockart, Seamus Moynihan, Anthony Lynch and Mark O'Reilly is years gone by. All the players I have mentioned as well as many others have been involved in some great battles and haven't always come out on top but their job is always to mark one of the best players in the country when they take to the field in big games so they're hardly going to stand off and get skinned?? I always enjoy the build up to see who is picking up who and sometimes you just know it's going to be great entertainment during play as well as off the ball when you see one of the best defenders against one of the best attackers. The word "targeting" is just a new buzz word being used at the minute but it's nothing new.

By the way, you're doping reference is idiotic. As far as I know that has never been a problem in the game and lets hope it stays that way!!

Mobot (Donegal) - Posts: 459 - 19/08/2016 17:14:39    1903292

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Mobot
no where did I say give them the freedom of the park? I expect them to tackle and Mark their player within the rules.
get to the ball first,win the 50 50 balls.
That's all within the rules and the way to defend. Mouthing off to a forward degrading his wife or daughter isn't within the rules there for I expect to see it punished. Kicking the heals off a player while the ball is the other end of the pitch isn't within the rules there for i expect to see it punished. You can defend perfectly well within the rules.
you know full well the comment regarding drug doping was to show that most people think that it's ok to win a game by using bully boy tactics and abusing opposition players they feel are more talented than them so it's a pretty similiar train of thaught to use drug doping to win a game if your not as naturally talented, or cheat sure they seem to think it's ok to verbally or physically abuse somebody as long as you win so why would performance enhancing be any different to these people.

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 19/08/2016 18:43:12    1903320

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Replying To JayP:  "How dare you! Jim sends the Dubs out to play clean beautiful football! Take it back ;-)"
OK JayP I take it all back ha ha. In fairness to Jim Gavin his teams do go out to play football but you are always going to odd player on your team who is full of devilment. Connolly is such a good footballer that the opposition are always going to target him.

I would agree with other posters that some of the sledging in just way over the top and the black card should be used.

Green_Gold (Donegal) - Posts: 1873 - 19/08/2016 21:35:17    1903379

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