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Replying To TheHermit:  "All quite on the South-Western front I see! Hope everyone has had a good Easter break.
What did ye all make of the League final yesterday. Thought it was a poor enough game myself and the cynicism on show was depressing. I don't know what's the point of the black card anymore, the amount of lads that were still on the pitch despite blatant examples of what it was meant to stamp out. There should have been three Dublin lands sent marching to the stands alone in the first quarter. The smirk Philly McMahon has anytime a ref calls him over would make your blood boil, surely to God that fella has some tsunami of karma coming his way soon.
Anyway Galway were decent but never really looked like winning.

Long summer ahead but at the minute and it's very hard to see anything at the end of it but another AI for Dublin. I still think we are the only team capable of dethroning them, but will Kerry get far enough to meet them in a championship knock out game like a semi-final or final? If Dublin do the 4 in a row, I think I'll have to emigrate!!!"
Best event of yesterday's game was Brolly quote thst Dublin backroom team have everything bar a gynaecologist think he's right with the funds pumped into them

Horsebox77 (Kerry) - Posts: 5491 - 02/04/2018 17:20:55    2090379

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Replying To Horsebox77:  "Best event of yesterday's game was Brolly quote thst Dublin backroom team have everything bar a gynaecologist think he's right with the funds pumped into them"
HAHA that was a good one all right, it's looking pretty ominous though look at the age profile of that Dublin team yesterday and all the players they are missing and it's scary, the money being pumped in to them over the last 14 years or is really showing now , the championship is a dead duck imo how can ameture teams compete with a professional team that has all their games at home.

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 02/04/2018 19:06:00    2090406

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Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "HAHA that was a good one all right, it's looking pretty ominous though look at the age profile of that Dublin team yesterday and all the players they are missing and it's scary, the money being pumped in to them over the last 14 years or is really showing now , the championship is a dead duck imo how can ameture teams compete with a professional team that has all their games at home."
Have to agree but every team had a wweakness problem is the super 8's favours the favourites and teams will not be caught twice funny though every team has a home and away and a neutral Dublin will have 2 home games I know thry round fill out the collisium but still it is kind of learning you over side. Ok think back if ye can kerry dominated for years and the powers that be changed the rules and abolished the hand pass goals - that was done to stifle Kerry will the powers that be stick on the oar again ' hardly - ah best beat them at their own game we have the players key is to catch them at the right time with the right plan '"it's possible with the right approach" just have to believe in it

Horsebox77 (Kerry) - Posts: 5491 - 02/04/2018 20:07:02    2090422

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Replying To Horsebox77:  "Have to agree but every team had a wweakness problem is the super 8's favours the favourites and teams will not be caught twice funny though every team has a home and away and a neutral Dublin will have 2 home games I know thry round fill out the collisium but still it is kind of learning you over side. Ok think back if ye can kerry dominated for years and the powers that be changed the rules and abolished the hand pass goals - that was done to stifle Kerry will the powers that be stick on the oar again ' hardly - ah best beat them at their own game we have the players key is to catch them at the right time with the right plan '"it's possible with the right approach" just have to believe in it"
I hope you're right horse , but at the moment I can't see any one beating Dublin for a good few years yet.

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 02/04/2018 22:01:05    2090461

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Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "I hope you're right horse , but at the moment I can't see any one beating Dublin for a good few years yet."
Sorry belly full of nice fruity red Chilean merlot so making no sense unless one delves deeper but ya still think dubs are beatable with right game plan my fear is I genuinely hope Fitz and Co have the dressing room other wise any relevant game plan will not be believed in and followed through in its entirety.

I think if we set up 6 on 6 in defence create a double line on the 40 with 3 covering zonal and 2 covering spacial with one holder and one attacker at mid field will be effective in the middle snd will work if the 2 of the zonal track the attacking Dublin side it will make them beatable.

I think the key is having a 3 man inside line close with last minute breakers either way with blocker being physical -Fermanagh did it in 2004 for four games and I couldn't understand why more didn't look into it more - I'm trying it at the moment at club level - it's very effective when utilised and understood correctly and really hard for a defence to counter act without fouling

Horsebox77 (Kerry) - Posts: 5491 - 02/04/2018 22:39:12    2090484

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Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "I hope you're right horse , but at the moment I can't see any one beating Dublin for a good few years yet."
They can be caught alright. Their biggest asset is Gavin and his team. Dublin are incredibly well prepared and conditioned, and rinse every last ounce of productivity out of their players to make the team greater than the sum of its parts. We are miles off them in that respect.

We need to improve and start matching them off the pitch before we can hope to beat them on it. The addition of O'Connor and Weldon to the backroom team was a step in the right direction but it will take time. Many counties can justifiably complain that they are under resourced, but with the new facility in Currans and the support of Kerry Group I don't think we are one of them in all fairness.

GeniusGerry (Kerry) - Posts: 2113 - 02/04/2018 22:39:46    2090485

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Replying To GeniusGerry:  "They can be caught alright. Their biggest asset is Gavin and his team. Dublin are incredibly well prepared and conditioned, and rinse every last ounce of productivity out of their players to make the team greater than the sum of its parts. We are miles off them in that respect.

We need to improve and start matching them off the pitch before we can hope to beat them on it. The addition of O'Connor and Weldon to the backroom team was a step in the right direction but it will take time. Many counties can justifiably complain that they are under resourced, but with the new facility in Currans and the support of Kerry Group I don't think we are one of them in all fairness."
But Gerry you say we are not under resourced yet you acknowledge that Dublin's biggest advantage is the massive backroom team they have which effectively means they have professionals looking after every possible aspect of team preparation.

I agree that in comparison to the other 30 counties Kerry have their house in order and are well financed, but no-one is in the same Galaxy as Dublin in this regard. It is a completely uneven playing field between them and the 31 others.

I've brought up this argument of the small percentages that make the difference between winning and losing at an elite level before. It's perfectly valid in the case of Dublin. They have a brilliant crop of players that came together at the same time, but unlike similarly talented groups such as Kerry 2000-09 or Tyrone 2003-2008, its the huge backroom infrastructure that means they can dominate to an extent those teams couldn't. If that Kerry side had access to what Dublin now have they would have won everyone of those six finals in a row they got to!

You add in the fact this Dublin side have had the good fortune to come along at a time when (IMO) the inter-county scene is particularly weak, you add in the home advantage they enjoy for every major game, the fact that frequently officials with strong connections with Dublin are appointed to referee key games and it all combines to those small percentages that continually get them over the line. I doubt any of this will be taken on board if they do the 4 in a row. Instead they'll be put on a pedestal as the greatest team every, blah, blah, blah. It will be very hard to stomach, particularly for us in Kerry.
If I was picking a top 15 since 2000 they'd be far more Kerry and Tyrone men on it than Dubs but sure sport is cruel.
The one thing that gives me a small bit of comfort is knowing that any Kerry team would die and make Dublin walk over their strewn corpses before they allowed them to equal or surpass Kerry's 4 in a row achievements. If we get to meet in a one off game this summer, I'm hopeful that desire is strong enough to dump Dublin on their butts and end their 4 in a row bid.

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 03/04/2018 12:04:23    2090601

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I don't necessarily disagree TheHermit, but at the same time I think we really took our eye off the ball following 2014. We should have enough resources in the kingdom with the Kerry Group support and all our fundraising to match Dublin's setup. Yet when Cian O'Neill left he was not adequately replaced, what else was left to chance? We can't blame Dublin for that.

We are probably one of only a handful of teams with the financial muscle to match them in that department long term but any success we have will always be cyclical due to socio economic factors.

I do think the Mayo games last year woke us up and we are seeing change now, and it comes at a good time with many good youngsters coming in to the setup. I would be very hopeful in the medium term. I think we will win an All Ireland by 2020 or 2021 and could add a couple more in the next decade, especially if we can keep producing talent like Clifford, O'Shea and Mark O'Connor at underage level.

As for playing the games at home, there isn't much anybody can do about that. It's a big advantage for them, no doubt about it. The lads on the main page will call us whingers etc. but it's hard for anybody to deny that the deck is stacked in their favour.

All we can do is make the best of what we have, I am not sure we have been doing that the past few years, although admittedly the standard of players available to Eamon Fitzmaurice has not been the same as in previous eras.

GeniusGerry (Kerry) - Posts: 2113 - 03/04/2018 14:22:46    2090671

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Replying To GeniusGerry:  "I don't necessarily disagree TheHermit, but at the same time I think we really took our eye off the ball following 2014. We should have enough resources in the kingdom with the Kerry Group support and all our fundraising to match Dublin's setup. Yet when Cian O'Neill left he was not adequately replaced, what else was left to chance? We can't blame Dublin for that.

We are probably one of only a handful of teams with the financial muscle to match them in that department long term but any success we have will always be cyclical due to socio economic factors.

I do think the Mayo games last year woke us up and we are seeing change now, and it comes at a good time with many good youngsters coming in to the setup. I would be very hopeful in the medium term. I think we will win an All Ireland by 2020 or 2021 and could add a couple more in the next decade, especially if we can keep producing talent like Clifford, O'Shea and Mark O'Connor at underage level.

As for playing the games at home, there isn't much anybody can do about that. It's a big advantage for them, no doubt about it. The lads on the main page will call us whingers etc. but it's hard for anybody to deny that the deck is stacked in their favour.

All we can do is make the best of what we have, I am not sure we have been doing that the past few years, although admittedly the standard of players available to Eamon Fitzmaurice has not been the same as in previous eras."
Yeah look there's no denying that this has been the weakest Kerry team in a generation, hence why it's the most unsuccessful decade we have seen in Kerry since the 1990s.

That feeds into my point about Dublin having the good fortune to emerge when they have. I mean we are at a low ebb by our standards, nothing has come out of Ulster since 2014, Leinster is a graveyard and the only other real rival for them is a team which has proven as incapable of getting over the line as their predecessors in the 2000s, the mid 1990s and the late 1980s. If this was the 2000's I think Dublin would have had a similar experience as Cork, a talented team that managed one or two titles but not much more.

I think you are right about what happened after 2014 too. I gave Fitzmaurice a lot of slack knowing he didn't have a great deck of cards to chose from but, as you've said, he clearly hasn't managed to make the best of what he did have over the last few years and hence why my patience with him has just about run out.

Look there's always hope and you never know what may happen: 'the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong' as the good book says.

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 03/04/2018 14:37:15    2090677

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Replying To GeniusGerry:  "I don't necessarily disagree TheHermit, but at the same time I think we really took our eye off the ball following 2014. We should have enough resources in the kingdom with the Kerry Group support and all our fundraising to match Dublin's setup. Yet when Cian O'Neill left he was not adequately replaced, what else was left to chance? We can't blame Dublin for that.

We are probably one of only a handful of teams with the financial muscle to match them in that department long term but any success we have will always be cyclical due to socio economic factors.

I do think the Mayo games last year woke us up and we are seeing change now, and it comes at a good time with many good youngsters coming in to the setup. I would be very hopeful in the medium term. I think we will win an All Ireland by 2020 or 2021 and could add a couple more in the next decade, especially if we can keep producing talent like Clifford, O'Shea and Mark O'Connor at underage level.

As for playing the games at home, there isn't much anybody can do about that. It's a big advantage for them, no doubt about it. The lads on the main page will call us whingers etc. but it's hard for anybody to deny that the deck is stacked in their favour.

All we can do is make the best of what we have, I am not sure we have been doing that the past few years, although admittedly the standard of players available to Eamon Fitzmaurice has not been the same as in previous eras."
Gerry I hope you're right and we do win an allireland by 2020/21 but can I ask you how did you come to that conclusion? I'm not being smart by the way , I'm just looking for some hope as I cannot see anything but total Dublin domination for the foreseeable future.

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 03/04/2018 15:30:34    2090704

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Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "Gerry I hope you're right and we do win an allireland by 2020/21 but can I ask you how did you come to that conclusion? I'm not being smart by the way , I'm just looking for some hope as I cannot see anything but total Dublin domination for the foreseeable future."
Well I think our best young players will be hitting their mid twenties at that stage and if we add a bit more professionalism to our setup and get the right management team in place there is no reason why we can't be successful. Nothing is certain of course.

If by total Dublin domination you mean no other county will ever win one again I just don't see that. They could have been caught each of the past two years and Mayo are most unfortunate not to have one title.

Our young players are at least as good as theirs and arguably they are better. We will be back. It may take longer than some people are willing to wait though. I think Fitzmaurice will be gone before we win another Sam, I hope I am wrong.

If you are looking for hope I always think back to February 2014 when Gooch sustained that bad injury. I don't think I ever felt as low going in to a championship season, I thought we had no hope whatsoever. We ended up going all the way and winning the minor title on top of it.

GeniusGerry (Kerry) - Posts: 2113 - 03/04/2018 16:42:16    2090732

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And lads I wouldn't bother getting stuck in to the Dubs on the main page, I have made that mistake in the past and I am going to do my best not to post there any more. One of them in particular just spams every thread and wears you down with pure volume of posts. His knowledge of football is poor and it's jusy not worth the effort.

Ciarrai Abu and here to a successful 2018

GeniusGerry (Kerry) - Posts: 2113 - 03/04/2018 18:07:30    2090772

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Replying To GeniusGerry:  "And lads I wouldn't bother getting stuck in to the Dubs on the main page, I have made that mistake in the past and I am going to do my best not to post there any more. One of them in particular just spams every thread and wears you down with pure volume of posts. His knowledge of football is poor and it's jusy not worth the effort.

Ciarrai Abu and here to a successful 2018"
Ah but sometimes its fun Gerry, unlike that type of poster you describe as long as you have a thick skin and realise these lads are strangers sitting behind smart phones why would you even care what they write back?!
Twitter is a cesspit I'd stay clear off but at least the very worst comments on the main page are generally not allowed through or are deleted.
Mind you I'd say one or two lads on that main page must be horrific on twitter

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 03/04/2018 19:04:43    2090790

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Any word on James o Donoghue think he started for legion last sunday I know they won but wondering how he did or did he last long.

chicago09 (Kerry) - Posts: 694 - 03/04/2018 20:02:14    2090803

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Replying To chicago09:  "Any word on James o Donoghue think he started for legion last sunday I know they won but wondering how he did or did he last long."
That's good to hear he started anyway?
Another question, is there any talk of the team heading off abroad for a training camp like they've done before. I wonder how inter-county training will be approached considering this month is meant to be reserved for the clubs.

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 03/04/2018 20:31:31    2090814

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Replying To GeniusGerry:  "Well I think our best young players will be hitting their mid twenties at that stage and if we add a bit more professionalism to our setup and get the right management team in place there is no reason why we can't be successful. Nothing is certain of course.

If by total Dublin domination you mean no other county will ever win one again I just don't see that. They could have been caught each of the past two years and Mayo are most unfortunate not to have one title.

Our young players are at least as good as theirs and arguably they are better. We will be back. It may take longer than some people are willing to wait though. I think Fitzmaurice will be gone before we win another Sam, I hope I am wrong.

If you are looking for hope I always think back to February 2014 when Gooch sustained that bad injury. I don't think I ever felt as low going in to a championship season, I thought we had no hope whatsoever. We ended up going all the way and winning the minor title on top of it."
Sound Gerry that's a good post, another 2014 this year would be nice.

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 03/04/2018 22:37:43    2090855

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Interesting and also depressing updates on some of our senior players I see. Interestingly Maher played with Duagh last week.
Gavin Crowley was also playing so looks like he's back from injury. Walsh and Donaghy were out too.

But it appears JOD didn't actually turn out for Legion and someone was saying Sean O'Se didn't feature for his club either.

At this stage you'd fear for James. Hard to see how he can be a serious part of Kerry's plans this summer when he has had so little football this past year. He's really had no luck at all since 2014.

If Maher is anyway up for it, he needs to be brought into the squad for cover and to be able to bring on towards the end of games. We are very light on cover in the middle considering we only really have Moran and Barry.

Am I right in saying that the only club stuff going ahead in April is the Senior and Intermediate County Club Championships.

Does that mean they've decided against playing the County Championship until Kerry's Championship is over or are they still going to try and play a round or two before Kerry play their first match in Munster?

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 06/04/2018 16:40:23    2091447

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Replying To TheHermit:  "Interesting and also depressing updates on some of our senior players I see. Interestingly Maher played with Duagh last week.
Gavin Crowley was also playing so looks like he's back from injury. Walsh and Donaghy were out too.

But it appears JOD didn't actually turn out for Legion and someone was saying Sean O'Se didn't feature for his club either.

At this stage you'd fear for James. Hard to see how he can be a serious part of Kerry's plans this summer when he has had so little football this past year. He's really had no luck at all since 2014.

If Maher is anyway up for it, he needs to be brought into the squad for cover and to be able to bring on towards the end of games. We are very light on cover in the middle considering we only really have Moran and Barry.

Am I right in saying that the only club stuff going ahead in April is the Senior and Intermediate County Club Championships.

Does that mean they've decided against playing the County Championship until Kerry's Championship is over or are they still going to try and play a round or two before Kerry play their first match in Munster?"
Wow something I wrote was actually posted up, that's a refreshing change from the last 24 hours

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 06/04/2018 17:11:46    2091450

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Replying To TheHermit:  "Wow something I wrote was actually posted up, that's a refreshing change from the last 24 hours"
Me too the hermit, a wrap across the knuckles I'd say.

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 06/04/2018 18:27:35    2091457

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Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "Me too the hermit, a wrap across the knuckles I'd say."
But none for the Dubs! I see the usual pathetic rant of 'won't someone please think of the children' in response to legitimate questions wasn't taken down. You'd have to laugh! Either its those posters themselves demanding posts are taken down or its the powers that be, its pretty sad which ever. Almost as sad as whichever of them is actually coming on here and pressing the red thumbs down on posts!

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 06/04/2018 19:37:12    2091467

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