Replying To ear2ground:  "Are the rumours to be believed about the u20s management? If so seems to be a very positive appointment from the county board."

Replying To Claretandblue:  "It's far from a perfect structure and that's been well commented on here but what has been very noticeable in the opening two rounds has been the intensity and championship type tempo of the games. Teams know that losing one match could have a huge effect on qualifying so there's far greater urgency in the games. Caulry vs Garrycastle on Friday night was virtually a knockout game with both sides having lost their opening match and with tough games to come. The game was played at a great level of intensity with Caulry very unlucky. In Section A a side that could reach a county final will be eliminated, three draws out of six matches played suggests teams realise the importance of not losing early on, structure likely to be tweaked again next year but doubtful if scenario of four teams qualifying out of six will be reintroduced. Teams qualifying with one win out of five games hardly what supporters wish to see."

Replying To Ayardout:  "What is it ?"

Replying To Temple56:  "Claretandblue, well done on getting the go-ahead for the COE plans. It looks very impressive, and the location is excellent for people in Mullingar, especially given that most of the County Board seem to be from North Westmeath.

That said, the cost of the land, along with the huge investment required to get it to the stage where a pitch can actually be developed, is a massive negative. Hopefully, you and the other County Board members will still be in office when it is finally built in 15 years' time!

Regarding the football championship structure, I agree with you that there has been a lot more urgency in the games so far this year. However, I think by Round 5 we could see a lot of teams with very little to play for, resulting in a huge number of dead rubbers.

The quarter-final weekend is immediately after Round 5. If you're in Group B and have already qualified for the quarter-finals going into the final round, there is no real incentive to play your strongest team. It doesn't matter whether you finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in Group B because the quarter-finals are an open draw.

I feel the final round of fixtures could be a farce. I'd say we will be lucky if more than three of the six Senior games have anything meaningful riding on them. You then have Round 4, Round 5 and the quarter-final weekend all coming back-to-back.

So what would you rather have: greater urgency in the first three rounds, or the four best teams playing in the semi-finals when it matters most?

Kinnegad, Lomans, The Downs and Shamrocks are all miles ahead of the rest of the county at the moment. Yet one of those four won't even qualify for the knockout stages.

Tubberclair look to be flying, but they might not even face a Senior A team until the semi-finals. Moate and Athlone look likely to finish 2nd and 3rd in Senior B, but they are miles off the top four teams in the county.

For me, it's a terrible format. I've really enjoyed the first two rounds because there has been genuine urgency in the games, but I fear the final round of fixtures and, ultimately, the knockout stages could be a real let-down."

Replying To Temple56:  "Claretandblue, well done on getting the go-ahead for the COE plans. It looks very impressive, and the location is excellent for people in Mullingar, especially given that most of the County Board seem to be from North Westmeath.

That said, the cost of the land, along with the huge investment required to get it to the stage where a pitch can actually be developed, is a massive negative. Hopefully, you and the other County Board members will still be in office when it is finally built in 15 years' time!

Regarding the football championship structure, I agree with you that there has been a lot more urgency in the games so far this year. However, I think by Round 5 we could see a lot of teams with very little to play for, resulting in a huge number of dead rubbers.

The quarter-final weekend is immediately after Round 5. If you're in Group B and have already qualified for the quarter-finals going into the final round, there is no real incentive to play your strongest team. It doesn't matter whether you finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in Group B because the quarter-finals are an open draw.

I feel the final round of fixtures could be a farce. I'd say we will be lucky if more than three of the six Senior games have anything meaningful riding on them. You then have Round 4, Round 5 and the quarter-final weekend all coming back-to-back.

So what would you rather have: greater urgency in the first three rounds, or the four best teams playing in the semi-finals when it matters most?

Kinnegad, Lomans, The Downs and Shamrocks are all miles ahead of the rest of the county at the moment. Yet one of those four won't even qualify for the knockout stages.

Tubberclair look to be flying, but they might not even face a Senior A team until the semi-finals. Moate and Athlone look likely to finish 2nd and 3rd in Senior B, but they are miles off the top four teams in the county.

For me, it's a terrible format. I've really enjoyed the first two rounds because there has been genuine urgency in the games, but I fear the final round of fixtures and, ultimately, the knockout stages could be a real let-down."

Replying To TheWagonWheel-N91Y529:  "Agreed about the COE, it looks class. They spoke a good bit on the podcast about hoping to get around 70% through grants and then having to fundraise the other €4/5m. It's going to be a huge undertaking, so hearing a 10-year plan is probably realistic. One thing I found mad though was no mention of a gym in the plans. Maybe there is one and I missed it, but a Centre of Excellence without a gym would be fairly crazy.
Pat obrien hit the nail on the head too something has to be done for the next 5-10 years while it's being developed. We can't have another year of county teams training in different places all over the country. They need some sort of permanent base in the meantime. Maybe upgrading Lomans could be the best option, but again it's hard to see where the money comes from when funding the COE itself is already going to be a massive job."

Replying To Claretandblue:  "It's far from a perfect structure and that's been well commented on here but what has been very noticeable in the opening two rounds has been the intensity and championship type tempo of the games. Teams know that losing one match could have a huge effect on qualifying so there's far greater urgency in the games. Caulry vs Garrycastle on Friday night was virtually a knockout game with both sides having lost their opening match and with tough games to come. The game was played at a great level of intensity with Caulry very unlucky. In Section A a side that could reach a county final will be eliminated, three draws out of six matches played suggests teams realise the importance of not losing early on, structure likely to be tweaked again next year but doubtful if scenario of four teams qualifying out of six will be reintroduced. Teams qualifying with one win out of five games hardly what supporters wish to see."

Replying To kingfixer1:  "The big green thing beside the dressing rooms is a gym! I'd also be concerned with the time frame for the completed complex. If work started today it would be 2 years before you could reasonably train on it. That's another 2 years of looking for the goodwill of the club's to make their grounds available. And the work will hardly start that soon. 3/4 years is more realistic. In the meantime the county teams will be on a magical mystery tour."

Replying To ear2ground:  "Are the rumours to be believed about the u20s management? If so seems to be a very positive appointment from the county board."

Replying To kingfixer1:  "The big green thing beside the dressing rooms is a gym! I'd also be concerned with the time frame for the completed complex. If work started today it would be 2 years before you could reasonably train on it. That's another 2 years of looking for the goodwill of the club's to make their grounds available. And the work will hardly start that soon. 3/4 years is more realistic. In the meantime the county teams will be on a magical mystery tour."