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Senior Football Championship 2024

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Replying To legendzxix:  "Donegal - Division 2 champions, Ulster champions and group winners.
Galway - Connacht winners.
Armagh - group winners.
Kerry - Munster champions, group winners and a 100% record so far in championship.
Galway have forwards who are difficult to handle when fit and on form.
Donegal have played well. There are doubts as to whether they have the kicking game required to be a difference.
Armagh have lost penalty shootouts but the games have ended in draws. Very tough to beat. A good defence and good forwards.
Kerry will be hoping for the best. All three of their rivals will be quietly confident. 15 points might have been good enough to make the semi-final. Unlikely to be enough to make the final against an Armagh team who can get goals."
Kerry v Armagh will be Kerry v Derry mark 2. Armagh cannot afford to stand toe to toe with Kerry. Like many of the Northern teams they do not want to defend 1 on 1 so they will throw 13 or 14 behind the ball. Even when they were playing 14 man roscommon when they game was there to be won, Armagh played with 14 behind the ball. You have to go out and win semis, Armagh don't have that. Form wise they had one performance against a dire Derry. Kerry will be better than they were against Derry and will break down the Armagh mass defence in the end.
Galway v Donegal will be interesting. Galway have a very rigid system and I believe the change at 6 has helped their transition no end. While John Daly is a good sweeper he is very lateral with his passing. Using Silke their has taken noting away from the defence but has given a added dimension to their attack. If Galway come fit with Walsh, Comer, Finnerty et al. Then they are a serious outfit.
Like most people I thought Donegal have probably achieved more than they hoped for this year but when your this far you have to feel you can win it. I think the Cork loss came at the perfect time for Donegal. It gave them a chance to check themselves and reset the minds. They have lots of mobility in the team. In the end I don't think that they will get enough scores against this well oiled Galway defence and Galway will pick them off. I feel it will be the pick of the semis .

Galway v Kerry Final.

Jonnycee (Longford) - Posts: 187 - 09/07/2024 22:04:30    2558121

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Replying To ForeverBlue2:  "But a whole lot more entertaining Mick…"
Cant disagree there but rules are rules.

CiarraiMick (Dublin) - Posts: 3844 - 09/07/2024 22:22:51    2558123

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Replying To Saynothing:  "Plenty of hand passing over the weekend in hurling but they call it a skill. People have a mindset against football and love to moan."
No question the hurling snob is a presence in irish sport, but it works both ways,, and anyone who looked at the hurling last weekend and decided to ignore the wonderful contests those 4 counties produced, and instead focused on the handpassing clearly has a mindset against hurling.

For the record hurling is such a fast paced game, that a good handpass in the heat of battle is actually a difficult skill to master.

Galway9801 (Galway) - Posts: 1942 - 09/07/2024 23:05:34    2558128

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Replying To CiarraiMick:  "A lot of handpassing and even more throws"
Both hurling and football are great games. They each have their flaws, and always will, because perfection doesn't exist. Sometimes it is the flaws that prove to be the attraction.

What I worry about a bit in football is that the fear of losing possession has become so paramount in some games that it stifles creativity and good talent. It's a lot easier to lose possession in hurling as the ball is flying around the place so fast. This is something that hurlers know that they have to live with and as such doesn't stifle them.

The heads that are trying to achieve perfection in either code are probably doing the games more of a disservice than a service. The games are played by humans after all, so human error and mistakes will always be part and parcel of hurling and football…at least, I hope!

foreveryoung (USA) - Posts: 2095 - 10/07/2024 02:55:41    2558143

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The trouble is the consumer doesn't know what he wants! I heard a funny interview by Noel Gallagher recently.
He made the point that the consumer didn't want Jimi Hendrix, but they got him and it changed the world. And the consumer didn't want Sgt Pepper's, but they got it, and the consumer didn't want the Sex Pistols but they got it. The consumer doesn't know what he wants! You f***ing give it to him, and he likes it!

Ok, so a bit OTT from the bauld Noel who talks plenty of dung.

My point is that I don't think we'll ever find a place where everyone is happy. If teams went out and played devil-may-care helter-skelter football with no regard for retaining possession they'd be labelled naive fools most likely on the million or so podcasts that are out there. County teams (and many club teams) have whole-heartedly embraced sports science and data analysis. It's a simple fact of life that if you have the ball then the opposition can't score.

So we either need to stop taking our sport too seriously and go back to a more laissez-faire approach to tactics and possession, or we wait until the game naturally evolves again.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9518 - 10/07/2024 09:52:58    2558160

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Replying To Saynothing:  "Plenty of hand passing over the weekend in hurling but they call it a skill. People have a mindset against football and love to moan."
Who's they???

bloodandbandage (Cork) - Posts: 349 - 10/07/2024 10:26:33    2558167

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Replying To foreveryoung:  "Both hurling and football are great games. They each have their flaws, and always will, because perfection doesn't exist. Sometimes it is the flaws that prove to be the attraction.

What I worry about a bit in football is that the fear of losing possession has become so paramount in some games that it stifles creativity and good talent. It's a lot easier to lose possession in hurling as the ball is flying around the place so fast. This is something that hurlers know that they have to live with and as such doesn't stifle them.

The heads that are trying to achieve perfection in either code are probably doing the games more of a disservice than a service. The games are played by humans after all, so human error and mistakes will always be part and parcel of hurling and football…at least, I hope!"
Spot on Forever.

CiarraiMick (Dublin) - Posts: 3844 - 10/07/2024 11:15:36    2558176

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Replying To legendzxix:  "Kerry beat Armagh after extra time of the replayed All-Ireland semi-final. At the time it was the last straight knockout championship before the qualifiers. Kerry won it the hard way beating both Armagh and Galway after replays. No surprise really that both Galway and Armagh went on to win."
Yes, you have correctly clarified , I was confused by the way the initial post was worded as it seemed to insinuate ( but didn't state) that Kerry beat Armagh in final when it was a semi , and they beat Galway in final. To be honest I had forgotten about the semi that year . Interesting the trend , nicely observed, about the close games with the teams who went on to win the following 2 years. That tough year must have taken a toll on Kerry as they got one of the biggest beatings that I can recall a Kerry team getting in the 2001 semi at the hands of Meath.

anotheralias (Galway) - Posts: 955 - 10/07/2024 11:46:13    2558182

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McGuinness getting rightly praised for turning Donegal fortunes around but the way the media are talking about it like he has performed some form of miracle.

Am I missing something? I know last year was poor but weren't they Ulster finalist with basically the same body of players in 22? Not exactly duds!!!

ahsure. (Galway) - Posts: 1632 - 11/07/2024 17:14:50    2558422

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Replying To ahsure.:  "McGuinness getting rightly praised for turning Donegal fortunes around but the way the media are talking about it like he has performed some form of miracle.

Am I missing something? I know last year was poor but weren't they Ulster finalist with basically the same body of players in 22? Not exactly duds!!!"
After that Ulster Final Armagh destroyed them by something like 15 points. Then they got a new manager, and they were relegared to Division 2 and beaten out the gate by Down in Newry by 7 or 8 points. They then lost to Derry, and beat Clare. Then they pulled off a shock result against Monaghan in the neutral venue game to finish 2nd in their group, but were then hammered again by Tyrone in Ballybofey. Many Donegal supporters i know thought they were destined for the Tailteann Cup.

BrehonBlonde (Monaghan) - Posts: 84 - 11/07/2024 19:43:12    2558449

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Three good tough games this Weekend but I'm going for the traditional and most successful Counties in football from their respective Province.
Kerry,Galway and Down all to win.

katser (Galway) - Posts: 2475 - 11/07/2024 20:22:52    2558454

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Replying To CiarraiMick:  "A lot of handpassing and even more throws"
The amount of hand passing in hurling is miniscule compared to that in football, glance at the Kerry v Derry game again if you can bear to watch it.
Tipperary v Kilkenny minor hurling final was a classic of pure hurling, not handball.

Gaa Fan (USA) - Posts: 762 - 11/07/2024 21:16:58    2558463

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Replying To katser:  "Three good tough games this Weekend but I'm going for the traditional and most successful Counties in football from their respective Province.
Kerry,Galway and Down all to win."
You spelled Cavan wrong ;)

cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5193 - 11/07/2024 23:05:28    2558468

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Replying To BrehonBlonde:  "After that Ulster Final Armagh destroyed them by something like 15 points. Then they got a new manager, and they were relegared to Division 2 and beaten out the gate by Down in Newry by 7 or 8 points. They then lost to Derry, and beat Clare. Then they pulled off a shock result against Monaghan in the neutral venue game to finish 2nd in their group, but were then hammered again by Tyrone in Ballybofey. Many Donegal supporters i know thought they were destined for the Tailteann Cup."
Good summary. Yes we felt destined to slip away. Also lost out talisman Michael Murphy in 2022 and last year lost Karl Lacey and the entire development programme of underage talent due to a fallout with county board. The feeling locally was the standard of football being played across the county at club level had plummeted.

Make no mistake about it. No person in the entire planet would have been able to do what Jim has done in less than a season. If he wins Sam, yes he's performed a divine miracle.

shaggykev (Donegal) - Posts: 286 - 12/07/2024 06:28:17    2558479

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Replying To shaggykev:  "Good summary. Yes we felt destined to slip away. Also lost out talisman Michael Murphy in 2022 and last year lost Karl Lacey and the entire development programme of underage talent due to a fallout with county board. The feeling locally was the standard of football being played across the county at club level had plummeted.

Make no mistake about it. No person in the entire planet would have been able to do what Jim has done in less than a season. If he wins Sam, yes he's performed a divine miracle."
Exactly. What was happening on the pitch last year was just a microcosm of the general malaise behind the scenes.
I genuinely was fearing a situation like what had happened to Derry where we'd slip away down the divisions. Things were in a bad way, and when things aren't right behind the scenes players have every right to question whether commitment to county football is worth it.

A good shakeup of the county executive was almost as important as Jim being coaxed back. There has been a vast improvement in that regard, although there's plenty more to do. I don't care if we could've hand picked any manager in GAA history, none would've inspired the same turnaround in fortunes as Jim has done. He just gets the Donegal psyche and knows how to get us going.

It may or may not lead us to another All Ireland. That's by the by. But he has got us back competing with the best again, and has captured the public imagination up here. That's all we've ever asked for, that our lads be given the best possible platform to be able to go out and show their best.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9518 - 12/07/2024 09:14:18    2558489

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Replying To BrehonBlonde:  "After that Ulster Final Armagh destroyed them by something like 15 points. Then they got a new manager, and they were relegared to Division 2 and beaten out the gate by Down in Newry by 7 or 8 points. They then lost to Derry, and beat Clare. Then they pulled off a shock result against Monaghan in the neutral venue game to finish 2nd in their group, but were then hammered again by Tyrone in Ballybofey. Many Donegal supporters i know thought they were destined for the Tailteann Cup."
A "shock result against Monaghan". Ah now.

WeGoAgain (Donegal) - Posts: 51 - 12/07/2024 10:11:10    2558496

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Replying To WeGoAgain:  "A "shock result against Monaghan". Ah now."
In fairness, while maybe not a shock, it was a surprising result. We had been going terribly but in the first half of that macth especially everything we kicked seemed to fly over the bar.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9518 - 12/07/2024 10:29:09    2558501

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Replying To BrehonBlonde:  "After that Ulster Final Armagh destroyed them by something like 15 points. Then they got a new manager, and they were relegared to Division 2 and beaten out the gate by Down in Newry by 7 or 8 points. They then lost to Derry, and beat Clare. Then they pulled off a shock result against Monaghan in the neutral venue game to finish 2nd in their group, but were then hammered again by Tyrone in Ballybofey. Many Donegal supporters i know thought they were destined for the Tailteann Cup."
Last year was a bad year for Donegal football no doubt about that. My point is we cannot take it fully in isolation as to my mind there was a good body of work done by the previous management before Carr and the majority of that team remains. The wheels fell off in 2022 after Derry but they gave Armagh a good trimming in Ulster that year too remember.

Jimmy has done a great job but my point is although they hit a low base last year there was a strong team there in 2022 and that shouldn't be lost in the column inches.

ahsure. (Galway) - Posts: 1632 - 12/07/2024 11:10:17    2558517

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Replying To ahsure.:  "Last year was a bad year for Donegal football no doubt about that. My point is we cannot take it fully in isolation as to my mind there was a good body of work done by the previous management before Carr and the majority of that team remains. The wheels fell off in 2022 after Derry but they gave Armagh a good trimming in Ulster that year too remember.

Jimmy has done a great job but my point is although they hit a low base last year there was a strong team there in 2022 and that shouldn't be lost in the column inches."
True. There are always good players in Donegal, but Jim has an uncanny knack of maximising every last drop out of them when he's in charge. Put it this way, and I mean no disrespect to previous management, but IF we had Jim in charge of the 22 Ulster final you mention, I think it is fair to say he might have eked out the 1 or 2% extra needed to beat Derry.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9518 - 12/07/2024 11:23:05    2558522

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Replying To Gaa Fan:  "The amount of hand passing in hurling is miniscule compared to that in football, glance at the Kerry v Derry game again if you can bear to watch it.
Tipperary v Kilkenny minor hurling final was a classic of pure hurling, not handball."
I hate this keep ball over and back passing in the football.Its boring but its in the rules.I have no problem with hand passing in hurling but the majority of times they are breaking the rules.Aslo I agree with you on Tipp/Kilkenny minor hurling final.It was enthralling and a real classic.

CiarraiMick (Dublin) - Posts: 3844 - 12/07/2024 11:28:14    2558524

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