A serious question here folks!!

Do Donegal have the potential to be the team that takes over the mantle of Ulsters best team from Tyrone , Can they go on and be a major force in gaelic football for the next 10 years , winning sam twice or three times?

Tyrone are now on a long road back and have alot of chopping and changing to do over the next few years (i'd imagine) to be a force again , Which got me thinking , Can Donegal go on and replicate what their Tyrone counterparts have done in the last decade ?

It is clear that Tyrone got awful stick in the year they first won an all ireland because of their style of play. Unfairly in my opinion , They brought a different perspective to the game in adapting to a new kind of system, Donegal are coming up through the football spectrum now and playing the same system , But sure if it wins you all irelands their fans wont care in the slightest.

If they win one will they go on to win a few , Personally i dont think they will win it this year , I think my own team will JUST shade a very very close encounter (biased maybe) , And even if they beat Dublin i think Kerry/Mayo may be a step too far. But i feel they could well win it in a few years to come

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13655 - 09/08/2011 14:41:45    1007399

Wayno, simply....no.
Tyrone had Canavan, Mulligan, O'Neill, McGuigan, Lawn, Cavanagh, Dooher etc to put the ball over the bar
Donegal have McFadden and Murphy
Not saying Donegal arent decent and cant win Sam. They are obviously very decent and can win Sam this year but I would think they are more of a Down than Tyrone.
Tyrone had class the the back and up front, all over the pitch. They defended like dogs but had an assortment of quality to put the ball over/under the bar. That Tyrone team was a once in a lifetime team Wayne. Donegal are good and could go on to be very good, but they just dont have the players to be the new Tyrone.

Liamwalkinstown (Dublin) - Posts: 8170 - 09/08/2011 15:02:16    1007418

Dont be bigging us up now! Nah we are nowhere near that level. We have a bunch of committed lads with a few players who would make any team but nowhere near as many as that Tyrone team had.

People may be comparing us to Tyrone because of the 'puke football' thing and blanket defense but that doesnt tell the story at all. I mean look at the scores that Tyrone racked up in 2003....they were a serious outfit. 17 points against derry, 1-17 v antrim and then down in final and 0-23 in replay. then 1-21 v fermanagh before they started to get a bit more cautious in the semi

benjyyy (Donegal) - Posts: 1435 - 09/08/2011 15:14:43    1007426

Tyrone had a series of underage success. Donegal have not. Case closed.

paddyogall (Mayo) - Posts: 5110 - 09/08/2011 15:15:14    1007427

I agree with you liam. Donegal are good and could continue to be competitive but look at those names for tyrone. That for me is the best side that ever came out of ulster. Anyway,whats all this talk about the new tyrone? where are tyrone going?

mikeoc (Kerry) - Posts: 567 - 09/08/2011 15:24:34    1007435

Donegal have all great footballers, each one of their forwards can kick points, although alot of this team has been around a good while unlike Tyrone in 2003...

The Tyrone starting team in 2003 was basically all 22/23 bar McMenamin (25) , Dooher (27), Cavlan (27), Canavan(32) and Cavanagh (19).

On Tyrone's style of play, that was all just based on Pat Spillan being bitter. Jack O'Connor has said that Tyrone played the best half of football he had ever seen against Kerry in 2003.

Enoryt (Tyrone) - Posts: 41 - 09/08/2011 15:50:21    1007466

For Dublin's sake, I hope not!

But it's a bit soon to be making comparisons like that, isn't it?

gigoer (Wexford) - Posts: 1998 - 09/08/2011 15:50:51    1007467

Dublin - The New Tyrone? :)

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12456 - 09/08/2011 15:50:53    1007468

This Donegal team does have a Tyrone 2003 look about it.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13833 - 09/08/2011 15:57:39    1007476

Whilst I would love to think we could win three All Irelands in 10 years I don't think we will. The Tyrone team of the 00's was just awesome. Some people called the football they played "puke" and I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion but I loved it. Yes there were stars in the team but it was a team nonetheless. Its why they got over the line on 3 occasions. They had men who were willing to sacrifice their bodies for the greater good. That wasn't the case in 1995 when Peter the Great was to all intents and purposes carrying the rest of the team (well the burden to get scores anyway)

I still love watching Darragh O'Se taking 7-8 shoulders in the Tyrone Kerry game from 2003 and i'll never forget the block from Gormley I think (help me out here Tyrone Gaels) on Stevie McDonnell in the 2005 Final. Nothing Puke about hard work in my opinion.

Donegal have the men who will put in that hard work, the lads who cover every blade of grass. Are they as good individually as the players on those Tyrone Teams; arguably not, but as a team..... we will know on the 28th of August at about 5.15pm. I for one cannot wait for it. Gonna head for BAC on the Friday and lap up the atmosphere. Ya can take your Premier league football and your SPL and shove it I'll stick with my ALL Ireland Semi Final thanks! Tir Chonnail Abu!

irishtom (Donegal) - Posts: 219 - 09/08/2011 15:57:57    1007477

Tyrone - The actual Tyrone?

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13833 - 09/08/2011 16:03:24    1007488

This year maybe? in the longterm no.

Gaa_lover (USA) - Posts: 3733 - 09/08/2011 16:31:58    1007523

hard to see a team as intense of that tyrone team being replicated

GoldDust (Kildare) - Posts: 31 - 09/08/2011 16:44:14    1007539

MesAmis
County: Dublin
Posts: 3613

1007488 Tyrone - The actual Tyrone?
_______________________________

Ahh hear now that's silly talk...

JinxyPoop (UK) - Posts: 1162 - 09/08/2011 16:53:27    1007554

Donegal dont have the same firepower that tyrone had but defensively much of a par,hard 2 get scores against but low scoring themslves.Murphy and mc fadden main scoring threat tyrone had canavan mulligan o neill mc guigan cavanagh all in their peak much stronger.

93vintageyear (Derry) - Posts: 301 - 09/08/2011 16:58:20    1007555

Speaking of Conor Gormley's Block... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDLHctNelXo

Enoryt (Tyrone) - Posts: 41 - 09/08/2011 17:40:20    1007597

only if they manage to win something a couple of ulster titles at u 21 mckenna cup and this year at senior is a start but no all ireland as yet and they failed with a title on the plate in murphy choking last year. whilst they will give the dubs a game limited tactics and football wont get them any further than next week. dubs to lose.

weebox (Tyrone) - Posts: 272 - 09/08/2011 17:45:57    1007603

Irishtom

I still love watching Darragh O'Se taking 7-8 shoulders in the Tyrone Kerry game from 2003

I love the fact Darragh has 6 All Ireland medals in his back pocket.

westkerry (Kerry) - Posts: 1250 - 09/08/2011 18:34:10    1007645

Absolutely Westkerry, He's one of the best midfielders to ever play the game. The point I was trying to make was the extent of work ethic from the Tyrone team during that game. Hard but fair hits. The threads about whether Donegal can be the next Tyrone. I picked out two examples of defending by Tyrone which the current Donegal team are capable of replicating.

irishtom (Donegal) - Posts: 219 - 10/08/2011 09:14:49    1007831

IRISHTOM

The "Block" as he came to be known was the 2003 final and good as it was it was the timing of it so close to the end just as Armagh were about to snatch victory..turned us from nearly men to breakthrough team.

West Kerry ..the shoulder comment I suspect was more about how much Darragh was revered in Tyrone if your prepared to take him on then anything's possible. Darragh would be one of the most respected footabllers throughout Ireland and one of the best midfielders I've ever seen.
Agree also with the comment made earlier about Spillane re-writing history the first half of the 2003 game was as attacking a display as you'll ever see. If you look at the stats of tyrone 2002 and 2003 they were averaging over 20 points per game ..it wouldn't have made sense to be negative with the forwards we had at that time.
Also Gerard Cavlin was a major part of the 2003 success both fielding, distribution and score taking.

Tyronetim (Tyrone) - Posts: 1254 - 11/08/2011 10:19:23    1008852