19/06/2013 13:37:39
icehonesty
Open draw knockout championship with no back door.
no no no no no!!!
Backwards step in every way. How would going back to that be better than what currently exists?
Less games, less media coverage, GAA wouldn't agree as less games means less money from gate fee's as well as tv money.
Totally backwards step

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 19/06/2013 16:08:52    1410859

19/06/2013 11:53:48
shea
I agree a change is needed but not the champ lge version,i dont see why a team after losing 2 games would want a 3rd...Plus a 2nd tier competition would not work.

Simple solution. Place finished in the group affects seeding for next years groups. So if a team is bottom but can still finish 3rd in the group they have something to play for. Likewise the team that is top will want to stay there to get an easier draw in the next round

benjyyy (Donegal) - Posts: 1450 - 19/06/2013 16:47:25    1410905

Scrap the league and have the provincial championships
played in its stead, the provincials will be saved, but
separated from the AI series. (Many are saying that the
league doesn't matter, so get rid of it)
The AI series could begin with 8 groups of 4 teams, with
4 games in each group. The top 2teams from each group
would go through to the first round of a knockout
championship, then the quarterfinals, semis and final for
the AI.

TheGateKeeper (Tyrone) - Posts: 2843 - 19/06/2013 17:01:30    1410919

The back door is here to stay.

For those who argue that there are non event games taking place as a result of it, then they are too young or have bad memories to remember the dire matches that took place in the 80s and 90s before the back door came into existence. Of course there are miss matches, with or without the back door this is the case. But you only seem to remember the games that are so heavily one sided that you forget all the good fixtures that happen as well. There is no perfect answer to the system but the back door for my mind is as good as it is likely to get

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3858 - 19/06/2013 17:03:33    1410922

The "experts on telly" are too negative about the state of gaelic football. In the 70's and 80's there were only 2 or 3 counties at a time in contention. Now we have super powers of the game in all four provinces and any province could produce the A.I. winners. Also counties like my own and Meath etc will eventually come to the fore again, it's a cycle. Keep the qualifiers with an open draw system to spice thing up. Not a fan of the provential stuff as it's boring and predictable.

suckvalleypaddy (Galway) - Posts: 1801 - 19/06/2013 17:14:52    1410931

I was just wondering when and how the terminology
'superpowers' started being used by GAA pundits!
Any thoughts?

TheGateKeeper (Tyrone) - Posts: 2843 - 19/06/2013 17:19:44    1410938

Can't even be bothered reading through this thread or mchughs piece, everyone thinks they have the answers about what should be changed or not changed.

At the end of the day, whats the problem, its unbalanced, its unfair blah blah, yes of course it is because lesser counties cant bloody accept their should be a 'b' championship, thats it in a nutshell and if they don't want that well then they should put more effort in.

I agree their should be a b championship, it makes so much sense but then you get told in hear you're disrespectful for suggesting such a dastardly idea. So much butthurt in here at times , it's comical.

51longago (Mayo) - Posts: 2981 - 19/06/2013 17:28:06    1410950

The same as the lesser counties in hurling don't compete for the Liam McCarthy perhaps there should be a Christy Ring equivalent for football?

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4105 - 19/06/2013 17:33:58    1410958

Is there any other sport, that its main event has not some sort of grading/seeding etc

51longago (Mayo) - Posts: 2981 - 19/06/2013 17:35:16    1410961

Well they do say paper never refused ink.
What utter utter tripe. And people give out about Spillane, O'Rourke etc. Why is mchugh even allowed to write this same nonsense. He was a better football player. Than pundit. He's just looking for headlines to massage his ego.

Tripe utter tripe.

________

Go on ye good thing RD.

Completely agree

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13659 - 19/06/2013 17:38:43    1410964

I am old enough to remember a lot of bad championship days with Donegal before the backdoor. After winning Ulster in '83 we didn't win a first round game again until '89. But I still think it needs to be abolished. I think people are going soft, when we got dumped out those years and in the 20 years after '92 before we won another Ulster it was never anyones fault but our own. Get better and try harder. If you get beat (or hummiliated as we often were) you can cry about everything being unfair or come back next year with the taste of defeat in your mouth and try to make amends. If your lucky a few talented players will come through at the same time.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I seen the Waterford manager on the Sunday game a few weeks back talking about how something should be done about the gap between teams like themselves and Kerry. Should Kerry not try as hard or ban good players? When was it any different? Should we all hold hands and have all 32 counties playing all summer and give everyone an All-Ireland medal at the end of it? How can the Waterford's get better when club football is thrown to one side to let the qualifiers drag on all summer.

Life isn't fair. This is the Celtic Tiger mentality of entitlement alive and well in the GAA that everyone should have the new car, two houses, holiday every year, etc regardless of their means.

SeanieSense (Donegal) - Posts: 328 - 19/06/2013 17:44:49    1410968

I dont know what McHugh is on about, sure don't Donegal men love it in the backdoor?

Champions League and a seeded format should be used as a trial, in my opinion.

ahsure. (Galway) - Posts: 1779 - 19/06/2013 18:08:12    1410986

if ya dont like the way the championship is run, **** off to australia where each team gets around 40 games each...

loyal82royal (Meath) - Posts: 260 - 19/06/2013 18:11:02    1410990

Again i ask poster above saying about Waterfords chances.

B championship, b championship , b championship.Its simple surely.

Ballycastle or Kilmovee can't win the moclair cup in Mayo, they have not earned the right to be a senior club.

Leeds can't win the EPL, they haven't earned the right.

Tennis players have to qualify .

Olympians have to qualify.

The Roscommons/Laytrums/Waterford/Sligo et el should be thrown into a 16 county b championship and when they're good enough they'll win it and earn the right to play for Sam Maguire. Don't listen to the Roscommons of this world whingin and whinin, just ignore, let them stand up and fight back and you watch the improvement in these counties.

51longago (Mayo) - Posts: 2981 - 19/06/2013 18:15:12    1410994

B championship is not the answer. The right to compete for the All-Ireland used to be earned by winning your province. Of course there are the points mentioned above that some are easier to win than others but believe me I know that better than anyone.

If you need to improve and gather momentum do it in the league. What kind of incentive is it for a team to progress by making the prize smaller? These are county players, they have earned the right to play for their counties (which is an achievment in itself) by standing out for their clubs. Stronger clubs = better county team. This is not always the case but its a good place to start.

SeanieSense (Donegal) - Posts: 328 - 19/06/2013 19:01:30    1411022

Some kind of round robin format based on strength of the teams is required.

tyroneed (Tyrone) - Posts: 753 - 19/06/2013 19:12:16    1411032

No. B championship is the answer.

51longago (Mayo) - Posts: 2981 - 19/06/2013 19:16:39    1411033

The whole Bloomin problem is that WE as GAA folks put more emphasis on a KNOCKOUT competition rather than on a league. imagine the FA cup being run on a similar basis. put manchester united, man city, liverpool, everton,tranmere,bury,blackpool,blackburn, wigan, preston,burnley,oldham, bolton in one province. put leeds,rotherham,sheffield united, wednesday, barnsley, hull,doncaster,bradford in another. then put Arsenal,Chelsea,spurs,palace,Fulham,QPR,charlton,Brentford,watford,west ham, millwall, orient,wimbledon,dagenham,barnet in another . you put cardiff and swansea and wrexham and newport in the last one... you can see where this is going... Man utd play bury in the first round and hammer them, everyone is up in arms about it. swansea play newport similar.

I mean how the hell can you expect it to be any other way. if you divide the competition into geographical divisions.. do we expect it to be all top quality well matched games.. of course we don't .. we accept that there will be mis-matches.. There always has been.. its not new. We love the championship because it is unique. now if you want a FAIR competition then that's called a LEAGUE.. where teams are divided ito groups based on ability. however for some reason in GAA cirles it doesn't hold the public's fascination the way the championship does and that's because the way its marketed.

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5524 - 19/06/2013 19:28:26    1411037

McHugh is only echoing other calls for change. But the idea of a B championship or doing away with the Inter provincials is just daft.

The championship has always been the competition that teams want to win. The League is just a forerunner to it. That's the way it has been pushed and the emphasis won't change. The problems within the current championship stem from the League. The fact that the top teams are playing each other week in week out in Div 1 of the League gives them a serious advantage over everyone else come championship time.

It would be far better to simply change the League format and allow lesser teams the experience of playing against stronger opposition in Feb - April. And in doing so it would help these teams prepare better for the championship. Bottom line - Changing the League is a far better way to encourage the weaker teams to be prepared for the championship.

MaigheoAbu (Mayo) - Posts: 343 - 19/06/2013 20:49:49    1411110

MaigheoAbu
County: Mayo
Posts: 19

The problems within the current championship stem from the League. The fact that the top teams are playing each other week in week out in Div 1 of the League gives them a serious advantage over everyone else come championship time.


errr. yes. that's what a league is.. I don't believe I'm reading this.. now it's the league's fault because all the best teams are in the one division.. have you heard of promotion and relegation.

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5524 - 20/06/2013 09:55:41    1411233