I find that when you have a whine and a moan it’s generally a case of blowing off a bit of steam. Rarely, if ever, do you expect the issue you’re moaning about to be sorted out in the way that you want. In truth, it’d be a funny old world if that did happen on any kind of regular basis.
It’s gratifying then to see that the collective moan we’ve had on here over the last few days about the scheduling of the quarter-final draw has now been followed rapidly (though I’m not for one moment claiming any causal link) by a very welcome decision to pull the draw forward to Saturday evening, with the CCCC decision on fixtures for the Bank Holiday weekend due to be announced on Sunday.
The draw will now be held at 8.30pm on Saturday evening with proceedings broadcast live on RTÉ Radio 1’s Saturday Sport show following the completion of that evening’s Round 4 qualifier matches. Well done to whoever made this eminently sensible scheduling switch.
Unrelated to this, the GAA’s Football Review Committee yesterday unveiled its website where anyone who is interested can take a survey about various aspects of the game. The survey takes only a few minutes to complete and it’s well worth providing your tuppence worth on the issues raised in it.
Is a draw that it held on radio more open to abuse that one held on TV? It’s just the conspiracy theorist in me coming out I guess! What draw would the GAA like to have?
Hi wj,
I sent that link to the new website with the survey, i don’t think you got it? I would recommend everyone to fill it out and leave your comments, whatever good that will do, but at least they will see what the fans think!
I did, Mick, and thanks for alerting me to it. In fact, apologies – I should have said that it was you who sent it onto me when I mentioned it in the post.
On a totally un-related topic…..(and maybe this had been explained before)…but why did you change the format of the Blog? Maybe its just me, however I find the new format much more unwieldy, less user-friendly and generally not as professional or neat looking as the previous version. Just my opinion…
Thanks for the feedback, Maradona. I changed the format because there were a number of features (such as the poll) that weren’t working and I also felt that it could do with a bit of a facelift, having kept the same design for a number of years. I’m pleased with the new look but I accept that taste is a personal thing!
Cheers for the reply……yes taste is a personal thing, just like the various selections for our forward line the next day out 🙂
Keep up the good work…
Indeed! If the forwards knock over a tasty winning score we’ll be grand.
young fella , morning ireland is on the rte app so you can actually watch the draw when they do them , but this draw will no doubt be on network 2 for the nation to see.
The draw the Gaa would love to see is Dublin v Kerry, Mayo v Meath, Donegal V Kildare and Cork v Down. That would leave it as a Mayo/Dublin and Donegal/Cork semi-finals both of which would be full houses. This quarter final pairings would all have revenge on the minds i.e Kerry for last year, Mayo for 2009, Kildare (the 4th best team in the country) and how they went out last year and Down to prove against Cork that they are not that bad.
Young Fella – trust your elders
That would be some draw Chisel!!!
“The dates, times and venues will not be confirmed until Sunday evening, but it is unlikely to be played on the Monday, but cant confirm that until Sunday. ”
reply from the GAA about when the date will be confirmed for q/f for Mayo.
Wasn’t the Kerry v Dublin QF in 2009 played on bank holiday Monday? nothing much to fear from a Mayo point of view they should reach the semi final at least.
Watch the unbridled optimism.any team that reaches qtr final must be respected.think kildare or kerry or meath would be fifty fifty.
Potential opposition of Kildare, Tipperary, Kerry & Meath. Kildare if they get a run on any team they will hammer them ie Cavan, when its put up to them they ch”t the togs ie Meath & Limerick. Fancy Tipp to beat Down, could be a very difficult team to beat, physically very tall and strong. Kerry, good night Eileen. Meath play a lovely brand of brutish direct football, their corner back (forget his name) is a lovely footballer. Mayo have everything to fear from the 4 mentoined, because Kerry would hammer Mayo, Meath and Kildare would probably just about beat Mayo and Tipp would not run scared either. Mayo without Aidan O Shea, Pat Harte, McGarrity the two morts are not a strong team, I honestly think you guys are doing very well and its a credit to the panel of players and management that you have mantained division 1 status and added two Connacht titles over the last 2 years. Looking at Sligo, Galway, Roscommon and Mayo their is very little between them personnel wise, so fair play for players getting on board with Horan and giving maximum effort. No doubt this post will get some angry replies (retorts), however its an honest and in no way vindictive opinion of where you guys are at. As for the new blogger answer me this, if you had the choice between Moran/O Connor or Murphy/ McFadden who would you have in your team? Yes Moran is an honest grafter and all that but he is no Michael Murphy, O Connor has not done feck all since his 9 points from frees in Hyde Park 1 year ago and good goal V Kerry last year also. Good luck with whoever you guys get and sincerely hope a wonderfully loyal supporter base gets its just reward in the shape of an All Ireland sometime very soon. Currently live in a county where all manner of soccer, motor heads are jumping on a bandwagon thats more laden than a bus in Manilla, the same f@ckers wouldn’t even know the name of their local club team.
May I be the first to retort….
You say you are not being vindictive, but that’s all I can see.
I have no idea how you can justify saying Kerry would “hammer” Mayo and that we’d get beat by Kildare and Meath. At least try and back up those claims with some hard evidence. Failing to do that makes you sound bias and yes, vindictive.
What exactly have Kildare and Meath done to justify such lofty praise? I’ve seen nothing from either that would worry me.
“Moran is an honest grafter”?? He’s a current all-star and would walk on any team in the country. Surely that comment has nothing to do with Moran being from Ballaghaderreen and you being a Roscommon man??
At least try a bit harder to hide the obvious bitterness.
No offence taken, James – as you say it’s an honest assessment of where you think we’re at, which you’re perfectly entitled to give.
For what it’s worth, I reckon we’d have a very good chance against either Kildare or Meath (though I accept that both of them could well beat us) but then again I think Sligo, if Kevin Walsh has them properly organised and their heads are in the right place, could really put it up to the Lillies tomorrow. Our record against Meath is, of course, very poor – we last beat them in the championship in the All-Ireland final of 1951! – and our failure to get by a fairly average Meath team in 2009 still rankles a bit and provides ample warning against taking them for granted should we meet again this year.
I’m not sure Kerry would hammer us (shades of Brolly’s “Cork will wipe the floor with them” from last year?) but they’d obviously be strong favourites against us if we meet in the quarters. They beat us well enough in last year’s semi-final but the league semi-final win over them in April should give our lads the belief that we can compete with them when it really matters. They’d still be a very tough nut to crack but the quarters is probably the best time to get them.
I know little or nothing about Tipp, to be honest. Down are 1/2 favourites to beat them (with Meath the same odds to beat Laois) but with the six-day turnaround and the hammering Donegal gave them, Down could well be vulnerable I guess.
Seeing as we’re not Kildare and so not in the inter-county transfer market, I think we can park that question about having Murphy and McFadden in the team!
I really hope the draw doesn’t impact on the start time of Ceilí House on Radio 1……..
😉
James Joyce – some points :
– Kerry would “hammer” Mayo? Not sure what you’re basing this on – care to elaborate? Kerry have had two cracks at Mayo this year, neither one in Castlebar, and the best they did was a draw. They would be favourites, but I don’t see them hammering anyone from the Q-F on, despite the trimming they gave Tyrone.
– “Mayo without Aidan O Shea, Pat Harte, McGarrity the two morts are not a strong team” – Harte, McGarrity and Conor Mortimer were not starters anyway. Mayo beat Kerry without them AND without Aidan O’Shea in Croke Park in April. But yeah, we’re not a strong team, sure.
– “Yes Moran is an honest grafter and all that but he is no Michael Murphy” – Andy took Marc O’Se for two points in Croke Park last year on the way to an All-Star. Come back and talk to us when Murphy has done that.
– “O Connor has not done feck all since his 9 points from frees in Hyde Park 1 year ago and good goal V Kerry” – he’s being played out of position. Despite this, he kicked plenty of frees against Cork in the League final and again against Leitrim. After a bad start against Sligo he recovered well and kicked a vital 45. And you might take note that Mayo haven’t played their Q-F yet.
I see what you’re trying to say James but I think you’re post is very inaccurate on the deatils although the overall point is very valid. Yes Kildare and to a lesser extent Meath woould have a good chance of beating us. In fact I think Mayo and Kildare are probably at the same level at the moment. Tipp have some fine players like Mcdonald , Kiely ,Quinlivan and Acheson but would you say they are better than their Mayo couterparts? Would the get in the Mayo team? I say you could make an argument for Mcdoanld and the only other Tipp player I’d have in our team would be Grogan but he’s emigrated to the States!
Also I don’t see Kerry hammering us if we paly anywhere near our potential. Where Kerry wiped the floor with us in 2004 and 2006 was in Midefield and in turn our full back line. Last year while the still had the upperhand in Midfield in the backs we handled them well especially Donie Vaughan and Ger Caff. Unfortunately Cunniffe couldn’t handle the Gooch but I think Kevin Keane is a top man marker and our midfield with Moran and Gibbons adding different options this year I think we might be able to stay with them longer than the 45/50 mins we lasted last year. Obviously the patchy form of our full forward line needs to improve in we want to beat the top teams i.e Kildare,Kerry,Cork ,Donegal,Dublin but I think we are heading in the right direction,
With regard to Connacht I ‘ll probably cause offence but this in my Honest assessment of the current standings. Letrim will always be hampered by the current econminc climate putting pressure on their small playing base. Galway are in dissarray at the moment albeit with enough talent coming through to rebuild. Roscommon have some fine players (Shine,Mcdermott, Mannion,etc..) and Sligo have two great full forwards in Kelly and Marren, and great leaders in Donovan and Harrison but little else talent wise.
Last year Mayo were at and alltime low confidence wise but after the London game we steadily improved. We pushed aside Galway in the second half and despite all the talk handled the Rossies in the Final on their own patch without over extending ourselves. We probably showed our hand a little too much against Cork and definitely their injuries and the element of surprise helped but we still don’t get enoiugh credit for shutting them down in the second half and bullying the bullies at their own game.This year we were just way too strong for Letrim and against Sligo we weighed up what they were doing in the first half and won in about third gear in the end. It’s no good shooting the lights out in a provincial final it’s all about getting through them and peaking for Croker when the real champinoship starts!
So looking back if you analyse the last two years I would argue that Mayo are out in front in Connacht in terms of personel especially from 1 to 12 with our insde line still a bit shaky at the moment but we have some good raw materials to work with like O’ Connor and Conroy so I think you’ve been unfair to us by saying there’s nothing between us. Also Moran is a top forward who can win his own ball and take a score under pressure but maybe his more of hal forward than full forwars but needs must sth the moment. So while you might be on to something about where we stand in the quater finals maybe you should re address you’re connacht standing though! It’s good to hear some hinest assessment from our Rossies brethren though so keep it coming.
Most teams use the league for experimenting it bears no relation to championship football. Look at Kildare won Div 2 and needed extra time to beat a mid table Division 4 Limerick team in almost their own back yard. That was a good Tyrone team in my opinion and Kerry dismantled them, Mayo have a decent backline but have no “marquee forwards” (as they say) to unlock a disiciplined defence. Would like to see O Shea at centre forward with O Connor moving to Varleys spot and ideally a fit McGarrity with Moran (surprise) at midfield. Kerry have 2 Sullivans, Galvin, Donaghy and Copper in forward line, Sheehan in midfield, 2 O Se’s and O Mahoney in defence, they will take some beating, I don’t think Mayo are anywhere near that level.
I looked at the Galway team before our hammering in the Hyde and felt apart from Bradshaw and Conroy they had nothing, I was proved right eventually, problem was we are a midlan team with severe head problems and a rookie manager thats a long way off.
Lastly I don’t know many people I would consider friends, however for the record my best buddy is a Ballagh man Dan and do you know what, he is a Mayo supporter. If I was born and bred in Ballagh I would be too and I would probably be getting my boxers in a bunch at some gobshite from Roscommon using the ironic pen of an even bigger gobshite (in my opinion) James Joyce. Also I love Mayo as a holiday destination, Campbells pub after climbing the reek and that wonderfull old town of Ballina and those beauties from Crossmolina that used to make my day in Murphys bar and Longnecks nite club many moons ago.
After the q/fs we will know a lot more about how good/bad this present Mayo team is.
Our two championship games this year so far have not told us a lot really, all i can take from it so far is the obvious we lack scoring forwards and we were able to grind a result out of the Sligo game whilst we wasted a lot of chances in the first half especially.
The scoring forwards is a concern but there is a counter argument that we play a type of game where the scores are always going to be spread across the team with the running game from defence. My worry is that maybe we will come unstuck eventually as eventual winners always seem to have a couple of high scoring forwards.
re James Joyce…..Mayo have won back to back Connacht titles and you still maintain there is nothing or little between Mayo and sligo/ross and Galway, i find that slightly ridiculous , Mayo ply their trade in Div one, have been in the last two finals, beat Cork in the AI q/f last year and are back again in Croker to contest a q/f, now if you seriously think Roscommon/Sligo or Galway are anywhere near that type of form, i beg to differ.
In your defense you do say personal wise, i don’t still agree with you but i can see the point that it’s not like Mayo teams of the past with a couple of stand out individuals but make no mistake about it we have some of the finest backs in the country
I honestly don’t mind who we draw the weekend, i don’t think i have a preference as such the more i think about it and i really could not call the games at the weekend bar Kerry with great certainty.
My guess would be though if doing an accum on the four to progress..
Kerry, Tipp, Meath and Sligo.
@ James Joyce I am delighted to have people from other counties here to chat with – I myself have not taken the plunge and joined any other county’s football forum – are you involved in many other county’s forums? I can just about keep up with my own!
@Digits, only on Stolensheep, would be an odd time lurker on gaaboard. Good few Mayo lads on stolensheep. Would not be a prolific poster at all. Would average 1 post on stolensheep per week. Enjoy this blog, well ran and sensible debate a credit to WJ and the decent Mayo folk.