Photo: Irish Mirror
The word’s been out on the street (and here on the site) for a while this afternoon but it’s only in the last few minutes that the GAA have confirmed Eddie Kinsella as the ref for Saturday evening’s All-Ireland semi-final replay against Dublin at Croke Park (throw-in 5pm). The last time the Laois official reffed a match involving us was the League game with Cork back in March while the last (and only?) time we came across him in the championship was last year’s Connacht semi-final against Roscommon.
I wouldn’t be his greatest fan and I’m not sure he’s the wisest choice for what’s sure to be another combustible set-to the next day. Then again, I can’t see that the likes of Coldrick or Deegan would have been any better. In any event, he’s the guy the GAA have chosen and so we can only wish him the best and hope that he does a good job in what will obviously be tough officiating conditions.
Now all I know this is opening a can of worms but think it is an important debate for GAA fans. And that is – what are the CCCC to do this week? The more you think about it the more you realise they have very straightforward options of (i) doing nothing and (ii) doing what they were set up to do. The short term easy option is (i). That will keep both Mayo and Dublin fans happy to blame each other for things that happened and all get to play with a free hand save for the Connolly suspension, which I don’t see getting over turned…..despite Whelan’s appeals on the Sunday Game last night.
If the CCCC are serious about tackling the problems presented yesterday then COC for Mayo and Johnny Cooper for Dublin should not be taking the field on Saturday. In fact Johnny Coopers season should be over. The Cooper issue requires no debate – it was a outrageous challenge that could have done very serious damage to Diramad Connor.
COC issue is less straightforward – however, it is pretty much on a par with the Connolly incident. In Connolly’s case, Keegan clearly interfered with him getting up the field and pulled him to the ground – he was the initial aggressor and Connolly took retribution through striking – red card and no dispute. COC case similar in that he was being pulled back but his reaction and intent behind it are pretty obvious too – his action resulted in a player being withdrawn not to reappear.
There is then the case of Philly McMahon. This is a harder case as while there is no dispute he feigned injury – like the Mccann case, simulation carries just a yellow card (congress need to look at the leniency of this). Letter of the law that is not strong enough case to suspend him. However, the attempted headbutt would be suspendable offence if CCCC were convinced this is what he had done. I would say the odds against him should be 70/30 on that one.
On that basis I think all 3 should probably not be playing on Saturday. Of the 3 I think COC would be the biggest loss because his freetaking is vital and I don’t know if Mayo have a number 2 to replace him.
Looking at the whole thing less objectively – I hope all 3 (or even 4 play) because despite the unsavoury stuff its just great entertainment and would just love to see both sides going at each other again…..but you can’t escape the elephant in the room on this one unless you are completely partisan….and understandable most people on this site are. In fact I appreciate many would regard these comments as an unwelcome intrusion and I’d take no offence at being told to p**s off – but this is the way I see it. If no action is taken I have little doubt the cards will fly come Saturday evening so that is the trade off we are facing.
Cantini – I’m not sure if you posted that before looking at the piece of video I stuck up there a short while ago. This shows that it wasn’t Keegan who was the aggressor, far from it in fact.
I can’t see the O’Carroll incident being viewed on a par with Connolly. Sure, O’Carroll had to go off due to the clash but the video provides no proof of a deliberate hit by Cillian. What I took from it was that O’Carroll was fouling him and Cillian was waving his arms to the umpires when he seemed to connect with O’Carroll. No intent there at all from what I could see of it, unlike Connolly using Lee as a punch bag.
For what it’s worth, I can’t see the CCCC having the stomach for tackling all of the issues that arose. Apart from anything else, it would be an official acknowledgement that it was the dirtiest game of the year and that Dublin, not the dreaded Nordies, are the masters of the dark arts. That simply doesn’t fit with the accepted GAA narrative.
The key thing is will Connolly get off on appeal but the video evidence would appear to be against him so I guess it all hangs on whether or not some precedent could be used from the Kevin Keane case. By the looks of it, it’s hard to see how it might but this is the GAA, after all, so who can tell?
The Keegan – Connolly one is actually a very long incident. Few seconds earlier Keegan knocks over Connolly. Connolly gets up and while running up the pitch with Keegan aims a forceful punch and just misses Keegan. That missed punch if hit yer cheekbone would be a jaw breaker. He’s a strong man and he threw it with speed.
Keegan turns back and wrestles Connolly to the ground.
I haven’t see the Cillian OConnor incident. If he is looking forward and trying to free his jersey then it’s tough luck for Rory OCarroll.
If you accidentally cut someones eye while trying to free your jersey it is not even a free or tick against you.
Fair comments @Cantini.
By the letter of the law McMahon, Cooper and Cillian O’Connor could all be cited and banned. IMO Diarmuid Connolly’s red should not be rescinded as it is crystal clear he struck Keegan with intent, regardless of who initiated the exchange. Keegan was punished for his role in the incident.
But who knows what will happen, my guess is that McMahon will get cited for the headbutt and banned and Connolly’s red card will not be rescinded. But as I said, who knows?!
If Cillian OConnor did not intentionally strike Rory OCarroll then the letter of the law is that he has no case to answer.
The ref was very poor, in my opinion, for the following 3 incidents.
1. For not issuing a black card to Cian O’Sullivan (as blatant a card as ever there was) particularly as it happened right in front of him and his Cusack stand side linesman.
2. His positioning was very poor for the Dublin penalty and his awarding of it when the initial contact was outside the parallelogram was as a result of his bad placement.
3. Not awarding a straight red card to Cooper for his studs high kick on O’Connor, right in front of him!
In all of the debate though no-one is mentioning just how culpable the refs linesmen and umpires were. They all have the power to bring to the refs attention any “off the ball” stuff. McLoughlin was being continually assaulted by Cooper in the opening 10 mins and Cooper wrestled him to the ground when the ball was down the other end of the pitch! This happened right in front of 2 umpires! Aido was being 3 man tackled on occasions and never got a single free.
We all know that refs are all amateurs and only human, but, here is the catch, there is too much time and effort being put into achieving success and preparing teams for All Irelands for it all to be left up to the discretion of 1 person in the middle of the field, surrounded by 30 elite athletes knocking shite out of each other and no technological assistance. Players and management are parking their family and social lives in the pursuit of success and it can all be taken away from them in an instant as a result of poor refs decisions (see Limerick last year). We are lucky that we are blessed with super-human beings in Mayo geansais with resilience and a never say die attitude that just cannot be explained. They fought back against their own poor performacne, terrible referring against them, and, an excellent team to give themselves another rattle at it. Cork were not so lucky.
Mayo be 5 in the replay.
Kinsella was poor in that game vs Cork. He’s another one that has no idea how to use the black card and if I remember correctly, he made up an offence to give Conroy one.
For which OSullivan incident he should have got a black card? In the first half the free was given for the jersey tug and that is a tick not a yellow as it was his first offence. He hauled him down after the jersey tug. Do you mean for the incident where he got a yellow card in the second half?
The linesmen and umpires should step up the plate more. You can’t get yer game going if defenders are fouling you off the ball all day.
@WJ
I think COC may certainly have an arguable case on the point you make. Personally I wouldn’t believe he didn’t put some force into the swing back with some intent based on what i’ve seen…but there is no doubt he can make that argument. I will look again at what you posted on the keegan-connolly incident …but i suppose it doesnt’ matter whats in it…it only matters that connolly was correctly sent off. But still think Dublin will (understandably) try to draw the paralells with the O Connor incident in any appeal process.
The CCCC may well not have the stomach as you say but equally there could be a lot of lads ticked off for having their previous decisions overturned. I put it this way….I wouldn’t like to be doing their job at the moment. You know you have some big decisions to make even if that means turning a blind eye because the Northies (understandably again) will be watching with interest.
@pebble
I think you are harsh on the ref in the examples cited save for the Sullivan black card. I agree, i think he should have got one. I think on the cooper one, there is no doubt he would have sent him off if he had seen it. Like most people in croker I’d imagine he was following the flight of the ball – but he definitely did not see it. On the dublin penalty when i saw it in real time I was sure it was a penalty – as i think most people at game did. Flynns momentum actually took him a long way into the penalty are and he is actually on the ground several yards inside the box which owuld give comfort to the ref he was fouled inside.
Total agree with the poster above that the linesmen and umpires (who should be refs too at this level) should be intervening.
Sorry bout comment s this morning forget the rules I wonder will Connolly get off also I don’t the was much coc incident meaning did not intend to do it.
Cillian has no case to answer he wasn’t even looking when he swung both arms backwards. Unlike Connolly who showed clear intent.
Does anybody will cairde maigheo members be offered the bring a friend option this time.
Wonder will TV 4 show the match want to see it again.
Anyone hear Shane Curran sticking up for Mayo players on the Marty squad on Radio 1 yesterday evening? Fair play to him. Pillar talking through his hoop. I have not listened to Charlie Redmond and wont.
I think we should all acknowledge that was a bastard of a game to referee. From the very off neither side were going to give an inch. One of the few options open to a referee in games like this is to send two men to the line early on and send out a clear message. This tactic has gone against us before – Liam McHale walks while Colm Coyle is removed also. Coyle who is being taken to the cleaners by James Horan.
A worry of realism a regards ref, J McQ . He had a pretty tough job to do yesterday not even Superman would have got all the calls right. In hindsight pity he didn’t dish out a few cards early.As regards help from linesmen and umpire’s. Ah are wired up with read pieces and mics, but such was the noise Croker yesterday I wonder if the ref could hear a word. I had very good ear phones on the hear the match commentary. I had to abandon the them because I couldn’t hear a word such was noise level. Now the ref has only one ear piece, If a linesman or umpire wants to tell him something it’s hard to see how he can hear in that cauldron. I think the ref had much better second half, where Dublin rightly got punished for their trangessions
Connolly most definitely intended on causing harm to Lee Keegan. Keegan is on the ground with Diarmuid lying on top of him and we can all see he hits Lee in the head or face with force and intent. I know its not the same thing but if we compare that incident to Lee’s own sending off last summer and Kevin Keanes sending off against Donegal then we can see that while they maybe all sending off offences…Connolly’s cannot be lifted. There was also an incident in the second half where Connoly holds his namesake to the ground around the neck with his body weight again. For me, these incidents show that Connolly is a danger to other players. I’m not sure if this is appropriate here but Connolly has previous for this type of thing – in Croke Park itself and the pubs around it.
“in Croke Park itself and the pubs around it”
Thats a good one JOET1480. Fair play to ya.
An excellent point by @Rock about discipline during the next game on Saturday. It is going to be vital for our lads to hold their heads. You can bet your bottom dollar that instructions will be given to clamp down on the off the ball stuff. Expect to see Eddie Kinsella consult his linesmen and umpires at the least little incident so bibs will have to be kept clean. Yes by all means go in as hard as possible but we’ll need to keep our full quota on the pitch to prevail.
I am a little concerned with any retorspective action against McMahon. With the connolly red card unlikely to be overturned, if McMahon gets banned, there is no way they won’t take a mayo player with them. And the most likely candidate would be COC.
Personally, I would prefer if there was no retrospective action AND Connolly gets his card recinded. I am not comdoning the behaviour of the players, but I want to beat the dubs with their best players on the pitch
Pebblemaster, There is a pic of Connoly holding DOC by the neck on the ground in thd Indo. Also mentioned ny Joet1 above. He looks a very angry man and DOC must be an awful threat to the best half forward in Ireland? Poor Kev McL does get targeted a lot og the ball. They are warriors like the Spartans.
Can any one be surprised at this fella reffing a game and he suppose to be one of the top refs, this is the same clown that refereed our quater final against meath a few years ago when aido was just a gasur and i think his first or second year playing championship, all that he was missing that day was a meath jersey on his back…..as for kinsella for me hes the best of a bad lot, god for bid we get mighty marty duffy from sligo or has he retired the crator….as for yesterday never seen a mayo team as lost out on a field in the first half, not even the teams hammered by kerry on 04-06….goin backwards with ball, wer not tyrone , donegal and we,ll never will, why we trying to play like them, were at our best goin foward foward foward all day long, ok we use the sweeper in there to protect the backs, but thats it , not that load s….. we witness in first half for crying out loud…..sweeper next sat and go for the jugul……
I don’t like McQuillan, but to be fair to him and in his defence ( something I thought I would never do ) I thought he did a good job in difficult circumstances yesterday. That was like a Garda arriving at a wedding brawl.. Half of the guests were shouting about the transgressions of the other side and despite his best intentions at least half of them would think he was a prick. Now you have the CCC and their decision process.. they know there is going to be the necessary marriage guidance councillor visit on Saturday so they have to keep the sides happy,,,,!!
I think that all players will be available for next Saturday, my reason for this assumption is that the head but attempt can be tiptoed around as can the Cillian O Connor incident with the correct words being chosen.
Cooper for me was a player that really deserved the line as it was a potential career ending incident but it was dealt with at the time with a poorly chosen yellow as he may have not realised the seriousness of the incident, so lan stad.
Connolly will also walk if their is not better and more definitive footage available as he will say he was struggling for air and his strike was an effort to release keegans grip before he lost consciousness etc etc,,, the legal section will do their bit so have no doubt.
If Connolly walks the plank so too will Cillian I’m afraid, be careful what you wish for,,,
Neutral and non biased opinion before the daggers are drawn,,, good luck on Saturday
I can’t see how you can conclude that, Gamechanger, given the video evidence. Connolly was on top of Keegan and hit him three or four punches in quick succession. As I’ve said in a previous comment, there’s a world of difference between this incident and the one involving Cillian, where there isn’t a shred of evidence of intent on our man’s part in an incident where O’Carroll started everything by grabbing his jersey. I doubt if anyone other than Connolly will have a ban proposed by the CCCC (for the reasons I’ve previously outlined) but, after last week’s CHC decisions, anything could happen when his appeal is heard.
The restraint shown by earlier bloggers has now given way to more realistic comments. We rightly castigate Tyrone, Donegal and others for their cynicism and negative tactics, but make no mistake what we witnessed yesterday was DIRT pure and simple (pure may be the wrong description). This team took to the filed with malicious intent and many of the tackles were designed to cause serious bodily harm. I am extremely disappointed that the whiter than white Jim Gavin would send out a team with malicious intent.
We need to take a serious look at the way AFL games are refereed and copy much of it i.e. with two referees and at least six umpires who police the side lines and end lines right through the games. Our games have become uncontrollable by one person receiving little or no assistance from linesmen or umpires. If any of those off the ball incidents took place during an AFL game the perpetrator would be immediately sent off and that type of skulduggery is not entertained.
Unlike last year the mistakes of the referee yesterday did not gift the game to one side or the other as they more or less balance out. I think McStay did a very good job of highlighting the offences for the CCCC and I hope they are taken on board. If that is to be the case Cillian has no case to answer and Connolly, Cooper and McMahon should be unavailable. I believe Connolly will be the only one to lose out as a ban of all three would then (wrongly) necessitate the inclusion of Cillian to obviate criticism for bias.
As to the replay itself the old adage is that “the team that earns the draw, wins the replay”. I hope it holds true. My personal wish is that we would throw of the shackles from the off and go for them like we did at the end yesterday. Donegal showed that if you build up a lead against them they are a very brittle team. I think that some of our players will not be subjected to the same level of assault the next day. I refer in particular to McLoughlin and Doherty and that rendered them generally well below what we expect from them. Running back and forth across the field is not Seamus O’Shea’s game and he was out on his feet before he was replaced. Barry need to be introduced earlier and all players involved need to empty the tank leading to earlier substitutions. For the second game in a row Andy Moran ignored a better placed colleague and went for personal glory. His winning point does not fully atone for those lapses. Finally, may I commend Aidan O’Shea for his restraint throughout the game and the maintainance of a stoic discipline throughout in spite of the most full-on provocation and at times assault.
That Redmond is a clown, sounds like complete non sense to me. Iv lost count of the amount of social media articles (with video footage) iv seen trying to exonerate connolly and mcmahon!!jesus christ, iv read on this blog that we are perceived as the biggest whingers in the country, well dublin must surely take that mantle with all their crying bout this and that-plus they didnt even lose the game!!!
I would’nt agree with the posters saying we should go man to man with the dubs on saturday. I think our tactics wrre spot on in nullifying them as best we could, we just need to improve the shooting and ensure that cillian times runs off aidos shoulder enabling him to off load quickly without having to take on 3 men. Thats all we need to do, support Aidan and frees/penalties will come-no doubt about it. Id stick to the same kick out policy, let them try run it from deep.
To imply that yesterday was somehow worst than 04 or 06 is laughable and probably unfair to H&C.
Once we start winning Sam then I might get picky about how we do it but until we win one I’ll take it as it comes the Donegal, Tyrone, kerry, Dublin way or any which way.
I didn’t think we were lost I thought it was very controlled however I understand your frustrations. Maybe pushing more men forward will work but maybe Dublin will capitalise.
It’s very difficult, I am second guessing myself here, I wonder why H&C are thinking!
Agree MayoMike, really difficult calls to be made for next match and teams so well matched it will come down to who learns the most. We will see if H&C are strong enough at this level which is what this bunch of players deserve. As for the Dubs they are on a huge campaign to get Connolly back and will try every trick in the book next day with Aidan, Cillian, Lee all likely to come in for extra special attention. The good thing is that our guys can give as good as they get and still stay within the rules (I hope). Very likely to see early Yellow Cards and a Red or two the next stay so discipline will be essential.
All bloggers comments since Sunday noted. The game I feel was in marked phases and patterns. The worst, in my view, was the first 20 minutes where from where I sat (Upper Cusack 710) all I could see was wave after wave of Mayo runs down the right hand sideline by single Mayo players only, with no others in support, to their left or behind……Our fella, running with ball in hand, would then get blocked around the Dubs 45 by 2-3 half backs and that would be the end of that. Ball turned over and the Dubs on the counter attack.
Yes, the second half misses were awful, and costly in the end in terms of actually stealing a win, but for me the first half over-respect for the Dubs and cautions stand-backs when we should have been in on top of them, was a frustrating period.
Cue the final 10 minutes when we turned it around and dramatically bridged that 7 point gap…….Heroic, and very possible to play with that energy again the next day, now that the opposition has been well sussed !
Hold on now guys. That’s not a dirty Dublin team. No way. They played it hard and targeted our players. But wat was leroy doing to Connolly? Same thing targeting him and that’s why the scuffle broke out. He won’t get off. He can’t. Anyway our forward play was poor for 60mins yest. Surely weel be better Saturday? For that reason I think weel win despite the fact that a game like that was just wat dubs needed. But calling them pure dirt? Wrong and emotionally charged stuff IMO
Great write up @Bill Connolly.Couldn’t have said it better myself.
When will we hear about proposed bans? It will have to be soon to allow time for appeals process. Appeals likely on Thursday, I guess
There will be all out war next Saturday. Need to be very careful as Kinsella will want to lay down a marker early on
We are playing a more defensive structure and we are not comfortable playing it.probably because its all still very knew. I think we need to rotate the defensive play with playing attacking style driving hard at them.
Confirmed, taken from the Irish Times Website:
Dublin footballers face being without key forward Diarmuid Connolly after the GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee proposed what is believed to be a one-match suspension for the player’s red-card offence in Sunday’s drawn All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo.
Surprisingly, this was the only proposed sanction after a review of the often fractious match – which means that Dublin’s Philip McMahon and Mayo’s Cillian O’Connor will not face any further action in respect of other incidents.
If the ban is accepted or imposed – as the player has a right to and presumably will seek a hearing – Connolly who is a current All-Star and nominee for 2014 Footballer of the Year, will be out of next Saturday’s replay.
What Connelly did to Keegan on the ground driving his fist into his head was blatant thuggery. If this happenned on the street, with one concientious witness instead of the safety of croke park with 82000 people watching , Connelly would be facing alot more than a ban. To try and draw parrallels between what Connellys did and Cillian or Lee last year is fucking bannanas in the thinking. To top it all off Connelly left the field not satisfied with his work and wagged his finger in Lee’s direction as if to say “I’m going to get ya”
The sad thing is Connelly is an amazing player and athletic and could be a mighty and positive inspiration to others. The man has issues and hopefully he won’t be allowed to inflict serious damage onto to other players down the line.
For what it’s worth. I feel we have The Dubs broken and we will finish the job off Saturday. The dubs on a platter Mayo by five.
Just a late thought, any chance that we could get The green and red of Mayo song going on Saturday. If everybody joins in, it would be reverberate around the stadium and wouldn’t do abit of harm.
Gamechanger I agree that the ref tried to do his best in the end. He had a howler of a first half. I was sitting beside a quite decent Mayo supporter and at the half time break he stood up with all the other and booed. He had a better second half and he usually does in these Mayo Dublin games. Dublin needed more scores in the first half when they were in favour. I also agree that Connolly will play on Saturday night. The folks at Mountjoy Square will decide in his favor, and I am looking forward to round 2 to be honest. Their pace killed us all day and they are a nightmare when they move the ball quickly. Cluxton was the weak link. Kilkenny, Cattery, Connolly, and Brogan are unreal. I was once again filled with pride to be supporting such a fine bunch of lads. I feel we were tactically very good also and I like the fact that we are trying different things this year. This a man’s game and we are finally getting to the pitch of it. I voted for Parsons because he is improving with every game. Not bad for a man that was not holding down a regular place in 2014.
The history is worth looking at, CIllian has a history of playing the cleanest football you could ask for and I’ll bet RTE would have a very difficult job finding any footage of him deliberately trying to cause injury to an opponent, can the same be said of several of the dublin players ???? True we have a couple of renegades in the green and red that can be a handful but for too many years we carried the name of playing lovely football , being too nice and respectful of so called big teams and loosing because of that , when our lads stand up and the opponents a taste of their own dirty medicine for a change, the papers go wild !!! Dublin deserved every bruise they got yesterday and hopefully kinsella will not be intimidated by them next weekend !!!! Bate the shite out of them next sat lads !!!!!!!
‘Looking at the whole thing less objectively – I hope all 3 (or even 4 play) because despite the unsavoury stuff its just great entertainment and would just love to see both sides going at each other again…..but you can’t escape the elephant in the room on this one unless you are completely partisan….and understandable most people on this site are. In fact I appreciate many would regard these comments as an unwelcome intrusion and I’d take no offence at being told to p**s off – but this is the way I see it. If no action is taken I have little doubt the cards will fly come Saturday evening so that is the trade off we are facing’.
WJ, what a load horse sh*t, Cooper, Connelly should not be playing EOS. Don’t think DOC, KMcL or MOC would agree with you. You simply can’t condone these actions and by inference with your comments above you are implying so!
IMO McMahon surviving is not all bad if he does, he is ill disciplined and if same on Sat is worth a sackful frees for COC to convert. I think AOS discipline was outstanding in the face of persistent fouling and am sure his frustration with the ref. His reaction to the “alleged” head butt, in contrast to the hair re-arrangement incident a few weeks ago is another testament to sportsmanship and discipline.
The Dubs played a similar spoiling game in the 2013 final, during the last quarter in particular, and got away with it again yesterday as they are the media darlings, any of the northern teams would have been pilloried. If I hear any more Jim Gavin bull about Dublin style of play I’ll puke. Also I can’t understand why any connection could be made between the COC incident and Connolly’s, why are we even talking as if there is one?? Sure, the GAA do not cover themselves in glory for their pandering decision making but to attempt to balance the books by drawing in the COC affair would be farcical even by their standards.
Finally, as regards the refereeing, I pity the poor guys pushing late 40’s trying to keep up with 30 super fit athletes at both ends of the pitch, the blame lies with the GAA for failing to bring refereeing to the professional standard of the players as well as the crazy situation regarding lack of clarity on rules. It’s past time that the professionalism we see in terms of team preparation and conditioning, coaching, training, performance, etc is freed from the amateurism on display on the organisational front. Unless it is sorted out how long will it be before one of these young men is seriously injured on front of 82000 baying spectators, do we really want games ala Roman Colosseum style?
Anyway, this is team of giants we have, I am proud of Mayo and for now I hope sport wins out on Sat. They can take the Dubs, we will not be denied!!
Looks like that head butt was a poor attempt…needs working on,but he had the right idea!
Did no one see Small picking ball off ground after Andy’s bloomer with Mr Umpire a yard away?
Surely seems COCs arms are up..’he’s fouling from behind ref’. That’s all!
Definitely AOS my MOTM for such restraint! What a man! May he go on and on! Hard to think that he and this team could pos not achieve the ultimate rewards.
It’s ironic that these fellas are being asked for so much by a game that’s in such a shambles.Their glorious divine and carefully nurtured skills are flagrantly wasted and strewn around that field of CP match after match. A score can hardly be engineered and recorded without some hullabaloo of a controversy over its legit. All points to a deep rot that’s become embedded. Ah! but sure, do we really care? Look at tha millions in the little bags. Where would we be without the C’Ship…my arse!
There are measures which would blot out a lot of the mess. Will they employ them?
Our players thrill us and lift us to great heights but this game is not a fit or worthy vehicle nor is it deserving of such incredible endeavours! That’s my rant for this week!
I’d chance big Barry MF. SOS (11) . Bit more support for AOS.
And it’s bye bye the blue”
Your wrong there about Eddie Kinsella WJ.
He is not afraid to flash the cards, gave the Dubs 12 in the league game v Kerry.
I know that, highorlow, and he also invented black card offences to send off Aidan O’Shea (against Tyrone) and to end Mickey C’s 60-second cameo down in Cork. The concern I’d have is that it’s all fine and well being the hard man with the cards in a league game down in Killarney at the start of March, quite another to stand your ground in Croke Park in September with 50,000+ Dublin supporters baying at you. One example from Eddie Kinsella would worry me – he correctly sent Richie Feeney off on a black card in last year’s All-Ireland club final but when Aidan O’Mahony committed exactly the same offence at the same time in the All-Ireland final last September there was no sign of any card. He’ll need a large pair of cojones the next day and I’d be afraid that, human nature being what it is, he could well take the line of least resistance instead.
[Deleted].
Hueyandlouis – I’m afraid it’s you and not Bill that’s out of order here. His critique was based on something that occurred in the match and so he’s entitled to make it. You’re entitled to challenge the point that was made but not to attack the person who made it. Please note for future reference.
ok Wj.
To describe Andy as going for ‘personal glory’ is ok?
Andy deserves better than that and I think that comment is out of order and against your own rules is it not.
Anyway youre the boss but I dont think any Mayo player goes for personal glory.Apologies if I stepped out of line but I took umbrage with the comment and insinuation.
I’m not saying it’s okay, hueyandlouis, but the rule I enforce is that it’s acceptable to critique a player’s performance by reference to specific actions in a particular match, which was what Bill did. I’m not saying I agree with what he said (I don’t – I’d lean more towards Cantini’s take on Andy and what he brings to the team) and I’m not saying it can’t be challenged and refuted but what I am saying is that the wrong way to do this is by attacking the person who made the point.