Chatting were: Mike Finnerty, John Fogarty, Trevor Giles, Tony Leen, Brendan O’Brien and Daragh O Conchuir.
Under Discussion: Round 2 of the Allianz Football League
TONY LEEN, Irish Examiner sports editor: Gentlemen, good morning. Brendan O'Brien is already talking there about Galway's alleged trouble and strife. He was in Newry for their trip to Down. A little too early to be dancing on Tomas O Flatharta's grave methinks, but no smoke without fire?
BRENDAN O'BRIEN, Irish Examiner sportswriter: Their body language was actually fine and certainly didn't give any indication of internal strife in the camp. The real difficulty in Galway is the suggestion that they’re just not very good. Down played in fits and starts and would have blown them away, but for some over elaborate play and rank bad finishing.
JOHN FOGARTY, Irish Examiner GAA correspondent: It must have been hard for Down to ignore what was said and written about Galway last week. The fact that Nicky Joyce and Damien Burke aren't yet back has certainly fanned the flames but Tomas Ó Flatharta is getting a hard time of it. Galway have been in decline for several years now.
TREVOR GILES, Meath All-Ireland winner and Irish Examiner columnist: Down’s main downfall in last year’s All-Ireland was a lack of a kick-out strategy. I’ll be interested to see if there are any signs of one now.
JOHN FOGARTY: Having no sweeper in last year's All-Ireland final also didn’t help Down.
MIKE FINNERTY, Mayo News sports editor: Other big talking point up west today is that Kerry penalty in Castlebar. I know I’m biased, but...
JOHN FOGARTY: No penalty from what I saw. Darran O’Sullivan looked to have over-run the ball. Keeper Robert Hennelly performed well but a bit of cuteness wouldn’t have gone astray there and I could understand why it was apparent to Maurice Deegan that the penalty was the right call. They’ve got to got to Galway next now, don’t they?
MIKE FINNERTY: Yes, it’s the annual visit to the ‘Graveyard of Mayo football’ next Sunday. James Horan and Andy Moran were both talking down yesterday's defeat afterwards but it's bound to knock their confidence.
TONY LEEN: Big game of the weekend, though, was on Saturday night. Good win psychologically for Dublin, but as Trevor Giles said in the paper this morning, Cork will hardly be bothered.
TREVOR GILES: Missing out on a league final would get Cork off the radar for a while, whereas Dublin are way too visible above the radar at present.
JOHN FOGARTY: Not much skin of Cork noses. We all know they are meticulous in their build-up play but on Saturday it was laborious. Dublin, in fairness, screened them well and Cork, in turn, ran out of ideas. Can't help feeling though that Cork could have gone up a few gears if they wanted - notwithstanding those awful defensive lapses.
BRENDAN O'BRIEN: Of all teams in Division One, Cork are the last one to need a run in the league. The Dubs, as I said here before, very much do and I stick by what I said about them going on to win it. Still, it was interesting to see Conor Counihan afterwards have a little pop at his lads for their attitude.
JOHN FOGARTY: Counihan is Van Helsing and the monster is complacency. He'll root it out of Cork, have no fear of that.
TREVOR GILES: Dublin will be very strong 2011 contenders, but I would have thought they would have learned from their approach last year where they wrote themselves off and came very close. Fellas are getting very excited already.
JOHN FOGARTY: I'd disagree with Trevor in the sense that there is actual substance to Dublin now. The hype is controlled well by Pat Gilroy. Egos aren't tolerated, Bernard Brogan was brought down to earth by Gilroy in 2009 and again early last year and it's only been of benefit to him. The pros about Dublin's style of football outweigh the cons.
TONY LEEN: Cork are struggling for goals. Two from open play in their last eight games?
JOHN FOGARTY: It is a worry for Cork. But bear in mind they don't conceded many goals either. I think Alan Quirke has almost 20 championship clean sheets from 28 or 29 since 2006, but I would imagine the confidence among the forwards will see them look for more goal opportunities this year. Having said that, speeding up their approach play would help. It can be so slow at times.
MIKE FINNERTY: What are Cork's intentions for the league? Will they be happy enough to keep ticking over or is somebody going to suffer for last Saturday night?
TONY LEEN: They'll tip away and if they get to the knockout stages fine, but they're after a hard winter of partying and there's a lot of off-Broadway work to be done with them over the next few months in terms of getting their sharpness back and their eye back on the ball. I don’t think they got the buzz they expected from winning last September. They’d waited for so long, you’d have expected an explosion of joy and relief, but the players quickly realised they hadn’t produced anything like their best to win it - and they hadn’t got the Kerry-at-Croke-Park monkey off their backs. There's still plenty left in the stomach here, believe me.
Back to Dublin, though. Are they on a ticking clock that they have to deliver next September? Dublin always seem ready to implode in that pressure cooker.
TREVOR GILES: They have lost a ton of semi-finals in the last few years and they have to overcome that one first before they even think of winning the final. But I really think this Dublin team has the time to lose a final first.
MIKE FINNERTY: It looks Dublin going into Croke Park for the 'Spring Series' could stand to them in the long-run. . Guys like Sean Murray, James McCarthy and Dara Nelson will know the run of the place like the back of their hand by summer.
JOHN FOGARTY: You've the likes of Paul Casey, the forgotten man of Dublin football, and Declan Lally, a player discarded by Paul Caffrey, performing in a system. Okay, Lally let Pearse O'Neill off too many times on Saturday but he also bagged a couple of points and his drive forward was the impetus for the second goal. Each of them, while not the best individual players, know what job they have to do. They are cogs in a well-drilled, well-oiled machine. The only problem is there is only one big wheel and that's Bernard Brogan.
DARAGH O'CONCHUIR, Kildare-based sportswriter: If Kevin McManamon is doing in the summer what he does now from centre-forward, it will take much of the heat off Bernard Brogan. I definitely think there's more about them now then in recent years.
JOHN FOGARTY: McManamon's work-rate can't be faulted but his awareness has to improve. Bryan Cullen is needed not just for winning dirty ball but playmaking as well.
TREVOR GILES: That was my first time to see McManamon in the flesh and I was not very impressed. I thought Cork’s Paddy Kelly was more impressive as a centre-forward.
TONY LEEN: A load of other talking points from the weekend Mayo-Kerry, Banty's first win for Meath, Derry surprising Kildare and that Kilkenny result. Let’s talk Castlebar for a small while. Big win for Kerry, because they're in Croke Park Saturday night and that could have been 0 for 3.
MIKE FINNERTY: Kerry could have been out of sight after holding Mayo scoreless for the first 19 minutes but couldn't make it count at the other end. There are definitely midfield issues to be resolved though for Jack O'Connor on the evidence of yesterday.
TONY LEEN: Nail on the head, Finno. Midfield is the unspoken elephant in the room for Kerry this season. You could have any pairing from Seamus Scanlon, Mike Quirke, David Moran, Eoin Brosnan, Anthony Maher and Kieran Donaghy, but none of those combos look too promising at the moment.
JOHN FOGARTY: A real get-out-of-jail performance by Kerry. Struggled again in midfield although the spine otherwise looks good. Marc Ó Se, Brosnan, O'Sullivan, Donaghy... proven men right there. The pitch hampered both sides. We saw Barry Cahill do a sterling job for Dublin in midfield on Saturday evening. Could a half-back or half-forward do a job for Kerry in the centre?
TREVOR GILES: He is not a midfielder but Paul Galvin will win a load of ball for Kerry around the middle. Wouldn’t be worried about Kerry midfield, their forward line will win games on 40% possession.
DARAGH O'CONCHUIR: A couple of years ago I thought David Moran would be a superstar... I had expected more. Trevor is spot on of course, Paul Galvin makes some difference and midfield isn't about the spectacular fetching.
MIKE FINNERTY: Any chance that Kerry would go for broke and move Kieran Donaghy back out to midfield again for a while?
TONY LEEN: Donaghy to midfield is the big talking point in the Kerry camp at present. Robbing Peter to pay Paul though? Jack O'Connor still wants to keep Donaghy at 14 - at all costs!
JOHN FOGARTY: Four scores came off Donaghy, either from lay-offs or frees won, yesterday. Keep him at the edge of the square.
MIKE FINNERTY: I thought Mayo's rookie full-back Alan Feeney did quite well on Donaghy yesterday but, to be honest, the supply wasn't exactly constant or top-class with a blustery wind and sheets of rain.
JOHN FOGARTY: Mayo are talking a lot lately about a bit of steel. The only bit of steel I saw from Mayo was Aidan Campbell dumping Jonathan Lyne with a shoulder. Not the greatest boast but then they were hardly a dirty team as the 35-plus frees given against them suggested.
TONY LEEN: Good win for Meath against Sligo, but I expected Kildare to beat Derry? Conleth Gilligan. Remember him?
JOHN FOGARTY: The concern for Derry is will they run out of gas. Aside from last season, they've done well in the league, reaching two finals and winning one, but what good did it do them in the summer time? John Brennan's biggest task is sustaining this momentum.
DARAGH O'CONCHUIR: Kildare were poor for the last 45 minutes or so, wiped out in midfield where Daryl Flynn and Dermot Earley are big losses. But as we touched on earlier, it was Derry's dominance of Kildare on the breaks that was crucial and it's usually where they go well.
TREVOR GILES: Meath played well into the first half breeze against Sligo in Navan yesterday but were poor after half-time. They need to get goals as they are only kicking eleven or twelve points a game. Some signs already of hunting in packs and higher work rate, but a lot of the tackling was too aggressive and they got a lot of yellow cards.
DARAGH O'CONCHUIR: I would say Derry might have a bit more about them now. They’d six new guys yesterday, including at midfield, and Paddy Bradley is just back. So is Conleth Gilligan of course and he was brilliant.
JOHN FOGARTY: ‘Banty’ McEnaney almost has a ready-made attack in Meath. I’d prefer to see captain Seamus Kenny up there as a hard-working foil to the finishers but then again it's in defence where the Royals' problems lie.
DARAGH O'CONCHUIR: Would Davy Dalton be any way close to a game for Meath, Trevor. Saw him in midweek for Maynooth against Queen's and he was sensational.
TREVOR GILES: He would Daragh, came on as a blood sub, has pace and very good at dispossessing with his hands in the tackle, would be physically small for a Goulding-type corner forward though. Yesterday Sligo were physically very small, each player smaller than his Meath opponent, but up front David Kelly was very good and Ross Donovan did well on Joe Sheridan.
JOHN FOGARTY: Graham Reilly is a player I've a lot of time for. Star quality - expect him to push on this year. Brian Meade at centre-back is also an interesting choice. Will be keen to see how that pans out.
DARAGH O'CONCHUIR: One bright spark for Kildare against Derry - the performance of last year's minor Fionn Dowling. Always out in front, kicked two points, including a Stephen O'Neill effort from the left sideline.
TREVOR GILES: Donegal’s win in Omagh was impressive, but I wouldn’t read too much into Tyrone just now with all that has happened
JOHN FOGARTY: You'd imagine having won three of the last eight All-Irelands Tyrone almost feel insulted playing Division 2 football. I'd still expect them to improve as the league pushes on. Can see teams taking a lot of points off each other in Division Two with maybe eight points being enough to take a team up - plus a good points difference.
DARAGH O'CONCHUIR: You're right on Division 2. Last year Kildare were one loss away from being relegated... there are so many one or two-point games in there, although Antrim could be in a bit of trouble. Laois are looking alright under Justin McNulty.
TONY LEEN: Leitrim beat Kilkenny 3-19 to no score. What are the views on this?
JOHN FOGARTY: Kilkenny football - the ultimate oxymoron. Mickey Moran said that Division 4 has become a training ground for referees. Seems as if it is for teams too.
DARAGH O'CONCHUIR: I have strong view on this. There is no way that Kilkenny should be that bad. If you put out a club hurling team, they'd have done better. This is coming from the top and quite how Croke Park allow Kilkenny to get away with not bothering with football is beyond me. If New York and London can do it...
JOHN FOGARTY: The result was indefensible. Like their backs, you might be inclined to say. There has to be repercussions.
**NOW THAT'S OUR VIEW. WE'D LOVE TO GET YOUR VIEW ON THE WEEKEND'S GAA ACTION. POST YOUR COMMENTS ON THE SPORTSBLOG AND WE'LL PUBLISH THE PICK OF THEM IN TOMORROW'S IRISH EXAMINER NEWSPAPER
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/NqwSGwbLmuM/post.aspx
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