Who's gonna win it now?

Well Tyrone haven't put a foot wrong. Cork looked awesome against Kerry and poor v Limerick. Mayo and Galway should inform us on Sunday. What about Antrim or Kildare. And have the Dubs really turned a corner or is it same old?? Any opinions?

Everyone was talking Cork up after their demolition of Kerry but then they nearly blew it against Limerick. Tyrone beat a jaded Armagh and a didjointed Derry team. Dublin beat Meath (much more convincingly than the scoreline suggested) thrashed Westmeath and battled their guts out for a tight win against Kildare. Galway struggled past Sligo, Mayo hammered Roscommon.
At this stage it could be Dublin/Tyrone/Kildare/Cork/Galway/Mayo it has never been harder to predict

No Derry then?

No. Think they could struggle past Donegal, they have had 2 tough games against Monaghan and that will probably be the sum total of their summer

Shinners wrote:No. Think they could struggle past Donegal, they have had 2 tough games against Monaghan and that will probably be the sum total of their summer

take it from me Derry will breeze past Donegal - as far as winning it is concerned its hard to look past my own county we have dismissed two of our rivals without really playing, that said we will have some difficult hurdles to overcome to get there

bocerty wrote:

Shinners wrote:No. Think they could struggle past Donegal, they have had 2 tough games against Monaghan and that will probably be the sum total of their summer

take it from me Derry will breeze past Donegal - as far as winning it is concerned its hard to look past my own county we have dismissed two of our rivals without really playing, that said we will have some difficult hurdles to overcome to get there

Would the general feeling in Tyrone be one of fear at the thought of meeting Meath again - given how we dismantled ye in the last two championship meetings?

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:

bocerty wrote:

Shinners wrote:No. Think they could struggle past Donegal, they have had 2 tough games against Monaghan and that will probably be the sum total of their summer

take it from me Derry will breeze past Donegal - as far as winning it is concerned its hard to look past my own county we have dismissed two of our rivals without really playing, that said we will have some difficult hurdles to overcome to get there

Would the general feeling in Tyrone be one of fear at the thought of meeting Meath again - given how we dismantled ye in the last two championship meetings?

you wouldnt be far wrong there loyal - i know a few of the lads are undergoing treatment at present, they all have the same problem of not sleeping worrying about meeting Meath even Mickey is a bag of nerves at the prospect - hopefully we'll avoid you though

Yeah Tyrone seem to have serious trouble beating Meath. I don't think they will be the true team of the decade unless they beat the Royals this year.

indeed loyal - in fact i know from chatting to a few of the squad they are actually going to refuse their medals this year unless they beat Meath along the way - they dont want to be accused of winning a handy all-ireland

Does Dooher still suffer from Martinstoodonmyheadphobia?

He hasn't been the same player since that faithful Summer's day in 1996?

has O' Rourke ever finished eating that hat

Then there's 2006.

Oh what a famous famous day!

was that the day you let a 10 point lead go - no sorry that was last year, my mistake

We all said at the start Tyrone and Kerry, and then mentioned a few others.

Kerry however look poor, as though the time has caught up[ with them all. Five finals in a row is hard to sustain, an awful lot of pain and sacrifice goes into that achievement.

I have had a sneaky feeling fot the Dubs. They are not a great side, but they do have three top forwards, they are fit, have a work ethic, and a plan. I doubt if they have the belief.

Derry, Mayo, Cork, all have some sort of chance, but I backed Limerick to beat Cork, just as they should have done last year, so I don't think they have it.

The IMPORTANT bit is this. Tyrone could arrive completely under cooked in the quarters, and lose.

If that happens, give me the Dubs.

Patrique do you think Kerrys problems are down to tiredness and miles on the clock, it could be a factor but for me the return of O' Connor has been the big problem. The players dont seem to like him - heard on the grapevine too that their number 1 forward is big into the drink these days.

they look a spent force and sligo could take them this weekend.

Derry are not in with a chance of winning the ALl-Ireland this year. if they reach the 1/4 final (which they probably will if the 4th round draw is kind to them) then it will have been a hugely successful season for Derry.

The Dubs also wont win one because of the pressure that is put on them and their backs. their backs prefer to attack,attack,attack. if they come up against fast, small forwards like Mayo/Galway/Tyrone then they will be caught out cause they cannot defend.

Tyrone in with a great chance although i believe that they are going to end up like the Dubs usually do. they have not had a serious challenge in Ulster and i cannot see it coming from Antrim on Sunday. therefore there is the chance that they will come into the 1/4 finals completely undercooked and get caught cold by Galway or Mayo or someone like that

Tyrone,Cork and Mayo i believe are the three teams with the best chance of winning the All-Ireland this year and it helps that Mayo will be on the opposite side of the 1/4 and semi-final draw to Tyrone/Cork. i beleive that the All-Ireland final 2009 is going to be Mayo vs Cork with the winner too hard to call at this stage

bocerty wrote:Patrique do you think Kerrys problems are down to tiredness and miles on the clock, it could be a factor but for me the return of O' Connor has been the big problem. The players dont seem to like him - heard on the grapevine too that their number 1 forward is big into the drink these days.

they look a spent force and sligo could take them this weekend.

The above could all be true, but there are so many stories and rumours concerning the GAA.

Sligo could have sorted them in Sligo, but not I fear in Tralee. But it would require massive improvement to go the distance.

Tyrone didn't look great early doors last year, but they also didn't look as bad as Kerry do now.

Swinny disagree re our back being attack attack attack. True Barry Cahill got 1-1 on sunday but I can't remember many others from the back 6 on the attack - even in the Westmeath game! But we do need to tighten up there - despite not conceding a goal yet.

Having said that I think open games are much higher scoring this year cos defenders are less will to drag a forward down for fear of a yellow card. Look at Monaghan (20 points) and Derry are supposed to have a mean defence, but if you look in general a lot of losing teams have run up 12/13 points.

Swinny - i wouldnt dismiss the Dubs as handy as that - they have made improvements especially with regard to mental preparation speed of substitutions etc they also have serious forward unit with Bernard Brogan really upping the ante big time. That said Kildare could easily have come out the right side of Sundays game and were would Dublin have been then.

Tyrone have had a half decent game against Armagh, they totally steam rolled Derry and its hard to know what Sunday is going to bring, i really hope Antrim put it up to Tyrone and cause them all sorts of problems - the last thing Tyrone need is a real handy game with no questions posed of them at all.

True about Tyrone but they have the winning mentality and the experience of winning more than any other QF team bar Kerry. The one thing that they will obviously have to be wary of - and Patrique touched on it - is that if they win on Sunday then its knockout. One defeat and you're gone! As a Dub - I know this too well!

Boc - If Tyrone get a handy Ulster Final i fear it will leave them more dangerous later on. They are a ruthless side and have been in too many scrapes not to stay focused on the big prize.

Unfortunately i feel it's just a matter of who can stay closest to them!

And not a mention of Meath? EOB now knows his best fifteen - in their best positions - and all the confidence is coming back.

I reckon we're fairly close to approaching the 2007 form again. The Westmeath performance was very pleasing, the intensity was back in Meath's play and the effort was made to close down all the space, tackling was good. And more importantly, the forwards are defending from the front as opposed to letting the other team walk out with the ball.

Nigel Crawford has been the midfielder of the year for me, Peader Byrne inspirational, he is an animal, and Joe Sheridan, the Senchelstown sensation is absolutely flying. Plus the arrival on the scene of David Bray, beautiful footballer, just like his brother, he has got a great footballing brain and can back it up with two great feet.

Its such a pity we didn't play like we did in Cusack Park against Dublin. The dubs were there for the taking that day. Still all Meath can do is beat the teams they are asked to beat and they'll get a chance against the big guns in Croker before long. We should take Wexford/Roscommon in Navan anyway.

bald eagle wrote:Boc - If Tyrone get a handy Ulster Final i fear it will leave them more dangerous later on. They are a ruthless side and have been in too many scrapes not to stay focused on the big prize.

Unfortunately i feel it's just a matter of who can stay closest to them!

fair point BE - but in fairness alot of our big guns have yet to get off the mark - Cavanagh and O' Neill have been very quiet thus far and even though they are a battle hardened team i dont think you can turn it off and on when you want.

We'd need something to kick start them heading into the business end of the championship - though having said that no one seen the perfromance against the Dubs coming last year so perhaps i am not giving my own county as much credit as they deserve.

bocerty wrote:i am not giving my own county as much credit as they deserve.

That is an absolute first for a Tyrone man - for sure ........

Jayo Cluxton wrote:

bocerty wrote:i am not giving my own county as much credit as they deserve.

That is an absolute first for a Tyrone man - for sure ........

i know i know - sometimes my modesty amazes even myself