Donegal v Down - USFC Final

Thanks emmet - the fact that donegal's hold line seemed to be circa 25 yards versus the normal 40 was something that concerned me yesterday so your take on that is interesting. Your point not withstanding Down could still have made 2 or 3 goals in particular when they moved at pace. One last pass not taken or rogers blazing over the bar meant that they didn,t.

What would brogan or gooch have done? Donegal cannot give the same territory at the business end as the gameplan might not be as simple if younare 6 points down.

Well I think Brogan and Gooch would have found the net...in those systems. Donegal likely wouldn't line out the same way against Kerry or Dublin and neither team plays the style Down do. Well rather, than Down did in the first half. While I have a lot of time for good defence, Down are one of the teams that needs to build from attack as they are far stronger at that end than at the back. It's risky but as I always say, if everybody looked the same we'd get tired of looking at each other.

emmetryan wrote:Well I think Brogan and Gooch would have found the net...in those systems. Donegal likely wouldn't line out the same way against Kerry or Dublin and neither team plays the style Down do. Well rather, than Down did in the first half. While I have a lot of time for good defence, Down are one of the teams that needs to build from attack as they are far stronger at that end than at the back. It's risky but as I always say, if everybody looked the same we'd get tired of looking at each other.

true donegal would hve 15 behind the ball v scoring forwards to good effect

Thomas Clarke wrote:Bluearmy has been drinking the same stuff as Loyal.

Not cynical? - What would you call the antics of Coulter? Of King/Poland's dirty hits? You were quick to slate Conor Gormley, yet he didn't raise a fist.

Not defensive? - Where was Aidan Carr lined out? He looked like a sweeper to me. Plus you played a defender in midfield, and another (Doyle) in the half-forwards.

Down controlled large parts of the field after halftime? - Seriously, what game were you watching?

Donegal's style is despicable - They scored 2-18, most of it from play, and were disciplined. For God's sake man, give them some credit when it is due.

A little aside to the cynical bit here, just back from a few days in Donegal and got talking to a guy who to put it lightly is Donegal mad as far as football is concerned. He obviously has connections within the county squad as he was well up with all things Donegal. One of the backroom guys was telling him that wee James indulged in a fairly cynical bout of calling Jim McGuinness every name under the sun, he said it was so bad it made Ricey look like a saint, it went on the entire game and McGuinness had to be restrained on several occasions.

Time to take the blinkers off BA, your "Down are whiter than white and purveyors of the beautiful game" bullshit is getting tiresome at this stage. The football played by Donegal was far from the dross you describe, and at least they had a game pan which they executed, Mr McCartan found wanting again when it comes to competing with tactically astute managers.

Can not for the life of me see ANY advantage (psychological or otherwise) in one manager slagging off another throughout a game ....

Parouisa wrote:Can not for the life of me see ANY advantage (psychological or otherwise) in one manager slagging off another throughout a game ....

I know PAR.. Remember 1992 final when Pat O'Neill( I know,a selector) tried to thump Brian McEniiff a few times. Donegal still won.No affect on the match except red face by O'Neiil.

Ah Brian just has one of those faces that you'd love to thump .....

Not so amazingly, I heard a conflicting report about the goings-on on the sideline at Clones. Surely, somewhere during your assertion of my bias, you would perhaps have recognised that it was not beyond the realms of the imagination that the 'Donegal man' you spoke to may well have been indulging in a bit of bias himself.

I never said Down are whiter than white. I have pointed out where individual players have been cynical, but the collective effort in the Donegal game was not cynical at all, or negative.

I am not the only one who pointed out the cynical aspects of Donegal's game. Declan Bogue did a good piece on the litany of tactical fouls they committed. Donegal have mastered the dark arts of dragging men down, and subsequently holding up play for as long as possible to allow their blanket to re-settle. These are not new tactics in the game...but they are being used with great frequency by Donegal.

I have been painted as biased here for criticising Donegal, on the basis that most people seem to feel I am a sore loser. You will find I have been saying the same things since last summer about Donegal, and my opinion has not changed.