Dublin GAA Discussion Thread MOD WARNING POST #2944

corny

Our inside forwards were superb, much higher work rate in making themselves available. KM was my MOTM.

We were shaky again at the back again but really that doesn't concern me. When we get back to Cooper, O'Carroll and Daly/Nelson we'll be far more solid. Cooper is turning into a savage defender btw. Philly McMahon and Mikey Fitzsimons are unfortunately playing their way out of contention.

Thought Davy Byrne had a smashing game. Lacks the physical presence but made excellent use of possession and never stopped working.

Slattsy

When can we expect an update on Kilkenny's injury??
Hope its not acl damage.

fta93

Confirmed ACL. Awful news. Best wishes to the lad.

copacetic

Slattsy wrote: »

When can we expect an update on Kilkenny's injury??
Hope its not acl damage.

Scan tomorrow, this talk of hoping for the best is never good, and seeing the replay on big screen it looked like a jarred knee. Hopefully not a really bad one.

Edit - how it is confirmed I'm not sure, but seems to be out that it is gone alright.

Otherwise an ok night, very hit and miss again, but won well despite not playing that well across the pitch. O'Sullivan was my star of the night, he was constantly overtaking his midfield partner to tackle back on other peoples men etc. Mick McCauley needs to be working on both sides of is game to really become the star over the years that he can be.

We also need to be looking with other midfield options, paying half a back line, a reserve forward line and the first choice midfield all year is not a good use of the league. Midfield is where we have the least depth, last year we tried 3 or 4 combinations and new players, need to do so again.

Even if we are trying James McCarthy and Paul Flynn or whatever, we need options. Personally I'd still like to see O'Congahlie, Mahony etc given their chance again and Fennell having another shot at least at the squad when Vincent's finish up next week. Bastick made the difference in a lot of games next year, one injury and we are pretty stuck in midfield.

Stinicker

fta93 wrote: »

Confirmed ACL. Awful news. Best wishes to the lad.

Damn, fine young footballer will join Colm Cooper on the benches for the rest of the year.

fta93

DCB statement here - http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/2/0903141545-ciaran-kilkenny-suffers-ruptured-cruciate-/

The_Kew_Tour

As a Corkman I just like to wish Kilkenny a very speedy recovery.

Horrible bloody injury. Not nice to see a young mans dream shattered for a season.

ciarriaithuaidh

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

As a Corkman I just like to wish Kilkenny a very speedy recovery.

Horrible bloody injury. Not nice to see a young mans dream shattered for a season.

I'll second that. Terrible blow for the young fella, hope he recovers fully asap.

TouchingVirus

The loss of Kilkenny is a tough blow, knew it wasn't good when he hit the ground like a tonne of bricks and went off right away. Rest up and heal well Kilkenny, I'm looking forward to welcome you back next year!

Today's loss in the hurling was disappointing, though by no means as bad as Galway last month. I'll post some further thoughts later in the week when I'm not as pissed off

Joekers

Started off really well against Waterford up until they had Walsh sent off then they just seem to lose their shape, they couldn't get the sliotar off the ground at all and every shot they took seemed to be blocked down by a Waterford man. They then tried to walk the sliotar over the bar so to speak wouldnt take any shots on from distance and then once Waterford had built up a decent lead from the free count all they had to do was defend from the 40 cause Dublin refused to take on shots outside this range.

Seen a lot in the first 30 mins to like but not much after that, woudnt surprise me at all to see them go out and beat the cats on Saturday cause a decent pitch will really suit them better.

Stoner

Strange game against Kildare.

It's been a funny few games, I thought Dublin were a tiny bit lucky to beat Kerry, a tiny bit unlucky in the loss to Cork, but this did not seem like a 10 point margin to me, it was a lot closer.

I still think Kildare's O'Connor is better out the field, I know I'm in the minority here but I think he have a very good physical presence and can win high ball he can see a pass and looks very strong, he has a bit of speed too. However I think he's stuffed in front of goal unless he has some players around him he can lay it off too, I think the top defenders and keepers smother up his goal attempts too much, but he was a handful out the field at the weekend.
when he's runs out to the ball he looks good but there is no No 14 for him to aim at.

I'm not sure about how much improvement Kildare have made under the new management, its early days I guess, certainly their half back line was in my opinion very slow to try to close the gap between their back line, the space that the Dublin inside forward line had was ridiculous.
I watched a recording of the match last night and I thought that the commentators seemed to miss the point of corks success against Dublin, I didn't think it was down to the direct ball into the cork forward line that Dublin struggled with (to a huge degree), I thought it was a good defensive display from Cork, they forced Dublin into shooting from less than ideal positions, direct ball is one thing but it only works to a point these days, guys soak it up.

It ended up a little flat at the end, even though it was an exciting game at times. I still think Cooper is the future Captain of Dublin, it was good to see him getting forward again, I hope he keeps it up he seemed to stop all that once the championship started last year. I see him in the halfback line, there seems to be a trend now that when the Dublin defence is struggling he seems to be a player moved onto a problem area, a little bit like O'Sullivan in the past I think he is developing into a player who could do the roll at number 6 that O'Sullivan was called into at crucial times last year and nice blend of himself and Brennan depending on what's in front of them might work and leave O'Sullivan in the middle.

I also have been impressed with McMahons displays at number 3, others around me were not but he certainly seems to read/understand the position (and football generally) better than most of the RO'C options tried lately IMHO, generally the defence works better when he is in it, he does a lot of screaming though

I don't think either team learned a lot from the game, I don't read into the theory that Ryan set Wexford up well to play against Dublin too much, I know they did play well, I just think Dublin struggle to lift their game against Wexford the way they would for Kildare.

corny

Stoner wrote: »

Strange game against Kildare.

It's been a funny few games, I thought Dublin were a tiny bit lucky to beat Kerry, a tiny bit unlucky in the loss to Cork, but this did not seem like a 10 point margin to me, it was a lot closer.

I still think Kildare's O'Connor is better out the field, I know I'm in the minority here but I think he have a very good physical presence and can win high ball he can see a pass and looks very strong, he has a bit of speed too. However I think he's stuffed in front of goal unless he has some players around him he can lay it off too, I think the top defenders and keepers smother up his goal attempts too much, but he was a handful out the field at the weekend.
when he's runs out to the ball he looks good but there is no No 14 for him to aim at.

I'm not sure about how much improvement Kildare have made under the new management, its early days I guess, certainly their half back line was in my opinion very slow to try to close the gap between their back line, the space that the Dublin inside forward line had was ridiculous.
I watched a recording of the match last night and I thought that the commentators seemed to miss the point of corks success against Dublin, I didn't think it was down to the direct ball into the cork forward line that Dublin struggled with (to a huge degree), I thought it was a good defensive display from Cork, they forced Dublin into shooting from less than ideal positions, direct ball is one thing but it only works to a point these days, guys soak it up.

It ended up a little flat at the end, even though it was an exciting game at times. I still think Cooper is the future Captain of Dublin, it was good to see him getting forward again, I hope he keeps it up he seemed to stop all that once the championship started last year. I see him in the halfback line, there seems to be a trend now that when the Dublin defence is struggling he seems to be a player moved onto a problem area, a little bit like O'Sullivan in the past I think he is developing into a player who could do the roll at number 6 that O'Sullivan was called into at crucial times last year and nice blend of himself and Brennan depending on what's in front of them might work and leave O'Sullivan in the middle.

I also have been impressed with McMahons displays at number 3, others around me were not but he certainly seems to read/understand the position (and football generally) better than most of the RO'C options tried lately IMHO, generally the defence works better when he is in it, he does a lot of screaming though

I don't think either team learned a lot from the game, I don't read into the theory that Ryan set Wexford up well to play against Dublin too much, I know they did play well, I just think Dublin struggle to lift their game against Wexford the way they would for Kildare.

McMahon was poor against Kildare Stoner. Constantly standing off his man (didn't seem bothered on occasion), slow to close down and he never threatened to be first to the ball when the Kildare forwards made runs. He wasn't great against Cork either, although none of the FB line were.

Just a thought but if Bastick was a younger man a FB line of Cooper, ROC, COS would be epic.

DoctaDee

There has been a large degree of anti climax in our recent meetings with Kildare - this I suppose was no different (other than the fact I'd expected them to win easily beforehand). In fairness this time around the scoreboard didn't do Kildare justice - the previous 2 drubbings were the very least by which Dublin should've won - we weren't 10 points better on Saturday.

I've felt that Dublin have coped reasonably well at the back when the play is directly in front of them - irrespective of the personnel, foot races and getting a hand/boot in is what they do well. The diagonal ball into the corners is where the struggle begins - George and Philly were content to give their man 5 to 10 yards -George I think has a slight problem with his confidence, frightened of being exposed and seemingly content in giving his man uncontested possession with the trade off of covering his space. He has been a very competent defender at club level and will more than likely make the grade at IC but probably not this year. I'm getting a little frustrated with Philly - he's meandered between the very poor and the very good in what I've seen so far. He broke from defence and gave a searing 40-50 yard pass that didn't rise more than 10 yards off the ground along the Hogan side to Reddin I think 1st half which was the class play of the half for me - his shortcomings have been dealt with previously. The other worrying aspect to Phillys game, which may have something to do with the character he's built for himself in the game - is the number of 50/50 decisions that are going against him - he was as much sinned against as sinning on Saturday but the free count was way out of his favour.

Other random things that struck me on the night ... while trying not to overplay what was a league game in March. Bryan Cullens days maybe numbered, the facets of his game that got him to the top of the tree of HF's in the country are on the wane - conversely Davy Byrne showed elements of what made Cullen so good in his own game on Saturday - tirelessly showing for the ball, good athleticism. Buttsy Dalys return was a welcome sight, both himself and Cooper have an air of solidity in whatever position they play at the back and it's testament to both that they are so versitile. Personally I felt Daly was hard done by losing out on a starting position in last years championship and there's a starting 15 jersey there for the taking, particulalry now with KOB injury. McMenamon gave a driving performace Saturday and naturally there's calls for him to start later in the year - I'll take nothing away from the lad he was fantastic - but there's something peculiar with McM that he's seems to be so far ahead fitness wise early on the year against his opponenets that gradually erodes as the year goes on.

Finally, I've had my 1 man campaigns each year to have players brought into the senior set up - I'm personally responsible that Paddy Andrews is now flourishing :rolleyes: from 2 years ago, last year failed on Ted Furman ... but this years vote goes to Naomh Olafs David Byrne dunno whether he's a Davey. Minor captain from 2011 and like a lot of his peers involved in the U21 set up. I've seen a good bit of Inter football over the last few years and the Inter Final last year between Olafs and Fingallians was pitched as the direct battle between Flynner & Byrne.

The lad ran the show on the night, powerful performance - he looked like a minor footballer playing in an U14 match he was that good. He seems capable of operating right accross the back 6, have seen him show most of his qualities in the HB line with a good eye for a score too. I think he lined out full back against Carlow in the U21's last week and maybe a viable option if our problems persist in the corners. He got a few minutes last Saturday and managed to chip in with a point - he's certainly a great prospect from what I've seen of him so he gets the big thumbs up from me.

ta

Gael85

team for sunday

1. Stephen Cluxton
2. Sean George
3. Philly McMahon
4. Michael Fitzsimons
5. Darren Daly
6. James McCarthy
7. Jonny Cooper
8. Cian O'Sullivan
9. Michael Dara Macauley
10. Davy Byrne
11. Paddy Andrews
12. Bryan Cullen
13. Kevin McManamon
14. Ciaran Reddin
15. Eoghan O'Gara

Gael85

DoctaDee wrote: »

There has been a large degree of anti climax in our recent meetings with Kildare - this I suppose was no different (other than the fact I'd expected them to win easily beforehand). In fairness this time around the scoreboard didn't do Kildare justice - the previous 2 drubbings were the very least by which Dublin should've won - we weren't 10 points better on Saturday.

I've felt that Dublin have coped reasonably well at the back when the play is directly in front of them - irrespective of the personnel, foot races and getting a hand/boot in is what they do well. The diagonal ball into the corners is where the struggle begins - George and Philly were content to give their man 5 to 10 yards -George I think has a slight problem with his confidence, frightened of being exposed and seemingly content in giving his man uncontested possession with the trade off of covering his space. He has been a very competent defender at club level and will more than likely make the grade at IC but probably not this year. I'm getting a little frustrated with Philly - he's meandered between the very poor and the very good in what I've seen so far. He broke from defence and gave a searing 40-50 yard pass that didn't rise more than 10 yards off the ground along the Hogan side to Reddin I think 1st half which was the class play of the half for me - his shortcomings have been dealt with previously. The other worrying aspect to Phillys game, which may have something to do with the character he's built for himself in the game - is the number of 50/50 decisions that are going against him - he was as much sinned against as sinning on Saturday but the free count was way out of his favour.

Other random things that struck me on the night ... while trying not to overplay what was a league game in March. Bryan Cullens days maybe numbered, the facets of his game that got him to the top of the tree of HF's in the country are on the wane - conversely Davy Byrne showed elements of what made Cullen so good in his own game on Saturday - tirelessly showing for the ball, good athleticism. Buttsy Dalys return was a welcome sight, both himself and Cooper have an air of solidity in whatever position they play at the back and it's testament to both that they are so versitile. Personally I felt Daly was hard done by losing out on a starting position in last years championship and there's a starting 15 jersey there for the taking, particulalry now with KOB injury. McMenamon gave a driving performace Saturday and naturally there's calls for him to start later in the year - I'll take nothing away from the lad he was fantastic - but there's something peculiar with McM that he's seems to be so far ahead fitness wise early on the year against his opponenets that gradually erodes as the year goes on.

Finally, I've had my 1 man campaigns each year to have players brought into the senior set up - I'm personally responsible that Paddy Andrews is now flourishing :rolleyes: from 2 years ago, last year failed on Ted Furman ... but this years vote goes to Naomh Olafs David Byrne dunno whether he's a Davey. Minor captain from 2011 and like a lot of his peers involved in the U21 set up. I've seen a good bit of Inter football over the last few years and the Inter Final last year between Olafs and Fingallians was pitched as the direct battle between Flynner & Byrne.

The lad ran the show on the night, powerful performance - he looked like a minor footballer playing in an U14 match he was that good. He seems capable of operating right accross the back 6, have seen him show most of his qualities in the HB line with a good eye for a score too. I think he lined out full back against Carlow in the U21's last week and maybe a viable option if our problems persist in the corners. He got a few minutes last Saturday and managed to chip in with a point - he's certainly a great prospect from what I've seen of him so he gets the big thumbs up from me.

ta

David Byrne from Olafs didnt come as sub last Saturday. Agree he deserves a
run at corner back.Would like Michael Concarr/Hugh Gill from Vincents get run out in the corners when they finish club duty.

TouchingVirus

A good victory tonight for the hurlers, it's always nice to skin the Cats.

Some of the staff in Parnell Park are a joke. I arrived late (but before half time) and the stiles were closed so I couldn't get my ticket scanned. I was told to go to the open stile at the very end - it wasn't open. I was told to look for a guy over at the dressing rooms, then when I got there was told he'd be there after the match. I go after the match, turns out he left with the scanner about 15 minutes prior. Fúck sake, they must have been taking the piss. Does anybody know where I'd pick up a copy of the programme? It's also the only match I've ever been to where I didn't get one.

coolisin

TouchingVirus wrote: »

A good victory tonight for the hurlers, it's always nice to skin the Cats.

Some of the staff in Parnell Park are a joke. I arrived late (but before half time) and the stiles were closed so I couldn't get my ticket scanned. I was told to go to the open stile at the very end - it wasn't open. I was told to look for a guy over at the dressing rooms, then when I got there was told he'd be there after the match. I go after the match, turns out he left with the scanner about 15 minutes prior. Fúck sake, they must have been taking the piss. Does anybody know where I'd pick up a copy of the programme? It's also the only match I've ever been to where I didn't get one.

I've a maybe slightly scrunched up copy I don't mind parting with!

I Wonder why everybody was arriving late!!!!!
It was funny the rush of people after the rugby finished.

TouchingVirus

coolisin wrote: »

I've a maybe slightly scrunched up copy I don't mind parting with!

I Wonder why everybody was arriving late!!!!!
It was funny the rush of people after the rugby finished.

Cheers for the offer, but I'll let you keep your copy I mail the DCB or something about it tomorrow when I'm not tempted to rip into them about the scanner being unavailable. You'd think they'd have made some allowances for the rugby, not closed up shop earlier than usual!

copacetic

Disappointing loss today, but good display in patches and good to see Alan Brogan back playing and hitting early form. Not taking chances and failing to cope with how refs are treating the game continues to be a problem. Philly appears to be unable to adjust his game to allow for erratic refs and keeps getting in to arguments with them and letting them get under his nerves. Ref was atrocious today, but it wasn't only for us, we have to suck it up in those situations and play the man by adjusting as best we can.

Otherwise it was good to see a few more players given a run and Nicky Dev and Nolan etc back on the field.

Derry look to be flourishing in Div 1 and are quite a force at home with crowd behind them.

diceyreilly

Any season ticket holders that went to the Derry game yesterday showing up as attended yet.
Mines still saying not attended.

TouchingVirus

diceyreilly wrote: »

Any season ticket holders that went to the Derry game yesterday showing up as attended yet.
Mines still saying not attended.

It'll say you didn't attend until Wednesday/Thursday - the scanner stores the data until it's returned to Croke Park or uploaded via some other method during the week. I'm showing up as not-attended too.

CurryFlavoured

Was is just me who thought the ref was awful, and in the 2nd half very pro-Derry? Avoided giving black cards for a few blatant pull downs (Andrews was getting dragged down every time he had the ball) and he failed to play advantage when Mick Fitz was through on goal. He also failed to give Derry a blatant penalty in the first half. Not consistent at all for what he was calling fouls for either.

We were outplayed though, physically Derry looked too good for us. George looks a bit out of his depth right now, get Rory back. Great to Alan Brogan and Kevin Nolan playing so well. Lots of work to be done, we haven't progressed as much as I would have liked at all. The full back line still needs sorting out and Flynn, Bernard etc. need game time before championship.

WhatNowForUs?

CurryFlavoured wrote: »

Was is just me who thought the ref was awful, and in the 2nd half very pro-Derry? Avoided giving black cards for a few blatant pull downs (Andrews was getting dragged down every time he had the ball) and he failed to play advantage when Mick Fitz was through on goal. He also failed to give Derry a blatant penalty in the first half. Not consistent at all for what he was calling fouls for either.

We were outplayed though, physically Derry looked too good for us. George looks a bit out of his depth right now, get Rory back. Great to Alan Brogan and Kevin Nolan playing so well. Lots of work to be done, we haven't progressed as much as I would have liked at all. The full back line still needs sorting out and Flynn, Bernard etc. need game time before championship.

Is it only Black Cards for a fool on somebody who doesn't have the ball?
Thats how I read it from watching the All-Ireland Club Final today.

From a Dublin point of view I thought the Vincents Full Back and the Wing Back No. 7 (Michael Concarr I think) were very good.

TouchingVirus

A fantastic win for Vincents today! It was great to see Connolly in incredible form, if he had more performances like that for Dublin I'd sing his praises from up on high and nobody would stop me - a finer display in an All Ireland final you'll be hard pushed to find. I look forward to his return to intercounty. This piece in particular was worth the entry alone:



Yesterday's trip to Derry simply wasn't worth my time - Dublin were awful and Derry played us off the pitch. On the backs Sean George once again left his man too loose, when is Jim going to realise that he's not good enough right now? Philly's temper is a liability and he too wasn't tight enough on his man. Only Mick Fitz showed up IMO and even he wasn't fantastic. Cooper was also failing to come back and was less effective than usual when he got there. COS and MDMA were only average in midfield, a few runs here and there but were completely dominated in the second half. Alan Brogan was one of the only highlights of the match and it's great to see him knocking over scores like in his prime. Cullen was anonymous as was Hudson. O'Gara had a horror show - didn't score one point and I'm not sure he completed a pass in the entire match. Andrews can feel hard done by the officials for most of the match he was rode - surprised he didn't swap numbers after the match with his new best friend.

As much as Dublin were architects of their own downfall something absolutely has to be said about the quality of refereeing. If Fergal Kelly is the standard then the game is in trouble because there are no words to describe how truly awful his performance was on the day. All of the officials were gutless, blind and demonstrated complete ineptness. I lost track on the amount of times both keepers had to re-take kickouts because he stopped play for something minor. When one of ours went for a 50/50 ball and there was a class of heads he let the play continue, Derry marched pretty much unopposed for a point. It was a truly infuriating to watch pulldowns, off the ball niggles, drags and jersey pulling, unfair shoulders etc. The only consistency was he was consistently shíte. By no means was it the reason we lost, but honestly the refs need some more training.

Hesh's Umpire

Quick question about the Vincent's team yesterday folks.

Are they all Dublin lads? Or is there one country lad on the team (from somewhere like Longford is in my head for some reason).

Hope someone can help.

Gael85

Hesh's Umpire wrote: »

Quick question about the Vincent's team yesterday folks.

Are they all Dublin lads? Or is there one country lad on the team (from somewhere like Longford is in my head for some reason).

Hope someone can help.

Brendan Egan wing back is from Sligo,the rest of team are Dubs

celticbest

Attendance updated,

but1er

Any idea when Parnell pass are up for renewal?

TouchingVirus

but1er wrote: »

Any idea when Parnell pass are up for renewal?

Next month. Keep an eye on this page

TheNap

Gael85 wrote: »

Brendan Egan wing back is from Sligo,the rest of team are Dubs

The wing forward is American

Paranoid Mandroid

but1er wrote: »

Any idea when Parnell pass are up for renewal?

TouchingVirus wrote: »

Next month. Keep an eye on this page

Lads, I've gone with the Hill P Pass for the last few years. I'm thinking of getting a stand ticket instead this year. Where exactly are the stand tickets when games are in croke park? Do you get the same seat each time kind of thing? Cheers.

TouchingVirus

Paranoid Mandroid wrote: »

Lads, I've gone with the Hill P Pass for the last few years. I'm thinking of getting a stand ticket instead this year. Where exactly are the stand tickets when games are in croke park? Do you get the same seat each time kind of thing? Cheers.

The Parnell Pass Stand ticket would have you in the Cusack among the Season Ticket holders. Sections will vary from 302 to 308 I imagine but I'm not a PP holder so I couldn't be certain. There is no fixed seating so one game you could be 303 Row AA, following game you're 307 row H for example.

Paranoid Mandroid

TouchingVirus wrote: »

The Parnell Pass Stand ticket would have you in the Cusack among the Season Ticket holders. Sections will vary from 302 to 308 I imagine but I'm not a PP holder so I couldn't be certain. There is no fixed seating so one game you could be 303 Row AA, following game you're 307 row H for example.

Dead on, thanks for the info.

ProudDUB

How long have you had the PP? Last year, some season ticket holders did not have as good seats for the big sell out games (such as the AI final and semi final) as they did earlier in the year. They wound up in the Upper Cusack and down at the Canal End. (I refuse to call it the Davin Stand :P)

I think it had something to do with how long they had season tickets. If you had one for a while, you were pretty much locked into a decent seat in the Lower Cusack all year long. But if you only became a season ticket holder in the past couple of years, you were at risk of being shifted as the year went on. I'm not sure, if that policy is also in place for the Parnell Pass.

TouchingVirus

ProudDUB wrote: »

How long have you had the PP? Last year, some season ticket holders did not have as good seats for the big sell out games (such as the AI final and semi final) as they did earlier in the year. They wound up in the Upper Cusack and down at the Canal End. (I refuse to call it the Davin Stand :P)

I think it had something to do with how long they had season tickets. If you had one for a while, you were pretty much locked into a decent seat in the Lower Cusack all year long. But if you only became a season ticket holder in the past couple of years, you were at risk of being shifted as the year went on. I'm not sure, if that policy is also in place for the Parnell Pass.

Those latecomers to the season ticket (new from 2012 onwards) most likely purchased an "Upper Tier" stand ticket since renewals were so strong following the 2011 season. That stand ticket is what my dad ended up with when he joined in 2012 and while the league/early Leinster attendances weren't enough to open up the upper tier he got to sit down in the lower. As you say though, as soon as the matches started to fill up he was moved to the upper tiers of the Cusack.

Incidentally we got that fixed for the 2013 season and I asked the GAA if we could sit together and be managed under the one account login. They obliged me after the renewals for 2013 closed and there were some lower-stand tickets freed up and we sit together at the games now in Lower Cusack.

I think the Parnell Pass is a different beast, not least because you've to pick your tickets up in the office.

ProudDUB

Yeah, I've heard that if you aren't happy with the seat allocated to you, they will try to accommodate you if you give them a ring. But I imagine that for the likes of the AI final, you'll just be told to be happy that you have a seat at all & to shag off. :P

ThunbergsAreGo

ProudDUB wrote: »

Yeah, I've heard that if you aren't happy with the seat allocated to you, they will try to accommodate you if you give them a ring. But I imagine that for the likes of the AI final, you'll just be told to be happy that you have a seat at all & to shag off. :P

The staff that manage the season tickets I have always found to be excellent

but1er

naughtb4 wrote: »

The staff that manage the season tickets I have always found to be excellent

the staff are useless i sent 4 emails about a change of email for my log in and just wont change it! Not hard!

copacetic

I've always found the staff to be really good, helpful and considerate and I've had the ticket since day 1.

TouchingVirus

copacetic wrote: »

I've always found the staff to be really good, helpful and considerate and I've had the ticket since day 1.

Same as and I said as much on the GAA Season Ticket 2014 thread too

ProudDUB

I wasn't knocking the season ticket staff at all. Anyone I know who has ever had to ring them, had nothing but good things to say about them. But if you want to change seats for a big game like the AI final, because you want to sit beside friends/family, or you just want a better seat, you may not have much joy. The demand for AI final tickets is so great & they are distributed in such a complicated way, it doesn't give them much flexibility.

ThunbergsAreGo

ProudDUB wrote: »

I wasn't knocking the season ticket staff at all. Anyone I know who has ever had to ring them, had nothing but good things to say about them. But if you want to change seats for a big game like the AI final, because you want to sit beside friends/family, or you just want a better seat, you may not have much joy. The demand for AI final tickets is so great & they are distributed in such a complicated way, it doesn't give them much flexibility.

Ah i know you werent, just thought its nice to say something nice about a system and the staff behind it for once

Season ticket is by far the best investment i ever made

ProudDUB

Of course it is nice to say something nice. That is why I also said this in my post.

"Yeah, I've heard that if you aren't happy with the seat allocated to you, they will try to accommodate you if you give them a ring."

el_CUERVO

Saw the highlights of the Derry game the other day, great to see Alan Brogan back at his best. Class player. Most natural Dublin forward IMO.

keane2097

el_CUERVO wrote: »

Saw the highlights of the Derry game the other day, great to see Alan Brogan back at his best. Class player. Most natural Dublin forward IMO.

Connolly takes that accolade by a mile.

el_CUERVO

Connolly is talented alright, but to say by a mile is a stretch. He a good player, who can be hot and cold. Was very good against Castlebar,they had the wrong player marking Connolly though. 2012 All Ireland Semi i think Cunniffe marked him, and did a good job.

Also, Connolly is 27 this year and still has no All Star..

keane2097

el_CUERVO wrote: »

Connolly is talented alright, but to say by a mile is a stretch. He a good player, who can be hot and cold. Was very good against Castlebar,they had the wrong player marking Connolly though. 2012 All Ireland Semi i think Cunniffe marked him, and did a good job.

Also, Connolly is 27 this year and still has no All Star..

If you're talking about natural forwards, Connolly is the outstanding candidate by a mile. If it's most effective, or best scorer or whatever else I'd probably have Paul Flynn and Bernard Brogan take the accolades in most categories, but in terms of sheer natural ability, elegance of movement, vision etc Connolly is out on his own.

corny

el_CUERVO wrote: »

Connolly is talented alright, but to say by a mile is a stretch. He a good player, who can be hot and cold. Was very good against Castlebar,they had the wrong player marking Connolly though. 2012 All Ireland Semi i think Cunniffe marked him, and did a good job.

Also, Connolly is 27 this year and still has no All Star..

He deserved one last year.

I don't think he's the most natural Dublin forward either tbh. Absolutely the most natural athlete Dublin have (his agility for a big lad is astounding) but its easy to argue that the bread and butter stuff for a forward comes more naturally to others.

An Citeog

corny wrote: »

He deserved one last year.

I don't think he's the most natural Dublin forward either tbh. Absolutely the most natural athlete Dublin have (his agility for a big lad is astounding) but its easy to argue that the bread and butter stuff for a forward comes more naturally to others.

Connolly's deficiencies are all mental. He's definitely the most natural footballer on the Dublin panel imo.

corny

An Citeog wrote: »

Connolly's deficiencies are all mental. He's definitely the most natural footballer on the Dublin panel imo.

Bar the odd occasion he gets involved i don't see mental deficiencies. He applies himself as well as any in the majority of games.

When a defender is able to match Connolly physically they'll limit his influence quite well. He doesn't have great vision, he's not especially accurate shooting at the target and he doesn't have the great footballing brain of a Colm Cooper for example. The qualities that set him apart are mostly physical, thats why he invariably comes to the fore in the second half as others are tiring (the 2011 final against Kerry is a great example).

I'd want my most natural forward to have more of BBs qualities tbh. His instincts can't be coached and are rarely nullified.

PS Having said all that I wouldn't swap Connolly for any HF in the country.:)