Is Gaelic Football Getting worse?

patmac

Remember I am a Westmeath man living in Roscommon and working in Offaly, so I may be looking at this with a jaundiced view but apart from the Cork/Kerry match and some of the Tyrone/Armagh most of the football has been appalling, with some teams performing dreadfully. Apart from the 3 mentioned above you can add the likes of Laois, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Wicklow, Carlow etc. The whole thing seems to have gone very stale, is there too much emphasis on defence and fitness and not enough on ball skills in both club and county? Already there was a discussion on the last Sunday Game about ways to improve it, 13 man games etc. Add in the poor attendances and I have feeling Football is heading towards a crisis, anyone else feel the same.

kevmy

patmac wrote: »

Remember I am a Westmeath man living in Roscommon and working in Offaly, so I may be looking at this with a jaundiced view but apart from the Cork/Kerry match and some of the Tyrone/Armagh most of the football has been appalling, with some teams performing dreadfully. Apart from the 3 mentioned above you can add the likes of Laois, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Wicklow, Carlow etc. The whole thing seems to have gone very stale, is there too much emphasis on defence and fitness and not enough on ball skills in both club and county? Already there was a discussion on the last Sunday Game about ways to improve it, 13 man games etc. Add in the poor attendances and I have feeling Football is heading towards a crisis, anyone else feel the same.

No.

First off Mayo, Dublin and Kildare all put in good performances this year - sure enough they were against poor teams a lot of the time but as the Championship goes on they will meet better teams and the matches will get better. Both the Connacht and Leinster finals are shaping up to be good ones (the first time in about 6yrs you can say that for Leinster). Antrim have brightened up the Championship up North and they haven't done it by doing a Fermanagh and being 95% defensive or a Monaghan by being dirty.

When was the last time Carlow, Wicklow, Leitrim all had good summers? Very feckin rarely.

Add to that the fact that attendances up until last weekend were actually up by about 8% overall (I'm not sure what the figure was after last weekends matches). And it's not shaping up to badly.

However this is partly due to the qualifier system and partly due to more matches being shown live. The real Championship doesn't really start till the quarter finals but we see even more ultimately meaningless games. I mean how many times has the outcome of a Westmeath - Wicklow game ever been vital to the Championship?

RocketRonnie

I don't agree that the standard of football is gettin worse, but definitly the gap between the top and bottom teams is....

Some teams like Wicklow, Antrim and Fermanagh have done very well by their standards in the last 2 years but to think that 2 of those teams have reached provincial finals and are still absolute no-hopers for All-Irelands tells its own story...

The demise of Leinster football is the most worrying example, only 5/6 years ago any one of Dublin, Meath, Laois, Kildare, Westmeath could win the Leinster championship now its only Dublin/Kildare who can really consider them genuine contenders....

In the 90's 11 different counties contested All-Ireland finals with 8 different winners...
For the last decade it was only 8 teams with just 5 different winners....

There has to be a serious case made for a 2-tier championship now more than ever!!!

Orizio

Its possible for Gaelic Football to get worse?

AMixedBag

Well what are the gaa supposed to do? Whip the players until they produce good games all-round because I dont think that will work to be honest. Dunno is 13v13 would work either. 2 less players on the pitch and this would change games because..?

injured365

Well the qualifier system takes alot of the competitive edge off the provincial ties but at the same time it means the poorer teams are playing more often and their matches are getting more airtime on tv. Before most of the weak teams would be gone by the end of june but now they are getting games later into the summer so it just means the better games dont really begin until the semi finals.

Spiritoftheseventies

yes football not as exciting anymore. teams steamrolling the weaker ones. far too much emphasis on power plays but not enough on skill. Give me hurling anyday

phil

Because Kilkenny winning the all ireland every year is so much better

Orizio

phil wrote: »

Because Kilkenny winning the all ireland every year is so much better

Because Gaelic Hurling is a vastly vastly vastly superior sport to 'Gaelic' Football.

AMixedBag

Why dont they just dump half of the poorer counties into some other competition and leave the top ones to play for sam?? They do that for the hurling and it seems to be working out.

kmart6

AMixedBag wrote: »

Why dont they just dump half of the poorer counties into some other competition and leave the top ones to play for sam?? They do that for the hurling and it seems to be working out.

How is that working out when Kilkenny are still dominant?!

mrgaa1

I think football is getting worse because the need to win has increased exponentially and the counties need the revenue to keep development squads etc... going.
I would like to see 13-a-side tried out in the league or is some other competition to see how it goes - players are much fitter these days and having five forwards/backs makes more sense.
If this wasn't brought in then I would like to see a ban on handpassing brought in where after 3 handpass's in a row the ball must be kicked unless fisting a point. Sometimes its like watching basketball - teams don't coach kick-passing in fear of losing the ball. Coach the kick and it'll happen. Its sad watching young players hand-pass up and down the field and hearing "keep possession FFS" from the line. The Go Games are brilliant as the player has two touches and has to release the ball - these games are very exciting.
The problem is this - in major hurling games the referees ignore the rules and basically let the game move on. Its easier as the guy has one hand on the stick and only one free hand to tackle (although sometimes you'd wonder). In football the tackler has two hands free and tackles the man. The rules in football are very, very clear - tackle the ball or shoulder to shoulder with at least one foot on the ground. Thats it. But how often do we see the arm coming in from the side, or the shoulder etc.... and then a whistle followed by a chorus of "FFS ref what the F**K was that for".
The basic knowledge of rules amongst footballers is pathetic and that stems from poor coaching and the player thinking they are right. Has anyone read the rule book. In terms of playing rules its ok - could do with tweaking. As for the admin rules - complete joke. Thats why you have Tommy Freeman going all the way to the DRA - when he should take his punishment. And that should be for all players unless its unequivocally clear there was an error. A guy punch's someone during a match, gets a red card and then tries to appeal it? Catch a grip - man enough to dish it out man enough to take whats coming back.
Anyhow yes football is getting worse - Donegal 18 wides, Westmeath getting hammered, Tyrone in 1st gear and get to Ulster Final etc... and I believe this all stems from club football. Its called Gaelic Football - not Gaelic Handball - thats a completely different game.

Perhaps theres another way - forwards should only be able to receive the ball within their own half of the field. They touch the ball in their own half its a free for the opposition. Players numbered 1-7 or their replacement can not score from play. In this way a forward will have to score more. Now that would be food for thought?:)

AMixedBag

kmart6 wrote: »

How is that working out when Kilkenny are still dominant?!

well people here are complaining about quality of games. By doing this, it could give more quality games, if top sides meet more often. No form of championship could take down the cats. You can twist it, turn it, do whatever you want with the championship but it isnt going to defeat them. Im talking about quality games and many quality games are seen in the hurling championship because the top teams in the country contest it the liam mccarthy cup.

robpurf

mrgaa1 wrote: »

I think football is getting worse because the need to win has increased exponentially and the counties need the revenue to keep development squads etc... going.
I would like to see 13-a-side tried out in the league or is some other competition to see how it goes - players are much fitter these days and having five forwards/backs makes more sense.
If this wasn't brought in then I would like to see a ban on handpassing brought in where after 3 handpass's in a row the ball must be kicked unless fisting a point. Sometimes its like watching basketball - teams don't coach kick-passing in fear of losing the ball. Coach the kick and it'll happen. Its sad watching young players hand-pass up and down the field and hearing "keep possession FFS" from the line. The Go Games are brilliant as the player has two touches and has to release the ball - these games are very exciting.
The problem is this - in major hurling games the referees ignore the rules and basically let the game move on. Its easier as the guy has one hand on the stick and only one free hand to tackle (although sometimes you'd wonder). In football the tackler has two hands free and tackles the man. The rules in football are very, very clear - tackle the ball or shoulder to shoulder with at least one foot on the ground. Thats it. But how often do we see the arm coming in from the side, or the shoulder etc.... and then a whistle followed by a chorus of "FFS ref what the F**K was that for".
The basic knowledge of rules amongst footballers is pathetic and that stems from poor coaching and the player thinking they are right. Has anyone read the rule book. In terms of playing rules its ok - could do with tweaking. As for the admin rules - complete joke. Thats why you have Tommy Freeman going all the way to the DRA - when he should take his punishment. And that should be for all players unless its unequivocally clear there was an error. A guy punch's someone during a match, gets a red card and then tries to appeal it? Catch a grip - man enough to dish it out man enough to take whats coming back.
Anyhow yes football is getting worse - Donegal 18 wides, Westmeath getting hammered, Tyrone in 1st gear and get to Ulster Final etc... and I believe this all stems from club football. Its called Gaelic Football - not Gaelic Handball - thats a completely different game.

Perhaps theres another way - forwards should only be able to receive the ball within their own half of the field. They touch the ball in their own half its a free for the opposition. Players numbered 1-7 or their replacement can not score from play. In this way a forward will have to score more. Now that would be food for thought?:)

the handpass thing was tried in the league a few years back i remember going up to watch meath play dublin in croke park in a league match and the rule was if you handpassed the next pass had to be a kick.i think that was the guts of 15 years ago now.your right it needs coaching to kids the adults playing now are lost causes.as ive stated elsewhere the lack of a proper defined tackle outside the shoulder is the biggest problem.that and those that wouldnt accept the yellow card rules used in the winter there

Flukey

You don't get too many classics in May and June. We are only just into July. Things begin to get serious from here on. Survival in the Championship and provincial titles are up for grabs now, so the matches tend to get better and more interesting from here on. July is when the championship really starts to get going, and come the end of the month with the quarter-finals drawing near, it will be in full flow. That is not to say the quality will get better, but you'll have the better teams playing against better opposition. Results will be what is on our minds with quality not being such a big issue. If your team progresses, you won't be too worried about the fact that the crowd, and maybe even yourself, did not get the best of entertainment.

LeoB

There is way to much emphasis put on winning especially at Inter county level, win at all costs.

I think the skill level has dropped a bit. I watched a northern team train and it was a free if a player made a high catch, he had to break the down

13 a side is worth a try but you could end up with 10 athletes and 3 players on each team. All my U/21 football was 13 a side and it was brilliant. No full back or full forward. Some great games but we and other teams I played against had a lot of players who could kick points, we worked hard at it.

Agree with Mrgaa1. the answer lies with the coach who should be putting more time into basic skill and running about like idots. The really good players playing intercounty today still practise the basics like kicking the ball over the bar from 5 or 6 different angles every night at training.

corcaioch

patmac wrote: »

Remember I am a Westmeath man living in Roscommon and working in Offaly, so I may be looking at this with a jaundiced view but apart from the Cork/Kerry match and some of the Tyrone/Armagh most of the football has been appalling, with some teams performing dreadfully. Apart from the 3 mentioned above you can add the likes of Laois, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Wicklow, Carlow etc. The whole thing seems to have gone very stale, is there too much emphasis on defence and fitness and not enough on ball skills in both club and county? Already there was a discussion on the last Sunday Game about ways to improve it, 13 man games etc. Add in the poor attendances and I have feeling Football is heading towards a crisis, anyone else feel the same.

No football is not getting worse..in fact, this could be a great year in football. Cork v Kerry and Tyrone v Armagh are the only matches this year between contenders and rivals so it's expected they would be good.

A lot of the early round matches between poorer teams would be lower quality any year - maybe when they weren't televised so much people just didn't notice it.
Mayo v Galway and Kildare v Dublin in the provincial finals promise to be 2 crackers - and that's before we even get to the AI quarter final stage and all the potential clashes that sets up.

Looks like a good year with Tyrone, Cork and Kerry at the top but plenty of potential and quality in Galway, Dublin, Mayo, Kildare etc to upset any of those three.

DC_Roscommon

Maybe scrapping the qualifiers.... Provincial championship games don't have much intensity about them because teams know they will have a second chance