The 2025 All Ireland Senior Football Championship (Sam Maguire Cup)

Back in those days the gaps between matches were so long. I would forget results and have to double check. Personally I think the old system with the big gaps suited some involved in the GAA, because it hid the flaws in the system.

NY/London matches even Munster could be dragged out and forgotten much easier. Even allowed the media to treat it as if didn’t matter at all. Given it the curtain raiser vibe. Which must surely have annoyed the lower division counties.
Most people who follow the football will now remember plenty of matches. In the old system there were times some counties were playing and I didn’t even know it was on. Or worse had been played.
It was a very disjointed feel to it. In the past. As for the “Amateur” excuses from some. These days lads are quasi Amateur. The days of “wintering well” etc are long gone.

The beauty of all those pairings most don’t seem clear cut. And arguments made for either side.
But I have seen enough of Donegal to know they are some outfit. I have been tipping them for Sam since the league,

I know Monaghan have their usual great half backs. But Donegal are well used to playing Monaghan. The perfect “warm up” for them. Not saying Monaghan will roll over. But it will be nothing new for McGuinness and Co.

Completely justified.

Grab All Association first and foremost. Player welfare secondary.

Def not given a fair crack of the whip at all.

It's so wide open this year. Galway on their day are a class team and Shane Walsh loves the 2 pointers so I wouldn't rule them out in lifting Sam. The Dubs Tyrone match will be a toss of the coin also Kerry and Armagh could go either way. I'd expect Donegal to win against Monaghan.

donegal barely broke into a sweat at the weekend………….jimmy trying to to make it all about himself.

Thats completely untrue.

The real irony in all this Donegal chat for me. Is that Donegal are probably the best team in the country and "in game" management. They take rests then have this learned ability where they can go back up the gears again.

Also Donegal probably arguably have the deepest/strongest panel in the country.

It is not lost on me that Donegal could have "thrown" Ulster like they did with the League. Jimmy seems to want it every way that suits him. It is almost as if he is creating excuses, so that if Donegal do not win Sam. This is what many will point to on his behalf.

I think what most people are annoyed about is not this turnaround time which is a genuine grievance but instead the list of moans the Jimmy has been firing out since the middle of the league. The Roscommon thing for example was utter nonsense. Plenty of teams travel to inconvenient places. No one moans like Jimmy.

Hes like the boy who cried wolf. By the time he had something genuine to say, people were sick of hearing him.

Unfair, yes.

But I betcha anything that Jimmy McG is secretly delighted! 😄

The stopped clock has reached its daily point of accuracy!

Jimmy really getting under the skin of a lot of people it seems, he must be doing something right! Even now when it's the county board putting out the statement, it's Jimmy getting it in the neck. I suppose it deflects attention away from the team which is no harm. Keep it going Jimmy, good lad!

You can get from the hotel to the Hyde in 15 mins if you want.

But the details are irrelevant, because Jim achieved what he wanted last week, as his fabricated nonsense was swallowed, hook, line and sinker by a gullible media and public.

Nobody was talking about Donegal's poor performance in the game cos everyone was distracted by the media circus Jimmy created!

He is really a master of the mind games stuff, and more power to him. Sure I'd love it if my own county had a manager who could lace his boots!

There has to be a balance el, and while it's never going to be perfect, dallying over the county game is no good either.

There is a well known theory that work will expand into the time available to it. If the provinces had 12 months to rinnoff their individual championships, they would use every week of it in Round Robin's, replays and 4 or 5 week rest periods between games. Play it off to fvck nice and rapid and keep it compact.

Abuse or criticism ?

Because if the latter it's justified because he is a poor manager.