Dublin GAA Discussion Thread: Mod Note - No 'Dublin Dominance' chat allowed!

Yeh, its a good draw on paper, but when you see the kind of shocks so far in the championship dublin could be caught out like Donegal or meath. I always thought losing an early championship game can be just the wake up call a team needs to reset itself and refocus.

I’d add to that Monaghan prob should of beaten us , they missed so much as did Wicklow who beat themselves missing 6-7 scorable frees and multiple poor shot choice in a 2 point game.

Anybody who has been at Dublins games this season can see we aren’t a top 8 team. Most people throwing out generic feedback on the dubs simply don’t know what they are talking about.

Dublin may get a big scalp in championship but that proves nothing. Down beat Donegal, Westmeath beat meath , on any given day anybody can win a game, but over a season your true quality and form is easier to make a fair assessment of where your team is at.

Dublin were relegated to division 2 and deserved it. Dublin were awful against Wicklow and were lucky their goalkeeper had a terrible off day that literally shocked the home fans. Dublin struggle at kick outs. Dublin still trying to find more 2 point takers and Dublin have a nasty habit of playing in fits and starts.

I think Dublin are a strong division 2 team that should be at worst mid table , but prob challange for promotion next season. That said, right now I wouldn’t put my house on us getting promoted next year unless there’s clear improvements between now and then.

This season

• Dublin lost 5 of their league games
• One of their wins was against the bottom team in the group who actually had more then enough chances to win the game
• The other win was with a savage breeze behind them they built up a big lead and simply managed the second half far better then Roscommon, many who felt were caught on the hop
• Against Wicklow , a fourth division team, really should of lost but notably the win was a much closer margin then one against Wicklow last time (I was at both games)
• Dublins average points victory in Leinster has been declining the last few years, a clear declining trajectory
• Dublin weren’t clear favourites in Leinster this season with most objective observers believing it to be very open with a potential quality final on the cards (thanks meath). I honestly thought a Dublin v meath final would have 60-70k

Some of the Dublin defeats in league were tight but the most concerning was the manner. Leading games but capitulating as soon as the other team puts on pressure or builds up momentum. If you can’t fight your way back into a game or win tight contests you won’t beat many division 1 teams.

Quoting 10 or 20 year statistics means nothing this season. Teams can rise very quickly in a few years (Louth) and they can just as easily fall. Leinster seldom has more then 1 team in division 1 so dominating Leinster doesn’t scream “top 4 team in Ireland”.

I’ve been going to Dublin matches since the 80s. This Dublin team looks closer to the ones who lost to Westmeath/laois in Leinster finals , then the Dublin team winning Leinster at a canter year after year.

I think at division 2 mid table level , a few players or a strong manager can make a huge difference. I also think a team at that level can get a big scalp, but they are very unlikely to win an AI and on balance of probability will lose to division 1 teams most of the time. It’s not that Dublin are diabolical, it’s that their standards have dropped substantially and even a few % is massive at that level.

If Dublin beat Louth convincingly again , that will be the first sign in a long time that they might be starting to stop the Rot. But I don’t expect that, I found Louth’s performance oddly similar to Roscommon in the league, very naive play , poor shot selection and panic shooting with Dublin looking like a clever division one team managing the game better. I just don’t see Louth being that bad again.

I don’t think it’s impossible for Dublin to go on a good run in the AI, I just think I’ve seen little the last 5 months to suggest they will.