Unpopular GAA opinions you hold

I know it'd go down like a ton of bricks, but I really think the football championship should be tiered and it's links cut from the provinces and instead linked to league position. Top two divisions play for Sam while division 3 and 4 teams play for a separate trophy (for the sake of argument, call it the Gooch cup)

The likes of Waterford/Carlow simply can't compete and at best might get the odd win over another no-hoper. Clare put in a great performance at the weekend, but for what? they're just going to be swatted aside by Kerry as if they weren't there. That does nothing for either Clare or Kerry. there's little point to a competition with a tiny handful of teams capable of competing and 20+ also-rans.

Kieran81 wrote: »

in my opinion , kerry would be comprehensively beaten by every single one of them, speed , athleticism , tactically , versatility , time on the ball , all these areas on a different level to that generation . honestly think after 20 minutes they wouldnt be able to catch their breath

Probably not if you made the AI winners of the last 10 years adhere to a 70's/ 80's training and preparation routine...

The_Banker wrote: »

There is no need for the vast majority of GAA stadiums in Ireland.

There should be 1 stadium of Croke Park standard in each province.

Many stadiums are vanity projects, which never reach capacity, have terrible facilities and are dangerous. Most wouldnt receive a safety cert outside Ireland.

The GAA should have a national stadium stragety rather than a county driven stragety.

I agree with all of this!!

We have a case where every county feels the need to build monster white elephants in an effort to outdo their neighbours.

And the focus purely seems to be on capacity, with little consideration for spectator comfort.
Ireland is an especially rainy country, it's ridiculous that most stadiums have only one covered area. At least 3/4 of every ground should be covered.

in fairness, there's no shortage of moaning about this and that from the losing team. we had to put up with week after week of "forty seven seconds!" back in September. Cavan were going on about one of their players being targeted before their loss to Armagh, despite them being the ones who rushed in and started the brawl

I don't think it's fair to compare teams from 40 years ago to teams nowadays. It's also pretty pointless. Its like comparing maradona and messi, can't people just enjoy them for what they are/ were?

Kerry beat everyone put in front of them, therefore they were the best...by some distance.

andyman wrote: »

Diarmuid Connolly is the best footballer in the country and has been for a couple of years now.

Connolly is the overrated IMO.

He is hailed for his performance against Castlebar, where he was left roam the field against an average Full Back, who won't get near the Mayo team.

He is a top player when given space, but a tight man marker shows him up as a limited scorer under pressure.

He is blessed to be in a team with Brogan x2, McMannamon, Andrews, O'Gara etc. where he often doesn't face a teams best man marker.

Not saying he's a bad player, but in my opinion he's more Top 20 then the best player.

Off the top of my head and in no order I'd have the following ahead of him for "best player in Ireland": Paul Flynn, MDMA, B. Brogan, Cluxton, James O'Donaghue, Colm Cooper, Marc Ó Sé Brian Hurley, Michael Murphy, Seán Cavanagh (despite the diving as I mentioned earlier), Colm Boyle, Ger Caffarkey.

Paul Flynn is the best footballer in Ireland right now in my opinion.
He is an outstanding fielder of the ball,very good ball carrier and has very good feet.He is also a terrific athlete. He is just a great all round football player.
The only player i would place ahead of him would be a full fit Gooch.

dirkmeister wrote: »

I don't think it's fair to compare teams from 40 years ago to teams nowadays. It's also pretty pointless. Its like comparing maradona and messi, can't people just enjoy them for what they are/ were?

Kerry beat everyone put in front of them, therefore they were the best...by some distance.

they're constantly referred to as the greatest team to play the game, comparison will go hand in hand with that , sure they were the best of their era , i just believe modern football is played at level they weren't even remotely close to.
as for me not mentioning skill , i thought it went without saying , these days every player on the pitch is expected to perform all the skills ie forwards tackling effectively , backs scoring points regularly and all of this done at much higher pace with far less time on the ball

DDC1990 wrote: »

Connolly is the overrated IMO.

He is hailed for his performance against Castlebar, where he was left roam the field against an average Full Back, who won't get near the Mayo team.

He is a top player when given space, but a tight man marker shows him up as a limited scorer under pressure.

He is blessed to be in a team with Brogan x2, McMannamon, Andrews, O'Gara etc. where he often doesn't face a teams best man marker.

Not saying he's a bad player, but in my opinion he's more Top 20 then the best player.

Off the top of my head and in no order I'd have the following ahead of him for "best player in Ireland": Paul Flynn, MDMA, B. Brogan, Cluxton, James O'Donaghue, Colm Cooper, Marc Ó Sé Brian Hurley, Michael Murphy, Seán Cavanagh (despite the diving as I mentioned earlier), Colm Boyle, Ger Caffarkey.

I dont know how who can come to this conclusion. How many times have we seen Connolly get the ball with back to goal, the back as close he can be, Connolly just turns and pops it over? That is almost Connollys trademark, similar to Bernard Brogan. They are both unmarkable when they are in top form.

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

I dont know how who can come to this conclusion. How many times have we seen Connolly get the ball with back to goal, the back as close he can be, Connolly just turns and pops it over? That is almost Connollys trademark, similar to Bernard Brogan. They are both unmarkable when they are in top form.

No his trademark is kicking points from 40 yards out with no one really tight to him. He loves floating long range points over from either side of the pitch. Great skill but totally different to Brogan who can score with any number of players trying to mark him.

He's also a real confidence player, if he misses his first shot, he'll struggle to make his mark on the match IMO.

Again, I don't want it to seem like I'm bashing him, but I cannot have him ranked as the best in Ireland when he's just about Top 5 in his own team IMO.

DDC1990 wrote: »

No his trademark is kicking points from 40 yards out with no one really tight to him. He loves floating long range points over from either side of the pitch. Great skill but totally different to Brogan who can score with any number of players trying to mark him.

He's also a real confidence player, if he misses his first shot, he'll struggle to make his mark on the match IMO.

Again, I don't want it to seem like I'm bashing him, but I cannot have him ranked as the best in Ireland when he's just about Top 5 in his own team IMO.

I'd disagree with you on this. But lets say there is nobody tight on him. Surely, that is a sign of just how good a player he is, he can find space. If he is capable of kicking points from 40 yards (which he can do with both feet), then surely the defender would stick tight to him. It is a credit to him that he can find such space.

I agree that he is a confidence player alright. And that really held him back when he came onto the Dublin team first.

What 4 Dublin forwards would you have ahead of him? B. Brogan, P.Flynn. are the only 2 I could possibly have ahead of him.....And in saying that, I find it difficult to put P.Flynn ahead of him because he is a totally different type of player and I dont like comparing players that bring different strengths to the team.

DDC1990 wrote: »

He's also a real confidence player, if he misses his first shot, he'll struggle to make his mark on the match IMO.

Its a pity there isn't some stats to see how he does in games when his first shot goes over versus when it doesn't.

Kerry winning 5 All Ireland's in the 2000's werent the team of the decade, Tyrone were. Kerry never beat Tyrone in.that period.

Waterford were the most overrated hurling team of the 2000s of that time and never could perform when a gun was held to their head.