Post by mickmack on Feb 28, 2007 15:27:50 GMT
Ok. Here is my tuppence worth.
Firstly, is there anything to beat the excitement of an All ireland Final weekend? I consider myself to be a typical Kerryman. I can talk for hours and days about football and that is what makes this weekend so special. If possible the first job is to leave the girlfriend at home. It really is no place for women. Kerry supporters will be found in the dirtiest, smallest most miserable pubs in Dublin. The same pubs our fathers and indeed grandfathers have been going to for years. Tradition does not just relate to the field. OShea's, Moran's Hotel, Mulligans, Palace, O'Caseys. These are our pubs. They don't have 5 floors, fancy mirrors, disco lights but they are the places to spend Saturday evening and Sunday morning discussing everything from Murphy's kickouts to Mike Frank's frees. It is not a place for the girlfriends. She will get narky with you for ignoring her, want to go to BT2 or for a fancy meal. No matter how many times you tell her she just does'nt get it. Football, football, football mixed with pints in dark pubs and eating when necessary (Big Mac will do us fine). Read the Indo to see what O'Rourke says and look for articles on the Gooch to give you a bit more belief that he is ready to explode.
To the game. A rainy day won't bother me. Breaking ball at midfield, breaks off Star and slipping and sliding will allow the more natural footballers and tougher men to come through. In this game this will be us. Moynihan is the 'Regenmeister' (Rainmaster as they call Schumacher), galvin and tomas will win breaks all day and donaghy will run wreck. if we were playing Armagh in the rain i would be worried. Tougher men altogether.
I don't buy into this notion of ' what team settles on the day', 'its all on the day and down to luck'.
There are 15 men directly marking an opponent. If we can win 8 or 9 of those tussles then the cup will go to Dromid.
Starting at the back:
Kickouts -This is a big worry. We only have Dara to aim for. If Brosnan was on the forty he would be and has been this year a great option to vary the kickout. I expect us to over load Darragh and get Galvin under him.
Tom Sullivan will pick up Mortimer. Mahoney or Marc will take McDonald and stick to him like glue as Fitzy did in 04. The other could possibly move to 6 and take Brady. Barden proved that Seamus' weakness is strong men running direct. However my gut feeling is that Seamus will hold the centre as he is too important to us there.
MIdfield. Dara is pumped for this one. Immortality is just 70 minutes away. Player of the year, 4th Celtic Cross, another All Star and possibly his last outing in Croker. That man will not let us down. Do not be surprised if Donaghy is out around the middle after 10 minutes. Gooch and Mike Frank can take the Mayo corner backs if Heaney follows Donaghy out the field.
Gooch will be man of the match. I am convinced. Mayo don't have a Ryan Mcmenimen, Andy Mallon who can hold a man with a point to prove. Sean Sullivan will kick a few points and we will get a goal or two.
My areas of concern:
Kickouts -on ours we are over dependent on Darragh. On their's if they target Tomas as they did last year we may be conceding possession easily.
Frees- Mike Frank is a totally confidence player. I have a slight worry when the heat is on for the big pressure kicks.
McDonald - I watched the Mayo- Dublin game again and he is the real deal. We must, must must shut him down. They will try to shut down Darragh, we must shut down McDonald. Whoever succeeds will be a longway there.
The vibe from the camp is that they have belief, a point to prove, and want to send off one of the greatest kerrymen of all time (the Pony) with a fitting reward.
I am not convinced by Mayo. They are exceptionally fit , are strong midfield and have 4 good forwards (mcdonald, mortimer, dillon, brady) and very good backs (heaney, gardiner, nallen (struggling lately). I think that they have weak links that we don't have especially at corner backs and on the right side of their attack. I don't think they can re produce the semi final form (teams rarely do) although the one thing they will have is an attitude that they are never beaten.
We will score 17 or 18 points in total or more and i honestly don't think that they can match it.
Finally, it a very proud moment for all of us Kerryman when the team is parading around with their socks up. Darragh looking at the crowd spotting the same faces in the same seats for 12 years, Mahoney looking like he is going to explode with pride at wearing the jersey on the big day and galvin with his face warped in agony waiting for the battle, his battle.
We are spoilt, most supporters experience this once in 10 years or maybe never. You never know if this will be the first of back to backs or whether we will be waiting for another opportunity. Cork are improving as are the Dubs and the Northern teams have'nt gone away you know. Moynihan and Darragh are giants of the game and not easily replaced.
Joe Kernan made the rod to beat his back when he said 'good teams win one All Ireland, great teams win two'. If Kerry win Sunday it will be 3 All Irelands since the emergence of the Northern Teams in 2000. 3 wins out of 7 would prove once and for all that Kerry is the Kingdom. This teams has been in every semi final and 5 finals in that 7 year period. We have learned some harsh lessons (01 and 03 spring to mind) but we have the abuse about having soft bellies and no tactics, refined our game and can now satisfy the 'rough 'fu*king animals' that Paidi spoke about.
I am a Kerry animal, a very rough fu*king one at that. I demand the very best from the Kerry team. We had long debates in the spring about being over critical of players. My view then is the same as it is now. We demand the very best of our players. If they let us down then we get on their backs and let them have it between the eyes. We challenge them to bounce back better and stronger. Tomas Se spoke in one of the articles on another thread about the kick up the arse he got against Longford. How he responded against Armagh. How we as Kerrmen responded to his response. He earned more respect against Armagh. Gooch will do the same Sunday.
One of the members on the forum has a signature that sums us up.
With those fu*king mountains behind us and those hhors of lakes in front of us, sure there is nothing else to do except play football.
Ciarrai ABU
Firstly, is there anything to beat the excitement of an All ireland Final weekend? I consider myself to be a typical Kerryman. I can talk for hours and days about football and that is what makes this weekend so special. If possible the first job is to leave the girlfriend at home. It really is no place for women. Kerry supporters will be found in the dirtiest, smallest most miserable pubs in Dublin. The same pubs our fathers and indeed grandfathers have been going to for years. Tradition does not just relate to the field. OShea's, Moran's Hotel, Mulligans, Palace, O'Caseys. These are our pubs. They don't have 5 floors, fancy mirrors, disco lights but they are the places to spend Saturday evening and Sunday morning discussing everything from Murphy's kickouts to Mike Frank's frees. It is not a place for the girlfriends. She will get narky with you for ignoring her, want to go to BT2 or for a fancy meal. No matter how many times you tell her she just does'nt get it. Football, football, football mixed with pints in dark pubs and eating when necessary (Big Mac will do us fine). Read the Indo to see what O'Rourke says and look for articles on the Gooch to give you a bit more belief that he is ready to explode.
To the game. A rainy day won't bother me. Breaking ball at midfield, breaks off Star and slipping and sliding will allow the more natural footballers and tougher men to come through. In this game this will be us. Moynihan is the 'Regenmeister' (Rainmaster as they call Schumacher), galvin and tomas will win breaks all day and donaghy will run wreck. if we were playing Armagh in the rain i would be worried. Tougher men altogether.
I don't buy into this notion of ' what team settles on the day', 'its all on the day and down to luck'.
There are 15 men directly marking an opponent. If we can win 8 or 9 of those tussles then the cup will go to Dromid.
Starting at the back:
Kickouts -This is a big worry. We only have Dara to aim for. If Brosnan was on the forty he would be and has been this year a great option to vary the kickout. I expect us to over load Darragh and get Galvin under him.
Tom Sullivan will pick up Mortimer. Mahoney or Marc will take McDonald and stick to him like glue as Fitzy did in 04. The other could possibly move to 6 and take Brady. Barden proved that Seamus' weakness is strong men running direct. However my gut feeling is that Seamus will hold the centre as he is too important to us there.
MIdfield. Dara is pumped for this one. Immortality is just 70 minutes away. Player of the year, 4th Celtic Cross, another All Star and possibly his last outing in Croker. That man will not let us down. Do not be surprised if Donaghy is out around the middle after 10 minutes. Gooch and Mike Frank can take the Mayo corner backs if Heaney follows Donaghy out the field.
Gooch will be man of the match. I am convinced. Mayo don't have a Ryan Mcmenimen, Andy Mallon who can hold a man with a point to prove. Sean Sullivan will kick a few points and we will get a goal or two.
My areas of concern:
Kickouts -on ours we are over dependent on Darragh. On their's if they target Tomas as they did last year we may be conceding possession easily.
Frees- Mike Frank is a totally confidence player. I have a slight worry when the heat is on for the big pressure kicks.
McDonald - I watched the Mayo- Dublin game again and he is the real deal. We must, must must shut him down. They will try to shut down Darragh, we must shut down McDonald. Whoever succeeds will be a longway there.
The vibe from the camp is that they have belief, a point to prove, and want to send off one of the greatest kerrymen of all time (the Pony) with a fitting reward.
I am not convinced by Mayo. They are exceptionally fit , are strong midfield and have 4 good forwards (mcdonald, mortimer, dillon, brady) and very good backs (heaney, gardiner, nallen (struggling lately). I think that they have weak links that we don't have especially at corner backs and on the right side of their attack. I don't think they can re produce the semi final form (teams rarely do) although the one thing they will have is an attitude that they are never beaten.
We will score 17 or 18 points in total or more and i honestly don't think that they can match it.
Finally, it a very proud moment for all of us Kerryman when the team is parading around with their socks up. Darragh looking at the crowd spotting the same faces in the same seats for 12 years, Mahoney looking like he is going to explode with pride at wearing the jersey on the big day and galvin with his face warped in agony waiting for the battle, his battle.
We are spoilt, most supporters experience this once in 10 years or maybe never. You never know if this will be the first of back to backs or whether we will be waiting for another opportunity. Cork are improving as are the Dubs and the Northern teams have'nt gone away you know. Moynihan and Darragh are giants of the game and not easily replaced.
Joe Kernan made the rod to beat his back when he said 'good teams win one All Ireland, great teams win two'. If Kerry win Sunday it will be 3 All Irelands since the emergence of the Northern Teams in 2000. 3 wins out of 7 would prove once and for all that Kerry is the Kingdom. This teams has been in every semi final and 5 finals in that 7 year period. We have learned some harsh lessons (01 and 03 spring to mind) but we have the abuse about having soft bellies and no tactics, refined our game and can now satisfy the 'rough 'fu*king animals' that Paidi spoke about.
I am a Kerry animal, a very rough fu*king one at that. I demand the very best from the Kerry team. We had long debates in the spring about being over critical of players. My view then is the same as it is now. We demand the very best of our players. If they let us down then we get on their backs and let them have it between the eyes. We challenge them to bounce back better and stronger. Tomas Se spoke in one of the articles on another thread about the kick up the arse he got against Longford. How he responded against Armagh. How we as Kerrmen responded to his response. He earned more respect against Armagh. Gooch will do the same Sunday.
One of the members on the forum has a signature that sums us up.
With those fu*king mountains behind us and those hhors of lakes in front of us, sure there is nothing else to do except play football.
Ciarrai ABU
You're going straight to hell for that one! I see trouble brewing (below) ;D