Love the way that people are saying this week that league form doesn't matter.
Of course it is losers in the league who are protesting that league form doesn't mean anything.
Players and mentors from Antrim, Wicklow and Roscommon have all said in the last 24 hours that the league is meaningless.
I beg to differ and so do the statistics in recent years.
There was indeed a time when the league was no guarantee of success at inter county championship level, back in the day when at least three rounds of the hurling and football championship started pre Christmas right after the All-Ireland series was over.
However, since the league has been played off in the same calendar year as the championship it has increasingly become a barometer of the form of the top sides when the championship starts.
The league semi finalists are increasingly to be found in the latter stages of the championship.
Already in this decade Kerry sides and Tyrone won league titles before going on to All-Ireland success and even this year can anyone deny that Kerry and Derry will be in the final shake up and can anyone even conceive that a winner of the Liam McCarthy won't come out of this year's hurling semi finalists of Kilkenny, Cork, Galway and Tipperary?
As for Antrim, they might just manage to beat Cavan but that's as good as it will get and even then I can't see them beat the Breffni men.
Roscommon? Forget it they are as bad as their relegation suggested.
Wicklow, only the Micko factor and the fact that Kildare are struggling suggests that they are in with a chance of even one victory.
These days if you can't cut it in the league then you are going nowhere.
Showing posts with label Roscommon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roscommon. Show all posts
Friday, 16 May 2008
Thursday, 15 May 2008
Roscommon game a stroll in the park
Have they opened a book yet on the score of the Galway Roscommon game this week.
I expect Roscommon to go out and play with a pride that had obviously deserted them under John Maughan and a lot of men should have a point to prove.
But I love the talk that Galway shouldn't take them for granted.
Of course they won't they'll just go out and run them into the ground and they will win without having to produce much other than the ability to do a job they're expected to do.
If they can't do that against Roscommon then they shouldn't be one of the favourites for the Connacht title or fancied to be in the shake-up at the end of the season.
Roscommon are cat, they are one of the worst sides the county has produced in living memory and they have had plenty of competition for that unwanted honour.
Sunday's game should be a stroll in the park for the Tribesmen.
I expect Roscommon to go out and play with a pride that had obviously deserted them under John Maughan and a lot of men should have a point to prove.
But I love the talk that Galway shouldn't take them for granted.
Of course they won't they'll just go out and run them into the ground and they will win without having to produce much other than the ability to do a job they're expected to do.
If they can't do that against Roscommon then they shouldn't be one of the favourites for the Connacht title or fancied to be in the shake-up at the end of the season.
Roscommon are cat, they are one of the worst sides the county has produced in living memory and they have had plenty of competition for that unwanted honour.
Sunday's game should be a stroll in the park for the Tribesmen.
Thursday, 17 April 2008
Backlash against Maughan predictable
The inevitable backlash against former Roscommon manager John Maughan came at this week's county board meeting.
There was no doubt that John Maughan did suffer some vicious criticism from boo boys on the terraces.
However, at the time I thought that he had made a mistake by describing a section of the Roscommon supporters as "customers".
It is usually only the most dedicated fans of any county who go to national league games and to describe them as 'customers' was never going to play well with GAA people in the county.
And so it proved this week with some delegates alleging that Maughan had portrayed the county badly and it was clear that the remark about 'customers' particularly irked some.
Maughan won't be too worried now what they think of him in Roscommon, he has too good a track record to be bothered about the fall-out but it's sad that good GAA people have been soured by ill-considered remarks.
There was no doubt that John Maughan did suffer some vicious criticism from boo boys on the terraces.
However, at the time I thought that he had made a mistake by describing a section of the Roscommon supporters as "customers".
It is usually only the most dedicated fans of any county who go to national league games and to describe them as 'customers' was never going to play well with GAA people in the county.
And so it proved this week with some delegates alleging that Maughan had portrayed the county badly and it was clear that the remark about 'customers' particularly irked some.
Maughan won't be too worried now what they think of him in Roscommon, he has too good a track record to be bothered about the fall-out but it's sad that good GAA people have been soured by ill-considered remarks.
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