2008 gaa draws

[Mighty Pair O' Hands]

The hurling draw is identical for 2007 playing Laois and the winners meeting the Cats - should allow for an objective comparison of Dooley era versus McIntyre.

Footballers have a harder opening game (v winners of Longford and Westmeath) with the same semifinal clash of Dublin.
This should allow us to see if progress has been made under Roe versus 2007.

The winners of Longford or Westmeath will not be straightforward so logically we should be putting a huge focus on the League with the aim to be flying in May/June.

[The Biff]

I see that the Div.4 teams are again "barred" from the main All-Ireland Qualifiers unless they reach their Provincial Final. I thought that there was a general consensus that this change had not been generally liked this year; that the delay in starting the 1st Round Qualifier Games meant many Saturday TV opportunities were missed this year. And this takes no account of the different efforts/games required to reach a Provincial Final in each Province.

Can anybody honestly show how this year's system was an improvement on previous year's?

[Bord na Mona man]

Roe accuses GAA of neglecting weaker counties

Offaly manager Pat Roe
01 November 2007


Offaly football manager Pat Roe has called on the GAA to treat all players equally after it emerged that Division 4 teams will once again be debarred from competing in the All-Ireland qualifiers next year.

Instead, Division 4 counties will again have to make do with the Tommy Murphy Cup once they are knocked out of their provincial championship. This means that Roe’s Offaly team must finish in the top two of next year’s Division 4 to earn the right to compete in the qualifiers.

"Everyone should have a shot at the qualifiers. It’s unfair. The GAA have to find a way of facilitating the clubs as well," he said.

"It makes it harder for managers to motivate players when you just have one game and you are out."

The Laois man uses the Munster Council’s recent decision to seed their provincial football championship as an example of the poor treatment of weaker counties by the GAA’s top brass.

"The GAA are catering for the stronger teams and the weaker counties don’t bring in the big money. That certainly is a huge factor in the GAA’s thinking."

http://www.hoganstand.com/Offaly/Articl ... x?ID=85374

[Bord na Mona man]

Now we're a weaker county!
But he is right that it's bullshit keeping Div 4 counties out.
What good did this magical weekend freed up from the fixtures calendar do this year for everybody?

Division 4 counties deserve a second chance as much as anyone else.
In fact one of the big reasons behind the qualifier concept was to motivate the Wicklows and Waterfords by guaranteeing them more than one day out every year.

[Sydthebeat]

I assume that if we gain promotion from div 4 this season we then wont be subject to the Tommy Cooper cup???
surely thats our goal, and if we dont make it then we deserve our time in the doldrums???

[Lone Shark]

Yup - if we finish in the top two we avoid the Tommy Murphy garbage. That was a major concern of mine - that were going to be one of the counties that was condemned to two years of qualifiers despite only having one really bad year to justify it.

I don't agree with this idea of freeing up that weekend either - feck all counties get to run club fixtures that weekend since county managers won't release their players with a qualifier fixture the next week anyway.

"It makes it harder for managers to motivate players when you just have one game and you are out."

Is it just me or did anyone else read this and think that if you're having difficulty motivating footballers to play intercounty you shouldn't be in the managing job?

[Bord na Mona man]

Is it just me or did anyone else read this and think that if you're having difficulty motivating footballers to play intercounty you shouldn't be in the managing job?

While Roe is right in what he says, it is very negative for him of all people to be bringing the matter up.
I wonder that this sort of negativity about getting no second chance affect the Offaly mindset this year re: the Dublin fiasco.
The performance was that of a team resigned to the Tommy Murphy rather than players giving it lash to upset the applecart.

Managers should use "negativity" in a positive way to promote a siege mentality, "we'll show those fcukers", "how dare they" etc.

Downbeat managers who are negative in a defeatist, "woe is us", "we'll be sunk surely" way, usually aren't long about infecting their players with the same mindset

[Sydthebeat]

Personally i have a huge issue with the intertwining of the league and championship....
I can see the point that this situation puts more importance on the league for 'lesser' teams than maybe previously existed... however, the league was always used to blood new players and to try new things.
Right now, in our situation, we need to have picked our strongest panel already from last seasons Offaly championship.

[Bogman]

I'm just relieved that we can avoid the Tommy Murphy Cup if we finish in the top two of Division 4. If we can't do that then we deserve what we get!!

The games against the likes of Kilkenny and London will give us the chance to experiment. Good to see Kilkenny back making an attempt (token?) to promote football, by the way.

[black and red exile]

Yep, to avoid the dreaded Cooper cup next year we are going to have to get out of the awful div 4, but we are going to have to roll our sleeves up and fight like hell to climb out of this minefield because Ive no doubt that there will be 5 counties scrapping like mad for the top two places. As LS said in this site earlier in the week it will be a big test of character for our players after the rotten year gone by to get full points from 4 very tough away games.

[Sydthebeat]

as someone posted before in another thread...

we really need to be beating the crap out of these teams in Div 4 if we are to show any kind of promise for the championship.
Any team shouldnt come within 7-8 points of us.....


am i tripping???

[The Magpie]

Yes Sid - tripping you are.

I'd challenge a Division 1 team to come away from Rathnew with 7 or 8 points to spare! There's nothing handy down there.

[Muck Savage]

Sid - I've said it a few times, we need to be kicking the crap out of all the teams in the Div. We need to first get a winning habit and then a habit of killing off teams as soon as possible. We have to play 100% right to the final whistle, if not then we'll just fall down to the Div 4 level and that will carry through to C'ship. There maybe one or two harder games in the div but again if we can't win and win with something to spare then we're going no-where.

Now, after looking at the lits of 109.........

[Lone Shark]

I'd agree that we should be in that mindset, but let's be realistic - based on that ludicrous panel that has been named, our management team is clearly treating this like a fresh start - compare that with where Wicklow are with Micko having spent a year there. Clare will have a huge amount to prove after Páidí made a hames of the county side last year (plus they have all their potentially losable games in Ennis) and Antrim have plenty of footballers in their ranks and are another hoor of a place to go.

We can win these games, but to fly through the league would require us to be well prepared and firing on all cylinders- I wish that was likely to happen, but I just don't see it myself. I think we just are going nowhere is the be all and end all of it.

[Muck Savage]

I agree LS, after looking at the list of 109 I've little hope in what's going on. No disrespect to the players it the way it's being done that kills me.