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Dublin's Success Not Down To Money - GAA President - 6 Like(s)
Replying To Jack_Goff: " link
Interesting interview with John Horan Regarding Dublin. A few snippets.
"GAA president John Horan has said the chief reason for Dublin's dominance is the work of voluntary coaches and not the funding the county has received over the past decade."
"Almost €18m in games development funding, with Kildare and Meath receiving just over €1m over the same period. Accounting for population the rate of investment in Dublin was still more than double that of any other county".
Good to get the view of the president who doesn't believe the amount of money invested into the development of underage players has much effect on counties like Meath, Kildare or Dublin." Hardtimes (National) - 13/06/2019 18:18:41
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The Allianz FL Thread (Division 2, 3 & 4) - 5 Like(s)
Replying To Cuckoosinging: "How are the Meath team fixed under King Andy for this relagation battle? Must be some kick in the stones to target promotion by giving it everything and coming up short with the greatest manager ever meanwhile the worst team you faced all year are currently top of the table" Good to see he's not taking the latest round of match cancellations as badly as before and talking about Louth forfeiting points . He was in an awful panic the last time on the Cavan forum looking to get the match out of the way and something about bigger fish to fry. Maybe he's finally realized, the longer the game is put off the longer they stay in Division 2.
Hardtimes (National) - 20/03/2018 19:03:01
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GAA Coaching / Game Development Grants By County 2007-2018 - 4 Like(s)
I suppose you can't blame Dublin for taking what they can get but there is a real head in the sand attitude when this topic crops up. The grants Dublin get dwarf any other county whatever way you cut it. Dubs defend this by saying they have a massive pick. When the subject of pick comes up and the massive unfair advantage Dublin have in this regard Dubs will defend it by saying participation rates are low and their pick is actually comparable to other counties. Which is it?
Hardtimes (National) - 16/02/2019 23:40:58
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Football Top 16 inevitable - 4 Like(s)
Replying To royaldunne: "Believe it or not I would be fairly confident of doing well v Donegal and mayo than some other counties, now dubs and Kerry would be a bridge to far. But id relish a chance against either of the other two" I know you have ferocious belief in your new manager but the likes of Donegal and Mayo are a huge step above anything this Meath team has ever shown. Handing out a few beatings in Division 2 is all well and good but ultimately you didn't make the top 2. League form to Championship doesn't always follow either and the months of May and June have a nasty habit of dishing out a dose of reality. Meath need to focus on their bread and butter for now and that would be trying to negotiate a run to Leinster final or getting out of Division 2.
Hardtimes (National) - 15/04/2017 19:05:37
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2019 Predictions - 4 Like(s)
Dublin ignored the rule changes this year and done enough for a comfortable league campaign. They are a championship team. Under previous years' formats they would be in a league semi-final and probably league champions. They will be red hot favourites for AI. I don't see them easing up. Whether anyone can catch them is a very big question.
Hardtimes (National) - 05/04/2019 23:10:26
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Cavan Vs Armagh - 3 Like(s)
Replying To FarneyLenny: "If Armagh can tweak a few things especially the kick outs then it's Armagh's game . Cavan are a poor enough team and I don't think they will get it it 3rd time lucky." Understand why some would say we're poor enough. I know we only beat Monaghan by 4 points but hope it was just an off day on our part.
Hardtimes (National) - 06/06/2019 14:51:41
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Mayo In The Big Apple - 3 Like(s)
Replying To witnof: "Jesus we had 31 counties dishing it out to us for years......took it ......and turned it around.
Now we can't even wind up Mayo fans with a bit of banter.
I wouldn't be on an internet forum if you are that sensistive, they are not the most sanitised places." "dishing it out to us for years"
Are you talking about abuse or grant money?
Hardtimes (National) - 21/02/2019 21:50:35
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2018/19 Division 2 Football League - 3 Like(s)
Replying To allfermanagh: "I may be mad saying this but as good as Kildare can be I just can't seem them getting promoted. In terms of promotion Donegal will use this opportunity to test younger players but should still finish first. With regards to Fermanagh I can see them finishing around the middle of the pack, with Rory Gallagher second year in charge they will be a tough to beat but can't see them challenging for promotion" I'd actually disagree. I'd have Kildare down as one of the promotion favourites. They look to be building nicely and I thought they were very impressive looking at times last year. If they can build on this they could be a team to watch next year.
Hardtimes (National) - 23/11/2018 15:13:51
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Allianz National Football League Div 2 2018 - 3 Like(s)
Replying To royal69er: "I think you'll find the issue us meath fans have is the fact it was not called off until 1.5 hours before throw in. I knew there was gonna be a lot of rain in cavan because there was a yellow rain warning, what I didnt know was your pitch wouldnt be able to take it. It seems you guys knew the pitch couldnt take it but weren't aware of the weather alerts." What a load of nonsense. You cannot call off a match on the promise of rain. The pitch was playable earlier so it couldn't be called off. Serious rain 2 hrs before the game done the damage. If you're so clued up in Meath on what the weather will do then why did you even bother driving to Cavan in the first place seeing as firstly the game was on TV and secondly you know everything. Go away and whinge somewhere else.
Hardtimes (Cavan) - 11/02/2018 17:52:34
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Pairc Ui Chaoimh And Liam Miller - 3 Like(s)
Replying To Tirchonaill1: "I am not anti soccer and said at the start they should let the charity soccer match be played in Pairc Ui Chaoimh in a spirit of charity but I'm getting fed up of all the anti GAA stuff from the media and soccer multi millionaires, anyone hear Damien Duff on radio this morning?
We have the best amateur sporting organisation in the world, the good the GAA does countrywide for the youth of the country and the entertainment from proper full blooded sport we all get from it, men and women giving everything for club and county just for the chance to represent their people and do their best, now we have these namby pamby soccer profeesionals who spent a lot of their time rolling around feigning injury if they thought they got a tap on the ankle running down the GAA, I'm fed up with it it's time someone told them were to go." 100% agree. I'm disappointed the GAA weren't more accommodating with PUC from the off and I hope common sense will prevail but I fail to see how Duff's comments will help what is now a touchy subject. If anything they could be very detrimental.
He should also be more concerned with how things are done at the top of the FAI.
Hardtimes (National) - 24/07/2018 12:20:43
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Roscommon Vs Galway - 3 Like(s)
Replying To OhtobeARossie: "Thanks hardtimes now worry about down we will take on galway" Thanks yourself rossie but this is the national forum and I'll make whatever predictions I please.
Hardtimes (National) - 16/06/2018 09:29:45
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Monaghan Vs Tyrone - 3 Like(s)
Replying To shaggylegend: "Tyrone love Croke Park was the message from Sean Cavanagh during the week.
I argue this Tyrone team wilts in Croke Park.
Since Tyrone last won the All Ireland in 2008, they have beaten teams they would expect to beat, but everytime it came to Mayo,Dublin,Kerry or Cork, they were eliminated.
Tyrone record in Croke Park since 2009 is as follows.
2009 Kildare win, lose to Cork
2010 Lose to Dublin
2011 Roscommon win, lose to Dublin
2013 Meath and Monaghan win, lose to Mayo
2015 Sligo and Monaghan win, lose to Kerry
2016 Lose to Mayo
2017 Armagh win, Lose to Dublin
2018 Roscommon
Yes Tyrone have won matches the expected to win,
Monaghan version 2018 is way more advanced than the 13 or 15 model.
This Current Tyrone team can steam roll a lesser team in Croke Park, but the fact speak for themselves when they meet better opposition in HQ the fold." I think both teams have advanced since then. I think the question is how well they have advanced since the Ulster championship meeting earlier this year. Makes for a great game. Good luck to both teams but hoping the Farney men can do it.
Hardtimes (National) - 11/08/2018 11:12:45
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Monaghan Vs Tyrone - 3 Like(s)
Fascinating game in prospect. Two very evenly matched teams. Tyrone quite rightly will be favourites and this will suit Monaghan down to the ground. Should bring out the best in them. Both teams building a nice head of steam. I think the neutrals will be shouting for Monaghan but at the same time would be quite happy to see a Tyrone v Dublin final assuming they do the expected against Galway. It really is too close to call. I expect it to go to the melting pot. After that Tyrone probably have a bit of an edge. Monaghan are in uncharted territory and will have to buck a trend to get over the line. Heart says Monaghan. Head says why not.
Hardtimes (National) - 07/08/2018 15:18:57
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Cavan U20s - 3 Like(s)
Replying To panamasam: "I am just back from the game and bar Jason Mcgee I did not see a big difference between the sides physically. Just beaten by a far superior well drilled team on the day." Exactly. The "Giants" from Cork that beat us in 2013, beat us by a point. We missed a last minute free to equalize. We also gave away a crazy point just before that to hand them the initiative when we were on top and looked likely winners. We were Ulster 3 in a row Champions at the time! Beat Donegal regularly who actually had a giant among boys in Paddy McBrearty! We had Ulster minor Champions in that team from 2 years previously. How can anyone say our youth sides are consistently smaller in size and physique to other teams. The truth is we got notions about ourselves again. Wanting success but not willing to do the hard graft or put in the dirty work. Blowing young players up and sending them out half assed without a game plan to get beat. Playing off the cuff is great but only when things are going well. When things get tricky you need to knuckle down and ride it out but that requires players willing to bust a gut to stay in the game. Players will only have that when there is a common focus to fall back on,a game plan, a structure to encourage some semblance of teamwork! Our success was not enough for some people. They started preaching about traditional Cavan football. Flair and pace. What Walter Mitty world do they inhabit. Traditional Cavan football was sending good underage teams out completely disorganized to get beat. Same with the Seniors. Play for a while but give up after letting in a goal or two and pack up. Nice teams but ultimately disinterested when the going gets tough. Looks like we are going back to tradition. We won Ulster in 2011 not because of our traditions. We won it because we were a team. Because of players like Damien Barkley who put their bodies on the line with complete self disregard. Broke a Tyrone forward in two with a legitimate tackle who was through on goal towards the end of the game with us barely ahead. And so broke Tyrone hearts. Broke tradition! There's a line that was trotted out here a lot about the definition of insanity. Was used when complaining about our team structure and wanting to go man for man. Oh the irony.
Hardtimes (Cavan) - 28/05/2018 01:54:03
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Pairc Ui Chaoimh And Liam Miller - 3 Like(s)
Replying To footballfirst: "Yeah. Sometimes its better to say nothing if you have nothing useful to say. This is clearly at a delicate stage and the last thing needed is an ex international throwing petrol on it. We all want this to be resolved and I really hope it can be played in PuC for no other reason than to maximse the return for the charity. I couldn't care less if they play cricket on the day !
Duff also said something about it being too late now anyway and that GAA were coming out of this badly no matter what. Again a completely unnecessary comment that adds nothing to the debate. For what its worth if it can be fixed the GAA deserve to be applauded and not ridiculed and I really hope someone in the media who is in a position to respond to Duff, does respond and call him out for his nonsense." Well said. I feel sorry for the Millar family in all of this. What should have been a special occasion and an honour to the memory of a great man has become a slanging match. Shame on all sides. I'm sure most sound minded people only wanted for communities and people to get together and raise a bit of awareness for charities and the Millar family but a bad taste will now be left in the mouth.
Hardtimes (National) - 24/07/2018 14:24:05
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Colm's Challenge - 2 Like(s)
Replying To TheUsername: "Dont disagree with any of that HT. Certainly Dublin have a number of natural advantages, im not so sure they are insurmountable elsewhere for other counties though. For example Dublins level of Athelthisim is something that has a limit and something every county can aspire to, not every player comes into the Dublin senior panel the finished article, each year every player seems to improve, so coaching and layer development programmes are something anyone can do really that is not to dismiss areas where Dublin do have the cards staked n their favour i.e. population, traveling distance for training etc. I think a question would need to be asked if Dublin has registered playing numbers getting close to 100k or so.
Its an interesting point, i often think people are surprised with Dublin level of success this era, i suppose Dublin had been reasonably quiet since the seventies bar the odd year. But really we have traditionally we have been the second most successful county in the history of the game. Yet maybe we have seen three generation come and go that arent used to seeing Dublin this successful or as realistic contenders. I know many Dubs feel that historically Dublin have under performed and large chunks of our history and at times the county set up has been chaos. There was always a general underlying feeling though that if Dublin got their house in order we could rightly aspire to be the top tem in the country in the history of the game. Perhaps that is what we are seeing and are just moving toward that natural position. Its one view point of course. Im not trying to stir or be hubris in saying that." You're right about that alright. Over the years when the Dubs were unsuccessful it was often a barb thrown at ye that ye had the biggest population but were failures.
I'm sure ye must be loving this period of dominance and fair play but there's the danger the novelty will wear off. Even the great teams over the years had rivals and games that captured the imagination. If it weren't for Jimmy McGuinness ye would probably be going for 7 in a row. Fair enough Mayo could have caught ye a few times but you always got the feeling they were at max and there was more in your tank. I don't see any obvious rival to you at the moment. Kerry maybe but still very young. But you need a big rival for the game to be healthy not only nationally, but within the capital.
I understand what you're saying about coaching and athleticism, but you still must have the raw materials. Athleticism is as much a core natural ability as reading a game or hand eye foot coordination. Like you said earlier, your percentage pick from your population is very small. You're probably worst case scenario in that regard and there's massive scope for improvement. A lot of traditional counties are probably best case scenario but interest and options in other sports is growing. In Cavan for example underage numbers are probably falling with a lot of amalgamations at underage even with the traditionally big clubs.
Hardtimes (National) - 21/11/2018 10:57:54
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Donald Trump & The GAA - 2 Like(s)
Make Cavan great again.
Hardtimes (National) - 30/01/2017 17:51:49
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Allianz National Football League Div 2 2018 - 2 Like(s)
We'll play it when it allows, same as every other county.
Hardtimes (Cavan) - 15/02/2018 17:37:46
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Allianz National Football League Div 2 2018 - 2 Like(s)
All very quiet leading up to this game. Any news on injuries or returning players. Noticed Enda Flanagan never played Sigerson during the week- wonder is he carrying an injury. Will we see G McKiernan start or is it still a bit early for him. Seanie could also feature in some way on Sunday. Anyway good luck to all and hope it's a good game with a bumper crowd. Also be on the look out for any Meath men doing a rain dance around Breffni looking to have Cavan forfeit the points with the introduction of this new 3 strike rule.
Hardtimes (Cavan) - 16/02/2018 16:42:22
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Methods To Improve The Cavan Team - 2 Like(s)
Replying To IamADragon: "Meath players show more pride. I don't see too many cavan players that would run through a wall for cavan. We have a lot of players who love to look the part. A big problem for Cavan is the goal for a lot of our men is to get on the county team, not what they do when they're in there. In other counties getting on a county panel is only the start." Meath supporters show more pride. Nothing wrong with our players. I've seen plenty of our players run themselves into the ground this year and others. Plenty pick themselves up off the ground and play on injured and hurt themselves more, this year and others. I doubt they look for praise but the least we could do is not run them down. Effort is not the problem. You're stuck in the noughties pal.
Hardtimes (Cavan) - 24/03/2019 21:53:06
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