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Ulster Championship 2021

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Replying To monaghanmad:  "Keep thinking we are past it. We have just as good of young players coming through as any other ulster team.

I am loving how we are being written off. We have about 8 players under 25 that would walk onto any other team in ulster. Just a matter of putting it all together. Arguably better players now than when Hughes, wylies, Walshe, Corey, mones were at that age."
But McManus is past his best.

It's that simple really.

cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5010 - 24/04/2021 09:47:30    2338602

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Replying To Tirchonaill1:  "As much as I love the Ulster Championship I think the provincial system is finished, we need a 3 tiered All Ireland series, Senior, intermediate and Junior, then every county has a chance to win a National title at their own level.
Comparing how competitive Ulster is to the rest of the provinces the whole thing is a basket case.
Has to be a fairer smarter way to do this,"
I'd agree with you and there are fairer and smarter ways to do it. The 3 tiers would certainly be worth looking at but of course then you will have people saying "sure that's just the League under a different guise".
It's definitely long past it's sell by date at this stage though.
Personally, I think they should have tried an open draw last year to see how that would play out. It would have been interesting at least and made a lot of sense and really not impacted on the money side of things under the circumstances.

Dubh_linn (Dublin) - Posts: 2312 - 24/04/2021 12:00:40    2338615

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Replying To monaghanmad:  "Keep thinking we are past it. We have just as good of young players coming through as any other ulster team.

I am loving how we are being written off. We have about 8 players under 25 that would walk onto any other team in ulster. Just a matter of putting it all together. Arguably better players now than when Hughes, wylies, Walshe, Corey, mones were at that age."
Monaghan have some class young players alright. I certainly wouldn't write ye off. Far from it in fact. What I would say though is that your management might not be the level that ye deserve after such a great run under Malachy. I think maybe ye are just lacking that belief upstairs as played out last year against us. Whether that was Bantys fault or not is a hard call to make.

thegadfly (Cavan) - Posts: 290 - 24/04/2021 18:10:20    2338643

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The reality is that it is very difficult to know where any team in ulster is - 2nd year of disruption, another knock out championship, teams in transition, new management for some - anything could happen on any given day. Very difficult to rank teams - important to remember that one swallow does not a summer make.
However I have no doubt that the Ulster championship will deliver a lot of excitement & a few upsets along the way.
If Carlsberg did provincial championships ....

greysoil (Monaghan) - Posts: 965 - 24/04/2021 22:23:30    2338675

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Replying To greysoil:  "The reality is that it is very difficult to know where any team in ulster is - 2nd year of disruption, another knock out championship, teams in transition, new management for some - anything could happen on any given day. Very difficult to rank teams - important to remember that one swallow does not a summer make.
However I have no doubt that the Ulster championship will deliver a lot of excitement & a few upsets along the way.
If Carlsberg did provincial championships ...."
BBC NI coverage of the Championship is brilliant too, wish they would cover the All Ireland series as well. Great pundits and commentators,
I can hardly look at RTE these days, pure rubbish. Tight times when the BBC cover Gaelic games better than RTE. sad but true.

Tirchonaill1 (Donegal) - Posts: 2739 - 24/04/2021 23:09:56    2338677

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Replying To Tirchonaill1:  "BBC NI coverage of the Championship is brilliant too, wish they would cover the All Ireland series as well. Great pundits and commentators,
I can hardly look at RTE these days, pure rubbish. Tight times when the BBC cover Gaelic games better than RTE. sad but true."
Sad but true. Their premiership soccer coverage is always good too. Less razmatazz and more substance than sky who seem to pander more to former players turned pundits than the actual players and managers and games. Any live game involves more time with the pundits on screen than the actual match. Their EFL championship coverage is admittedly alot better. RTE is like a nationwide Liam Spratt without the humour that makes South East Radios coverage entertaining!

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 11734 - 25/04/2021 08:59:17    2338692

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Replying To greatpoint:  "Have Cavan given Tyrone a good game in living memory?"
depends on your age I suppose but yes you are right we have struggled badly against Tyrone in recent years so hopefully we can get that monkey off our back this year but that is a tough draw.

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5518 - 25/04/2021 09:11:01    2338695

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Replying To s goldrick:  "depends on your age I suppose but yes you are right we have struggled badly against Tyrone in recent years so hopefully we can get that monkey off our back this year but that is a tough draw."
Cavan drew with eventual All Ireland winners Tyrone in 2005, and got well beat in the replay. Drew again in 2016, and lost the replay that year by a fair bit too.
Best to take Tyrone out on the first day.

Eddie the Exile (Monaghan) - Posts: 1057 - 25/04/2021 10:49:15    2338698

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Replying To Loughduff Lad:  "You seriously think a Tyrone team with new management and very few games last year will beat a side by 15 points who showed last year that they are decent? Many said the same about Cavan in the final last year (including you, you called a similar margin of victory for Donegal here), and look what happened. Many of these Cavan lads have beaten these same Tyrone lads in minor/U21 games, so while it's not the same they know they're not far away from them. It'll be tough and tight, hardly a thrashing the likes of what you're saying though. Lets hope your predictions follow a similar line, as you've been very badly wrong before"
Is he a troll? Having thought about it at length, I could think of pros and cons for both teams so went for a draw. It'll be close, either way. Predicting a thumping like that is so detached from reality that I think he's a troll.

essmac (Tyrone) - Posts: 1141 - 25/04/2021 19:02:30    2338724

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Replying To Irishcelt:  "Keep the cavan tinted glasses on there hahaha suppose yas should of beat Dublin aswell if it was played in meath or somewhere hahahahahaha"
Ach away and sober up lad

essmac (Tyrone) - Posts: 1141 - 25/04/2021 19:04:33    2338725

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Replying To Irishcelt:  "Yeah they do they think Ulster is the greatest thing since sliced bread end of the day dubs hammer them every year same as they do the rest of us"
You're confused, and youre making up nonsense positions that only exist in your own head. Nobody's saying that Ulster has the best championship because it is full of Dublin beaters. It clearly doesn't have teams that would beat Dublin. However, it is the toughest championship because of the fact that it's the most competitive. All Ulster teams have to peak for their first provincial game. That doesn't happen in Leinster. I can guarantee you, right now, that Dublin will win Leinster in 2021. By contrast, I have no idea who will win Ulster this year.

essmac (Tyrone) - Posts: 1141 - 25/04/2021 19:12:33    2338727

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Replying To monaghanmad:  "I have no doubt that Dublin can go clones ballyboefey etc and wipe the floor with teams but do it 3 games in a row against cavan Tyrone donegal, monaghan armagh and then ulster final in a neutral ground and I can guarantee you Dublin would not win 10 ulster's in a row. Then win an ulster final and then go to super 8s or quarter final and maintain that level and I can guarantee you that Dublin would not have won the 6 in a row.

It is not possible to sustain that consistency in ulster compared to leinster. Not a hope. That is the difference in the provinces and provincials. I have no doubt if monaghan Tyrone wasin leinster the last 10 years and Dublin was in ulster monaghan tyrone would have an all ireland to their name, basically because they don't need to sustain the same level for a long period of time.

Its the difference."
Correct, well said.

essmac (Tyrone) - Posts: 1141 - 25/04/2021 19:14:38    2338728

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Replying To Tirchonaill1:  "BBC NI coverage of the Championship is brilliant too, wish they would cover the All Ireland series as well. Great pundits and commentators,
I can hardly look at RTE these days, pure rubbish. Tight times when the BBC cover Gaelic games better than RTE. sad but true."
Yes and the BBC lads enjoy the games, and that positivity is great to listen to. With RTE, the commentators too often can't conceal their anti-Ulster bias, and, after the game, you're always waiting for the anti-Ulster whinging to start.

essmac (Tyrone) - Posts: 1141 - 25/04/2021 19:19:11    2338729

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Replying To s goldrick:  "depends on your age I suppose but yes you are right we have struggled badly against Tyrone in recent years so hopefully we can get that monkey off our back this year but that is a tough draw."
We ran away with the replay in 05 wasn't it but there was a very tight drawn game before that that we were lucky enough to survive. Anything can happen in Ulster.

essmac (Tyrone) - Posts: 1141 - 25/04/2021 19:21:02    2338730

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Replying To Irishcelt:  "Dublin would walk the Ulster championship same way as they walk leinster the proof was last year when they enilitated the Ulster champions"
You should learn how to spell and then maybe how to play football

the creeler (Cavan) - Posts: 512 - 26/04/2021 11:13:52    2338797

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Great to have the football back and reading all of these anticipatory posts. For me Tyrone are missing that out and out scoring forward. Ulster football has been blessed with an abundance of quality inside forwards in the last couple of decades. The likes of Stevie McDonnell, Benny Coulter, Cananvan, Bradley would scare the living daylights out of any opposition. I just dont get that feeling of danger with any of Tyrones current attackers. I also wouldn't be a big fan of dual management. I've rarely seen it work well, with a few exceptions. There should be the boss and everything goes through him only. Having said all that Tyrone will be strong favourites to beat us.

The preliminary round will probably kick off the championship. Should be a good game in Newry, with Donegal hotly fancied. Will be interesting to see if MacNiallais is match fit and how much game time he gets. Down were more attack minded than most expected last year. I would expect that will change this year. I would think Tally will revert to type and set up ultra defensively this year. 

The other side of the draw is interesting with all four counties fancying their chances, including Antrim who are under new management in Enda McGinley. Monaghan will be favourites to come through that side and have gone under the radar recently.

The league matches will be a great lift to everyone. I presume there will be streaming services available? Hopefully the div 1 teams go out to lay down a few markers in the league knocking lumps out of each other before championship.

97Cavans (Cavan) - Posts: 316 - 29/04/2021 14:10:14    2339327

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Replying To 97Cavans:  "Great to have the football back and reading all of these anticipatory posts. For me Tyrone are missing that out and out scoring forward. Ulster football has been blessed with an abundance of quality inside forwards in the last couple of decades. The likes of Stevie McDonnell, Benny Coulter, Cananvan, Bradley would scare the living daylights out of any opposition. I just dont get that feeling of danger with any of Tyrones current attackers. I also wouldn't be a big fan of dual management. I've rarely seen it work well, with a few exceptions. There should be the boss and everything goes through him only. Having said all that Tyrone will be strong favourites to beat us.

The preliminary round will probably kick off the championship. Should be a good game in Newry, with Donegal hotly fancied. Will be interesting to see if MacNiallais is match fit and how much game time he gets. Down were more attack minded than most expected last year. I would expect that will change this year. I would think Tally will revert to type and set up ultra defensively this year. 

The other side of the draw is interesting with all four counties fancying their chances, including Antrim who are under new management in Enda McGinley. Monaghan will be favourites to come through that side and have gone under the radar recently.

The league matches will be a great lift to everyone. I presume there will be streaming services available? Hopefully the div 1 teams go out to lay down a few markers in the league knocking lumps out of each other before championship."
It wouldn't surprise me if Monaghan won Ulster this year with that draw. That's provided they can get their heads right.

thegadfly (Cavan) - Posts: 290 - 29/04/2021 18:14:14    2339389

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Ulster and Connacht , both hard to call.

That's where the football's at this year.

BeJasus (UK) - Posts: 383 - 03/05/2021 14:26:08    2339791

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