Nothing ‘Super’ as football’s crisis continues

Gaelic football is in crisis and it’s not as if this has suddenly enveloped the game. The writing has been on the wall for five years now.

Watching Dublin keeping the ball for the last 10 minutes of their clash with Donegal in a half empty Croke Park sums up where the code is at right now.

We are already at the stage where the game is only watchable in a (brief) highlights package. There is little hope when Dublin are putting 15 behind the ball and not bothering to even try to attack, but choose instead to run down the clock.

The much heralded Super 8 are now being referred to as simply, the 8. Hard to argue with that.

So how did we get here?

We can all expound on various theories but it’s hard to get away from the fact that managers are to blame, being driven to over-strategising by the pressures of unrealistic expectations, some self induced, others by supporters and those footing the bills. We’ve ended up with poorly-programmed players in the main. It would appear the first priority is not to lose, it comes before everything else.

Supporters are already and understandably turning away in droves. TV viewers are following suit. Can players be far behind?

Honestly, what incentive is there for players in about 28 counties right now? Where is their enjoyment in the current game?

They train like professionals for nine months to play this? Can there be any fun in starting a move around the half way line with a hand pass to a team mate and then getting the ball back in the exact same place about a minute later after the football has been thrown around laterally and backwards?

It has now reached the stage where even a close football match is difficult to endure.

Really, there is nothing to see here.

Saving the game?

We were told the Super 8 format would save the football championship, after week one it has only served to crystallise what is so wrong. These are the best eight teams in the country, yet they couldn’t muster one decent game between them.

In basketball they have a shot clock in operation and we’ll have to strongly think about that for starters. It would mean that a team in possession has something like 30 seconds to attempt a shot at goal. If they don’t the ball is given back to their opposition.

Moving the game to 13-a-side is another consideration. Fifteen-a-side was brought in at a time when players wore long trousers, maybe it’s time to move on.

Changing the value of a goal to four points wouldn’t hurt either. We shouldn’t be afraid to steal good ideas from other sports when we are in a crisis.

The championship will hardly be redeemed this year, barring an unlikely romantic storyline like Monaghan or Kildare reaching an All-Ireland final. You see, we do miss Mayo when they’re not around!

Clones might host an entertaining game of football on Sunday afternoon because the Kingdom’s survival depends on it.

So does their reputation. Once thought to be the last bastion of traditional football, they are fast morphing into everyone else.

Kingdom in trouble?

This week they will be hearing it from supporters, who will be telling Eamon Fitzmaurice and his squad that if they are to lose and bow out, they must do so with their kicking boots on.

Hopefully there will be quite literally a kick in Kerry who revert back to trying to play football. Monaghan won’t mind that because they’re at home and if pressed have a few footballers themselves who might revel in the extra space that might come with their opponents not having 15 men behind the ball.

Am I being overly optimistic? Fingers crossed!

Dubs hit the road

The glass will be half empty the night before in Omagh when Dublin play their first championship match in living memory in Ulster. This will be an arm wrestle.

While Tyrone have a fair idea that themselves and Donegal will probably fight it out in Ballybofey for second place in the group – Mickey Harte’s side do have two weeks before that game and weren’t overly taxed in beating Roscommon at the weekend, so they might fire some shots here.

Realistically, they would have to suffocate the Dubs and drag them down to their level to have a chance. Not impossible and not an insult to Mickey Harte’s squad either. The Dubs last lost a championship match in 2014 and have no issue with winning ugly.

They could be tested here but still emerge with a two or three point win. A draw would not be out of the question if Tyrone can continue to fire in front of goal. A raucous Saturday night crowd wouldn’t hurt either. Entertainment is not guaranteed, but a contest might break out.

Galways opportunity

Galway folk reading this won’t care too much about the state of football because they are flying high. Winning can cover a multitude and they are doing that. Beating Kerry for the first time since the days of Bosco McDermott and Enda Colleran is noteworthy. So too is their potential route to an All-Ireland final if they maintain their momentum in Newbridge. It’s in their hands now to avoid the Dubs.

The Tribesmen will soon be discussing the double and who could blame them. Worthy favourites for the hurling, they are now third favourites for the football and could be shorter if Monaghan can do a job on Kerry.

A bit like last summer when Waterford’s hurlers finally beat Kilkenny and last Sunday when Limerick did the same, a county team can lift another 10% with wins like Galway’s defeat of Kerry –one that also snapped a 17 year run without a win in Croker it must be noted.

It is also worth noting that Galway have beaten Mayo the last three seasons a small bit easier than Dublin ever managed.

Maybe the championship will explode in the Hyde when Roscommon have home comforts against Donegal?

Straw clutching in the wake of the tepid start to the Super 8? Maybe, but the GAA can be funny that way. This weekend we are sorely in need of a proper football match that registers on the Richter scale.

It doesn’t have to be off the scale like Limerick and Kilkenny, just somewhere, anywhere, on the scale will do.