A Captain's Calling

‘When he phones me I still refer to him as captain’ Joe Brolly

Those were the words of one of our All-Ireland winners about a former playing colleague of his. Perhaps the context of the article in which it was written is one in which we might not wish to dwell on too long, but it got me thinking.

1993. What does it mean to people now and what was its legacy?

Let’s address the first part of that short double barrelled question first. What it means now probably depends on what age you are. Let’s be honest, if you are in your mid 20’s (which most players playing senior football for club and county are) your memory of events will be scant. The belief and confidence gained through memory and experience of people say ten years older will be a lot weaker with current playing generations. That’s a sobering thought and one which cannot be ignored.

Yes, there are youtube videos. Yes, there are pictures, stories recanted time after time. However, nothing compares with ‘being there’ as the modern social media aware GAA marketing types like to remind us. Human beings by their very nature doubt themselves sometimes. I often think those winning experiences are taken for granted by ‘older people’ and not necessarily shared by younger players and coaches.

However, what is not in doubt is that the men of ’93 planted a flag at the summit which should, and I repeat, should be visible to all. They cast all doubt aside like all pioneers do.

July 2012. Clones, Co Monaghan. Derry minor footballers are overcome by a Tyrone side that perhaps the scoreline flattered. Perhaps it did, perhaps it didn’t. That depends on your viewpoint. It’s clear these young oaks were good players. So why were they beaten I hear you say? Good question.

Like the legacy of ’93 the answer could very well depend on what age you are. To a 14-15 year old, the response might be along the lines of: ‘sure, that’s Tyrone. They’ve won All-Irelands and are a strong outfit’. To a 17-18 year old the response might be the same! It gets you thinking, doesn’t it?

However, to a slighter older generation, we don’t buy that. We know who we are. We know where we came from and we don’t accept that. We know what Joe Brolly means. We look coldly on such events.

It takes a collective will. From the young players on the pitch, but also from the older generations who run things off it. Cooperation across all levels from schools to clubs to county is a key ingredient in helping young players to achieve their potential.

‘You can see it. They’ve done the work and are on a high with the power coursing through their bodies. They’ll just look forward to the next game and the chance it gives them to showcase the work they’ve put in. And they’ll enjoy doing so.’

That was Adrian McGuckin speaking about Donegal after they defeated Derry in Ballybofey this summer. The impassioned voice spoke volumes as it beamed out on Radio Ulster’s medium wave. He knew. He looks coldly on such events.

Second things second, what indeed was the legacy of 1993? I said in a previous post that our county continued to enjoy success on the provincial scene via Lavey, Dungiven, Bellaghy, Ballinderry and Loup. But in reality what actually happened was that those successes, wonderful as they were, were taken as a sign of health at a time when evolution was required. If you stand still in any race, you fall behind.

That is exactly what I think Derry has done, or had done.

Back to legacy. Legacy is about each generation standing up and being counted. It is now time for the current generations to stand up. The ’93 men and associates, now in their middle ages (they’ll love that!), children reared and coming onto teams. What does it mean to that generation to see their county excel? Are they content with knowing that their generation succeeded? Once. Or is the burning desire there to leave nothing in the tank as they say to ensure the flame of the likes of Eamon Coleman is passed on?

After all, Eamon and his peers passed it on to them and they benefited. Not only players, but friends, club mates, families and associates all benefited from that passing on of the flame. That belief, the irrational belief that you can and will be better than any other team or county is still there in spades. It rests in the hands of a generation who are now at a crossroads. Accept contentment or drive onward.

The GAA and Gaelic football is in a very different place to where it was in 1993. Henry Downey lifted the Sam Maguire in a stand covered by a tin roof (poetic license excused). Now modern fibreglass and plastics technology abound, steel hangs from sky, and scanners notify a database you have entered that same ground. Field sports evolve. Spain, possibly the most successful soccer team of all time, no longer play with a recognised striker. Life moves on and so do tactics, training methods and player preparations. Have we?

The battlegrounds are no longer what they were. Off or on the pitch, sports science, medical and anatomical knowledge all progress year on year. That’s human nature and evolution in action. There are those ‘back in my day experts’ who will no doubt frown on such statements. However, to quote another member of that ’93 team who said recently:

‘I’d rather have a happy medium but it has just come about with teams trying to catch up on each other and do the same work and I suppose there’s no real stopping it’

There’s no real stopping it says Enda Gormley, and he’s right. If there’s no stopping it then you either get with it or you stop completely and spectate.

That my friend is reality and its reality coming from a person who knows what it takes to be a winner. If someone whose very makeup portrays what it means to be an Oakleaf winner says this then it’s time the rest of us listened. Young and old, over 25 and under.

The young players in Derry are as good as has ever been produced in the county including those generations classed as ‘successful’. It is up to the generations who have experienced success to both convince them of that and make that statement a reality. They owe it to themselves and they owe it to those who went before them. Soldiers like Doherty, Dougan, Muldoon, McGuckin, Bradley, McCloy, McFlynn, Lockhart, McBride gave their all for the cause and often got little in return. Those men deserve better. Their legacy deserves better.

The leaders of this generation of players, and those on the cusp, need to make themselves known and heard. You can lead at 21 or 31, no difference. Leaders lead by example and by the example they show their team mates, managers and peers.

Recognised as one of the world’s most influential people, author of the best selling ‘The seven habits of highly effective people’ and a recognised authority on ‘leadership’, Stephen Covey passed away last week at the age of 79. To those wanting to achieve, he offered the following advice:

You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say “no” to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside. The enemy of the “best” is often the “good.”

Covey knew that when you put your life into something 100% you will never be disappointed. If you give anything less, disappointment is only an act or two away. In our case, priorities, courage and the interplay between the ‘93-generation’, who have been there and wear the t-shirt, and those who have not, are vital factors in determining our collective future.

Let’s hope neither shirks their responsibilities. ‘The captain’ never did.

Longford give Derry the Blues

So that's it then. For another year anyway.

On Saturday evening, with Michael Duffy's whistle greeted by joyous cheers from the home fans in Pearse Park, Derry's inevitable end came as early as many expected, but sooner than most had hoped. That's the reality of the 2012 season. It was bad enough that 'lowly-Longford' were heavy favourites to beat Derry, but that they went on to do so with some degree of comfort is the harshest reality of all.

And yet this was far from a poor Oak Leaf performance. Castigated from Coleraine to Cork in the aftermath of the Donegal defeat a fortnight ago, for not showing the requisite fight, spirit and hunger one could reasonably expect from a county side, Derry produced a performance that displayed heavy doses of those very same ingredients. They showed intense commitment throughout, stuck diligently to the task at hand and fought to the bitter end. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to avoid defeat. Instead it rubber-stamped Derry's championship exit before the calendar had even turned to July.

In his post-game interview, John Brennan chose to concentrate on the performance of the referee, but when talking about the game itself he specifically pin-pointed the ten minutes before half-time as the period in which Derry lost this football match:

"The last 10 minutes of the first half, we let the game slip. That was the only point in the game that Longford dominated us. We were careless, gave the ball away and were punished."

He was spot on. Up until that point, Brennan's side had dominated the ball. Patsy Bradley and Michael Friel had a stranglehold in midfield, while John McCamley was offering them fantastic support in winning both primary and secondary possession. The only surprise amongst the handful of Derry fans that made the trip to support their side was that Derry were only level, at 0-5 apiece. The Oak Leafers just couldn't turn their superior possession rate into scores, despite playing with whatever advantage the swirling breeze was offering. The main reason was a lack of composure and basic errors in the Longford's defensive third of the field. Too often the ball did not stick, too often the wrong decision was made by the player with the ball and on numerous occasions the final pass went straight into Longford hands. Add to all that a few missed chances in front of goal, and instead of being clear on the scoreboard Derry were only level.

Then, for the final ten minutes of the half, the home side took control. The Longford midfielders had hitherto jumped with their Derry counterparts on kick-outs only to see Patsy Bradley break the ball down to an oncoming red and white shirt, but in the final minutes of the half they eventually caught on to the Oak Leaf ploy. McIlvaney and Keegan suddenly decided not to compete aerially and the home side swept up on the ground. With Seanie McCormack in deadly form in front of goal, Longford scored three points without reply. 0-8 to 0-5 behind at the break, Derry were facing an uphill climb.

Glenn Ryan would have told his side at half-time to run at the Derry defence, try and win a few frees and keep the scoreboard ticking over. They did this with an easy regularity throughout the second half. McCormack scored eleven points in total, nine of which came from frees. In contrast, Derry found it hard to create any point-scoring opportunities (especially in the second half) and could barely even manufacture a free for themselves. The Oak Leaf forwards just couldn't find any space against a tight and dogged Longford defence. Enough possession had been won, but too often the ball was played to the wing or into the corner of the pitch, asking the forward to run away from goal and subsequently away from the scoring zone. In the meantime, the Longford defence funneled back, forcing Derry to recycle possession before the attack (more often than not) broke down. On umpteen occasions in that second half, Paddy Bradley received the ball in the left corner of the pitch, not an ideal position for a left-footed player. This meant that Bradley - who must have won every ball that came his way - was constantly forced to try and work possession out, by which time the scoring chance was gone. It appeared that Paddy Bradley was played on the left to accommodate Eoin Bradley on the right. Eoin should have been played in a deeper role to allow Paddy and Emmett McGuckin more space inside. On one occasion when Eoin carried the ball from deep he scored an excellent point. At another stage, when Paddy found himself on the right, he too cut inside to kick a trademark score. These were Derry's only two points from play in the second half, and were an indication of the positional switches that should have been made.

Despite that, a goal from Barry McGoldrick grabbed the Oak Leafers by the scruff of the neck, right back into the game. Twice. Under the circumstances it was no surprise that a Derry defender would have to come up the field in order to break the deadlock, but no-one would have expected McGoldrick to grab two goals. Both scores came against the run of play. The first goal was an excellent turn and finish following a sublime pass from Paddy Bradley and it brought the sides level. The second goal came with about ten (injury time) minutes left on the clock. After a long sideline kick from Eoin Bradley, McGoldrick gathered possession on the edge of the square, side-stepped his marker and finished to the roof of the net. This score put his side a point ahead. And it should have given Derry the impetus to go on and close the game out. Instead it seemed to have the opposite effect, somehow putting a pep in the step of Longford, who wasted no time in not only regaining the lead, but subsequently increasing it to three points.

If anything, the two goals masked Derry's deficiencies in the final third, and managed to keep them in a game that was slowly getting away from them. Longford were able to get their scores (and their frees) much more easily as they ran at pace as the Oak Leaf defence to draw frees, and used Brian Kavanagh as a target man to hold up the ball and set up the nearest runner for a scoring opportunity. And yet, the Derry defence played quite well. Chris McKaigue could have done little more to curb the influence of Brian Kavanagh (to whom the ball just seems to stick) while Ryan Dillon and Barry McGoldrick kept their direct opponents fairly quiet in play. Ryan Scott had been thrown in at the deep-end, but looked so comfortable in the right half-back slot he could have been there for years, while Mark Craig and Sean Leo McGoldrick barely put a foot wrong and did a good job in stopping the Longford runners from deep. Just ask Paul Barden, who struggled to get into the match. The locals were blaming Barden's failure to perform to his full capacity on a pre-game, pain-killing injection (ankle), but even so, Derry shackled him well throughout and he's unlikely to be as quiet again this season. However in Kavanagh and McCormack, Longford had enough to get the job done.

Following a melee in the final minute of injury-time (which resulted in Barry McGoldrick's remarkable game taking a final turn for the worse when he received a second yellow card), Derry had one last chance to rescue an unlikely draw. It's been well enough documented since, but Joe Diver's magnificent catch and transportation of the ball - somehow - across the goal-line, provided the game with one lasting moment of controversy. After a few television replays it is still unclear what happened when twenty bodies converged on Damien Sheridan's goal, but referee Michael Duffy seemed pretty satisifed that he knew exactly what happened and blew for a free out with the kind of decisiveness not usually associated with the Sligo whistler.

He blew for full-time almost immediately after and despite the final decision on the goal-that-wasn't, even the most diehard Derry supporter (most of whom were likely in attendance) couldn't argue that the best team had won. Derry hadn't performed too badly, but the scoreboard said it all. The Oak Leafers only managed ten scores, while their opponents had put up 17. Unfortunately at this level, that's just not good enough to win football games.

Some more thoughts from Saturday's game:

• Even though John Brennan vehemently criticised the referee after the game, it should be noted that nothing the referee did (or didn't do) in this game, was the reason for our defeat.
• Having said that, it's a deep concern that after a performance of such inexplicable ineptness in the Athletic Grounds last week, a referee like Duffy is back out on the Championship circuit less than one week later.
• Michael Quinn at centre-half back did an excellent job for the O'Farrell men in terms of marshalling his defence and helping to set up attacks, but his marking ability is questionable. His athleticism matched well with Mark Lynch's running ability, but he may have struggled with a more creative player, perhaps like Conleith Gilligan.
• Colin P Smyth at right half-back also looked a little suspect. John McCamley over-powered him throughout, but did his best work in and around the midfield area (though he also popped up for two good points in the first half). This was another area that Derry could have exploited a little better, in an attacking sense.
• The Longford selector in the orange bib, getting involved in the ruckus at the end, was none other than former stalwart Padraic Davis. A tricky forward in his day, Davis played against the Oak Leafers in an All-Ireland qualifier in 2002 when he scored a remarkable free off the ground from the 50m line (on the sideline).
• Speaking of that game in 2002, Barry McGoldrick's two goals were reminiscent of Anthony Tohill's two-goal haul in Pearse Park ten years ago. McGoldrick certainly showed the same sort of leadership, but this time, the goals couldn't propel Derry to victory.
• Speaking of leadership, Chris McKaigue is beginning to look the part in the Oak Leaf defence. He led the charge forward from full-back on a few occasions in the second half. He should be persisted with at full-back (especially in the absence of any other natural solutions in this area), but might be best suited in the half-back line.
• Finally, fair play to Longford for taking on the mantle of favourites and closing out victory when the game went against them in the second half. This is a side that have been training since October and have the grit and self-belief that previous Longford sides lacked. The qualifier system is weighed very heavily against the so-called lesser counties, but Glenn Ryan's outfit might have another couple of days left in the sun yet.

It's a Long way back from here

Derry travel to Longford on Saturday to either salvage something from a season that has gone horribly wrong, or to put the final nail in it. Following the performance against Donegal a fortnight ago, Derry fans will be extremely pessimistic about their side's chances of going much further this year, and - never needing too much of an excuse at the best of times - are unlikely to travel even in respectable numbers to Pearse Park.

Longford was not the ideal draw, and with the GAA somehow shoe-horning in a crazy rule about the team that played last year's first round away from home allowed home advantage the following year, the draw has been made all the more difficult. Out of Derry's last ten qualifier games, two of them have been played at home, so if the GAA are trying to create a fair system it's not working. And in any case they should focus their concentrations on the blatantly obvious inequalities in the All-Ireland Football Championship as a whole (i.e. the unfair provincial structures) instead of worrying about petty little details like which first round qualifier team gets home advantage.

Anyway, the respective form of the two sides has resulted in Derry being made underdogs for this tie (as big as 6/4 in places), and the general consensus is that the Oak Leafers will have their work cut out. Most of this is based on the poor showing in Ballybofey, whilst Longford's ascension from Leinster's lower tier to the middle tier and promotion to Division 2 of the NFL, marks them out as a team on the rise. Home advantage will help them, having beaten not only Derry, but also Mayo and Down in Championship football at Pearse Park in recent years (and they ran Kerry close in 2009).

But is it an automatic given that Longford will beat Derry? The Leinster outfit certainly haven't become world-beaters over night. They struggled past a passive Laois outfit in their opening championship game and were beaten after a replay by Wexford in a LSFC quarter-final. So, it's fair to say that their current level is somewhere around that of Laois, Wexford, Louth and Westmeath. Ordinarily you would imagine Derry not to be outmatched in that sort of company, but this year's results have suggested otherwise and that is where the problems lie for John Brennan and his squad as they travel south this weekend. Perhaps that is something of an advantage. Six years ago Derry were expected to comfortably deal with the O'Farrell men in a Round 3 qualifier at Pearse Park and came out with a one-point defeat. The current Derry side will not be taking anything for granted this time around. Not just because they know what to expect from this particular fixture, but also because teams of this ilk have caused us serious problems in 2012.

John Brennan has a job on his hands to reverse the fortunes. The main criticism levelled at his team in the aftermath of Ballybofey was they they did not show enough fight, spirit and hunger. The second half of that game provided foundation to those claims and that will be Brennan's first concern. We all know that the Oak Leaf squad contains matchwinners, but if the fifteen men on the field don't reach the required intensity levels, or at least match the workrate of their opposition, the ability of the likes of Paddy Bradley, Mark Lynch and Eoin Bradley to win their side football matches is diluted significantly. If the Oak Leaf squad have done nothing on the training ground this week bar working on tackling high up the pitch and getting numbers back and forward in tandem to support those in possession, then it will have been a week well spent. The ball must be moved quicker and the tackles must be more aggressive. Derry need to set out that stall very early in order to come away from Longford with a victory, because their opponents can organise themselves very effectively and are unlikely to give up an early lead, especially against a side low in confidence.

The man behind Longford's renaissance is former Kildare stalwart Glenn Ryan. He has them well organised and they can close down space very quickly. It makes them difficult to beat. On top of that they have matchwinners of their own, in the form of Paul Barden, Brian Kavanagh and Sean McCormack. That's actually where this Longford side excels, they can create in-game scenarios that gets the best out of their key individuals. Barden's performances in 2012 is a prime example. He's been around the Longford set up for over a decade, but it's only now that he appears to be reaching his potential. Derry will need to be extra vigilant around him on Saturday, as he has the size, pace and footballing ability to open up a defence. He can also take a score and has introduced into his game an awareness of those around him. Not dissimilar to the role Michael Murphy plays for Donegal.

That's no coincidence, because Ryan has tried to introduce a system similar to that of Donegal's to this group of Longford players. It feels like a lazy comparison, but Longford are like a Donegal-lite or a Kildare-lite. They all work hard and are prepared to sacrifice their own newspaper ratings for the good of the team. Like McGeeney and McGuinness, Ryan has commanded total respect from his players, who are all willing to sip the kool-aid and apply themselves stringently to the manager's instructions. However, as much as Longford have improved, they are nowhere near the same level as Donegal or Kildare. They don't have the same physical conditioning all across the pitch, can't put up the same intense defensive wall and don't display the same level of fluidity from backs to forwards and back again. Their best players are in attack, and their defence has a couple of weak links - no matter how they try to mask them - and this is where the Oak Leafers could potentially make hay. Although that will require getting the ball quickly into Paddy Bradley and Emmett McGuckin (and Eoin Bradley, if he plays) so that the opposition don't have time to structure themselves effectively. As we've alluded to many times, deploying Conleith Gilligan in a deeper role might be the best way to achieve this.

In a sense, this is one of the better years to have drawn Longford. They have been televised live on a couple of occasions and have generally received more exposure than usual. So, there are no secrets about how they will play and the Derry management should be prepared for what they offer. Assuming that the required level of preparation has been carried out, ensuring it has been applied effectively to the team that takes the field is another matter, as the Donegal game proved. A lot might depend on the spirit in the Oak Leaf camp. If the players are still feeling sorry for themselves, a confident Longford outfit will not be long smelling blood and putting us to the sword, but the squad should be eager to show a reaction and prove their critics wrong. As well as increasing the intensity and energy levels, Derry also need to get more productivity from midfield in terms of linking the play and adding more attacking output, and an effective kickout strategy needs to be developed.

When all is considered, it's clear that the Oak Leafers have a lot of improvement to make from Ballybofey and it's extremely debatable whether things will have been turned around effectively in two short weeks. There's no doubt we have enough quality players to get us over the line against Longford, but the way the season has gone and judging by our current form, we've probably left ourselves with too much to do.

A time for patience?

Derry fans will probably have spent most of last week trying to get the Ballybofey debacle out of their heads. Shouldn't have been too difficult, because let's face it, this type of scenario isn't exactly new to us. And this season had less expectation surrounding it than most. So business as usual then, nothing to see here?

Not exactly. This past week has actually taken a more unfamiliar tone. One that has contained more despondency - and indeed derision - than would usually be the case after a Derry defeat in the Championship. A tone that has questioned not only the current state of our senior football team, but also the very fabric of Gaelic Games participation in our county. Was last Saturday really Derry's Buddy Holly moment... the day the football died? Surely one 70-minute game isn't an accurate indicator of the current state of football across all levels in the Oak Leaf county?

After taking the temperature of the hotbeds, maybe there is an alternative view to the fickle reaction offered by last week's media outlets. A light in the dark perhaps, a ray of sunshine piercing its way through the blanket.

In order to find that chink of hope, it's necessary to assess the common criticisms levelled at football in Derry and try to figure out if we are really about to fall off the football map:

"Get rid of that manager! There's a better man for the job"
Okay, so let's recap and think about this. We've had Mickey Moran, Paddy Crozier, Damien Cassidy and John Brennan. Not a bad selection of coaches you might say. That's unless you are an Oak Leaf supporter of course in which case they 'know nuthin about fudball'. But it's fair to say each of these men were the best (and most popular) candidates for the job before they were appointed. We have a vicious blame culture at work which should be thought about carefully. Managers need time to stamp their ideas on a squad, and pressure from within the county to take it elsewhere certainly doesn't help.

"There's no strategy or vision for player development in Derry"
Where have we heard the word "strategy" recently? You might vaguely recall the launch of Derry GAA's new five year strategy. Most of us won't have either the time or inclination to read such documents (football is played on the pitch, right?), but at times like these, such strategies provide a certain level of curiosity.

It actually provides some degree of encouragement, once you wade through the usual blather. Conditioning was mentioned a number of times with respect to development squads and to the 18-21 age group, where it was mentioned that Derry would 'Develop a High Performance Academy focusing on 18-21 year olds'. Good stuff on the face of it. And this age-group in particular is an extremely important consideration. We've had successful Minor teams in 2002 and 2007, but haven't built on it. It would be fair to say that players are not being worked on effectively enough when they leave Under-18 level, resulting in them not being ready for senior football. It's encouraging to see firstly, that the powers-that-be are aware of this, but better that they are actually doing something about it.

"What are these development squads for anyway? They should be scrapped"
It appears that these squads have only properly evolved over the last two or three years. This year the development is both summer and winter (in the schools) based. There have been two pretty decent minor teams as a result. Well, the 2011 vintage busted against Fermanagh in the first round, but was certainly a good group of players on paper. But taking this year's team into the equation, the quality seems higher than it was, as even the casual observers of Derry minor teams will attest (and our Under-21s weren't a million miles off Cavan this year either). If we had the choice between nothing and squads of players playing together from 15/16/17/18 receiving professional advice and strength and conditioning programmes, Derry supporters would surely choose the latter.

Also, is it really a bad thing that young fellas get to know one another from across the county at an early age? Hopefully it will help to eradicate the parochial mentality that engulfs our club game - a criticism that is often levelled at our senior squad. There will be late developers and lads who fall back but sure that's all part of life. Everything has to evolve from somewhere. So do coaches if you think about it. We need our players and coaches doing the right things as early as possible, and hopefully this will eventually filter through across all levels.

"Fitness is a big problem"  
It has probably struck you that there might be a link between injury and core strength. All the sports articles tell us that anyway. We all know the injuries we've had, not just this year but ongoing for as long as the mind goes back. But it looks like this is something we are also trying to address. By all accounts there was a fairly extensive counsultation process carried out before Anthony Begley was appointed the new fitness officer. A quote off the Derry website from the County Board might explain more:

‘We want the physical development of our players to be managed on a county wide level, from an early age, right up to seniors. It’s a vast area and why we put so much effort into finding the right person. We’re delighted to have Anthony on board and we look forward to the development and roll-out of his associated programmes across each geographical area of the county.’

Again, it sounds like the right people are aware of our fitness and conditioning problems. Perhaps the Derry senior squad haven't benefited from this as yet, but in a few years we will see if our youth players can reap the rewards.

This strategy was in place long before the Derry players boarded the coach to Ballybofey and it is being implemented as we speak. For example, the Derry website advertises a meeting this week where parents of all those who take part in development squads are asked to attend to hear what apparently will be some kind of vision on their sons’ development.

"All them boys are interested in is bricks and mortar. Look at Tyrone, look at Donegal... What are they doing?"
By the sounds of it, they're all trying to copy Owenbeg! Despite the onslaught of deep recession across Western Europe. If the plastic collection buckets outside MacCumhail Park with 'Centre of Excellence fund' sellotaped to them were anything to go by, the O'Donnell men are looking to purchase a brick or two themselves. Good luck to them. The grants Derry received may not be as handy got in the future. It opens up a scenario whereby investment above and beyond our competitors might be possible in the future.

"Our Schools aren't even as successful as they used to be"
The success or failures of St Pat's Maghera are usually trotted out as a barometer for the health of Derry football. It's obviously more complex than that but let's run with it for the craic. In twenty years from 1976-1996 Maghera qualified for 18 out of 20 MacRory Cup finals, winning 11. In the next fifteen years (1996-2012) they qualified for two, winning one. You could say the malaise has been setting in for a while. But the schools have actually been performing reasonably well recently. St Mary's Magherafelt were a kick of the ball away from defeating double Hogan Cup winners St. Colman's in the 2011 MacRory Cup semi-final. St Pat's grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory in the 2012 final. At one point last year, nearly every Ulster Colleges 'A' football trophy that is possible to win resided in St Pat's.

As an aside, our Clubs haven't exactly been setting the world alight either. Post-1993, Derry club sides continued to be strong in the Ulster Club Championship culminating in a trio of successes with the last nearly ten years ago in 2003. Okay, we're in an era of Crossmaglen dominance, but did we take our eye off the ball right across the board?

*

So, where does all that leave us? We all know these lines. Perhaps we've even thought them as we curse at the TV (let's face it, not many actually give the fellas on the teams the support they deserve). Yes, our shop window isn't the prettiest at the minute, but when taking a closer look at the evidence, it seems like there's plenty of people at work on the shop floor trying to improve the product.

A senior team is the result of development undertaken anything up to ten years previous. With that in mind, anyone seeking to draw correlation between existing underage coaching structures and current senior results is conducting flawed analysis. Never in the history of Derry GAA has there been a long term strategy to develop players. On the face of it at least, there now is. There's a huge level of thought and understanding of what is required to drive Gaelic Games in Derry for years to come. It was there before Derry's senior footballers took to the field last weekend, and it will still be there regardless of how well we perform for the remainder of the summer.

There's a ubiquitous Mark Twain quote - that gets bandied about all too often - about an exaggeration of his death. It might be fairly appropriate on this occasion, but let's consider another of his words of wisdom: "A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval." It's about time we were patient about what is going on in Derry football. As we concluded in our analysis of last week's Donegal game, it might well appear to get worse before it gets better, but that doesn't mean we are in a hole we can't get out of. In fact, for once we seem to have the right thinking in place and are not solely reacting to events in the inter-county scene.

At the end of the day we still need talented players and coaches to fulfill our ambitions at the highest level, but there are structures in place to help them thrive and reach those lofty heights. At the very least we should give them a chance.

Donegal v Derry: To have and have not

No question, it was another dark day in the recent history of Derry football at Ballybofey on Saturday. A display reminiscent of the defeats we suffered against Tyrone in the past decade, but in reality we probably have to go back to the late 1980's to find a performance so far off the mark in terms of doing what was necessary to beat the opposition in front of us.

And that's what defeats like Saturday's do. They have us scratching our heads trying to figure out the last time things were this bad. But in the midst of all the hyperbole and tragi-comic post-mortems we can easily forget that Derry came up against a side that are simply playing on a totally different level. A side, it should be remembered, that reached a nadir of their own just two years ago in Crossmaglen. Yet now are viable contenders for All-Ireland glory.

It is easy to blame players and maybe even certain individuals following such a defeat - it's in our psyche as football fans to do just that - but we should remember that no player sets out to play badly and no member of the management team sent the side out to get beaten. When you consider the effort and sacrifices these players have put in for months on end, some coming back from serious injuries after long periods of rehab, it soon becomes apparent that nobody will be hurting more from this defeat than they.

Because of the gulf in class that manifested itself in MacCumhaill park, and the fact that the game was over after 43 minutes (if not before), this was a difficult game to analyse. In truth, if you watch Colm McFadden's goal and the move that preceded it, you would find out all you needed to know about why Donegal won this game and why Derry failed to live with them. Michael Friel had possession and carried the ball into the Donegal half. Here he was met with three Donegal players, with each one more intent on dispossessing the Swatragh man than the last. The inevitable turnover ensues. Suddenly Patrick McBrearty has the ball and the home side break at pace. McBrearty elects to pass to McFadden, but really Donegal had about three men free as Derry struggle to recover. McFadden dispatches clinically to the net.

A neat encapsulation of the story of the game. It highlighted two main problems from a Derry perspective: running into the tackle and being left to watch Donegal as they break at pace.

Unfortunately running into the tackle was a recurring theme for Derry on Saturday. It was a direct result of the number of men Jim McGuiness' side retreated into defensive positions but is also indicative of the immense work-rate they bring out onto the pitch. The Oak Leafers just struggled to get space in the scoring positions as they met challenges a far cry from what they might expect to receive in the All-county league on a Sunday afternoon. These were ferocious tackles, full of intensity and venom. The Derry players had no option but to either go to ground in the hope of winning a free, or give up the ball.

Whilst Derry tried to get men back and work in a similar fashion defensively, their level of fitness and physical conditioning just did not meet the levels required to carry it out. A prime example of this can be seen in the build up to Leo McLoone's first half goal. Before setting McLoone up to sweep the ball to the net, Colm McFadden ghosted around the entire Oak Leaf half-back line without a finger being laid on him. The Derry attackers were never afforded such a luxury.

The second problem - on display during Donegal's second goal - was the ability of the Tír Chonaill men to break at pace through the centre of the oak Leaf defence. Time and again when Derry turned over possession, the Donegal players didn't stand back to admire their hard work, they immediately set off, at pace, down the field in numbers which resulted in the creation of a flurry of chances. Derry weren't able to get the numbers back to prevent the bulk of these from being converted into scores. Mark McHugh, Patrick McBrearty and Frank McGlynn (who was awarded Man of the Match) were constantly up and down the pitch. Neil Gallagher looked like an All-Star. On another day, Donegal might have had another couple of goals. Derry weren't able to support the attack in similar numbers and were subsequently too often left looking for the long-ball option. It wasn't an option at all.

That was more or less that. Donegal's gameplan was carried out with the type of fluidity, intensity and intelligence we've come to expect from them. John Brennan's side had no answer.

Derry's rookie defence were on a hiding to nothing. Chris McKaigue looked comfortable enough for the most part, but his athleticism and footballing ability would mark him out more as a half-back than a full-back. Barry McGoldrick had a decent game in the full-back line and tried to distribute the ball out of defence quickly. John McCamley also fitted in well, putting himself about as he worked between attack and defence. Fitness may have been an issue for the Glen man having just come back from injury, but he can count himself unlucky to be taken off so early.

The Oak Leaf midfield struggled to win primary possession despite Friel and Joe Diver battling hard. One problem was Derry's insistence on hitting their kickouts straight down the middle of the field. At the start of the second half this was Donegal's main method of winning possession. It's hard to lay all the blame for this at the feet of Barry Gillis because kickout strategies must be worked on and constantly practiced on the training field. A cleverly arranged kickout strategy is the sign of a well-prepared team. The Derry minor side were capable of it in Omagh a few weeks back so it's disappointing that their senior counterparts couldn't follow suit. By contrast, Paul Durcan had a lot of joy finding Donegal players on the wing, particularly Michael Murphy and Ryan Bradley. The Derry players looked surprised every time it happened.

The full forward line were starved of service and Paddy Bradley and Emmett McGuckin looked extremely isolated for long periods. McGuckin constantly made intelligent runs and Bradley could have done little more with the ball he received, but too many attacks broke down because the half-forward line could not get into the game - a result of the high pressure put on by the Donegal forwards. Conleith Gilligan could perhaps have been deployed deeper in an attempt to utilise his passing game to bring the Derry forwards into the game quicker, however, it's hard to see how any positional or personnel changes would have affected this horrible result. In fact, so impotent was the Oak Leaf attack that they went almost 50 minutes without scoring from play.

Frustrating times for players, management and supporters alike. Defeat was on the cards from a long way out, and unfortunately the Oak Leafers accepted it too readily.

Overall, not one for the scrapbook, but it's a game and a result that shouldn't just be swept under the carpet. There are some serious lessons to be learned here, both in terms of our own failings and the display of the opposition. It's no secret that Derry have always struggled to cope with teams playing with intense defensive systems, but few of those teams ever played at the level Donegal are currently at. And that's the worry, we're getting left behind, and until we find a cure things will get worse before they get better.

Some other thoughts from Saturday's game:

• Donegal have taken a lot of stick for the way they play, but it would be hard to level any criticism at them for Saturday's performance. They can stifle the opposition as well as get the best out of their key men. Not an easy accomplishment. Despite some apprehensions about their ability to reach last year's heights, themselves and Kildare are very real All-Ireland threats to the current establishment. 
• There's been a lot of talk surrounding the injuries Derry have had, coupled with a spate of retirements. This might certainly have weakened squad depth, but unless we have fifteen men out on the field all working in tandem and performing at a very high intensity, their availability will make little difference when playing teams like Donegal. 
• Having said that, it was encouraging to see Eoin Bradley back on the Championship field in a Derry shirt. Himself and Paddy Bradley had a torrid 2011 and have put in exceptional work just to get out on the football pitch.
• It's been one year exactly this week since Derry defeated Armagh in an Ulster semi-final at Clones. Ten competitive games since. Two wins.
• We were all hoping that Derry's league form would be just that - league form. But Saturday proved that it's not easy to automatically switch to success mode once the Championship comes. In hindsight, if we are getting beat by eight points against Westmeath, is it a surprise Donegal are beating us by ten?
• We need to get more ball-players in the middle third. Midfielders in the modern game need to not only be physical and athletic, but should be able to find a pass and take a score.
• The Derry heads dropped in the second half, but at least the duel between Patsy Bradley and Michael Friel late on added some competitiveness to the side.
• Both Martin McHugh (on BBC) and Tony Davis (RTÉ) claimed that part of the Oak Leafer's problem is the competitive club scene in the county. It's an easy - if not lazy - assumption for people outside of Derry to make, but in reality it's just one of a few fundamental problems existing within our county football scene. Probably worth a volume of postings. 
• We'll get our revenge on Donegal in Round 2 of the qualifiers.

Donegal v Derry: Around the web

It's the day of the game, so no better time to take a look at some of the online interviews and previews of Derry's clash with Donegal at Ballybofey...

Irish Times preview
"Derry’s goal threat is diminished by Eoin Bradley’s absence and they will need to be clinical in kicking points."

Irish Independent preview
Martin Breheny writes... "At face value, it's a massive test for Derry, but, in a different way, it's equally demanding for Donegal."

Hoganstand preview
A lot of stuff you probably already knew, but have a look if you want to refresh your memory.

RTÉ preview
You could save yourself one and a half minutes by not clicking this link. It doesn't even give a prediction on who they think will win. Although the writer believes the following... "Armagh and Tyrone served up entertaining fare last weekend and there is no reason to suggest that another set of neighboring counties won’t do the same." Enough said.

Gerard O'Kane video interview BBC
"Paddy Bradley's leadership qualities are second to none."

Paddy Bradley audio interview BBC
"Ourselves and Donegal always play tight games, whoever takes their chances will prevail."

Joe Diver interview Belfast Telegraph
The Derry midfielder looks ahead to the game... "We have had to bide our time for a year to get another crack at Donegal so to say we will be well motivated would be an understatement."
In the Irish Examiner, Joe also reveals details of a serious eye injury sustained in Australia last year. The type of thing that should make GAA fans appreciate the sacrifices players make to get themselves on the football field.

Jim McGuinness interview
Read this interview if you want to see more stuff like this... "Really it is all about nailing down the key areas in relation to our own game plan. The plan is number one."

StarBets betting preview
Kevin Egan runs his eye over this weekend's football from a betting perspective.

Donegal v Derry: Oakleafers have uphill climb

This kind of thing happens more or less every year. Well, every year since Derry disappeared from the landscape of pre-Championship All-Ireland favouritism, which was roughly 1997. Expectation starts out low - or realistic, depending on your leaning - and everyone is satisfied that the summer will likely be a short one. Then, without much warning, about two days before the first round, the Derry team is named and we reckon it's about as good as anything in the country. Suddenly we're all expecting Derry to win Ulster. Or at the very least, dismiss the poor unfortunate that happens to be standing in our way that coming weekend. And then we'll win Ulster. We all know how that story ends.

Maybe it hasn't been quite as blatant as all that in 2012 as we approach Derry's Championship opener against Donegal, but it's a safe enough bet that optimism in the Oak Leaf county has increased at least slightly this week in the lead up to the game in Ballybofey. In fairness, it couldn't have gone any lower, but there are encouraging noises coming out of the Derry camp, and the team John Brennan has named shows signs that the management are preparing for the Donegal challenge in a pragmatic manner.

But if we crank the realism meter back up a notch or two then we'll come to realise once more that Derry are badly up against it on Saturday. It's not often the bookmakers quote odds of greater than 2/1 about a Derry victory in Ulster, but there are few people across the county and indeed the country that would disagree.

So, how has it come to this? The answer is a simple one: Donegal are the best organised, disciplined and structured side in the country. Jim McGuinness' style of play was the single biggest factor in taking the Tír Chonaill men to the brink of an All-Ireland Final in 2011 and although it has been viciously derided across a seemingly naive media, few could argue with its success. This is a results business.

As far as McGuinness is concerned, 2012 is another chapter in the tale and he believes that his heavily oiled machine should work even more efficiently and effectively having had a year's experience behind it. He'll expect his squad to go one step further this season.

Unfortunately, Derry aren't anywhere near as well developed. As the league campaign proved, we are some way off competing with the likes of Dublin on the biggest stage (something Donegal have shown they are capable of). Defeats against Westmeath and Galway were symptomatic of a Spring campaign that didn't yield the required preparation for Championship football. John Brennan's hands were tied due to a long injury list and was subsequently too often forced to play a makeshift team that prevented the side from practicing any defined plan. It also meant Brennan could not get a clear idea as to what his best team was in terms of personnel. With retirements from the likes of Kevin McCloy, Kevin McGuckin and Enda Muldoon as well as long-term injuries, it was imperative that the league would bring some continuity and consistency of performance. It didn't happen, instead producing more questions than answers.

And in the ten weeks since the 2012 league campaign unraveled once last time in Mullingar on Easter Sunday, good news on the injury front has not been forthcoming. Dermot McBride - Derry's most consistent defender in the last two seasons - is out, as is the Lavey target man Cailean O'Boyle, who was enjoying his best year in an Oak Leaf shirt. On top of that (most significantly of the lot) Eoin Bradley is not fit enough to start in Ballybofey and it appears has not even been named on the substitutes.

It is against this backdrop that we play an excellent Donegal side, on their home turf in an Ulster quarter-final. How's that optimism coming along?

There is some hope however for the Oak Leafers as we approach Saturday's clash. Donegal's league form was nothing special, suffering defeats to Down, Laois, Kerry and Dublin. They had good wins over Cork, Mayo and Armagh but this mixed bag of results suggests they are currently struggling to find consistency and there must be a worry about their ability to just pick up where they left off in last year's Championship. The performance against Cavan is hard to guage considering the lack of intensity the Breffni men brought to the encounter, but it is likely they will be closer to their best on Saturday with four solid weeks of training behind them since.

Another issue Jim McGuinness has is the fitness worries surrounding Rory Kavanagh and Michael Murphy. McGuinness won't name his side until closer to throw-in, but it is expected that the duo will start. Bar Karl Lacey these two are arguably the most important cogs in the Donegal machine. Kavanagh's athletic ability and Murphy's ball-winning prowess and score-taking are big parts of what makes this side tick. They are unlikely to be 100%, but even still, Derry cannot afford to take chances with the ability of these two to run a football game.

A third - only potential - problem facing the Tír Chonaill squad is that of the so-called "second-season syndrome", something we flagged up in our Ulster Championship preview last month. A lot of column inches have been spent on the Kevin Cassidy saga, but with good reason. He was the heartbeat of Donegal in 2011 (and for many seasons before) and his kicking to the proverbial kerb is bound to have some effect on the harmony of the squad and their level of performance in the heat of battle. When playing a system like Donegal's, everyone - first teamers and squad members alike - must all pull in the one direction. If any dissent creeps in, things will fall apart very quickly. Last season everyone bought in, but to do that for a second season will be much more difficult. How long can the Donegal players continue to show the self-sacrificial qualities that have taken them so far? When their backs are against a wall, or they fall behind in a game, surely the desire and belief that highlighted 2011 will be diluted a year on.

As much as that is a possibility this season, if not an inevitability, unfortunately for Derry those cracks will probably not appear for another few weeks.

While there are these minor question marks over Donegal, they are heavy favourites for good reason and Derry will have to do something special to beat them. John Brennan's team selection has hinted at a more defensive strategy for his side than the traditional, open tactics employed last season. No matter where your stomach sits on the scale of puke to pure, most Derry fans would agree that those same tactics - which didn't work against Donegal in last year's Ulster Final - won't work eleven months later. Jim McGuinness has built a side around a solid defence, but it's their forwards that win matches. Their influence must be curtailed.

The signs are encouraging. It appears that John McCamley will play as a sweeper in front of the Donegal duo of Colm McFadden and Patrick McBrearty. Gerard O'Kane is also likely to retreat back from the half forward line. The extra numbers in defence will be utilised in order to break up Donegal's offensive patterns and close the space afforded to the likes of Murphy, Kavanagh and Mark McHugh. The general idea will be to force the Ulster champions into a recycling of possession and tempt them into bringing more numbers forward. Derry will then aim to strike on the counter-attack, hoping that space will have opened up for the pace of Mark Lynch, Paddy Bradley and Enda Lynn. Easier said than done. If such a tactic is indeed employed however, then it might be useful to have Conleith Gilligan playing in a deeper role, as he has the footballing ability to find the sharp direct passes that would help make Derry's attack more fluid. It would also aid the Oak Leaf cause if, when we have possession, Lynch, Bradley and Emmett McGuckin stick to central positions. The bulk of the Donegal defenders will naturally follow which should leave space for the likes of O'Kane, Lynn and even Sean Leo MGoldrick on the flanks. From here, they can both create and weigh in with long-range scores. A kickout strategy that doesn't just involve Barry Gillis kicking the ball through the middle would also help. If Derry have spare men in defence, they should be made use of.

The end game is not only devising, but also implementing a strategy that negates the influence of Donegal's key men whilst allowing the Oak Leafer's scoring talent to express themselves.

There's one problem though - Derry's players are not used to playing in this way. And due to the amount of club games played in recent weeks, John Brennan's time with his squad has probably been much less than he would have liked. New tactics and new ideas need time to bed in, as well as plenty of practice. This Derry squad hasn't had it. A further problem is that the defence named is very inexperienced. McCamley and Eugene Scullion are making their debuts, while Chris McKaigue and Mark Craig are starting a Championship match for the first time in two of the most pivotal positions on the field. Brennan appears to be taking a gamble, but it's hard to think of what else he could have done.

A lot has to go right for Derry to win this. One hope is that the game might open up - thanks to Derry taking an early lead or even a sending off - at which point the Oak Leafers would certainly have enough firepower to win the game. However, all things considered, it's hard to see past a Donegal victory. They have enough experience and enough discipline to see of a dynamic Derry side that might take some time to find its feet. A winning margin in the neighbourhood of 3-5 points certainly wouldn't surprise.

Still, all Oak Leaf fans will travel in hope. But in order for that hope to turn to joy, Derry's gamble in team formation must payoff in terms of breaking Donegal down, and unless this is coupled with each player showing the necessary intensity and stupendous work-rate for a full seventy minutes - something Donegal display as a bare minimum - then this type of game will continue to be a struggle and any real Championship success will continue to elude.