Paddy Heaney does an excellent job in today's Irish News of questioning what these so-called analysts expected from Sunday's game, and how the physicality shown is something that has been entrenched in our games since Mrs Hayes doors were first darkened all those years ago.
Why were Jarlath Burns, Pat Spillane and co. so surprised?
This was always going to be a horrible game, not a fantastic, open contest between two footballing sides. If this was the level of expectation held by these 'pundits', then they haven't got the footballing knowledge to be commenting on the television.
Burns' reacion was a particular mystery. Before the match he had said that the game would be "physical and attritional", so why his jaw sat on the floor in shock at the niggly game he had just witnessed is beyond me.
Aside from the OTT high-moral response from all quarters, it appears that the general level of punditry on the TV is poorer than ever.
It is littered with cliches and lazy, generalistic analysis that offers very little insight into how two teams lined out in order to ultimately win or lose a game.
Two years ago, after the debacle against Monaghan at Casement Park, Martin McHugh labelled Derry a "disgrace", chiefly because of their insipid performance and their inability to utilise the talents of Paddy Bradley. On Sunday, he complained that Derry were "too reliant on the Bradleys".
Sometimes you can't win with these guys! Yes, the Bradleys hit 1-5 between them against Monaghan, but in the last ten minutes, Derry's four unanswered points came from James Kielt (two), Joe Diver and Paddy Bradley. This hardly shows an over-reliance on the Glenullin man. Analysis at its very laziest.
Meanwhile, over on RTÉ, Pat Spillane merely repeated what McHugh said about the Bradleys. That was all he could offer regarding Derry's chances for the remainder of the campaign. He also said Derry "lacked variety" in their play, while Colm O'Rourke opined that overall Derry were a "limited" team.
Perhaps these opinions will be borne out (let's hope not), and at times on Sunday Derry did look limited. But they were limited by an energetic, defensive Monaghan side in an extremely tense and ugly environment. Yet they pulled away for victory. Under the circumstances surely this showed variety enough.
The game will bear little significance to how Derry play during the rest of the summer, and should be treated as such.
It's poor stuff from these analysts who wheel out the same rhetoric depending on whether Derry have won or lost a game. They only supply us with routine, generic drivel that barely comes close to the realm of opinion, and offers little match-insightment for the viewer.
As Paddy Heaney touches on today, Joe Brolly is the only one who seemed to understand what was happening during Sunday's game (sad state of affairs indeed!).The rest are blinded by expecting classics every week.
To Spillane, McHugh, Burns et al: let's get the heads out of the sand lads and start talking sense like you are paid to do.
Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.
No comments:
Post a Comment