AFTER HIS MANAGER Jim Gavin “accepted full responsibility” earlier this week, Dublin star Bernard Brogan says that he and his players must shoulder the blame for the 2013 All-Ireland champions’ defeat to Donegal in this year’s semi-final.
Just why Dublin lost, is harder for the former Footballer of the Year to explain but he has some ideas.
“It’s hard to know really – Jim held his hands up – but I think the players themselves would say the same.
“Me personally, missing a couple of frees at an important time in the game where we were six points down and could have started something. Everyone else is saying the same, Diarmo [Connolly] missing a couple of chances, Kevin [McManamon] said he missed one that he never misses in Croke Park.
“It was strange how all these happened at the same time.”
Brogan also admits he was surprised that Donegal were able to create so many goal chances and suggests the result may have been different if Dublin had raised the green flag first.
“We probably didn’t expect Donegal to get two or three goals on us. We’d been so ready to go forward and we just got caught on the counter a couple of times.
“In fairness to Donegal – on the first one – if [Eoghan] O’Gara’s ball to me been a foot forward and I might have been able to steer it into the net or, if Diarmo’s ball had hit the corner, it might have been a different game and we’d all be talking about Dublin today being All-Ireland champions, you never know.
“But that’s the bounce of the ball and, in fairness, in the past we’ve had a bit of luck. In 2011 we had the bounce of the ball where it has went our way. Sometimes these things don’t go your way but as players we’d be disappointed that we didn’t give a good account of ourselves and push and ask the questions of Donegal that we would have liked to.”
Brogan says the most disappointing aspect of the defeat was that he and his fellow players felt as if they’d more to offer the game than perhaps they did.
“It’s one thing walking off the pitch after losing, after giving it your all and saying, ‘we asked all the questions, we threw everything at them and they came out the better team’.
“But when you come out and you feel as if you haven’t given everything that you could or you haven’t done enough, it hurts the players and, me personally, I’d be very disappointed.”
While Brogan is yet to re-watch the game, the Dublin players have met with Jim Gavin in the wake of the defeat to debrief and try move forward as a unit.
“I haven’t watched the game back yet.
“We met up after the game and we had a good chat. Jim put us in together and we had a very honest chat about what happened and where we’re going and we’re going to put a line in the sand and move on.
“We were obviously going into club championship the following week. It was good to meet up and have that chat. If we hadn’t had it, I was very disappointed coming into the meeting but I did feel a lot better coming out of it.
“We had a very open conversation and everyone came away from it a lot better than they did coming into it. Still doesn’t change the fact of where we were and what happened but at least we can move on and take lessons from it.”
good god has there ever been a result that’s been dragged out to the death as this? the Dubs lost to the better team, so enough with the post-mortems, get over it and stop treating it like its a national disaster!
Well who else would you blame?!
Over confident.
Now get over it and win it next year!
Jeez, God forbid one of the Dublin squad admit the better side won on the day, they’re all just saying how they were the bad side!
Not one of them(from what I’ve been reading anyway) has said Donegal played well! They’re all saying it was their bad play. Yes, they didn’t play as good as the usually did but Donegal played fantastically and it sickens me a little reading these articles without a good word going to Jim or the boys.
Sure that’s because it was all down to Dublin having a bad day, nothing else. Remember they were supposed to be unbeatable so it couldn’t possibly have been down to the other team being better than them
He had a terrible game good he can admit that . Connoly and Flynn were the only good players , it is about time we moved onto next year !
How come they were all having a great game up until Donegal started wrestling control? Couldn’t it be that the champions from 2012 were just better on the day. And that their manager had done his homework.
As a Donegal man I’d say still man for man Dublin are number 1 and there’s the run of he green between Mayo, Kerry, Donegal. But hey it’s knockout not league so that’s the way if goes.
I’ll always remember the Dublin point scoring in the first half as much as donegal’s turnaround- some shooting by Flynn in particular.
Build a bridge Brogan
Brogan doesnt half love himself, constantly in the media trying to keep his profile up even tho he is well passed it
Well past it scored 2-3 twelve months ago in the all Ireland final not bad for a player that’s well past it
Well that is from the past…brutal this year just waiting for handy scores…its good to see neil mcgee finally left him out of his pocket for this interview!!
“If O’Gara’s… If Dermo’s….it might have been a different game and we’d all be talking about Dublin today being All-Ireland champions” – Possibly Bernard but there was the little matter of Kerry to be beaten as well. No guarantees that that would have happened or maybe this supposition is just further evidence of Dublin’s confidence growing in to arrogance.
The Dublin players management and supporters all gave Donegal the credit they deserved for winning the semi final in the aftermath of that game there were no excuses the better team won on the day . The same way the better team won last Sunday . If Tipperary win tomorrow we will see how The gracious Kilkenny supporters react to it.
That’s a tradition. As Martin McHugh said when Spillane said that Kerry class came through “the best team won on the day”. It’s a good tradition.
Ah sctatch the surface of every culchie and you find a dub hating bogger.
Can we get a translator here please?
Might need a spell checker too *though
Brogans not past it. Fact is his fellow Dublin forwards have come one greatly and are able to tot up the scores themselves without relying too heavily on brogan like in the past.
Who else are you meant to blame fellows?