Should we give up football?

What sports do we punch above our weight in?

We are not a tiny island nation .....roughly 11th largest island on the planet. We are also a very wealthy country, 3rd wealthiest in the world - GDP Per Person. Admittedly its a terrible measure, but by any reasonable measure we are a wealthy country. We should be doing a lot better. 

The lack of a league with 10-15 full time professional squads with academies attached is a major drawback. 

There's something going on here!

Rugby doesn't have to be skill free. France, Fiji, Japan or Portugal can play a risky type of game that Ireland never would.

Hurling hasn't been destroyed, like Gaelic Football, because mass defence is a useless tactic. It's probably not an accident that this game is ancient - it's creation predates the national fear of being creative or taking a risk.

And if you are creative then you directed towards the arts. Ireland produces writers and actors, not ball players.

We are cleaning up at the Oscars, but we don't have a midfield - it can't be a coincidence!

razzmatazaz wrote: You're underselling Longford, Trap.

 I will make the exception for Glorious Granard.

Richie Sadlier said same when he came back after he retired from playing. He said when he left to go to England teenagers here were training 2 nights a week and a game at the weekend. He came back ten years later it was the very same - even for the top level of young lads here. Meanwhile over in Millwall the u-10s trained 5 nights a week and a game at the weekend.

Whatever your opinion on whats "too much" - its that level of hours spent from a young age that produces "talented" players - look at the amount of good young players England produce. Theses are a direct result of all the academies, attached to professional clubs, across England - with kids putting in the hours similar to Millwall from a young age.

Duff tried to implement similar at Shamrock Rovers when he was there, taking his learnings from England - straight away he got big push back from parents.

A lot of people here think anything approaching serious commitment is "too much".  If we want to produce a consistent production line of good players this attitude needs to change.

There is some strange national aversion to risk at work that becomes very obvious in sport. Football teams have always struggled to score - apart from Robbie Keane, who was a complete freak in Irish terms.

The rugby team - functional. Gaelic football - taken over and ruined by defensive tactics. The women's hockey team reached a world cup final by grinding out penalty shoot-out wins.

The nick-a-goal cult is everywhere!