KEVIN CASSIDY: The demise of the Dubs

A FEW games was to be expected, but going four games without a win in the league is a crisis for this current Dublin team.

It just makes you laugh when you cast your mind back to three or four years ago when the whole country was crying out for Dublin to be split into two because of their dominance.

In any walk of life or in any sport everything has a cycle, and it was just a matter of time before the Dublin team’s dominance came to an end.

The arguments were made at the time about the levels of funding that Dublin received along with their numbers that they can pick from but, in essence, what happened was a group of once in a generation footballers and human beings came together for the one cause.

Looking in from the outside, you could see that this group of players obviously sat down and discussed the fact that they were in a special place and they were hell-bent on taking maximum gains when they were operating at the very top.

When we think back to some of the football that that particular team played and also how they carried themselves as people, what they achieved was simply incredible. They certainly made hay when the sun shone.

Those players squeezed every last ounce of energy out of their bodies and gathered every medal available to them so naturally once they were done it was going to be extremely difficult to replace them.

The list is endless. The Brogans, Philly McMahon, Michael Darragh McCauley, Paul Flynn, Paddy Andrews, Eoghan O’Gara, Cian O’Sullivan…these names will be remembered in 50 or 60 years’ time

So, what else do you expect but a dip in form from the Dubs.

I feel sorry for Dessie Farrell, as Dessie bleeds blue and when he took that job he knew exactly what was coming down the tracks in terms of a total rebuild, but he never shied away from the task as he tries to rebuild his beloved Dublin.

Before we write them off completely, I would like to point out although Dublin have definitely come down a notch or two – and that now means they are now operating at the same level as the other top two or three teams in the country.

Before this, Dublin were streets ahead and nobody could get next or near them. This rebuild means that now things have become competitive.

I’ve read a few papers and listened to a few podcasts and some people seem to think that this Dublin team are a shambles but ask yourself the question.

In the middle of the summer, if they faced off against your county would you back against them? Once they add Con O’Callaghan and James McCarthy into their starting line-up that automatically pick things up a notch or two.

After last weekend‘s victory, I can sort of understand the joy and jubilations of the Kildare players and supporters with the Dubs dominating teams like Kildare over the last 10 to 15 years. But I couldn’t help but think that those scenes will come back to bite them on the arse come summertime.

I do expect Dublin to get tested a little more in Leinster this summer but please do not be fooled into thinking that they won’t still win the Leinster #Championship and compete for the All-Ireland title.

The Dubs will bank that hurt and criticism they are getting at this moment and once they have their squad back and the weather improves, I fully expect them to dish out some punishment and revenge. Con O’Callaghan, Ciaran Kilkenny, Brian Fenton, Niall Scully, Johnny Cooper Brian Howard….they haven’t gone away you know!