“It’s very hard to know what will keep the people on TV happy.”
Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney was in fine form after his side secured a dramatic victory over Galway to secure their spot in the quarter finals.
Galway looked set to top the group, but in a topsy turvsey day that saw Tyrone draw with Westmeath, the Orchard county ended up on top, while the Tribesmen finished second.
The drama was incredible as there were upsets in every direction – Cork beating Mayo, Donegal beating Monaghan, and Kildare beating Roscommon.
In recent weeks, pundits, former players and fans had been critical of the new group stage format, saying that it was boring, and not entertaining.
However, after yesterday’s grand finish, McGeeney had a message for the naysayers.
“It’s very hard to know what will keep the people on TV happy. I know what keeps the supporters happy, more games, more competitive games.
“Every game we’ve been in was competitive. A couple of years ago we were complaining that there weren’t enough games. Now we’re saying there’s too many.
"There's a lot of empty vessels out there"
Kieran McGeeney addresses Armagh's critics after the win over Galway that has sent them directly into the All-Ireland quarter-finals
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“There was crying about dead rubbers and now there’s no dead rubbers and that is no good either. You have to sit back and look at it. In some of the games today, everybody was fighting for every single score.
“To me, the system is much better. It’s not the leadership of the GAA I’d be giving credit to, the teams have really leaned into it.”
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Related links:
- Tyrone’s scoring stats are a big concern for Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan
- The absolutely banging draw for next weekend’s All-Ireland preliminary quarter finals
- ‘Tyrone supporters were baying for blood’ Ciaran Whelan recalls battle of Omagh
- Tyrone manager Brian Dooher sheds light on Cathal McShane situation
