You don’t have to be an anti-Dub to have left Croke Park on Saturday evening feeling utterly deflated at what you had just witnessed.

A master of his trade is asked to consider how the apprentices are faring.

The jump from underage to senior football is major and a well-documented one.

Protect the D and Pepper The D: Kerry know that an aerial bombardment is coming their way and they must protect the D with their lives. Tadgh Morley and Jason Foley have the ability to break even with the Tyrone duo of Donnelly and McShane but naturally they need some help.

Seamus Moynihan has called on referee Maurice Deegan, his umpires, and linesmen to offer David Clifford a greater level of protection in Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

Fake football was the order of the day in Omagh as the biggest indictment of a Championship format unfit for purpose was served up.

An irate Mickey Harte delivered a damning assessment of the GAA’s black card rule after his nephew Peter picked up a third in four games to leave him suspended for Saturday’s Super 8s clash with Roscommon.

Tyrone blew Cavan away as they charged into the Super 8s series with a ruthless demolition of the beaten Ulster finalists.

Twelve months ago against Mayo in the famous ‘Newbridge or Nowhere’ Qualifier, quality Kildare forwards like Niall Kelly, Paddy Brophy, Paul Cribben, and Daniel Flynn were inspirational.

Around 45 minutes from throw-in time, with the sense of anticipation building in Kingspan Breffni Park ahead of Donegal’s semi-final win over Tyrone, a familiar figure was calmly stepping out distances between the cones he was setting down and the poles he was plopping in.

Ryan McHugh doesn’t remember much about his father Martin leading Cavan to an Ulster title, but he says his family will always have a special bond with the county.

Donegal swept past Tyrone to book their place in the Ulster SFC final, scoring a first win over fierce north-west rivals Tyrone in four Championship clashes as they triumphed by four points at Kingspan Breffni Park.

Tyrone boss Mickey Harte is sweating on the fitness of Brian Kennedy and Kieran McGeary ahead of Saturday’s Ulster SFC semi-final with Donegal.

Your morning headlines.

Halloween night is over. No more apple bobbing or scary stories or playing pranks allowed. The serious announcement of the All-Stars. An All-Star — a principal performer during the 2018 GAA Senior football season. They have been announced, writes John Divilly.

It’s All-Stars week and in the interest of keeping you informed, there is a change in the selection process from last year — an outfield player can be chosen for an award in an area other than the one they were nominated in, writes John Fogarty 

Struggling as we are for an original metric to measure this Dublin football team by, perhaps the candidates for an All-Ireland final man of the match offers an informative perspective.

Dublin 2-17 Tyrone 1-14

Margin of error is something a lot of observers don’t consider when analysing a referee’s performance. Refs don’t go out with a plan to make mistakes but neither do they believe they are going to get everything 100% correct.

For me, this current Dublin team is the best ever and even now — a year out — there’s almost a certain inevitability about the five in a row.

Our five-time All-Ireland-winning columnist expects Mickey Harte’s defensive set-up to frustrate Dublin.

Croke Park will surely be filled with a very different type of atmosphere next Sunday afternoon than the peaceful holiness brought by Pope Francis last weekend.

Last week the PwC All-Star players of the month for July and August were revealed.

Well, I have to say that the Tyrone-Monaghan match was one of the poorest All-Ireland semi-finals I’ve seen in a long, long time, writes Oisin McConville.

YESTERDAY’S events in Thurles told us more about a man who wasn’t on the field than one who was. If anybody was in doubt about the Westmeath man taking charge of the All-Ireland final, they aren’t now.

Most Cork football people I spoke to after the Munster final said it was the worst ever, writes Paddy Kelly.

Laois are on the lookout for a new manager after Eamonn Kelly stepped down after two years in charge.

The word all last week was that Tyrone might have been happier playing this one in Clones.

Monaghan 1-18 Tyrone 1-16: Typical, really. Murphy’s Law.

Our writers analyse the weekend’s GAA talking points...

Manchester City win the league hitting the 100-point mark, 18 points more than Manchester United and 25 more than Liverpool and yet City haven’t been able to beat either in recent games. 

Mickey Harte believes Dublin could be more vulnerable this year than they have been for a long time and he questions whether they will have the hunger to go deep and long into the summer.

Tyrone’s top scorer Lee Brennan has emerged as a doubt for the big Ulster SFC opener against Monaghan on May 20.

Tyrone 2-14 - Mayo 0-8: After what he described as his team’s best performance in years, Tyrone manager Mickey Harte took aim at those who had been critical of Tyrone’s tactical approach this year.

Only as good as your last game. That axiom, irrespective of how fair or true it is, sticks hard in elite Gaelic games, writes John Forgarty

With his club season curtailing his involvement in the early rounds of the Allianz Football League, Colm Cavanagh is sceptical about the chances of being marked absent from county duties come April.

The level of scrutiny Gaelic footballers are subjected to is taking the enjoyment out of the game, according to Kieran Donaghy.

Limerick’s John Kiely and Cork’s Ronan McCarthy are among those inter-county managers who may not be able to field players from their senior county championship-winning clubs in this year’s Allianz Leagues.

Like their last two All-Ireland final clashes, champions Dublin have pipped Mayo by one in the 2017 PwC All-Stars, picking up seven to Mayo’s six.

Joe Kernan has admitted that the long-term future of the International Rules series remains uncertain, but the Ireland manager believes the concept remains popular among players and can flourish if arrangements are tweaked.

For the first time in the history of the PwC All-Stars, there are four candidates for the footballer of the year including two goalkeepers, David Clarke and Stephen Cluxton, writes John Fogarty.