AMIDST the considerable excitement last week about the prospect of Proposal B bringing in a League Championship, with every county still having a shot at the Sam Maguire Cup, there was little mention of bringing back a B Championship.
Yet that was the one certainty for next year's All-Ireland football format, whatever happened, even if Proposal A, for four eight-team geographical conferences, had been passed.
As it is we're sort of back to the status quo ante, with the 'so-called' Super Eights having been consigned to history.
So we return, for 2022 at least, to football qualifiers, with the addition of a second tier Championship for most of the teams in Divisions Three and Four, unless they reach their provincial final.
That 'B Championship' will be known by the more pleasing name of 'The Tailteann Cup', in homage to the annual ancient Irish athletic games.
Yet although there's understandable urgency from the Gaelic Players' Association and other backers of Proposal B to get a tweaked version of that onto the agenda for Annual Congress next February, the Tailteann Cup shouldn't be forgotten until next summer.
There is a real danger that many will do that, however.
A number of delegates at Saturday's Special Congress in Croke Park claimed that there had been insufficient time to consider the mooted changes to the championship format.
If they actually believed that then the rate of change will be slower than continental drift.
The Fixtures Calendar Review Task Force (FCRTF) report was released in December.
December 2019, that is.
Proposals A and B, in only slightly amended forms, were re-iterated early last November, in an updated report from the FCRTF, which proposed a split season as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.
This column pointed out on July 21 this year, ahead of the four provincial football finals, that all the other counties not involved in those matches should already be turning their thoughts to what form the 2022 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship should take.
How many of them bothered doing so before this month?
A League Championship in some form may well be voted in for 2023, whether at February's Annual Congress or yet another Special Congress next autumn - but the GAA really should start thinking seriously now about 2022, and the Tailteann Cup in particular.
That HTT in July noted 'The feedback from the Gaelic Players Association is that a second tier would only be acceptable if it provided a few matches, not just a guaranteed minimum of one.'
However, even Proposal B only allows for a knockout Tailteann Cup.
There is the proviso that the Tailteann Cup winners would earn promotion if they had not already done so, taking the place that was due to go to the runner-up from their division, whether that be Division Three or Four.
GAA CEO Tom Parsons commented: "Why the Tailteann Cup worked in Proposal B is because it was linked to promotion, so even without national broadcasting or it being the curtain-raiser to big games, there was a real tangible, progressive result or reward for winning the Tailteann Cup.
"A Tailteann Cup that sits on its own or is not linked to promotion or demotion could be very similar to the Tommy Murphy Cup that we saw a few years ago. History could repeat itself there. The Tailteann Cup will work well if a system links it to progression."
GPA co-chair Maria Kinsella pointed out that another form of promotion - coverage, exposure - would also be vitally important:
"I just think the promotion of the Tailteann Cup next year is going to be key for players who are going to be playing in it, they don't want to feel like second class citizens in their own organisation.
"You talk about development and one of the main pros of the league-based championship was development and your minimum number of games.
"The Tailteann Cup, if it's not given the credibility that it deserves and not promoted within, why will players continue to dedicate 31 hours a week to it? The sacrifices are huge and player retention is definitely going to be harder in that competition if it is not given the credibility it deserves."
The GAA leadership seemed more confident about the new competition, although blasé might be as apt an adjective.
President Larry McCarthy, asked what assurances he would offer counties likely to be involved in the Tailteann Cup, responded:
"Go out and do it. Go out and promote it. I think I said this during the week - 'Let's try this.' We won't know until we try it, until we do it. But give them every reassurance that what we said previously will take place and then go out and put that into operation…the CCCC will determine the schedule in co-operation with the media guys in here. I assume the Tailteann Cup will get the maximum exposure that it possibly can."
GAA Director-General Tom Ryan stated: "We've made those commitments before and we made them at the time when the thing was being introduced. It's up to us now to deliver on those things but, to be fair, I don't hear an awful lot of negative sentiment or trepidation about that aspect of things.
"I think the counties that will be playing in it will benefit from it. I don't hear anybody recanting from that decision…"
The Tailteann Cup concept was approved at the 2019 Special Congress, just over two years ago.
It's coming, folks. Don't say you weren't warned.
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Some Manchester United supporters had been comparing their manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer favourably to Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp. At least until Sunday.
They pointed out that in his first 105 league games, OGS had collected 194 points, just two less than Klopp in his initial 105.
They ignored that Solskjaer started with a much stronger squad and has been handed far more money to spend in the comparable timeframe, £421m (£314m net) as opposed to £247m for Klopp – the latter with a £30m net profit.
What happened next was that Klopp lost just ONE of his next 66 league matches, winning 57 of them.
Ole has already had his loss, a 5-0 home humiliation. Does anyone really expect him not to lose any of their next six league matches, never mind any of the next 65?
Over OGS's 105 league games Klopp collected 238 points, a total matched by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
That's the scale of the task facing Manchester United – and Solskjaer is not up to it.
Backing him is counter-productive, based only on delusional wishful thinking. There's wanting your club to do well and there's excruciatingly embarrassing loss of credibility in terms of football knowledge.
Kenny Dalglish is a far greater legend at Liverpool, yet he was sacked in his second spell in charge at Anfield, despite winning a trophy (albeit only the League Cup).
Ole's time is up.
