In his Sunday Independent column, Joe Brolly has offered a bracingly blunt take on what's preventing the Mayo Gaelic footballers from reaching their Everest.
He devotes a unnecessary amount of words to dismissing the proposition that Mayo's difficulties relate back to an alleged curse that was placed in 1951.
Blaming it all on the curse is not the most cutting edge of analyses. Presumably, there aren't too many Mayo football people who hang everything on the curse.
The story is headlined 'Mayo have to realise they are not being hampered by a curse - just shit defending.'
The phrase 'shit defending' is repeated frequently throughout the piece and Brolly believes that, in addition to all their talents, this Mayo team are characterised by 'shit defending'.
'Shit defending' was a feature of all Mayo's recent championship losses, the 2012 and 2013 All-Ireland finals and last year's semi-final, as well as their most recent victory against Galway.
Another disaster four minutes later, when Dublin simply walked the ball through the danger zone and Brogan, unmarked this time, flicked it into the empty net. Game over. Not a curse, just shit defending.
'Shit defending' is a very up-front way of putting it but it seems more scientific than just painting the team as 'chokers'.
Read more: Is 'Bottlers' The Most Overused Term In GAA?
