No running scared from Croker non-events

In the round robin, Group 2 has gone to form so far and old friends are tossing out grenades.

Philly McMahon accused Mayo of running scared after the county board requested that the neutral venue game against Dublin not be played in Dublin's home stadium.

I can no longer confirm whether Mayo are running scared or not. But certainly, there's not much in the Croke Park atmosphere that would terrify you these days.

From my vantage point on the couch, Dublin's opening group game against Roscommon at GAA HQ did not seem like the grandest of occasions. 11,167 paying patrons were attracted into Europe's fourth largest stadium to watch the All-Ireland champions. We eventually discovered as much, the GAA having declined to announce the figure off their own bat.

Having drawn the short straw, I was on punditry duty for the Leinster quarter-final against Meath - which attracted a comparatively bumper crowd of 21,000. As regards generating the most noise, the seagulls were at least given a run for their money that day.

The time has surely has come to call a halt to these dismal spectacles. At this stage, I think Croke Park should be reserved for All-Ireland semi-finals and finals and no more.

The GAA probably made a mistake in the first place in allowing Dublin to nominate Croke Park - the national stadium, which hosts our biggest games - as their home ground. Parnell Park, Dublin's official ground which they hardly ever play in, would have been more than sufficient for Saturday's game. Indeed, in a more intimate venue, it might have been possible to get an atmosphere going.

Philly probably wouldn't agree. I know he always fancied his own ability to rile Mayo players. He's written in the past about the brief ruckus he caused on the way down