Rory Gallagher says a penalty shoot-out is a “ludicrous, farcical and unfair” way to end a Championship game.
The Derry boss, who has guided the county to a first All-Ireland semi-final since 2004, reckons it should be ‘next score wins’ to decide games that finish level after extra-time.
Gallagher’s comment came in the wake of Galway’s All-Ireland quarter-final penalty shootout victory over Armagh.
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Derry are set to meet Galway in Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final, a repeat of the 1998 and 2001 encounters at the same stage of the competition, both won by the Connacht side.
Speaking about penalty shootouts, labelled ‘winner on the day’ by the GAA, former Donegal and Fermanagh manager Gallagher said: “Absolutely ludicrous, farcical, unfair.
“I am not sure who was saying about copying other sports, Pádraic (Joyce). There are things to be learned from other sports. It’s not a skill that is overall throughout the team – definitely not.
“I do not understand that if it is not going to be a replay, (then) next score wins. That’s fair. It’s something like, you attack, we attack and it may go on.
“It is knife-edge and it’s a better way than the pressure being put on players, especially for players who are not accustomed to taking them (penalties).
“There are a lot of players who don’t take them for the club and even taking the frees off the ground now is not a skill that everybody shares.”
Gallagher continued: “I think Galway and Armagh both said they’d be happy to play a replay the week after, and the semi-final the week after. To me, that would be fair and practical.
“A replay once you get to your provincial final. If there is a four-week gap after the provincial finals, why not play the replay the following week?
“As well as that, there is another day out and another experience for the players, the supporters and the whole public. Would the whole of Ireland not have wanted Galway and Armagh to have gone at it again?”
Meanwhile, Gallagher says he was proud of how his Derry players responded to the Division Two hammering by Galway back in March, which ended their promotion hopes.
The 11-point Owenbeg defeat, where Derry shipped four goals, was a major setback at the time, but the Oak Leaf men stuck together.
They went on to win a first Ulster title in 24 years, defeating three Division One sides along the way – All-Ireland champions Tyrone, Monaghan and Donegal.
Derry then ousted Clare in the All-Ireland quarter-finals, hitting five goals to set up a rematch with Galway in this weekend’s All-Ireland semi-final.
“The important thing was the way we all reacted to it (Galway defeat),” said Gallagher.
“We were very hurt and very sore about the way we weren’t competitive. It was over after 25 or 26 minutes. There is no doubt about that.
“The way we stuck together and remained very, very calm in how to deal with it and understood what went wrong and why it went wrong.
“There was a huge prize on offer. If we’d won, we’d have gone up and if we drew there was a good chance we’d go up. I would be very proud of how the players stayed in the moment, stayed united and understood what happened.
“We were a bit nervy the next day against Meath, but we got the job done. We played some very good football in the first 20 minutes (against Meath) and then missed a penalty, but reacted again.
“If we look back on the bigger scheme of things, we’d have loved to have got to Division One. You just can’t go up and up and up. Being part of a team means having difficult days.”
Gallagher points to the example of Dublin, “the greatest Gaelic Football team” he says he’s ever seen.
“We all know the difficult days they’ve had,” he continued.
“In 2009, they were annihilated by Kerry. In 2008, a lot of those players were beaten by Tyrone.
“In 2010, they fluffed their lines when they should’ve beaten Cork in a semi-final. They had a bad day in 2012 and a bad day again in 2014.
“We are not comparing ourselves to them. We are comparing the situation in the sense that you need opportunities to learn, to look at yourself and be aware of what you did wrong.”
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