So, we're finally arriving at the final round of league games. We won't remember the 2023 league fondly. In truth, the standard of football has been poor across the board.
David Clifford's comments after the Roscommon game perfectly summed up where we're at currently.
Teams retreating into packed defences, playing monotonous, lateral, safety-first football. Any forward-looking foot-pass that's not a 60:40 sure thing is being refused, lads are continually opting to turn around and pass it backwards.
Overall, there's been a dearth of high-quality games. We're not getting a lot of goals. Mayo account for 25% of all goals scored in Division 1 - the only pity is we could never manage that when I was playing.
One could argue that's down to the weather conditions or that teams aren't fully fit and are still only feeling their way towards peak form.
However, the fear is that it indicates the shape of what's to come in the championship. Is this what we're going to be in for in the summer ahead?
One would hope not. But taking in the whole football landscape, there's probably only a handful of teams that are unafraid to go for it and play with some attacking flair.
So many games of football get bogged down in long, tedious bouts of low-energy, lateral hand-passing in front of congested defences. I find it hard to watch, to be honest and I'd say the majority of people out there would say the same.
How to change it? It's not an easy fix and I'd be reluctant to tinker with the rules as they stand. We've seen the referees have enough in their heads, trying to apply the rules that currently exist. I'm not a fan of the attacking mark, for instance, which added little to the game.
Saturday evening in the Athletic Grounds was particularly grim.
Armagh are frustrating the life out of me. They have excellent individual players - Rian O'Neill, Andrew Murnin, et al - but the system is not working for them. And the proof is there. They scored 1-06 at the weekend. Obviously, Galway set up quite defensively, but when you have players of that quality and can only get 1-06 at home, it's pretty measly.
Prior to Saturday, they only beat Donegal by three points at home. And we know how poor Donegal are at the moment. On the other hand, they were able to amass 0-17 against Mayo when they played with a bit of attacking intent.
Then they went out at the weekend on their home patch against Galway - in a big game, a massive game for them. They knew well the repercussions if they lost it.
And they score 1-06. Even in that, the goal was somewhat of a fluke and quite controversial. Taking out the dodgy goal, they were actually well beaten, in reality.
Galway contributed to the spectacle - or lack thereof. But one could absolve them a little, given they could legitimately argue they were tailoring their tactics in line with what they were facing, as they did in last year's semi-final. And they have shown an ability to transition quickly from defence to attack and adapt their game as needs must.
While they're not averse to falling into an ultra-defensive shape, we've seen that they can also be devastating up front. They found a way to win on Saturday.
For Armagh, their issues are far more pressing. You could hear the frustration in Kieran Donaghy after the game. He acknowledged it wasn't good enough and if selectors are saying that publicly, we can imagine what the supporters are saying amongst themselves.
Worryingly, they seem to be wilting or fizzling out in the second half of games. Against Mayo, they were very dominant in the first half. In the second half, with the exception of the late surge, they were very poor.
Down in Tralee, in the second half with the game in the melting pot, they didn't score for 22 minutes. Not good enough. Again at the weekend, they just didn't look like scoring enough in the second half.
People are talking about Armagh challenging for Ulster. But Derry are so far ahead of them at the moment.
Even Tyrone, who had been written off based on their form over the past 15 months, are looking stronger than Armagh. They're suddenly adding a bit of momentum and look like more credible challengers in Ulster than their Division 1 neighbours, who've been widely fancied all spring.
Armagh have great supporters and they create a super atmosphere, both at home and an away. The wall of noise they created in Croke Park in last year's quarter-final against Galway was incredible.
It's worth reiterating that Armagh haven't won anything. Their Ulster record over the past decade is really quite poor. We're basing their high rating entirely on potential. And potential doesn't necessarily mean anything, going forward.
Their clash in Omagh on Sunday afternoon will tell us a fair bit. On form, I'd be inclined to back Tyrone at the minute. And later in the summer, I'd say they'd be likeliest contenders to topple Derry in Ulster.
Elsewhere, another Tyrone legend is emerging as one of the big winners of the 2023 league. The job Mickey Harte - and his assistant Gavin Devlin - have done in Louth is exceptional.
From where they were, in Division 4 in 2021 when he took over, to where they are now, challenging for promotion to the top tier, is a remarkable rise.
That they've battled their way into a promotion shootout game against Dublin is all the more impressive when you consider that they've lost both Ciarán Byrne and Sam Mulroy to injury along the way. And still they're ekeing out a results.
Beating an in-form Cork team at the weekend - for the first time in over 50 years - was another landmark victory.
They're enjoying their football and you can see the trust they have in the management set-up and the confidence that has bred throughout the team.
Harte's teams are always extremely hard to break down and put away - and they always keep coming at you, for 70 minutes. We saw them surge past Meath in the final quarter. Even Derry, who are clearly among the top six teams in the country, found life very hard in Ardee.
It shows that you don't necessarily need an enormous pool of players or massive financial backing, if you get a core group of players who are committed and have belief in the process, you can go far. They're limited in what they have but they use their resources really well.
Do I think they're going to beat Dublin this weekend? No. But it's an ideal opportunity to test themselves against an elite team ahead of the Leinster championship.
In beating Meath and Kildare in successive weeks, they've earned the tag of the second best team in Leinster.
They've essentially nailed down their place in the Sam Maguire race - barring a ridiculous sequence of results in the provinces - and they now have a prosperous and exciting summer ahead.
