Stephen Cluxton had made the match-defining error when he got himself sent off and after that game a wounded Tommy Lyons finished himself off by criticising the young keeper publicly to such an extent Cluxton nearly walked away to sign for St Patrick's Athletic. Now the same two positions are held down by the latest Dublin culprits if you listen to the majority of the capital's fans. Paul Caffrey hasn't got to an All Ireland final. Cluxton gave a ludicrous pass at a crucial time against Kerry last week, but to blame either is unfair.

For some, Pillar Caffrey is not a likeable figure. There was his run-in with John Morrison last year, there was his run-in with Ryan McMenamin this year and he even had the audacity to confront John Bannon at half-time last week after his side gotten many debatable decisions in the opening 35 minutes and got away with continuous goading of the Kerry backs. But after the game he never publicly criticised Cluxton, and he is a manager with complete player support, despite what the rest of the country makes of him.

Sure, there are some things he might have done differently last week just as there were each time his side has left the All Ireland series. His three championship defeats since taking charge have all involved the game of the season but he has never come up with a different way to win a match.

Each time it's a shoot-out but Dublin must realise now there is one game each year they have to win in an alternative manner. Against Kerry, Dublin thought of themselves as too high up the mountainside.

They concentrated on how to win and ignored what should have been the first premise against a superior side . . . how to stop Kerry winning.

Criticism suits in this case.

Blame doesn't because while some things might have been done differently, Caffrey and his team again came up against a better side with better players and chased them all the way in a pulsating game.

The criticsim by an armada of ex-Dublin players is therefore unfair and to call for his head when there is nobody better suited is a pointless reaction.

Besides, in three years in charge Caffrey has won successive Leinster titles . . . an impressive feat the next manager will ultimately be judged against despite people looking past it so easily now. It's the first time that's happened since Pat O'Neill was in charge and the latter had a better team. It took O'Neill four Leinsters to finally win his All Ireland and Caffrey must be given the same chance.

It's incredibly difficult to see this Dublin team pulling themselves off the curb yet again and winning one, but it's impossible to see them doing it without Ciaran Whelan. He took over the Kerry game for large parts of the second half and it was his performance during that spell which raised everyone else's game. Shane Ryan is one of the most hard-working, honest footballers in the country but he's a number two in the middle. Darren Magee is no Whelan and beyond that there is a void. In fact, across the team there appears to be little following the current crop and as players drop off like winter wasps over the coming years, this Dublin team will be swallowed by the pack in Leinster.

The county's last underage All Ireland came in 2003 and from that under-21 side, Paul Griffin, Bryan Cullen, Conal Keaney and Alan Brogan started against Kerry. The county has not won a minor All Ireland since 1984 and, more worryingly, they have been weak at minor provincial level for four seasons running.

It's why next season could be Dublin's last chance to win an All Ireland for some time.

Whelan is likely to end his career after 2008 and he is the key to Dublin. They've failed to find a full-back to replace Paddy Christie and it's impossible for a team to compete without a number three and a midfield. That's what is facing Dublin in the very near future and for all their forward glitz it won't plaster over the cracks that will open up elsewhere. There is a lull similar to the late '90s coming very soon.

Of the team that started Tommy Lyon's last game in 2003, only seven started last weekend. And of those, Shane Ryan wore the number two jersey and Colin Moran lined out at wing-back. For all the worries in 2004 regarding Caffrey not changing the set-up enough, he has revolutionised this side and made it his. This Dublin team may never get to that All Ireland final but they are still his team. And while they may be sinking, the captain must be let go down with his ship.