Former All-Ireland SFC winning manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice believes that several things have gone wrong in Derry at once and says it will take an improbable resurrection to salvage their championship.
Branded as one of the top three alongside Dublin and Kerry after winning the league in April, Derry's season has unravelled in shocking fashion since then, beginning with the four-goal Donegal ambush in Celtic Park in their Ulster opener.
The six-week hiatus was supposed to have replenished them but they were soundly beaten by serial bogey team Galway in the first game of the round-robin and followed it up with a terrible capitulation at home to Armagh on Sunday.
With three losses from three, they have the existence of the contentious preliminary quarter-finals to thank for the fact that their summer isn't already effectively over, but Fitzmaurice doubts whether they have the heart or the morale to rescue their season from here.
"If you strip it back and look at the facts and the nitty gritty of the situation, they're down a lot of key players, particularly their half-back line which was a springboard for them attacking-wise.
"Other teams have got more comfortable defending (them). Armagh got huge credit for their offensive game but they were outstanding defensively.
"The old Derry attack was built on those one-on-one situations and the man beating his direct opponent in front of him. Armagh didn't allow them for most of the game to beat them to create those overlaps.
"Their press is broken. It needs to be fixed. It's costing them. It cost them big-time against Donegal.
"I said on the first night of the league in Tralee when all of the Glen lads played, I thought it was madness. In terms of championship, it was madness.
"I think fatigue is an issue. I'm not sure what their S&C situation is. Whether it's fatigue or whether they've just gone off the boil. They certainly weren't able to live with Armagh's pace and running.
"In the short-term, what can they do for the Westmeath game? Look, obviously, they're going to have to shore things up at the back. They can't be as exposed.
"The biggest issue they have is confidence. Their confidence has to be on the floor."
"Westmeath are going to fancy that game. And even if Derry manage to get through it, you'd wonder do they really want to?
Derry's summer will certainly not survive a fourth successive defeat with the final group game against Westmeath looming. The midlanders, who took the Division 3 title on the day before Derry won the top tier crown, suffered a narrow loss at home to Galway, Ray Connellon's loose pass in the 67th minute allowing Shane Walsh to pounce and ram home the decisive score.
Dessie Dolan's side, landed in a group with Galway and Armagh for the second year running, were inches away from dumping out Tyrone last year and Fitzmaurice feels they'll fancy their chances against a vulnerable and shaken Derry outfit.
"Westmeath played quite well again yesterday. Obviously, the pass for the Shane Walsh goal was probably the difference in the game.
"Westmeath are going to fancy that game. And even if Derry manage to get through it, you'd wonder do they really want to? After losing three games and being in the position they're in?
"It'll take some resurrection now if they manage to do anything for the rest of the championship because they're in a bad place."
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