Armagh next steps

[yellowcard]

At least that's out of the way and the vote was unanimous and we can move on ahead for next year. The whole process was a fudge from the beginning and I think the county board got the result they wanted all along. Personally I think he deserves one more year on the basis that he has made us competitive and due to the fact that this group of players might only have one last throw of dice to try and achieve something. But I just hope that we veer away from the slow lateral, handpassing possession based stuff to play some decent attacking football. I presume that Gilligan coming in for Donaghy will get the task of improving our attack, let's hope he can add something new.

I would agree.  Is Donaghy away for sure and Gilligan confirmed as replacement?

Haven't seen it confirmed anywhere so we'll just have to let the dust settle now. If Donaghy does go as expected though its hard to evaluate whether he was a success or not as backroom staff are not held to the same scrutiny as the manager who usually ends up taking most of the flak. 

[Wildweasel74]

Other counties happy with that, Armagh people must see something we don't, same with Tyrone to be honest.

[naka]

Other counties happy with that, Armagh people must see something we don't, same with Tyrone to be honest.

Sometimes it's the devil you know given not much else out there available .
The decision is made .

[yellowcard]

Other counties happy with that, Armagh people must see something we don't, same with Tyrone to be honest.

Sometimes it's the devil you know given not much else out there available .
The decision is made .

Its an increasingly small pool of managers from which to fish from. Some viable and capable candidates simply can't give it the time and energy it requires and combine it with their careers. It is much easier to do that on the club circuit where you can still combine it with a day job with much less pressure. I'm not sure how the likes of Dooher and Logan do it, I really thought they'd step down especially as they have already climbed to the top.       

[DuffleKing]

From an Armagh perspective I think McGeeney has us punching above our weight consistently and that has raised expectations internally and externally  - artificially so if you ask me.

I think he has put us in the mix and we have a punchers chance now with the best teams. What happens next i'm not sure - probably down to whether Rian Turbo and TK can kick on individually whether we can identify a marker to release Forker to the middle third.

[statto]

Other counties happy with that, Armagh people must see something we don't, same with Tyrone to be honest.

He has all the best players in the county playing for him, has made Armagh extremely competitive, continuity is good, no other stand out candidate as this stage to take the role, kildare were in a similar position all those years ago fell off a cliff after he left would be some of the reasons. 

I would have issues with the tactics probably most of the year and lack of learning taken from ulster final to monaghan game particularly, but with no other stand out if we can play more on front foot next year be happy enough give him another go at it. 

[yellowcard]

From an Armagh perspective I think McGeeney has us punching above our weight consistently and that has raised expectations internally and externally  - artificially so if you ask me.

I think he has put us in the mix and we have a punchers chance now with the best teams. What happens next i'm not sure - probably down to whether Rian Turbo and TK can kick on individually whether we can identify a marker to release Forker to the middle third.

I think there is a lot of truth in that, the frustration has become more about the style of play because most matches this year felt like a bit of a grind. If we can get Oisin O'Neill and Tiernan Kelly back fit and playing around the middle third next year it might help with the style of football. Both are good kickers of the ball and it might release Rian to spend more time inside and get back to what worked in 2021 in terms of the fast attacking football we were producing. We also have to hope that Ethan Rafferty can make a full recovery. Get back to the 2021 performance level and I think the majority of the supporters will find it easy to get behind the team again.       

[balladmaker]

As mentioned above, the current Armagh team are in the mix and have a punchers chance on any given day, and with a little bit of luck/game management, could just as easily have been in consecutive All Ireland Semi-Finals, as well as Ulster Champions, so it's fine margins.

I definitely think a tactician needs to be added to the management team, as there is no hiding the shortfalls that occurred on the line on more than one occasion, and this resides directly with Geezer. 

I'm all for another year, but the backroom team needs to be strengthened as well.

[dec]

https://www.irishnews.com/sport/2023/08/08/news/keep_the_faith_armagh_can_make_breakthrough_next_season_says_ciaran_higgins-3512326/

Armagh on the brink... Orchardmen can make breakthrough under McGeeney next season says Ciaran Higgins

ARMAGH defender Ciaran Higgins has no doubt that Kieran McGeeney's men can make the breakthrough next year that so frustratingly eluded them last season.
The Orchardmen will have McGeeney as their manager for the 10th consecutive season after the long-serving former county captain received the backing of the Armagh clubs (dual clubs had two votes) and executive committee members at a meeting on Monday night. Of the 62 votes cast, 46 were in favour of McGeeney remaining as manager with 16 voting against. Support of almost 75 per cent is a ringing endorsement of the current management and Maghery clubman Higgins has no doubt that Armagh can tip the balance in their favour in 2024 when they will target promotion back to Division One and the Championship silverware that has remained just out of their reach.


"I think we definitely can push on next year," he said. "We lost twice on penalties this year and we can definitely go further. It's a kick of the ball... If those games we lost on penalties had gone the other way the season looks completely different. We could have won the Ulster Championship and we could have been into the All-Ireland semi-final if those penalties had gone our way. "So you have to look at it with that detail. You can't just look at it in terms of what we did or didn't achieve, you have to look between the lines and see how close we came."
Higgins forced his way into the Armagh side for the vital Championship round three group stage match against Galway in Carrick-on-Shannon and he grabbed his chance to impress as the Orchardmen clinched the win that saw them progress to the All-Ireland quarter-final stage. He admits that his lack of game-time was a disappointment, and he was unlucky to miss out in Armagh's next game against Monaghan at Croke Park. "I loved getting in to play in that game to be honest," he said. "You put in some hard work and graft all season so it was good to get some game-time and get a good win out of that Galway game when we needed it. I thoroughly enjoyed that and hopefully I can push on from there. "It definitely is difficult when you don't get the game-time you want. But you understand that it's a squad game and if you have a big squad - over 40 boys - then someone has to sit on the bench. That's what happens in team sports – someone has to do that. "I was fortunate enough this year to get the shout to go and actually play and get a good result out of it."


With the county season over, the Armagh players can concentrate on the club game now and Higgins's Maghery were drawn in a very challenging 'group of death' for the round robin stage of the senior championship alongside Dromintee, Killeavy and Ballymacnab.  "If you want to win a championship you have to beat anybody and everybody," he said. "So, whoever we've got, we have to try and beat and that's it really. A senior championship winner in 2016 (Maghery's first ever title) and 2020, Higgins sees several contenders emerging this year including perennial challengers Crossmaglen Rangers and Division 1A winners Clann Eireann. "In 2016 we won it for the first time and there's been a few teams that have won it since then so that's made it very competitive and hopefully it'll be the same this year," said Higgins. "I don't think anyone will look past Cross – all the teams in that top four in Division 1A (Clann Eireann, Crossmaglen, Killeavy and Madden) are going to be up there but Cross are probably the favourites again. "We have a good team as well. We don't underestimate or overestimate anybody and we'll go as hard as we can from the start, hopefully get a few wins under our belt and try and keep the momentum going."

[general_lee]

I think the general feeling seems to be; if McGeeney goes, who do you get in instead and what will they do different? I think the players still want him, at worse a few were indifferent but haven't really heard of any of them wanting rid. Armagh is a small county with too many clubs and too many of these clubs are small country clubs. In that sense, Armagh have probably overachieved slightly in the last couple of years.

[armaghniac]

I think the general feeling seems to be; if McGeeney goes, who do you get in instead and what will they do different? I think the players still want him, at worse a few were indifferent but haven't really heard of any of them wanting rid. Armagh is a small county with too many clubs and too many of these clubs are small country clubs. In that sense, Armagh have probably overachieved slightly in the last couple of years.

Why do we have too many clubs? We have one and a half times the population of Monaghan, and pro rate that should mean 50 clubs. You can hardly argue that Monaghan is unsuccessful.

[STREET FIGHTER]

Just listened back to the GAA Social Podcast....

McGeeney's not a bad owl divil!

[Armamike]

I think the general feeling seems to be; if McGeeney goes, who do you get in instead and what will they do different? I think the players still want him, at worse a few were indifferent but haven't really heard of any of them wanting rid. Armagh is a small county with too many clubs and too many of these clubs are small country clubs. In that sense, Armagh have probably overachieved slightly in the last couple of years.

Said it many times on here and other forums - the size of our county isn't the problem. 

[general_lee]

I think the general feeling seems to be; if McGeeney goes, who do you get in instead and what will they do different? I think the players still want him, at worse a few were indifferent but haven't really heard of any of them wanting rid. Armagh is a small county with too many clubs and too many of these clubs are small country clubs. In that sense, Armagh have probably overachieved slightly in the last couple of years.

Why do we have too many clubs? We have one and a half times the population of Monaghan, and pro rate that should mean 50 clubs. You can hardly argue that Monaghan is unsuccessful.

Monaghan punch well above their weight. We also have a sizeable section of the  population that is hostile to the GAA

[general_lee]

I think the general feeling seems to be; if McGeeney goes, who do you get in instead and what will they do different? I think the players still want him, at worse a few were indifferent but haven't really heard of any of them wanting rid. Armagh is a small county with too many clubs and too many of these clubs are small country clubs. In that sense, Armagh have probably overachieved slightly in the last couple of years.

Said it many times on here and other forums - the size of our county isn't the problem.

It adds to the problem. Clubs are on top of each other in some parts of the county where only would would suffice.