Down Club Hurling & Football

[thewobbler]

judging by Twitter and Facebook, it looks like I'm the only person in Down who isn't completely and utterly blown away by Pete's season. Can I be the only person who recognises it as twice beating Antrim at home (the preferred draw for every county GAA manager), and beating a team at home who just got walloped by Sligo?

Honestly not trying to rubbish him here. Just a dose of reality is needed.

[umpire]

Well done Pete

[ardtole]

judging by Twitter and Facebook, it looks like I'm the only person in Down who isn't completely and utterly blown away by Pete's season. Can I be the only person who recognises it as twice beating Antrim at home (the preferred draw for every county GAA manager), and beating a team at home who just got walloped by Sligo?

Honestly not trying to rubbish him here. Just a dose of reality is needed.

Roscommon gave us a bit of a lesson in croke park a couple of months ago all the same.

[thewobbler]

judging by Twitter and Facebook, it looks like I'm the only person in Down who isn't completely and utterly blown away by Pete's season. Can I be the only person who recognises it as twice beating Antrim at home (the preferred draw for every county GAA manager), and beating a team at home who just got walloped by Sligo?

Honestly not trying to rubbish him here. Just a dose of reality is needed.

Roscommon gave us a bit of a lesson in croke park a couple of months ago all the same.

No doubt. Hence I'm not dismissing what he's done with Fermanagh. Just trying though to put some perspective on it. The gods of bowls and balls have been quite kind to him this season.

[ardtole]

You just have to go with ups and downs. Im not anti McCorry but if at the end of season review he still believes he was correct to go ahead without Coulter, Gordon etc, then that is stubborness in the extreme. People might think im mad, but if the older lads were treated differently and we had our best 15 available for championship, we could have had a decent shot at an ulster title. I didnt get the same buzz this year, knowing in my heart our strongest team wasnt on the pitch.

[rosskarr]

 Depressing to be back in Ireland from sunnier climes than this awful weather.  Well done to Pete McGrath but the Westmeath game will be a harder test. Will he return to Down Senior Footballers when/if McCorry gets axed or walks?

[Line Ball]

No chance of any of the three happening:
Mc Grath coming back
Mc Corry getting the axe
Mc Corry walking

I doubt we are stuck with what we have whether we like it or not.

[SamFever]

No chance of any of the three happening:
Mc Grath coming back
Mc Corry getting the axe
Mc Corry walking

I doubt we are stuck with what we have whether we like it or not.

My view is that none of these should happen but I think the 2nd option is a distinct possibility.

[Mourne Rover]

McCorry could remove much of the pressure he is facing, and greatly improve our prospects for next season, if he signalled that he intends to take a more flexible attitude to the date when senior players return to training. We had an exceptionally fit side in the last league but it did us very little good when it came to the championship and it became clear that our squad was far too light.

While it was sadly always unlikely that Ambrose would have been fit enough to play county football this summer, and King was simply unavailable, there is a reasonable prospect that Benny and Dan could have come on board if they had been allowed join up in the spring. Benny has said as much in his newspaper column and a similar approach to Dan may well have worked.

Benny would probably have been used as an impact sub but Dan remains the best midfielder at our disposal.  If he together with physically strong players like Peter Turley, Madine and Mallon had been given starting roles, we would have been a much more serious proposition.  We now know that loading a team with fast skillful players who cannot win the ball does not work and we must learn the necessary lessons.

[SamFever]

 I see Kenny Archer in the Irish News today has come out in support of Jim McCorry.

[Pangurban]

If our Co.Board had any wit they would be begging Pete to return, though whether he would after the shabby disgraceful way he was treated is another point. Continuing with Mc Corry is the road to nowhere

[lfdown2]

To be honest all the chat has been about treating the symptoms, not looking for a cure. No manager in the previous 20 years has been able to deliver a provincial or national title and that includes Pete McGrath (well aware of his exceptional record before that - also worth noting who Fermanagh have beaten this year as alluded to elsewhere by Wobbler). Similarly having Dan/Benny/M Clarke is a short term fix, one that couldn't in the past deliver the aforementioned titles (though momentum brought them very close in '10).

It is surely the underage structures that need looked at, I would be of the opinion that the talent needs to be developed through minor to U21 which can then translate in to the senior team, we seen from the minor teams of 99 & 05 the small number that will filter through to the seniors and as such need a greater volume of successful teams under the seniors. I do not have any solutions, just believe the knee jerk reactions of 'sack the manager' are only diverting attention from where we should be looking.

[johnneycool]

It is surely the underage structures that need looked at, I would be of the opinion that the talent needs to be developed through minor to U21 which can then translate in to the senior team, we seen from the minor teams of 99 & 05 the small number that will filter through to the seniors and as such need a greater volume of successful teams under the seniors. I do not have any solutions, just believe the knee jerk reactions of 'sack the manager' are only diverting attention from where we should be looking.

Does anyone think that the new underage groupings will be a hindrance to minor, U21 managers as they won't be able to see who's competing well at these respective age groups as we're moving to U17, U19, etc etc?

[DownFanatic]

It is surely the underage structures that need looked at, I would be of the opinion that the talent needs to be developed through minor to U21 which can then translate in to the senior team, we seen from the minor teams of 99 & 05 the small number that will filter through to the seniors and as such need a greater volume of successful teams under the seniors. I do not have any solutions, just believe the knee jerk reactions of 'sack the manager' are only diverting attention from where we should be looking.

Does anyone think that the new underage groupings will be a hindrance to minor, U21 managers as they won't be able to see who's competing well at these respective age groups as we're moving to U17, U19, etc etc?

The U-19 grade will be a disaster. There are going to be lads at first year at Uni who could be playing and training with the Freshers. Factor in playing and training with their club senior team plus the expectation on some to play reserve football plus the playing and training with their own U-19 grade. God help then the player who has county U-21 commitments too.

This seemed to be voted in quite overwhelmingly by county board reps. I genuinely think a lot of these reps just vote on their own bat. I doubt many of them actually canvass their club committee on these issues. If there was any sort of meaningful discussion in the clubs then this pilot scheme would never have been passed.

[T O Hare]

It is surely the underage structures that need looked at, I would be of the opinion that the talent needs to be developed through minor to U21 which can then translate in to the senior team, we seen from the minor teams of 99 & 05 the small number that will filter through to the seniors and as such need a greater volume of successful teams under the seniors. I do not have any solutions, just believe the knee jerk reactions of 'sack the manager' are only diverting attention from where we should be looking.

Does anyone think that the new underage groupings will be a hindrance to minor, U21 managers as they won't be able to see who's competing well at these respective age groups as we're moving to U17, U19, etc etc?

The U-19 grade will be a disaster. There are going to be lads at first year at Uni who could be playing and training with the Freshers. Factor in playing and training with their club senior team plus the expectation on some to play reserve football plus the playing and training with their own U-19 grade. God help then the player who has county U-21 commitments too.

This seemed to be voted in quite overwhelmingly by county board reps. I genuinely think a lot of these reps just vote on their own bat. I doubt many of them actually canvass their club committee on these issues. If there was any sort of meaningful discussion in the clubs then this pilot scheme would never have been passed.

This was my main point when opposing this at club level. We only have 11 minor teams in the all county league this season, this won't improve for u19s, in fact in will most likely decrease.in the Bridge we rely on our under 16s to backfill our minor squad and we would have some of the largest numbers in Down!  I can't see how this will improve our footballers in the county but I hope I am proved wrong.