Messages

Surely Brendan Mc Kernan is too old!

Must confess that "Against the Breeze" was my my favourite read of the week. He really did just get it...the country ways and all that. But he knew the way football men thought and spoke and was a good judge himself. Rarely found much to disagree with and particularly liked his week in Kerry leading up to a final and seeing it from their perspective. Hopefully he won't lose the skill of his trade. It's in the blood as they say!

Agree with that except if delegates are mandated by their clubs - and stick to that mandate - then they should be voting in accordance with their club wishes....not waiting to see how the first vote turned out!

They are so good that they don't break sweat in Armagh and appear fresh for the Ulster every October. As opposed to Cargin for example who knew they were drawn against St Galls last January and were hell for leather since then and by November were probably going over the top for this year.

Not saying Cross arnt undisputed kings of Ulster Club football. They have found the magic formula how and when to peak - as someone said earlier they toy about with the league in Armagh.

Spread across a few age groups from 15 -21 I'd say Rossa have more potential than any other Antrim club to produce a very strong senior squad in a few years time.  Really should be thinking strongly about winning or challenging for senior championships. Will most of the really good uns stick at it HS?

Rossa U-16s flying the flag for Antrim Football down in Paul Mc Girr tournament. Another good win today this time over the hosts. Final next Sunday. More signs that we have plenty of genuine talent to work with in the underage ranks. Go win it now.

Didn't Rossa win this already just a few years back?

It's often forgotten that the club delegates to County Committee form the most important body in the county. In fact they are a higher authority than Coiste Bainisti. Nothing should happen without the consent of County Committee and that's why we need club men there who will be interested and motivated to ask all the right questions and at times the tough questions.

For example the county chairman and his entire county management team cannot appoint a county manager unless it is with the expressed consent of the majority of club delegates on County Committee. But our problem is half the time the people on this grouping don't care enough to influence anything. So much apathy exists. We lose a c'ship game and it's not discussed. In other counties the debate could run for hours.

Agree Culchie you can't please everyone. But if we can even get most of our better players involved in the squad then that will be a huge improvement. And that seems to be happening.

Fair play to Fitzy. He has got two or three good additions to his management team and they have all played at a high level or at university etc (or both) so it can't be said that he hasn't gone flat out to improve some of the things that came up short last year. Hats off...

If I was in management shoes I wouldn't want too much stuff plastered on here. You would want a low profile and get a good pre season done and hopefully get a few good wins board early doors.
Suffice to say the mood is good in the camp and things have moved to a better place than last year. A few notables are back in the fold. Good luck to all involved. Up the Saffrons.

Hearing very positive reports back about the senior county football set up. Fitzy has moved to freshen up his management team and bringing in Gearoid has proved popular. A good few players are back and there is an air of optimism about the set up that has been missing for quite a while. Delighted to hear it. 2016 could be a good year for the Saffrons.

Good point MR2. I'm only one opinion on here and not for a second would I expect everyone to agree. Having said that I wont be misrepresented as Clover has tried to do. There are a few current officers that I have absolutely no difficulty with and would gladly support them in a new administration where they might get a chance to thrive. And while happy to say that I still assert that I expect many on the SV ticket to secure a majority and pave an exciting way ahead for our future generations.

Please read the discussion fully before jumping to silly conclusions.

Great news about Casement. A brand new start really. We really are at our lowest point right now. A few good years development work on amd off the pitch can see us begin to rise from the ashes.

Wouldn't fancy being a delegate last few years Culchie to tell you the truth. Good chance I will get to a few next year though lol.

Here's a true story in the meantime. There was a matter about a football appointment that I had an interest in and asked our club delegates to ask a question or two from the floor. I think one was had the incoming manager a level playing field budget wise versus the hurling manager. That was only the warm up question the next two were a bit more sensitive and of which I had inside knowledge having spoken to other candidates who had been interviewed.

By coincidence I got a phone call from our club chairman saying that neither delegate was available that night...but if I wanted to I could represent the club as our delegate on that occasion and ask whatever questions were on my mind. Happy enough.

I signed in and took my seat and waited on a chance to speak. When I rose to make my point I was told to sit down and keep quiet. I explained that I was officially standing in for our delegates who could not attend, but was told to "sit down and keep quiet" again.  I stood up again for about the fourth time and asked why as an official representative of my club why I could not make my point......and the answer was...." because the county needed an hours notice prior to the meeting about a change of club delegate". They really did not want to hear what I may or may not say.

A very well respected and experienced club gael who was sitting nearby told me to stand my ground as there was no such rule. I stood for a while longer until I was shouted down for the last time and told to keep quiet. To this day I don't know if that is a rule or not??

The vote for the management position was taken.  Those in favour of the coiste bainisti recommendation put your hands up. Less than 20 people on a room of about 100 put their hand up. "That's it passed then", said the county chairman

"No it's not" I jumped up and said. "Clearly there is not a mandate for this appointment". But no one could be bothered either agreeing or disagreeing and I was friendless in the market! In fact it was scary how little interest club delegates had in the matter. The hurling club delegates couldn't be bothered voting one way or the other!

Later on I waited in the foyer to make a point of asking our paid official how on earth the proposal was accepted as there clearly was no majority in favour of the coiste bainisti sponsored recommendation. Here was the answer.

"Heres the way it is. If the delegates put their hands up or kept their hands down it didn't matter. Either way they are voting for the same thing"!! I swear to God that's the answer I was given. That was my only experience Culchie of a fully fledged county committee meeting and it was a pantomime. But thanks for bringing that up I wouldn't have got the opportunity to share that first hand example of how county business is conducted by our esteemed officials.

Keep firing the questions. There's loads more lol.

When the votes are cast on Monday week and many SV nominees are elected to Coiste Bainisti, I think we will have finally drawn a line in the sand and our county can begin to move forward.

Make no mistake it will take fresh faces to deliver, and a fresh new message that for once Antrim people have stood up and finally done something for themselves.

For years no one has cared about our county. Businesses wouldn't touch the damaged brand with a bargepole, as one horror story after another was played out in public. As a result there is little trust or respect of board officials to represent us properly.

County Committee meetings have become a place where sarcasm reigns, and where a delegate ran the risk of being castigated for asking a sensible question. If you had the audacity to continue you ran the chance of getting thrown out of the building. But now those crows are coming home to roost.

There are hundreds of really good gaels in county Antrim who are working well at club level but with zero interest in anything county. Most have a very poor opinion of our county board, or worse, couldn't give a toss one way or the other. These are the people who need to be galvanised for things to kick start, and Saffron Vision has began that process.

Yes, I firmly stand by my assertion that SV is singularly the best thing to happen to Antrim Gaa in my lifetime. The people are talking.

89 and 09 were good teams by our standards and gave us a few great days out. But that's the point Culchie. Think about it man. It's too sporadic. Not nearly nearly enough for a county of our size. And no structures whatsoever to sustain it.

We need to be aiming a lot higher than that and I am confident this SV initiative has kick started our recovery already. Sure look at the interest there is this year. I believe it will result in multiple positions on coiste bainisti and furthermore will in due course begin to deliver those the type of sustainable structures we so badly need.