Antrim Football Thread

[Milltown Row2]

Your 100% right milltown in all you say
Certainly no manager could get them anywhere near the conditioning of Tyrone in 3 months but surely the conditioning of some players shouldn't have been accepted?
Why did certain players play so badly out of shape?
What have they been doing this past 3 months?
Many nights a week are they training?

Can't answer those questions, I'm 46 and in better shape and fitter!

[bannside]

Some valid points here being made, but quite a few are over the top. The vast majority of Antrim Footballers have followed a strict programme since Lenny was appointed, attended collective training three times a week and didn't overdo it too much over Christmas.

I have an insight into what Antrim are doing but have a duty not to put it all out there. The work is not what Tyrone are doing, if you go back to my original post, Tyrone have had lots of in house games. So they are much better match conditioned. You will see that they will hit the ground running in the league, and as usual win the Mc Kenna Cup.

We have been doing different work, things like strategies etc as well as usual S&C work, but not so much off the aerobic or matchday stuff. So for those reasons I wasn't too disappointed with what I saw at the Athletic grounds. As I said before our priority is getting out of division four and I think the squad we have can deliver that.

If I was in Lennys shoes I would now be going into very hard interval running for a few weeks, working on the tackling (which was poor on Wed night) and getting the Probables putting up big scores against the Possibles for 30 mins every night....so that we are ready for league match number one. If he needs a floodlight pitch to do this, then get one.

I don't pick the team, and don't know what Lenny is thinking, but I`d be confident that of the 18 -20 players really in the mix, the vast majority will be in decent shape for our first league match. If a players individual stats don't stack up against his peers, especially in bleep test, then its easy enough to tell that player he wont be considered until the stats look right.

As they say, you can argue with an opinion, but you cant argue with a fact!

[Saffronista]

I saw said pictures that are circulating, embarrassing to say the least! If a senior club player turned up to pre-season in that condition there would be war. County football is no longer a hobby, its a lifestyle, and unfortunately not enough of our players commit to the lifestyle. Until that changes we are stuck in the basement

[paddyjohn]

Your 100% right milltown in all you say
Certainly no manager could get them anywhere near the conditioning of Tyrone in 3 months but surely the conditioning of some players shouldn't have been accepted?
Why did certain players play so badly out of shape?
What have they been doing this past 3 months?
Many nights a week are they training?

Can't answer those questions, I'm 46 and in better shape and fitter!

And why is that? You care about the standard that you ref at. Your serious about improving the level of officials here by keeping up with play etc and like many other the GAA isn't an after thought, pity some of our senior players don't feel the same. This is my annual nice post to you btw 

[bannside]

My own view is that it has been a long long time since an Antrim team was really fit. Certainly we weren't anywhere near fit these last few years. The fitness level for the championship against Donegal last year was a disgrace, by far the worst I ever seen, and in the qualifiers we were four up against Sligo ten minutes into the second half, and lost by six. A ten point turnaround in the last third of the game.

I know a guy very well who used to go down to his local pitch to watch the training in the early days of Jim Mc Guinness taking over in Donegal. The first twenty sessions were 2 hour running marathons. Boring and repetitive. Three quarter pace down the sidelines and half pace jog across the endlines. The manager was making his statement....we ant to be the fittest team in the country, and how badly do you want to be part of it.

Id give my right arm for Mc Guinness (or someone) to come in for a few months pre season and weed out the chancers in the squad. You would end up losing a few but in the end you would have a very fit team that would go to war for each other. Big John Mc Cluskey must be looking in with disgust these last few years having been the man in charge of physical conditioning in that legendary Armagh team. And he a friend of Lennys.

[Milltown Row2]

Your 100% right milltown in all you say
Certainly no manager could get them anywhere near the conditioning of Tyrone in 3 months but surely the conditioning of some players shouldn't have been accepted?
Why did certain players play so badly out of shape?
What have they been doing this past 3 months?
Many nights a week are they training?

Can't answer those questions, I'm 46 and in better shape and fitter!

And why is that? You care about the standard that you ref at. Your serious about improving the level of officials here by keeping up with play etc and like many other the GAA isn't an after thought, pity some of our senior players don't feel the same. This is my annual nice post to you btw 

Its only Jan! so will I have to wait a full year for a 'nice' post?

Keeping fit as someone has said is a lifestyle choice, being committed to the county is a lifestyle choice that you have to work around your working life and personal family life, huge committment and I don't envy being highlighted every week as having a poor game...

Being a manager coach S&C and the rest would have taken note of what happened the other night, they aint stupid, they have a panel that has come together in the past 2/3 months with a new manager and set up... would be totaly unfair to lambast everything at this point, Tyrone will be playing the likes of a proper Dublin team this year while we will be playing London, thats our standard, we have to gear ourselves for beating those teams rather than what happened the other night..

It takes 16 weeks to prepare for a marathon, a full year to prepare for a Ironman race and thats by fit peoples standards.. I havent seen the photos (photos add ten pounds  ) but I'd say in the next month or two the team should be at a standard that's match fit and competitive...

If not get rid of the time wasters, blood the hungry players and go with a panel thats keen to buy into the county player role

[paddyjohn]

Your 100% right milltown in all you say
Certainly no manager could get them anywhere near the conditioning of Tyrone in 3 months but surely the conditioning of some players shouldn't have been accepted?
Why did certain players play so badly out of shape?
What have they been doing this past 3 months?
Many nights a week are they training?

Can't answer those questions, I'm 46 and in better shape and fitter!

And why is that? You care about the standard that you ref at. Your serious about improving the level of officials here by keeping up with play etc and like many other the GAA isn't an after thought, pity some of our senior players don't feel the same. This is my annual nice post to you btw 

Its only Jan! so will I have to wait a full year for a 'nice' post?

Keeping fit as someone has said is a lifestyle choice, being committed to the county is a lifestyle choice that you have to work around your working life and personal family life, huge committment and I don't envy being highlighted every week as having a poor game...

Being a manager coach S&C and the rest would have taken note of what happened the other night, they aint stupid, they have a panel that has come together in the past 2/3 months with a new manager and set up... would be totaly unfair to lambast everything at this point, Tyrone will be playing the likes of a proper Dublin team this year while we will be playing London, thats our standard, we have to gear ourselves for beating those teams rather than what happened the other night..

It takes 16 weeks to prepare for a marathon, a full year to prepare for a Ironman race and thats by fit peoples standards.. I havent seen the photos (photos add ten pounds  ) but I'd say in the next month or two the team should be at a standard that's match fit and competitive...

If not get rid of the time wasters, blood the hungry players and go with a panel thats keen to buy into the county player role

I'm doing it now before you annoy me. Be grateful!

[Smurfy123]

If those pictures are not a big big wake up call for players and management then use are bucked
The Antrim Management team would have seen them and if they are going to move forward will address them straight away
And being an All Ireland winning manager Lenny would be very much clued in?
Reality check for all involved
The honeymoon period is over

[bannside]

Look its probably a bit of a knee jerk thing (that in itself mightn't do any harm) but we did have a few tardy looking individuals and this was exposed even more so than usual by the super fit looking Tyrone players. We need to be careful not to tar the whole squad with the one brush, as the majority will be ready/in shape to do battle when the league starts. We will be competitive in the next two Mc Kenna cup games first, I think we will give Cavan their fill of it, and hopefully we will be on track for a decent year.

Too many here completely writing the whole thing off at this stage and that's very unfair. I think the season will turn out ok.

But in saying that....no hiding places whatsoever for players not working their absolute butt off to be the fittest/best they can be.

[The Bearded One]

Look its probably a bit of a knee jerk thing (that in itself mightn't do any harm) but we did have a few tardy looking individuals and this was exposed even more so than usual by the super fit looking Tyrone players. We need to be careful not to tar the whole squad with the one brush, as the majority will be ready/in shape to do battle when the league starts. We will be competitive in the next two Mc Kenna cup games first, I think we will give Cavan their fill of it, and hopefully we will be on track for a decent year.

Too many here completely writing the whole thing off at this stage and that's very unfair. I think the season will turn out ok.

But in saying that....no hiding places whatsoever for players not working their absolute butt off to be the fittest/best they can be.

You are 100% spot on Bannside with this summation. Antrim have no shortage of very talented players and if they can bring it all together under Lenny and have a real crack at it then they will have a successful year, anything less than 100% commitment to it will mean they fall short. A good system with hard working individuals laced with some quality then why not?

[AQMP]

Why play the lads then if they are not doing as they are asked?
Jesus lads the conditioning of them lads is terrible
I can see into lads having a good Christmas but that takes the biscuit
No disrespect to your management team but it doesn't look good on them
Not professional at all

Our boys totally buy into the amateur ethos of the Association!

[Smurfy123]

Fair play lads well said and this coming from a Down man that has hijacked your discussion
Question?
Will Lenny have picked up on the pictures

[AQMP]

Of the photos I've seen (admittedly not many) there's only one player who looks badly out of shape??

[Milltown Row2]

Fair play lads well said and this coming from a Down man that has hijacked your discussion
Question?
Will Lenny have picked up on the pictures

Just checked out these photos of all the fat lads for Antrim! One photo ffs.. move on please

[The Bearded One]

Ps Bannside you must have between the Pomeroy and Coalisland management