Antrim Football Thread

[Christmas Lights]

So Fitzy is the only name in on the dead line the man never took a penny and raised a lot of money last year on his own and our county board appoint a 3 man panel and that slabber Delargy to beg people to take the job and pay them stay classy lads

Chill out fitzy

[country bumpkin]

So Fitzy is the only name in on the dead line the man never took a penny and raised a lot of money last year on his own and our county board appoint a 3 man panel and that slabber Delargy to beg people to take the job and pay them stay classy lads

Chill out fitzy

If Fitzy had any wit he should certainly chill out, how much harder can we kick him ..........and then I wonder in these days of austerity who is going to fund any of those 'big names' mentioned last evening in a meeting which brought little credit to those who would 'lead'.
Think we should be concentrating on developing our youth and addressing problems within.............stood with our minors tonite awaiting the arrival of the Milltown Blues.......made no show.
Gotta concern our county when three of the top sides in our county have only managed one single win amongst them in an All County minor league which has descended to the farcical.....

[bannside]

Good point CB. If football is going to prosper we do need a clear plan for youth development. Pol Doherty doing a great job but more to do. On a positive note, our co executive are getting on really well with the "plan for Belfast" and there will be obvious spin offs for the greater Belfast area which extends to most SW parts too.
Don't be too critical because there is good news on this score coming down the tracks. Of course CB I know you will be gracious enough to acknowledge that when the time comes.

Not all doom and gloom. The age old chill between social club members and the county has sorted itself out and a healthy cheque changed hands recently which the county treasurer gratefully accepted. Rome wasn't built in a day. Some very positive developments are ongoing/taking place. Credit please where it's due!

[Belfast GAA man]

Balance is important however the situation at u16 and minor in Belfast is dire in terms of numbers of teams competing and failures to field. There needs to be some urgent action taken at this level or our senior manager, whoever they are, will be fighting an uphill battle

[Stillwater2]

Bannside...whats the latest with the Senior Football Managenent position. You seem to be the man in the know !!

[Milltown Row2]

So Fitzy is the only name in on the dead line the man never took a penny and raised a lot of money last year on his own and our county board appoint a 3 man panel and that slabber Delargy to beg people to take the job and pay them stay classy lads

Chill out fitzy

If Fitzy had any wit he should certainly chill out, how much harder can we kick him ..........and then I wonder in these days of austerity who is going to fund any of those 'big names' mentioned last evening in a meeting which brought little credit to those who would 'lead'.
Think we should be concentrating on developing our youth and addressing problems within.............stood with our minors tonite awaiting the arrival of the Milltown Blues.......made no show.
Gotta concern our county when three of the top sides in our county have only managed one single win amongst them in an All County minor league which has descended to the farcical.....

On austerity how much is JB getting??

[bannside]

Far from it Stillwater! At the minute there are 4 names going forward to interview. Still far from certain who the next manager will be. Interviews to take place during the next few weeks and all will be revealed then.

[country bumpkin]

Far from it Stillwater! At the minute there are 4 names going forward to interview. Still far from certain who the next manager will be. Interviews to take place during the next few weeks and all will be revealed then.

U in co board BS....seem to know more than most..?
Have we decided on 21 and minor management...any applicants or we head hunting ?

[podge]

Good point CB. If football is going to prosper we do need a clear plan for youth development. Pol Doherty doing a great job but more to do. On a positive note, our co executive are getting on really well with the "plan for Belfast" and there will be obvious spin offs for the greater Belfast area which extends to most SW parts too.
Don't be too critical because there is good news on this score coming down the tracks. Of course CB I know you will be gracious enough to acknowledge that when the time comes.

Not all doom and gloom. The age old chill between social club members and the county has sorted itself out and a healthy cheque changed hands recently which the county treasurer gratefully accepted. Rome wasn't built in a day. Some very positive developments are ongoing/taking place. Credit please where it's due!

genuine question- what progress has been made on the 'plan for Belfast ' ?

[Milltown Row2]

Far from it Stillwater! At the minute there are 4 names going forward to interview. Still far from certain who the next manager will be. Interviews to take place during the next few weeks and all will be revealed then.

U in co board BS....seem to know more than most..?
Have we decided on 21 and minor management...any applicants or we head hunting ?

Still no answer CB? How much?

[country bumpkin]

Far from it Stillwater! At the minute there are 4 names going forward to interview. Still far from certain who the next manager will be. Interviews to take place during the next few weeks and all will be revealed then.

U in co board BS....seem to know more than most..?
Have we decided on 21 and minor management...any applicants or we head hunting ?

Still no answer CB? How much?

I am sure it could be a lot or possibly nothing.... but why would this concern you...if Cargin are indeed paying JB look around our club if u ever make it to Toome that is, and when u take a peek at our facilities and indeed current standing u will figure out there is no austerity here.

[Milltown Row2]

Far from it Stillwater! At the minute there are 4 names going forward to interview. Still far from certain who the next manager will be. Interviews to take place during the next few weeks and all will be revealed then.

U in co board BS....seem to know more than most..?
Have we decided on 21 and minor management...any applicants or we head hunting ?

Still no answer CB? How much?

I am sure it could be a lot or possibly nothing.... but why would this concern you...if Cargin are indeed paying JB look around our club if u ever make it to Toome that is, and when u take a peek at our facilities and indeed current standing u will figure out there is no austerity here.

Just your double standards I suppose .. you're talking about who'll be funding these big names and harp on about no austerity in Cargin, why don't you fund a big name if you're county proud?

[paddyjohn]

AIDAN O'Rourke has emerged as the new frontrunner to take over the Antrim senior football post.

Armagh's All-Ireland winning defender has been approached about taking the the job as have former Antrim defender John McKeever and former St Gall's boss Lenny Harbinson.

Current boss Frank Fitzsimons, who managed the Saffrons with Gearoid Adams over the past couple of seasons, was the only person nominated but the chances of the big Lamh Dhearg man retaining the post now appear slim.

Several weeks ago, Adams had already indicated he would not be part of a nominations process.

The deadline for nominations was Monday August 14 – with Fitzsimons the only candidate to be put forward.

However, that deadline appears to have been extended after O'Rourke, McKeever and Harbinson were announced as contenders for the job at Monday night's county board meeting.

Several club delegates expressed their outrage upon hearing other candidates had emerged after the deadline.

Running parallel to the nominations process, a three-man review committee has the power to seek out 'expressions of interest' from other managers.

The trio linked to the post come with impressive CVs.

O'Rourke has had coaching stints with Armagh, Down and Louth and is GAA Development Officer at Queen's.

The Dromintee man was unveiled as Queen's new manager a couple of weeks ago but that would appear an easy enough hurdle to overcome should the Antrim post be offered to him.

Not only are O'Rourke's credentials impressive, facilities wouldn't be an issue either with Queen's sporting complex in south Belfast meeting every team's needs.

Several years ago O'Rourke met with Antrim officials about becoming the next senior manager but funding his ambitious plans appeared the main stumbling block.

McKeever is currently managing Tyrone club Coalisland and guided them to their first senior county final in six years in 2016.

The Portglenone man also won an All-Ireland Intermediate title with Fr Rocks Cookstown in 2013.

McKeever represented Antrim with distinction at all levels during the 'Noughties' until a knee injury ended his playing days prematurely.

It was initially felt the 36-year-old was not interested in becoming Antrim's next manager but he could still be interviewed for the job.

Lenny Harbinson is also another late contender following Monday night's county board meeting.

The former Antrim and St Gall's forward has always expressed an interest in managing his native county at some stage in his career and he also comes with a weighty CV.

After several near misses, Harbinson took the reins and guided St Gall's to an All-Ireland senior title in 2010 and is generally regarded as one of the best coaches in the county.

He has held a couple of different managerial positions since his time with St Gall's and is currently managing Ballymacnab in Armagh.

After winning promotion to Division Three last year, the Antrim footballers suffered cruel relegation back to the basement division on the last day of the group stages.

They were outclassed by Donegal in the Ulster Championship and lost to Sligo in the All-Ireland Qualifiers.

Despite their disappointing results, both Fitzsimons and Adams embarked on a radical rebuild of the senior squad.

With a clutch of experienced players calling time on their inter-county careers, the managerial pair flooded the senior team with fresh young talent and appeared to be making headway - but obviously not enough for the county board to retain the pair.

It is understood a group of senior players will meet with county officers over the coming days to discuss their requirements going forward.

It is expected the three emerging candidates will be interviewed before the middle of September.

Fitzsimons has already met with the review committee at the end of Antrim's season.

It's unclear whether he will be interviewed again should he continue his interest in holding the post.

[bannside]

There you go! Good stuff PJ.

Podge re your question I'm sorry but I don't have very much detail. Talks are ongoing but relevant officials have reported that good progress is being made in discussions and that things are progressing nicely. We'll have to wait a bit longer for the specifics, but as I said quite a few times, this board will leave our county in a far stronger position than they found it.

[Hectic]

I think the GAA needs to move away from appointing managers via the nominations route.  Members are elected into the positions on the county board to make decisions and they should be left to making these decisions in private without a whole hullabalu in the public gaze. Otherwise you just end up with far too many cooks, too many people getting offended or unwilling to be considered as the process unfolds in the open.  Closed shop for me with the responsibility starting and ending within a small conclave.