Down Club Hurling & Football

[Lotto]

I am always open to a good debate on all things Down but the constant whingers will be drowned out as there is now a pathway developing and a pride coming into that famous Down jersey again.

I don't share your optimism and believe me, I, and I'm sure others, will not be 'drowned out' as you put it. There are more players now prepared to play for Down which is a positive but not all of those Kilcoo players are good enough to play for Down. As for a a pride coming, our reputation is already being questioned with the antics of our manager along the line. Never before have we stooped to the levels of many other teams but the higher the stakes get, I'd imagine the lower we'll be going.

Lotto

As per usual you just cant see past your hatred for Kilcoo & Laverty.... for years we bemoaned the lack of Kilcoo players not backing the county and putting their shoulder to the wheel... Now its eventually happening your still giving off about the quality or as you put it lack of quality.... How would we ever know if they are good enough as they havent been there in the past and surely we need to see if they are good enough by seeing them on the field.

Who are they ahead off they shouldnt be ??  Given its the managers first season surely he has to look at as many as possible ??

As regard stooping low thats absolute crap... i've seen Fermanagh / Cavan play games firing balls onto the field & talk shite this year also... ur hatred view of the manager doesnt let you see what other crap the oppositions are up too

Interesting first post.

You did a great job at replying with an educated answer

You're gonna be some craic on here

[SHEEDY]

Down beaten 5-13 to 1-3 by Derry in the minor league. Looks like we're still miles behind the better teams at that level.

[downtothecore]

That's a hammering. That should ring alarm bells. We are well of the pace in ulster. When is the last time we beat Derry or Tyrone team at underage?

[skat man]

Ruiri O Hare
Danny Magill
Eoghan Byrne
Tom Close
Billy Campbell
Cathal Gorman
Lad from Downpatrick name escapes me


All well capable of playing in the roles the older lads are playing in

None of the older lads are playing in big positions
Sweeper
Midfield
Wing forwards

Hardly big positions

midfield and sweeper arent big positions?
last i checked the complaints about down were our lack of midfield and how much they are conceding .

Ruiri O Hare was on panel -Injured
Danny Magill was on or is still on panel
Eoghan Byrne possibly
Tom Close was on panel
Billy Campbell possibly but more a man marker
Cathal Gorman not shown consistently enough

[Truth hurts]

That's a hammering. That should ring alarm bells. We are well of the pace in ulster. When is the last time we beat Derry or Tyrone team at underage?

We have been miles behind Tyrone and Derry for years so it comes as no shock. Apart from a shared title in 2020 ST Colman's have reached only a final in 2017 and haven't won the trophy outright since 2011 in which in took the transfer of Mooney to get them over the line in 2010 or 2011. The Abbey haven't been in a final since 2006 when they beat St Louis with a flukey last gasp goal. St Louis and St Marks play C grade and the Red high and St Malachys play B grade.

Other counties have their coaches in secondary schools as development officers yet we still have ours doing PE for primary school teachers.

Down GAA wont improve players without improving coaching and structures in our schools. I have said this for years.

Men like Pat O'Hare, PJ McGee , Barney McAleenan and Ray Morgan and Pete McGrath are few and far between in the county now. Teachers don't want the added pressures of coaching.  Tyrone and Derry have the right structures in place both on and off the field with their excellent facilities as well.  I hope our development manager and coaching officer gets a meeting with all the heads off GAA is schools and decides a pathway for going forward. We need coaches in secondary schools.

[Truth hurts]

This year is 25 years since 1999 with Ulster and 18 years since the All Ireland in 2005.  That's scary for a county this size and we needs to get to the root causes of our failures before we can improve. Schools is one of them but there are a lot of causes that need rectified.

[Truth hurts]

Ten years since the below was rolled out too. Still no success at underage

DOWN GAA CONSULTATIVE PROCESS
DEVELOPING THE NEXT GENERATION - A VISION FOR DOWN GAELIC FOOTBALL

Down GAA is currently conducting a consultative process in relation to Gaelic Football in Down and over the coming months we are holding a number of meetings and workshopsto engage the thoughts and feeling of the various stakeholders that make up the Down GAA family.
We want to gather the views of anyone who has an interest in Down GAA, be it Administrators, Coaches, Parents, Teachers, GAA members or supporters.

With this in mind the following meetings have been arranged for people to voice their opinion:

11th June: Wellington Park Hotel Belfast
7pm -8.15pm - Schools - Primary and Post Primary
8.30pm - 10pm - GAA Family - Parents and Supporters

12th June: St. Patrick's Centre Downpatrick
7pm - 8.15pm - Schools - Primary and Post Primary
8.30pm - 10pm - GAA Family - Parents and Supporters

18th June: St, Patrick's Centre, Downpatrick
7pm to 8.15pm - County Players (including ex county players)
8.30pm - 10pm - Club Administrators and Coaches

2nd July: Canal Court Hotel Newry
7pm - 8.15pm - County Players (including ex county players)
8.30pm - 10pm - Club Administrators and Coaches

3rd July: Canal Court Hotel, Newry
7pm - 8.15pm - County Players (including ex county players)
8.30 - 10pm - Club Administrators and Coaches

9th July: Burrendale Hotel, Newcastle:
7pm - 8.15pm - Schools, Primary and Post Primary
8.30pm - 10pm - GAA Family - Parents, Supporters

10th July - Burrendale Hotel, Newcastle
7pm - 8.15pm - County Players (including ex county players)
8.30 - 10pm - Club Administrators and Coaches

[Lloyd p]

Yet the people in these coaching and development roles have barely changed for the last 10/15 years. Time for serious change surely? Madness.

[Johnnysboys]

A lot to take in there in the last few posts but all very accurate. Do we need to change the people in the coaching roles to get any resemblance of success as suggested by Lloyd P? Will this lead to automatic betterment within the county over say a 5 year period - I'm not sure..

The vision for Down GAA was an excellent idea/concept and I recall meetings being well attended etc but what has come out of them since? How can we not get a group of people together from all sides of the county and put a blue print in place for them to follow and watch them carry it out? Every other county seems to do this and the ego of the coach is not allowed to supersede the overall picture.
And finally - schools football - we won two hogans back to back in 10/11 and still got nothing at county minor level - so don't read so much into school success meaning county success - unfortunately it's not that easy.

[Lloyd p]

Fact is, there are people that have been being paid high salaries over a long period of time in the county to put the correct structures in place and to deliver progress and inevitably success and it hasn't happened. If this was a PLC what would happen here?

[Johnnysboys]

Fact is, there are people that have been being paid high salaries over a long period of time in the county to put the correct structures in place and to deliver progress and inevitably success and it hasn't happened. If this was a PLC what would happen here?

I'd say these people are tied to contracts though and it's not easy to get shot of staff who have them. But I think like in every single job out there - there should be accountability for their pay - that's not necessarily winning all irelands - but we should definitely be seeing progress - we are not seeing that at present.

[Truth hurts]

I would like to see us cast the net wider for development squads. Give more u15 and 16s a chance to train in a high performance environment with access to gyms etc. Instead of carting 40 boys to Downpatrick on a Saturday morning we should have subsidiary's in the North, South, East and West of the county. We will have a better chance of unearthing county players.

[Hard2Listen2]

The bottom line is that every player starts & finishes with his club.
If we are not producing players it is not the fault of development squads, schools, the county board or anyone else.
Players need to be better coached at all age levels in their clubs, everything after that is a bonus or additional.
Look at your club's coaching structure & strategy & at the people you have coaching your young players. If these are lacking then ask how you can improve them.
There is no silver bullet. It starts with hard work & dedication from club volunteers.

[downtothecore]

Agree but it does help if good quality management setups are in place.

[Lotto]

I would like to see us cast the net wider for development squads. Give more u15 and 16s a chance to train in a high performance environment with access to gyms etc. Instead of carting 40 boys to Downpatrick on a Saturday morning we should have subsidiary's in the North, South, East and West of the county. We will have a better chance of unearthing county players.

For lads to be given the chance to train at a high level within Down, we obviously need high performance coaches to deliver at this standard. This just isn't happening in our County and never has. Where are these gyms for lads to have access to, great reports with what Aaron Brannigan was doing but he is only one man. BTW, it's not a case of unearthing talent but developing and nuturing our next generation.