Down Club Hurling & Football

[covid20]

So you think everything must stay as it is?

I asked were you the alter ego of Truth Hurts?

[covid20]

So you think everything must stay as it is?

Or I could have asked are you a reincarnation of a controversial poster from five or six years ago?

[Hard2Listen2]

So you think everything must stay as it is?

Or I could have asked are you a reincarnation of a controversial poster from five or six years ago?

Strange that someone who only registered last June knows about posters from five or six years ago.

Also please stop picking on your former club chairman.

[covid20]

So you think everything must stay as it is?

Or I could have asked are you a reincarnation of a controversial poster from five or six years ago?

Strange that someone who only registered last June knows about posters from five or six years ago.

Also please stop picking on your former club chairman.

Just as strange as someone registering in 2013 and not posting for seven years from 2014 to 2021.You've lost me on the Chairman bit🤷🏻‍♂️

[maldini]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/branagan-and-most-kilcoo-team-mates-don-t-want-to-be-stars-of-the-county-down-1.4868743

[Betsy Gray]

From the posts I have read following Sunday's match one thing is for certain, no one really knows where to start in terms of improving our fortunes.

In terms of the County Board I actually think they do a decent job in running the club game in the County. Where they could definitely improve is in running the inter county aspect. And that goes from top to bottom.

As a previous poster has said the reality is the clubs and schools are not producing the quality of player we once produced in County Down. That said, there are still some very good players in the County and my gut feeling is we should not be at the low ebb we are currently at. A few points that spring to mind in terms of areas to improve:

1. Player retention. The turnover from year to year (and even within this season alone ) is far too high. Every county needs to get its best players on the pitch and at present we aren't doing that. How many times have we seen a young player break through and look promising only to disappear without anyone really knowing what happened. The one that springs to mind here is Owen McCabe. I thought he had great potential. Most successful counties have a settled base of players with limited transition from year to year.
2. Coaching. Both in the clubs & County squads. We do not seem to be producing high level coaches. A good few of our division 1 teams are managed by men from outside the county. On the flip side I do not think there are many, if any, coaches from County Down coaching teams outside the county. Conor Laverty seems to be the only coach who is sought after by any team outside of our county. The next senior county manager needs to be carefully picked with a view to persuading players to commit.
3. Administration of county football team. When down were successful they were set apart from other counties by being ahead of the game in terms of administration of the county team. We have all heard the Maurice Hayes stories etc. Down were at one stage innovative and creative in terms of organising their county structures and setting up teams for success. Anyone looking in from outside at present now sees a set up that appears to be fairly amateur at best. Down were clearly no where near as fit as Monaghan on Sunday. Until basic issues like that are overcome the whole set up is going nowhere fast. 
4. Interest in the inter county game. There are various counties where players have always had a take it or leave it attitude to the inter county game. Derry is probably a good example. I do not believe this was the case in Down until the last few years. We are now being faced with various inter county standard players deciding the do not want to play inter county. I'm sure there are various reasons for that but surely one of the main reasons is that the whole set up and administration of the inter county teams is nowhere near as professional as it should be. In fact i would be fairly certain that the reason a few Kilcoo men have failed to commit to inter county is because the inter county set up would fall far behind the stand of organisation and coaching they receive within their own club.

There are some bright spots in the gloomy picture. Murdock and Magill both look like solid inter county players. The new training centre (despite the location) will hopefully improve things also.

The Down hurlers have taken up the mantle this year and made great progress. I know little about either inter county set up but from outside it appears the hurlers are showing what progress can be made with a well organised management and a group of players who are willing to buy into the inter county game. It's simple but it seems to work.

[johnnycool]

https://www.the42.ie/eugene-branagan-kilcoo-players-down-squad-5754073-May2022/

Not an easy read and maybe a touch arrogant from Branagan but nonetheless there's probably a lot of truth in what he says.

I don't understand how he would have difficulty in playing alongside lads from other clubs, is it that toxic?

I've played alongside lads for Down i've taken lumps out off in club games and they me, that's just the way it is..

[Ethan Tremblay]

He really doesn't come across well there at all, the arrogance is dripping out of him.  The Kilcoo players are in a unique position where they have been dominating Down at the moment and buying into the club instead of county has rewarded them with an all Ireland club championship, so that is all fair dues. 

But he is out and out slating the current players and management team, he is not involved there and doesn't know the in's and outs.  They mightn't have a winning mentality at the moment, but when your top club players are not joining up what do they expect.  If the Slaughtnel players never joined up with the county do you think they would have beat Tyrone on Sunday? He mustn't understand that having those players available to the county team would certainly turn that mindset on its head. 

Also fair dues to Mc Cartan.  If this is the type of stuff that he has to contend with, then any wonder why nobody wanted the job in the first place.   

[rosskarr]

 "Those darn pests" from Kilcoo.

[SamFever]

 I was sort of praising Kilcoo last week but Eugene's comments are well out of line.The recent mutterings of him and Barry O'Hagan are disappointing.

[snoopdog]

I'd sayhe was just being honest. He was asked a question and answered it truthfully. Probably doesn't sound the greatest and is criticism of the current set up. But maybe we need players to come out and start saying these things publicly like Brannigan and OHagan for things to actually start to change. Wee James was on a hiding to nothing taking this job. He stepped up when no one else would touch it. He deserves a lot of credit for that considering what it's probably done to his future management ambitions, the county board hung the man out to dry by such a late appointment.

[BigRipper89]

Brannigan says Down players don't have the right mentality to win, while also stating he doesnt want to play with them. He's showing he does not have that mentality to change it. To show up for a team thats winning a championship 8 out of 10 years and competing in Ulster each year, great numbers at training, best coaches and management etc. That's relatively easy compared to continuously turning out for a team that's not going well. I'm sure anyone here from a smaller club knows the struggles of keeping going when you're not winning. I hope for his sake Kilcoo dont fall off their perch in the next 10 years of his career or everyone will soon be questioning his winning mentality

[Captain Obvious]

Down are at their lowest ebb and Eugene Branagan decides to give his county team a right good kicking. Can see why some of you lads don't have a lot of love for Kilcoo.

[stiff breeze]

It's laughable that on an online anonymous forum where people constantly slate the county team , the county board and referees there is a problem with a non player giving his honest opinion about the state of the county team and sticking his name beside it . Have a bit of wit ffs

[03,05,08]

Being a good club footballer does not equate to being a good county footballer, a lot of the kilcoo boys would have an inflated idea of what effect they'd actually have on the county scene however strangely enough they wouldn't risk actually giving it a go, Eugene Brannigan being one. What was said in that article was a joke, stuck the boot in James mc cartan who he has nothing to do with, and who's done a lot more in football than any of the current kilcoo players.