Armagh Club football & hurling

[Aghdavoyle]

Apologies umgola... no disrespect was intended. the point i was making was simply that our lads don't seem to have any intimidation issues with the clubs who are equally as successful as cross at underage but who the don't come onto ur radar at underage. of course our esteemed ballycrummy friends beat us on our last meeting, in 2001 i think?

congrats on you new pitch by the way amd the fantastic order it was in at the weekend.

[BenDover]

bow wow benny... They are known as the Harps C team (thirds would be associated with hockey/cricket/rugby)

Didn't want to be disrespectful to all those ex-Harps players by saying they were only good enough for the C team, Thirds has a bit of a ring to it 

[Candyman]

a lot of them are more than good enough to play senior football.... simply didin't have the commitment or drive to compete for places!!! E.O.S

[Final Countdown]

a lot of them are more than good enough to play senior football.... simply didin't have the commitment or drive to compete for places!!! E.O.S

A certain bottle of tonic wine have any thing to do with it?

[Rufus T Firefly]

Rufus, what you say is right to an extent but if you follow your logic then Harps and Pearse Ogs really should be transferring to the bigger stage but they have failed.  They have been the dominant underage teams in the last 10 years but have not brought this successfully to senior level. 

Nail on the head BC - that's exactly what is happening.

Sure enough Cross can keep the young players interested because of the success of the senior teams but that was not the case when me made the breakthrough.  We did not have dominanace at underage, Clans were the main team at that stage. If you look at the players that the Ogs and harps teams had on the Minor teams, Ronan Clarke, McKinney,Mallon,Swift,Quigley,Toal, Vernon and many more on reputation alone they would be as good, if not better than most of us at that age.  They had success at schools and club level so the were used to winning.  At a time when Armagh football is at it's strongest (and I don't care what anyone says to the contrary, but club football in Armagh has got more good players playing now than when I started) teams seem to be unable to break the run.  To my view, the same old lines come out every year with no change to the way things are being done. I know it is easy for me to say all this from my "foreign" homestead now, and I am sure some of my old team mates would want me to stay quiet as I know some are definitely lurkers of the site, but Cross have won 3 Armagh seniors, 2 Minors and 1 u-21 in my time on the board as a poster(shit I am here over 3 years now!). Each year the press and the people in this board have ran off the same old reasons why.  It is maybe time that people looked at what is really happening, take the Cross model,and put it in place.  People I would suggest have tried and failed, so maybe the magic ingredient is the difference and it will stay secret!

Clans (and Mullabawn) were the main team teams whens Cross broke through, but their dominance was nothing compared to the dominance that Cross have had. Cross's dominance now stretches eleven years and counting and is nearly ingrained into the psyche of the club scene.

As for models, forget it. You can put all the scientific research into perfecting the model set up in a club - if the players don't have the commitment or right attitude, then you're pissing into the wind.

Transfer out anyone?  

Final Countdown

A certain bottle of tonic wine have any thing to do with it?

Nothing whatsoever to do with it - that bottle is merely a symptom of the underlying problem.

[Candyman]

rufus your right (and you know you are ) The "tonic wine" is the easy way out!! Every club has drinkers among the ranks, its knowing when to hit it on the head and have the attitude to stay off it??? Most of the ex-harps players to my knowledge are still playing (although in Div4) where its easier to get a game and less effort is required!!!

[Uladh]

Lads, i think you are trying too hard to find a magical reason why cross are so far ahead at the minute. undoubtedly, the confidence which comes from winning permeates through a club but that is a flimsy front when a ball is  thrown in. the facts are that cross have more quality footballers at their disposal than any other club in the county at every grade.

[full back]

100% correct Uladh

[Candyman]

No one is disputing that Uladh!! The statement was made however that at underage level, The Harps & Ogs had some better teams than cross and at that stage cross didn't have many more good players at their disposal!! The fact is these playes stuck at it and are now very successfull senior players, but some of the city slickers didn't continue and haven't come through the ranks....
(Although you are correct in saying that Cross NOW have many more good players than most other teams...)

[brokencrossbar1]

You see that is just too simplistic.  There has to be some reason why we have better footballers.  We have a larger pick than some but a smaller pick than others.  We didn't have better footballers than the Harps or Ogs at minor level for at least 5-6 years so how come we now have the same players doing better at senior level?

Ithink the biggest thing about Cross at senior level is that while we have some excellent footballers, we have no passengers.  At most clubs there will always be at least 2 players you feel you could expose.  from what I can see that is not the case with Cross at the minute.

[Uladh]

who have you got a smaller pick than bc?

i don't think you have better footballers, but i believe you have more grade a footballers.

for example, cross have about 8 grade a footballers and 7 grade b.

dromintee have maybe 6 grade a, 6 grade b and 3 grade c.

harps have maybe 4 grade a, 6 grade b and 5 grade c.

the grading thing is obviously off the top of my head but you get the gist.

[illdecide]

As i said earlier the Big towns and City's (Armagh) do have more wasters and distractions than the South Armagh clubs, but the simple fact of the matter is that Cross have an exceptional bunch of players who came Thru at the one time and as a few retire or quit its easy to replace 1 or 2 on your team when you still have the nucleus of your team still performing. This type of thing comes round every so often especially to the likes of the big four (Cross, Clans, Harps, Ogs), i do believe that when 3 or 4 of the old hands quit that Cross will struggle to replace them i know they have very good young players coming Thru but they will not be as good as whats there now.

As for our world beaters Drumintee, God help us if they ever win a championship (which i can't see happening, when they see the black & amber they shite themselves) because he slags teams who have more championships between them than they have players. Whats that all about

[bennydorano]

Regarding the Harps, it's no co-incidence that the last time we were winning championships we had a team of nasty hoors, off course allied with class players with a good attitude.  Recent harps teams have been far too nice for their own good.

[Tir na nÓg]

Has the county u21 panel been selected yet or are they still trialing?

[trueblue]

Has the county u21 panel been selected yet or are they still trialing?

trials are still ongoing