Antrim Football Thread

[Belfast GAA man]

MR2 you are normally a good man for a positive outlook - what u think after 2day? For me the gulf is so obvious we need a 2nd tier championship , done properly,  more than ever.....

[quit yo jibbajabba]

Think its Bannside yer lookin for tbh..

[JimStynes]

No shame losing to Kildare. Can't really blame the fellas on the panel, just a massive gulf in class at present.

[Milltown Row2]

From the start there was only one team, Kildare are like a lot of division one teams physically bigger in all departments, core strength and fitness levels are 3 divisions above Antrim, that doesn't happen overnight and would have made no difference had we played the great Andy McCallin when he was in his pump!

If you think a dads army team would have made a difference then you are just confirming that you are not wise

[Spike]

This leaves us in an awkward quandry.  Our fittest, strongest and most intelligent footballers, capable of putting it up to kildare, are training at home with their clubs.  And yet, we have people on here believeing they wouldnt make a difference or shouldnt be approached. Beggars cant be choosers. The gulf is widening at rate faster than ever before and the 'dads army' and others solution, is just a respite to address the slide.  Alarmingly our current squad has less than 5 players capable of playing in higher divisions.    If we are accepting the current squad is our best then it requires serious attention in terms of strength and physicality - we look like men against boys and i wonder what misinformation has been passed to these fellas as past couple of years.   Tactically we are naive and game management absent.  Nows the time to act before we slide into london territory

[imtommygunn]

"Capable of putting it up to Kildare".

My hole. Where are you pulling that from?
All of these players you have in mind have played for Antrim over the last 5 years and we still never put it up to anyone.

Exactly. Time after time you read the same shite here. I don't know what capable in division one even means. So if you play for a team who are in division two are you not capable of playing in division one?

Our hurlers and footballers have been very poor on the strength and conditioning front for years. It takes years too but we can't get player commitment year on year to get the years of development required so it is a difficult problem.

[Spike]

Deluded comments and yet fairly typical.  'Putting it up' means at least challenge.   We've employed bargain bucket managers for last few years and we've got what we've deserved.  Even with all our best players playing we cant overcome the tactics of the incompetent on the line and the lack of training discipline from so called stars.   

No one is suggesting antrim are a div 1 or even a div 2 team but we certainly should not be in the position we are now taking hidings.   Kildare wont be winning an all ireland anytime soon.

We've all the excuses we'll ever need for mediocrity amd we use every one of them  -  just go through the list: manager, squad, county ground, training facilities, coaches, underage structures, investment, the fans ourselves - all rubbish......we all need to have a look at ourselves.

Are we resigning ourselves to mediocrity?  If so then change nothing and we'll all be more content

[Milltown Row2]

One manager/coach/fitness coach would not have got our players to a level that could compete with a division one team. And this same coach would not have been able to get these players you talked about to commit to the regime required to reach that level. Mainly because they need to be training hard for at least 3 seasons to be conditioned to at least match teams physically before the football ability kicks in.

Now it's achievable as you only have to look at Loughery yesterday for Cork, was one of the best players on the pitch, but he's playing possibly higher grade of club football and a higher standard of county, a county that has more money to spend on things that will improve our basic standards

[Saffrongael]

James Loughrey is one of the few Antrim players that had the fitness, conditioning & athleticism needed even when he was with Antrim

[Spike]

Perhaps Loughery is one of the few antrim footballers to do what is necessary is get the physique of a modern intercounty player.   All these spoofers and apologists on here denying whats right in front of them - there is NO excuse why antrim's footballers do not have the physique of a div 1 footballer. None whatsoever. Anyone saying different is someone used to taking the easy road through life.  Its feckin hard and takes sacrifices - thats why antrim arent at it.   Antrim dont appear (happy to be proved wrong) to have the talent / ability of a div 1 team but they should at least have the physicality.  Fecks sake there is enough information available to do it.   

Antrim's problem appears to be attitude, exacerbated by pisspoor  managers and 'quick fix' supporters and county admins. 

[Milltown Row2]

Perhaps Loughery is one of the few antrim footballers to do what is necessary is get the physique of a modern intercounty player.   All these spoofers and apologists on here denying whats right in front of them - there is NO excuse why antrim's footballers do not have the physique of a div 1 footballer. None whatsoever. Anyone saying different is someone used to taking the easy road through life.  Its feckin hard and takes sacrifices - thats why antrim arent at it.   Antrim dont appear (happy to be proved wrong) to have the talent / ability of a div 1 team but they should at least have the physicality.  Fecks sake there is enough information available to do it.   

Antrim's problem appears to be attitude, exacerbated by pisspoor  managers and 'quick fix' supporters and county admins.

So you agree it's a players responsibility to achieve this level of fitness that Loughrey has got to, was personal thing by him I assume, as there was no 'special' coach's doing that when he was at Antrim. It was his own, and by the way, just right to do so.

You do some spoofing, we are not at the level, nor is it down to people on the internet discussing it. If players have excuses not to play, you'll just have to accept them. Changing the management may bring a new set up and players but I doubt they'd have the impact against a division one team unless they manage to play, at a minimum, div 2 football.

Antrim seniors need a successful juvenile conveyor belt of talent feeding through to a senior set up, were they have competed with the teams in Ulster and started their conditioning from an earlier age.

[Spike]

Of course its a players responsibilty allied to the manager and county board doing all they can to facilitate.    If u remember, i know the reason why players stay away - you never appeared to accept these MR2.   I never said antrim could compete at div 1, i said they should have no excuses for not having the physicality.  And lastly, antrim should not be gettings hidings from anyone, save dublin.  Honestly, its like debating with jamie bryson on the stephen nolan show here.  Try debating what you actually read and not what you think you read.  Actually agree with you on your last paragraph.

Bottom line, antrims attitudes need to change. Players and other stakeholders

[BigBallWeeBall]

Fair play to Loughery. He's trained that hard to play in Div 3 NFL with his adopted county next year.

[Spike]

You're right. I can't believe it has taken 40 years for someone to finally come up with the winning formula. "Antrim's attitudes need to change."

Pin it to the wall.

Sometimes the obvious things are right in front of you 

[paddyjohn]

So we send Lenny & management packing and we get on the phone to Malachy O'Rourke and bring a few back from Cargin and St Galls or we sit tight with current set up and hope they build on this season and bring back the pride?