Sligo Club Football & Hurling

[SLIGONIAN]

But what has he done Seanie? I'm not being fecetious, I'd genuinely like to know. I dont think any of us dont wish him and the selectors well. At the very least we can all rest assured that there will be no ulterior motives for picking teams now. I would be slightly worried that its come a bit too soon for Taylor and Sloyane in that its only relatively recently that they've quite the panel and still have connections there. I hope I'm wrong though.
I wonder what input O'Hara will have?

Shapes, yes he could be as good as anyone else but we dont know that and there is nothing to suggest, other than his playing career, that he will be any good. If its to be believed that McGuinness was in the frame for it then he has a proven (albeit within Donegal) track record and further the conventional wisdom states that he is a pretty good coach.
I dont know if Dudley Farrell was interviewed. If he wasn't then he should have been, no matter how late in the day he expressed interest.

It was even suggested to me last night that it was the choice of selectors and the potential cost of the Walshe ticket that won the day. I've no sound reason to believe this but what I do know is that the optimum outcome from this appointment is that we get out of Division 4 and give a respectable showing in Connacht next year. The worst possible outcome is that we are rendered Division 4 regulars and get annihilated in the championship next summer. Should the latter prevail John Murphy et al will have wiped out any progress Sligo football has made over the last 12-15 years and that, in my opinion, is a far greater cost than any short term monetary gain.

I'm sure I dont need to reiterate that I genuinely hope that this works out well.

Baoithe, ive told you walshs experience on the other thread, u14 girls and aran islands junior team, thats it.

[shapes]

Baoithe your point on O'Hara is interesting I was aiming at the same question whether he will focus on football (hopefully in a full forward position) or whether he will be the silent selector.
I believe that Sloyane is meant to be the link between the U 21's and Seniors.

[paddypastit]

Shapes / Baoithe - I think your concern on the 'fourth / silent selector' is proably the one unknown that will leave us asking questions until we se how things operate. PT and Dessie in my experience have their own heads right even if PT likes to be nice with rather than confront people and DS keeps it to himself.  Neither though would have somebody else make up their mind. The worry is that they wouldn't push their own thinking if what they believed were a difficult call.  I'd probabaly have a little more confidence in DS to put it out there either way.  I can't say with Durcan.  Through the Moran and Ford days he and EOH were very tight, along with one other big (in every sense!) player and were very strong voices in the paddock - our Donal Og and Sean Og I'd say.  Then they ended up on opposite sides of the Tommy Murphy Cup debacle in '04 and I've been off that merrygoround since so I can't say if the connection is strong now.  If it were where it was at before then, I would be concerned as in truth I don't think, for all their capability and experience, that either is a good reader of the game or good decision makers and tend to go for the 'please the players / crowd / camera' decisions.  

Like the lads though I wish them well.  The more I think about it, the more Sloyane's involvement appeals.    

No comments on here abpout the U21 reappointment.  I know that there were negative comments on here at the time abpout the management then given that we gave up a decent lead and got caught and passed out.  I met O'Flaherty a few weeks after and we talked about it and I have to say that, although I can;t remember the detail now, he struck me as having a very well developed perspective on the game and the squad.  I would have taken a sense that they were in decent hands. What do those of you that are closer think?

[SLIGONIAN]

Shapes / Baoithe - I think your concern on the 'fourth / silent selector' is proably the one unknown that will leave us asking questions until we se how things operate. PT and Dessie in my experience have their own heads right even if PT likes to be nice with rather than confront people and DS keeps it to himself.  Neither though would have somebody else make up their mind. The worry is that they wouldn't push their own thinking if what they believed were a difficult call.  I'd probabaly have a little more confidence in DS to put it out there either way.  I can't say with Durcan.  Through the Moran and Ford days he and EOH were very tight, along with one other big (in every sense!) player and were very strong voices in the paddock - our Donal Og and Sean Og I'd say.  Then they ended up on opposite sides of the Tommy Murphy Cup debacle in '04 and I've been off that merrygoround since so I can't say if the connection is strong now.  If it were where it was at before then, I would be concerned as in truth I don't think, for all their capability and experience, that either is a good reader of the game or good decision makers and tend to go for the 'please the players / crowd / camera' decisions.  

Like the lads though I wish them well.  The more I think about it, the more Sloyane's involvement appeals.    

No comments on here abpout the U21 reappointment.  I know that there were negative comments on here at the time abpout the management then given that we gave up a decent lead and got caught and passed out.  I met O'Flaherty a few weeks after and we talked about it and I have to say that, although I can;t remember the detail now, he struck me as having a very well developed perspective on the game and the squad.  I would have taken a sense that they were in decent hands. What do those of you that are closer think?

Why does the Sloyan appeal so much Paddy? For me Taylor would be selector if i was manager but maybe 4 or 5 yrs down the line, he is a football genuis, and would be a perfect forawrds coach and striking of the ball, shot selection, how to use you body to hold off defenders. Dont know much about Dessie to be honest, great player. I worry about there loyalty towards there clubs especially sloyan and durks though. But i hope they can leave that behind them with Sligo. They did as players. It is kinda exciting if the are ruthless, but there are alot of ifs...for me.

I was at 4 u21 games at least last yr, its hard to look back to be honest, Right he got it so wrong in the 2nd half against ROS it was untrue. He just stood there and took his beating while ros got there act together on/off the field we were 10 steps behind.

The major thing was i was the far side straight across from our mentors and dugout, All i remember was Ros got Kenny to come deep and N Gaughan was taken out deep with him, Sligo played the extra man in defence but the lad had no positional sense. Cant remember who it was though, but kenny destroyed gaughan 2nd half, all the attacks started with kenny and he isolated himself on gaughan, AS a fan you watch this and i was tearing my hair out, please make the change but our dumb dahs made other changes. O Flathery and his selectors couldnt see, if maybe they had someone our side of the field it may have been more obvious, i dont blame gaughan because he is a corner back but when kenny dragged him out the field he looked lost and got over taken too many times and kenny opened up our defence from there making our 1 man advantage nullified.

I know that some of the mentors on the u21s look at this board. One of the selectors went to great trouble to find out my identity, not that i care because l stand by what i say, well i say to them i really hope yeve learned from yer mistakes that day because last yr that team was good enough to win connacht, and the blame lies with the management more than the players. 09 we have Leitrim in the connacht semi final, what a opportunity that is. Good luck.

I suppose the positives the Galway victory and first half against Ros O flatherty just about deserves another shot but that Galway team were poorest ive seen in living memory.

[paddypastit]

Appealing because he thinks for himself and in my experience of him isn't a 'follower'  Of the three he I would feel him the least likely to do the 'popular' thing / go with the flow. I agree completely with your assessment on PT with the only caveat being that off the field he is a bit too 'nice', but then in this case he is not the manager so the need to be tougher may not arise.

[SLIGONIAN]

Appealing because he thinks for himself and in my experience of him isn't a 'follower'  Of the three he I would feel him the least likely to do the 'popular' thing / go with the flow. I agree completely with your assessment on PT with the only caveat being that off the field he is a bit too 'nice', but then in this case he is not the manager so the need to be tougher may not arise.

Good to hear about DS, we need men around Walsh who will challenge his ideas etc.. and push him to be the best he can be, yes men are no real use because they lack intergrity and honesty but im glad DS isnt one of them types. Ive met PT a few times, he is sound and maybe all in all we have a good balance. Maybe I just dont know it yet but im coming around slowly to this management team and either way its not there fault our interview process is a joke and i will back them and wish them the best all the time they are in charge. Would love to see them all do well and its good priming and experience for durks, PT and DS that maybe they can go on from this for the betterment of Sligo football.

[Teeling Gael]

Just a few comments on Sligo management situation which has unfolded in last few days.

The current county board does not spend money on management and will always take the cheapest option ( Dom lasted weeks of this era) . Struck gold with Brehony but not so with Jordan but they are the perils of recruiting unproven intercounty managers. It is debatable whether Sligo a division 4 team is an attractive proposition for proven intercounty managers or even high profile club managers and also and more pertinent, Sligo County board is well within its rights and ( I agree with this approach) to spend that money in developing underage structures and teams than in "expenses" for Senior manager. That said, if Kevin Walsh is the answer, it shouldnt have take 4 months to put a candidate with his CV in place. With his CV , he shouldnt have even got an interview but a combination of the previous point ( unwillingness to spend and unattractiveness of position) and then presumably an excellent interview and excellent reference checks has led us to Kevin Walsh. Hopefully he is a future Galway manager and grating as all that may seem , that will be a sign of the success of his Sligo career. I take issue with comparisons with Jason Ryan and Tommy brehony as not been correct as both those had managed senior clubs within the county to club championships before becoming intercounty managers. Hopefully whatever shone through at interview stage will come to the fore in the next couple of years and K Walsh revives the fortunes of Sligo football.

Dont overly like the selector combination to be honest. All are from same era and all are very recently retired and theres even a touch of the Ja Fallons appointment about Taylor. Dont like a selector having been part of 3 regimes as Durcan now will. If he is that astute give him the main job at one of the underage teams to progress him. Taylor and Sloyane need huge strentgh of character to put aside loyalties to players they soldiered with , clubmates , friends and even family and I hop e they have it but would have preferred another couple of years to have passed before they got senior job. Imagine the response they would have gotten if  they put their undoubted class and experience and obvious pride in their county into say U14 development team for next 2 years ?? I would have felt that served Sligo football much better and prepared them much better for an involvement in senior team in the future.

Walsh can sleep easy in any rate that it will be much harder for the panel to call a meeting in the Radisson to get rid of this management team.

On O Flahertys appointment, I felt last years U21's played with the best structure of any Sligo team for a number of years for most of their 2 matches until it fell apart in 2nd half against Roscommon. O flaherty and his selectors ( Hi Con , Sligonian will be the guy in the black jersey in Dubias heat ) deserve alot of credit for this and will undoubtedly learn from mistakes last summer and in what they did right , showed alot of intercounty managerial potential. My only gripe was irrespective of guys abilities , it is unfair on them and that particuliar group of underage players who may only have one chance, to be used as a learning curve for a manager. In my view , O Flaherty should have served an apprenticship as a manager at an adult club for a year and then be given the position. I think the same held true for Moyles at minor. O flaherty will have learnt more in 1/2 an hour in Roscommon last Spring that all year and I would be confident that with the style of play he brought last year, the learning curve and with a relatively easy draw that he can get a team together that will reach Connaught Final in 2009 and be competitive there.

[baoithe]

As per my initial post the selection of these three selectors represents the one positive aspect of this whole process. My only reservations would have been in relation to connections they would have with senior members of the current panel. That said, I did not realise Durkin was of the mould that Paddy suggests and would hope that himself and O'Hara do not contrive to destablise the ship - if they are to have any hope at all they will at the minimum a need unity of effort for the coming season.

Paddy, it did occur to me that Murphy's retort to any detractors (e.g. me) of his tenureship would be to the effect that the primary goal of his term as County Chairman would be to develop the underage set up in Sligo. I concur entirely with this concept. Who wouldn't? And I understand that Liam Óg Gormley is doing trojan work in this regard. Apart from that I fail to see that any coherent plan has been presented to the GAA people of Sligo with a view to achieving the Chairman's aforementioned goals other than the hollow and ill thought out presentation that he and his cohorts in FOSF conjured up a couple of years ago. To my mind, what we need in Sligo, amongst other things,is a) a complete overhaul of the way underage football is approached throughout the county and b) that a common consensus be achieved between all the clubs  in the county together with the county board on how we should be coaching children into the future. To achieve the first point I would consider a comprehensive plan something along the lines of Cúl for kids programme promoted by GAA HQ a few years ago. Essentially we would be eliminating all competitions up to under 14 level. For all the age groups below this, children would get their football through training and regular blitzes to be held across the county. My rationale for this suggestion might be illustrated by something that occurred a number of years ago in Templeboy. Eastern Harps brought an under 10 or 12 team out for a game and they had nigh on 15 subs. Now in all likelihood 10 of those subs never played a game for Eastern Harps after under 10 and its most likely that they were lost to the GAA. If we had an all inclusive paradigm for participation for these age groups we are bound to benefit in some way as these lads will hopefully be hooked on playing the game as it should be played. Or even if they were never to play again hopefully the ethos of the GAA and the previous years of being a part of the club might encourage them to stay connected with it through for instance the likes of Scór. This in turn might ultimately be a source of much needed administrators for all our clubs.

The second aspect on a common informed approach to coaching would be achieved by conducting a comprehensive study and analysis of coaching in the GAA world drawing on the knowledge all the renowned coaches throughout the GAA world as well as a study of the underage administrations within counties that have been successful at udnerage level. Now when I say informed I mean leaving no stone unturned expense-wise and effort-wise to develop this study and if that means bringing in some intellect from outside the county then so be it. It'd be money well spent. The result of all this would be optimum participation in GAA up to under 14 level and in an ideal world a coaching ethos throughout the county to those age groups that is second to none.

Unfortunately I have work to do so I cannot dedicate any more time to structure my argument or tease it out a bit more. I think ye get what I mean though.

As things stand now I dont think much progress is being made. We have a good crop of minors coming up but I think this is as a result of another cycle of good footballers that come around every decade or so. I have no problem with the county board focussing on underage development at the expense of the senior side but I expect at the very least that they put in place a plan that shows some thought was put into it. If there is no plan and a division 4 senior team that are getting whipped every year in Connacht we're donald ducked.

[SLIGONIAN]

Just a few comments on Sligo management situation which has unfolded in last few days.

The current county board does not spend money on management and will always take the cheapest option ( Dom lasted weeks of this era) . Struck gold with Brehony but not so with Jordan but they are the perils of recruiting unproven intercounty managers. It is debatable whether Sligo a division 4 team is an attractive proposition for proven intercounty managers or even high profile club managers and also and more pertinent, Sligo County board is well within its rights and ( I agree with this approach) to spend that money in developing underage structures and teams than in "expenses" for Senior manager. That said, if Kevin Walsh is the answer, it shouldnt have take 4 months to put a candidate with his CV in place. With his CV , he shouldnt have even got an interview but a combination of the previous point ( unwillingness to spend and unattractiveness of position) and then presumably an excellent interview and excellent reference checks has led us to Kevin Walsh. Hopefully he is a future Galway manager and grating as all that may seem , that will be a sign of the success of his Sligo career. I take issue with comparisons with Jason Ryan and Tommy brehony as not been correct as both those had managed senior clubs within the county to club championships before becoming intercounty managers. Hopefully whatever shone through at interview stage will come to the fore in the next couple of years and K Walsh revives the fortunes of Sligo football.

Dont overly like the selector combination to be honest. All are from same era and all are very recently retired and theres even a touch of the Ja Fallons appointment about Taylor. Dont like a selector having been part of 3 regimes as Durcan now will. If he is that astute give him the main job at one of the underage teams to progress him. Taylor and Sloyane need huge strentgh of character to put aside loyalties to players they soldiered with , clubmates , friends and even family and I hop e they have it but would have preferred another couple of years to have passed before they got senior job. Imagine the response they would have gotten if  they put their undoubted class and experience and obvious pride in their county into say U14 development team for next 2 years ?? I would have felt that served Sligo football much better and prepared them much better for an involvement in senior team in the future.

Walsh can sleep easy in any rate that it will be much harder for the panel to call a meeting in the Radisson to get rid of this management team.

On O Flahertys appointment, I felt last years U21's played with the best structure of any Sligo team for a number of years for most of their 2 matches until it fell apart in 2nd half against Roscommon. O flaherty and his selectors ( Hi Con , Sligonian will be the guy in the black jersey in Dubias heat ) deserve alot of credit for this and will undoubtedly learn from mistakes last summer and in what they did right , showed alot of intercounty managerial potential. My only gripe was irrespective of guys abilities , it is unfair on them and that particuliar group of underage players who may only have one chance, to be used as a learning curve for a manager. In my view , O Flaherty should have served an apprenticship as a manager at an adult club for a year and then be given the position. I think the same held true for Moyles at minor. O flaherty will have learnt more in 1/2 an hour in Roscommon last Spring that all year and I would be confident that with the style of play he brought last year, the learning curve and with a relatively easy draw that he can get a team together that will reach Connaught Final in 2009 and be competitive there.

You make a great point about PT and DS looking after a u14 team and the rest i concur with.

On the u21s if you could elaborate on the u21s played with the best structure of any sligo team id appreciate your views. I do agree with alot of what you said, O Flatherty would be kicking himself after the Ros game knowing he was asleep 2nd half like the team and will hopefully be more pro acitve next yr. It has to be said it took an age to get the u21s going last yr, poor NW cup but this yr alot more involvement with the seniors should bring alot of players along, there are alot still u21 next yr from another poster on hoganstand and with Conor Davey, David Maye, the 2 clarkes from pats and Darren Gilsenan from the minors to step up it is some squad.

Last yr u21s still eligible:
Noel gaughan
Brian Murphy
Neil Ewing
Eoin McHugh
Stephen Henry
Stephen Gilmartin
Stephen Coen
Gary Gaughan
Shane McManus
Daniel Maye
Gavin Gilsenan
Paul Kelly
Patrick Greene
Stephen Kilcoyne
Conor Brady
Niall Egan
Cormac Coyne
Keelan Cawley

Some of them players are really starting to kick on in terms of there potential.

[paddypastit]

Great post Baoithe - good thinking

[Owenmoresider]

Paddy, it did occur to me that Murphy's retort to any detractors (e.g. me) of his tenureship would be to the effect that the primary goal of his term as County Chairman would be to develop the underage set up in Sligo. I concur entirely with this concept. Who wouldn't? And I understand that Liam Óg Gormley is doing trojan work in this regard. Apart from that I fail to see that any coherent plan has been presented to the GAA people of Sligo with a view to achieving the Chairman's aforementioned goals other than the hollow and ill thought out presentation that he and his cohorts in FOSF conjured up a couple of years ago. To my mind, what we need in Sligo, amongst other things,is a) a complete overhaul of the way underage football is approached throughout the county and b) that a common consensus be achieved between all the clubs  in the county together with the county board on how we should be coaching children into the future. To achieve the first point I would consider a comprehensive plan something along the lines of Cúl for kids programme promoted by GAA HQ a few years ago. Essentially we would be eliminating all competitions up to under 14 level. For all the age groups below this, children would get their football through training and regular blitzes to be held across the county. My rationale for this suggestion might be illustrated by something that occurred a number of years ago in Templeboy. Eastern Harps brought an under 10 or 12 team out for a game and they had nigh on 15 subs. Now in all likelihood 10 of those subs never played a game for Eastern Harps after under 10 and its most likely that they were lost to the GAA. If we had an all inclusive paradigm for participation for these age groups we are bound to benefit in some way as these lads will hopefully be hooked on playing the game as it should be played. Or even if they were never to play again hopefully the ethos of the GAA and the previous years of being a part of the club might encourage them to stay connected with it through for instance the likes of Scór. This in turn might ultimately be a source of much needed administrators for all our clubs.

That's already been done baoithe, in the sense that the U12 competitions are effectively gone, all blitzes now. Not a move I was happy with, winning U12 champoionships did a lot for our club than one would imagine, but sure we'll see how it goes. Good post though.

[magpie seanie]

Leaving the senior county team management issue aside for a while I want to pick up on a few points from Baoithe's excellent post.

it did occur to me that Murphy's retort to any detractors (e.g. me) of his tenureship would be to the effect that the primary goal of his term as County Chairman would be to develop the underage set up in Sligo. I concur entirely with this concept. Who wouldn't? And I understand that Liam Óg Gormley is doing trojan work in this regard. Apart from that I fail to see that any coherent plan has been presented to the GAA people of Sligo with a view to achieving the Chairman's aforementioned goals other than the hollow and ill thought out presentation that he and his cohorts in FOSF conjured up a couple of years ago.

Liam Óg's appointment was a very good step. However, I tend to agree with your assessment the little else is being done and Liam Óg is only one person, no matter how hard he works. There is good work being done with county development squads etc but I can't help but think that there's too much resources being put into these elite areas and nothing into the rest. For example, our sucessful county U-16's this year had Liam Óg, Pat Kilcoyne, Eamon Kelly plus a few selectors involved. Maybe I'm worng but that looks like that squad was over-resourced.

One great innovation (lead by Liam Óg) was the restructuring of the U-12 competitions. The Go Games format developed by the GAA is proven to aid player development and give greater enjoyment to kids. Crucially each player gets many touches of the ball s opposed to the 15 player format where the corner forward may never see the ball. This was great but what do we do in Sligo? The North Division and City Board organise U-9, U-10 and U-11 competitions that are 15 a side. I've been to meetings and argued 'til I'm blue in the face but the mandarins in charge went ahead anyway. That is crazy and certainly something that the county board should be able to control. Likewise the North Division organising winter competitions (opposed by Liam Óg) but Coolera end up being the odd man out if we don't paticipate.

The County Youth committee have gone from bad to worse and just dictate to clubs instead of trying to make an effort to help them. I realise how difficult it is but clubs need help - not a quango that barely administers competitions. There is no plan. The only target is to complete the fixtures in time.

So that's my take on underage. You can blame who you like. Clubs need to take a lot of the blame but they are like sheep. If they are lead they will likely follow, my own club is an example of this and we would possibly be seen as not the most likely to "follow"! For anyone looking in this is not meant to be personal. I know we have myriad issues within my own club at underage alone and appreciate how hard it is to tackle them but I just think as a county we are on the road to nowhere. We might have decent county teams initially but our club football could disintegrate entirely and obviously this will bring everything down with it.

I'd be interested in other peoples views on this.

[SLIGONIAN]

Leaving the senior county team management issue aside for a while I want to pick up on a few points from Baoithe's excellent post.

it did occur to me that Murphy's retort to any detractors (e.g. me) of his tenureship would be to the effect that the primary goal of his term as County Chairman would be to develop the underage set up in Sligo. I concur entirely with this concept. Who wouldn't? And I understand that Liam Óg Gormley is doing trojan work in this regard. Apart from that I fail to see that any coherent plan has been presented to the GAA people of Sligo with a view to achieving the Chairman's aforementioned goals other than the hollow and ill thought out presentation that he and his cohorts in FOSF conjured up a couple of years ago.

Liam Óg's appointment was a very good step. However, I tend to agree with your assessment the little else is being done and Liam Óg is only one person, no matter how hard he works. There is good work being done with county development squads etc but I can't help but think that there's too much resources being put into these elite areas and nothing into the rest. For example, our sucessful county U-16's this year had Liam Óg, Pat Kilcoyne, Eamon Kelly plus a few selectors involved. Maybe I'm worng but that looks like that squad was over-resourced.

One great innovation (lead by Liam Óg) was the restructuring of the U-12 competitions. The Go Games format developed by the GAA is proven to aid player development and give greater enjoyment to kids. Crucially each player gets many touches of the ball s opposed to the 15 player format where the corner forward may never see the ball. This was great but what do we do in Sligo? The North Division and City Board organise U-9, U-10 and U-11 competitions that are 15 a side. I've been to meetings and argued 'til I'm blue in the face but the mandarins in charge went ahead anyway. That is crazy and certainly something that the county board should be able to control. Likewise the North Division organising winter competitions (opposed by Liam Óg) but Coolera end up being the odd man out if we don't paticipate.

The County Youth committee have gone from bad to worse and just dictate to clubs instead of trying to make an effort to help them. I realise how difficult it is but clubs need help - not a quango that barely administers competitions. There is no plan. The only target is to complete the fixtures in time.

So that's my take on underage. You can blame who you like. Clubs need to take a lot of the blame but they are like sheep. If they are lead they will likely follow, my own club is an example of this and we would possibly be seen as not the most likely to "follow"! For anyone looking in this is not meant to be personal. I know we have myriad issues within my own club at underage alone and appreciate how hard it is to tackle them but I just think as a county we are on the road to nowhere. We might have decent county teams initially but our club football could disintegrate entirely and obviously this will bring everything down with it.

I'd be interested in other peoples views on this.

You know reading that post, I couldnt help reading with my QS hat on, there are so many issues to be dealt with it reminded me of risk registers at work and there purpose, bascially involves a think/thank at the start, list of all the problems past and future, then solutions, then actions, then timeframe for deliverables, and then status. Could the County Chairman not sit down with all the clubs and go through all the issues and then. I mean then bring all the different boards in line with the proposals and work from there within Liam Ogs development plan for Sligo underage.

I mean it sounds simplisitic, but take the problem with the North board, Why arent the GO games format compulsary at u9, u11 etc..? Up to u12 they should be and Summer football is key too. The CB should be enforcing that aswell as Liam OG. The idea of blitzs is to stop managers going all out for the win, ie playing his biggest strongest players and some small kid who has bags more football in him gets lost in that desire to win. The blitz encourages kids way more and develops there skills which is most important at that age.

[Westie]

Seanie and Baoithe , ye are so right.
The U12 is a revelation as far as I am concerned. We have replicated it all the way down to u8 where we play blitzes with clubs from North Mayo and West, South Sligo. As a club we have decided we do not care if we win as long as all players get a game and improve. Admittedly we have been spoiled the last 3 years with our team losing and winning an A final and losing the semi this year.

But Seanie I understand your point, it was noticable this year that some so called big clubs played us this year and had only 1 sub with them. We took it on the chin and let it fly believing that we were better served by playing 20 players in the game rather than winning with 12. I believe we will have the numbers in a few years and the player will be better.

This year we played one 15-a-side u8 game and it was a disaster, about 4 players got a touch of the ball. The 11 or 9 a side is the only way and in Mayo each player is only allowed one hop and solo, right away brining more players into the game.

And winter leagues, don't agree with these at all. They give fellas a negative view. Winter is for schools football (though Batt O is doing his best to get rid of that also). Very easy for lads to fall off the radar during this time when they miss a few training sessions, next thing they are out of the loop.  To be avoided.

I do think that the county would be better server by DS and PT putting their efforts for the next few years into the development squads. Very worried about the closeness of the selectors to the current players.

Is it getting to  a stage where each club should have their own paid club coach. I read that Brigids in Roscommon do this. A job I would jump at I have to say.

[SLIGONIAN]

Seanie and Baoithe , ye are so right.
The U12 is a revelation as far as I am concerned. We have replicated it all the way down to u8 where we play blitzes with clubs from North Mayo and West, South Sligo. As a club we have decided we do not care if we win as long as all players get a game and improve. Admittedly we have been spoiled the last 3 years with our team losing and winning an A final and losing the semi this year.

But Seanie I understand your point, it was noticable this year that some so called big clubs played us this year and had only 1 sub with them. We took it on the chin and let it fly believing that we were better served by playing 20 players in the game rather than winning with 12. I believe we will have the numbers in a few years and the player will be better.

This year we played one 15-a-side u8 game and it was a disaster, about 4 players got a touch of the ball. The 11 or 9 a side is the only way and in Mayo each player is only allowed one hop and solo, right away brining more players into the game.

And winter leagues, don't agree with these at all. They give fellas a negative view. Winter is for schools football (though Batt O is doing his best to get rid of that also). Very easy for lads to fall off the radar during this time when they miss a few training sessions, next thing they are out of the loop.  To be avoided.

I do think that the county would be better server by DS and PT putting their efforts for the next few years into the development squads. Very worried about the closeness of the selectors to the current players.

Is it getting to  a stage where each club should have their own paid club coach. I read that Brigids in Roscommon do this. A job I would jump at I have to say.

In brigids, can you elaborate on that westie? with regards to his role and requrements, schools, club underage, part time or full time etc...obviously he is payed so fundraising would of been done i presume.

In my area there 4 national schools, 1 secondary school. If the coach took charge of each team in the schools and did training it would feed into the club big time. Also in the evening then coaching underage teams youd have massive knowledge of players to pass on to managers and you could structure the development of players to ensure you get them to express there potential.