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The Continuity Forum

Presumably just the same guys as before just without the official baggage. Maybe that will let them relax a bit. We will have to wait and see

Looks like a different set of folk.  These forums are better off not linked to official sites anyway.

How do you mean it looks like a different set of folk?

Definitely has the look and feel of the old set up. I suppose the admin pissed a few people off so might benefit from the appearance of a fresh start

The site looks similar but the explanation from the admin on the site's  origin suggests to me it is a different lot.

You could be right but the appearance of the site and the timing of its launch would indicate some continuity.

Good luck to them. The old site was excellent in terms of format and innovation and anybody looking to launch a site would do well to copy that blue print.

2 things let the old site down and I believe one of these was its ultimate downfall.

As with any anonymous site there were people posting stuff purely to get a reaction and crossing several lines in the process. Secondly there was an in crowd of seemingly yes men who had little interest in allowing proper debate.

The 2 combined will kill any site

http://orchardfans.com/index.php

The Continuity Forum

Presumably just the same guys as before just without the official baggage. Maybe that will let them relax a bit. We will have to wait and see

Looks like a different set of folk.  These forums are better off not linked to official sites anyway.

How do you mean it looks like a different set of folk?

Definitely has the look and feel of the old set up. I suppose the admin pissed a few people off so might benefit from the appearance of a fresh start

http://orchardfans.com/index.php

The Continuity Forum

Presumably just the same guys as before just without the official baggage. Maybe that will let them relax a bit. We will have to wait and see

Armagh forum officially dead?

How long has it off line now?

[Maybe drop Bradley and bring in a defender.]

Happy enough for Harte to stay on.

The style of football doesn't bother me as long as its getting the best out of the players available to him, which I think he is. I'd like to see a few defenders given a run next year and see if we can be a little bit more aggressive and on the front foot in what we're doing.

Unfortunately we're really lacking in big talented inside forwards which makes us very predictable. Coney has had his chances as has Niall McKenna, I don't think McNulty has the mobility to be effective in the very big games. Apart from that I don't think there is any other real options. I think Ronan O'Neill lacks the pace to be a top forward and McCurry looks like a player bereft of confidence the past two years, perhaps a year out might do him the world of good.

I'd like to see the squad freshened up in some ways.

We're badly lacking in size now with Justy and Sean Cavanagh stepping away so we'll need to add a few big physical lads back into the mix. How has Conor Clarke being doing with Omagh?

Agree about giving a few defenders a run out. Maybe drop Bradley and bring in a defender. And now that Sean has retired maybe bring in a more defensive minded player for that role

So instead of playing a 1-13-1 formation, simply shut up shop and revert to a 1-14-0 formation. With the added caveat that Cavanaghs replacement is not allowed cross the halfway line.

These would only be short term measures. Longer term surgery is ultimately required. Underage structures need to be examined. Narrowing the pitch at either end like an Aussie oval would cut down the cost of maintaining bits of the playing surface nobody uses. This money could be redirected into underage games and fund cilices to be worn during games to increase focus and reduce pleasure. Players remaining in the attacking half when the opposition has the ball or is thinking of having the ball would have to wear a tighter or second cilice. Also underage players would be banned from kicking the ball forward except were the rules of the game demands it or when an attempt is made to score directly

The potential premature retirement of a prominent player from one of this year's All Ireland quarter finalists is a national issue.

We need a referendum so

Happy enough for Harte to stay on.

The style of football doesn't bother me as long as its getting the best out of the players available to him, which I think he is. I'd like to see a few defenders given a run next year and see if we can be a little bit more aggressive and on the front foot in what we're doing.

Unfortunately we're really lacking in big talented inside forwards which makes us very predictable. Coney has had his chances as has Niall McKenna, I don't think McNulty has the mobility to be effective in the very big games. Apart from that I don't think there is any other real options. I think Ronan O'Neill lacks the pace to be a top forward and McCurry looks like a player bereft of confidence the past two years, perhaps a year out might do him the world of good.

I'd like to see the squad freshened up in some ways.

We're badly lacking in size now with Justy and Sean Cavanagh stepping away so we'll need to add a few big physical lads back into the mix. How has Conor Clarke being doing with Omagh?

Agree about giving a few defenders a run out. Maybe drop Bradley and bring in a defender. And now that Sean has retired maybe bring in a more defensive minded player for that role

How proactive are counties in fast-tracking former players into management. Donegal have had some quality players retire in the past two years. Are they being fast tracked into assisting with county underage teams or academies so that what they have a ready pathway to senior management?

No idea.

I'd imagine someone like Lacey would be a good choice.

I think Michael Murphy is taking Letterkenny IT this year.

Fast tracking proven managers would be a better idea. My own county has a litany of former players hanging around minor, U21, academy and senior county teams. There is a mix of no managerial record and bad managerial records in that group. Let them all earn their stripes with clubs and fast track those with successful records would be a better idea than giving people managerial posts based upon playing careers

Geezer has went from hero to zero in a few days.  I talked to many people who were congratulating him in the week before the quarter final but i just knew it was through gritted teeth.  It's almost like they'd near want the team to fail so the knives could be out in full view again.

We were genuinely impressive against Kildare. There then ensued in some quarters a goading by some of those who had been critical of Geezer to come out and congratulate Geezer (and him alone).

Some took the Kildare game as unrepresentative of the longer term trajectory. They could be right. Or wrong. Today who knows?

[It's often mentioned that games are all about the inches.]

It's often mentioned that games are all about the inches. Wouldn't it be interesting to see what McGeeney's legacy in Kildare would have been like if Kevin Cassidy's shot drifted wide and the controversial decision in the AI semi v Down had went Kildare's way.

The point you make is actually very applicable to this very season. Armagh were seconds away from promotion to Division 2 before the last minute goal against Tipp. I'd have to say that it was a league campaign where Geezer could bemoan his luck, particularly around controversial refereeing decisions. Promotion and an All Ireland quarter-final appearance would have represented the best possible season that Armagh could have realistically had.

However there is a flip side. We rode our luck against Westmeath, where they had half a dozen chances to dump us out and spurned them all, before we broke up the pitch and won the game. I thought we played excellently against Tipp and Kildare, although again the breaks went with us in Croke Park. Our goal was deflected in, we hit the post and scored a point off it, whilst Kildare saw two efforts hit the post and come back into play. A defeat in Westmeath  following failure to get promotion would have left his position hanging by a thread. 

That said, I never cease to be amazed at how much hate / disdain there is for the man around the country.

I disagree that we were excellent against Tipperary.

I don't think there is much hate/disdain for Geezer. There definitely is a bit. Mainly in my view because he is a willing/unwilling poster boy rightly/wrongly for an outlook on the game, life and the lives of players. That extends into armagh.

Agree with all the rest of your post.

Very interesting to note the comments of McGeeney post Saturday's debacle. The recurring themes are we don't have the players, don't have the history, the players bottled it, players didn't implement the game plan.

Heard this sort of chat during the League, I read an article on McGeeney /the Tyrone game and none of this bar reference to winning Ulster was mentioned???

Can't say I heard management say any of those things prior to now.

My reading of it was it was a bit of Pontius Pilate routine. Don't see it playing well with the training group. Don't see it enticing others to (re)join.

Have not met a single person who thinks we got it tactically right on Saturday. That includes people who like, dislike and are indifferent to Geezer. As is pointed out by Broken Crossbar pointing out that there are problems/deficiencies within the management does not automatically mean there is a problem with the manager.

I agree that a freshen up is required.

That half back line will be under big pressure.

Why so? Or why under any more pressure than the rest of the team?

12 long years patiently waiting for another Croke Park showdown to right the injustice of 05 when Russell,in an attempt to curry favour with Tyrone for 1995,awarded Tyrone a match winning easy free.

This match is winnable,imagine the karma of sending Harte and Cavanagh into retirement prematurely

I really don't care what happens Tyrone.

It's another step up for us and a bigger step than the ones negotiated in recent weeks.

The big question is do we stick with the open attractive football that has got us this far against potentially the best defence/defensive system in the country? Or do we try to match them. I think we have to do the former and be clever about it. Rain a few high balls down on the square so that Colm can't stray too far from goal. Put Clarke and Campbell wide. If Tyrone want to go man for man on them that's fine by me. If they want to put a sweeper in front of them then the 3 sweepers across the full width of the Full back line is going to give them problems elsewhere.

Cut down the fouls and keep the width and we have a chance. Fail to either of those and I would fear for us.

The idea that the two options are trash talk or being "high and mighty" or "precious" is just plain drivel. In the grown up world that is

Will there be 2 threads? One for trash talk and one for the build up to the game?

Since when have you Armagh folk become all high, mighty, and precious?

It's not high and mighty to be fed up with trash talk. Don't recall Joe Jordan, Pat Darcy or Seamus Horisk involved in trash talk. Were they high and mighty?