Antrim Football Thread

Started by theskull1, November 09, 2006, 11:48:40 PM

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aontroim

Sambo & Woody were approached by the Antrim players to put their names forward this year - i think that speaks volumes for the high regard Jingo was held in.

Regards the selection committee - the non-hurling members would have every right to be there for a different perspective and if the creggan member is who i'm thinking of then the candidates will have had little chance to try and bullshit their way into the job!

Forgot me Boots

McGourty may shut his mouth, who died and made him captain? Was he prepared to stand up and be counted with all the other Antrim Players, go to training with all the other players, thats the question that needed answered, he has answerd NO he can f**k away off. Give Jody a chance. i posted previously about where peoples loyalities would lat if this sort of thing happened, i know where mine are. If we are to progress we need unity from within the entire countys footballers and sadly at the minute we dont seem to have it.

Guillem2

Well its done now so all the best to Woody & Sambo in there new positions. What are their aims for next season? Avoid relegation from Div 1 (it will be hard with the re-structuring), win Ulster SHC and win a match in the All Ireland group stage. Who can we beat in the All Ireland? Laois or Dublin at most I'd say.
Talking is an overrated way of communicating.

milltown row

Mc Gourty is only captain of Queens. read the article and there is nothing on it thats out of order. these people phone him up like everybody else at this time of year to fill a column, Kevin is only too willing to spout off. people on this site are over reacting. If he's not playing for Antrim so what!!!!!

saffron

Obviously wish Sambo and Woody all the best and hope they can move us forward but if you give someone the job they achieve what was asked of them and then they are immediately replaced what does that say? Is it a pre-requisite that your the players choice cause if so lets just be done with it and ask the squad who they want managing them. But as has been said its done now and  hope it goes well.

Read the Irish News article McGourty says very little in it and was obviously asked for his opinion - he shouldnt give it of course but cant see the big deal this time

cville

Is it just me or is the Ulster SHC a dead duck? The sell-by date seems to be up on it... The highlight for me was 1992 - massive crowd - about 20,000 in the sun at CASEMENT .... (OF COURSE THE OFFICIAL ATTENDANCE WAS 12,000) Drumcree in the mid 1990s coincided with th e final and I feel that Antrim have outgrown the competition ... I mean Down have no ambition beyond the Christy Ring Cup... Any views?

cville

Sorry - just to clarify the Drumcree quote ... The final was played for about 4 years in a row on Drumcree Sunday and the crowds were well down and the atpmosphere was unreal.... The Ulster Hurling Final has yet to recover it's sense of occasion .. The Saturday night final in 2003 is another thing...

johnneycool

Quote from: cville on November 22, 2006, 09:03:40 AM
Is it just me or is the Ulster SHC a dead duck? The sell-by date seems to be up on it... The highlight for me was 1992 - massive crowd - about 20,000 in the sun at CASEMENT .... (OF COURSE THE OFFICIAL ATTENDANCE WAS 12,000) Drumcree in the mid 1990s coincided with th e final and I feel that Antrim have outgrown the competition ... I mean Down have no ambition beyond the Christy Ring Cup... Any views?

The Ulster championship lost its meaning when it stopped becoming a stepping stone to the full AI series. Now it is a meaningless competition which is good to win, but that's it.

Down are only competitive at Christy Ring level at the minute and hopefully Antrim with their greater resources will make inroads into the qualifying series of the Liam McCarthy and I'm not talking about beating Laois or Dublin, but Offaly or Limerick is who Terrence and Dominic should to aspiring to.

aontroim abu

the ulster championship is done, even with Armagh joining next year to make another game. would be interested in hearing everyones views on the idea Sambo had a while back about Antrim joining the Leinster championship. what about joining senior only, or at all levels? obviously this will ruin hurling in Ulster but as he said at the time Antrim people have to be selfish and look after their own house

saffron

The same was asked of Galway and they dont seem keen - they've also remained more or less competitive in a province with only themselves - what happens to the Ulster Championship then?

Given the constant complaints about club hurling in Antrim on this board are we not better off seeing were an improvement in the club hurling structures takes us before we decide

BottleOfStout

Absolutely,  this years events killed the Ulster Championship.  I believe it is irrevelant to Antrim now.   The heady days of  the early 90s couldl only be repeated if Antrim and Down and / or Derry can get relatively competitive at All-Ireland level and even then with no connection between Ulster Championship and All-Ireland it has no purpose.  Maybe the the 10000-15000 crowns would return ( 20000 never happened)


cville

Sorry - link may be dead .. go to google, enter sportsfile ie, enter as guest, type in Jim Close - it's the black and white one

milltown row

McKernan astonished at snub

Antrim hurling manager Jim McKernan
22 November 2006


Jim McKernan has issued a statement criticising the Antrim county board for failing to ratify him for a second year as senior hurling manager despite leading the Saffrons to Christy Ring and Ulster success.

McKernan was overlooked by the county board in favour of Sambo McNaughton and Dominic McKinley, despite an excellent debut year as manager in 2006.

"To say I am extremely disappointed is an understatement, I am totally astonished not to be allowed to implement year two of our three-year strategy after a very successful year which we exceeded all expectations and targets," said McKernan.

"The addition of Mick O'Connell to our management team makes the decision by the county board even more difficult to accept. My record stands for itself. Last year no one wanted this job when Antrim was in decline, it was a poisoned chalice, it had no viable vision or go forward strategy. This position has been turned round and now the players and supporters and my management team can hold our heads high.

"At the start of the year Antrim Hurling was in turmoil, they were relegated from the Liam McCarthy Cup, player confidence was decimated, and the team was in decline," said Kernan, who went on to point out that under his managerial reign the county retained their place in the NHL Division 1 with wins over Galway and Laois, ran All-Ireland champions Kilkenny to two points, won the Christy Ring Cup, claimed the Ulster SHC and reached all the targets set out by the county board at the start of the year.

"If the selection process was based on achievements, track record and effort then I cannot understand the county board's decision not to install us for another year, but that is in the past.

"I would like to personally thank my management team and players for their commitment and professionalism especially to Paul McKillen and Paul Boyle without whom our achievements would not have been met. It is with great regret that we were not allowed to achieve our full potential as a management team thus preventing us delivering Antrim into a top eight position in the country in 2007.

"Finally as a true Antrim man I would like to offer my sincere best wishes to the new senior hurling management team and I hope they achieve the goals that we had set for 2007 season."



johnneycool

Quote from: cville on November 22, 2006, 03:04:00 PM
Sorry - link may be dead .. go to google, enter sportsfile ie, enter as guest, type in Jim Close - it's the black and white one

On a side note, i think that caption is wrong. That certainly isn't Danny Hughes in the picture for two reason. Danny always wore a red helmet, that guy thrashing weeds isn't wearing any and secondly Down were sponsored by either Kirsten Hunick (sp) or the Ulster bank in 92 and there's no sponsor on the jerseys. My guess it is the minor game the same day.

The point about the crowds is right though, they were far larger then and maybe the odd exception in recent years most notably was the year of the draw and replay, possibly two to three years ago now when a decent crowd turned up.