Antrim Hurling

[Minder]

I don't think even the most pessimistic of us saw us in a relegation playoff at the start of it, especially with 3 games at home

[old timers]

I don't think even the most pessimistic of us saw us in a relegation playoff at the start of it, especially with 3 games at home

I wd totally agree but yet here we are.  Apart from promotion in the league last year there has been very little to be happy about.

[hurlingstick]

Our 1st 20 minutes today was incredible. Intensity, skill, tackling, running and scoring left us deservedly 9 points up. I'm still scratching my head and trying to figure out how it went so wrong. How did we go in at half time only 1 point up?

Why was Nigel Elliott taken off at half time? If it was anything other than an injury then I'm stunned.

[old timers]

Our 1st 20 minutes today was incredible. Intensity, skill, tackling, running and scoring left us deservedly 9 points up. I'm still scratching my head and trying to figure out how it went so wrong. How did we go in at half time only 1 point up?

Why was Nigel Elliott taken off at half time? If it was anything other than an injury then I'm stunned.

Nigel may we'll have been the easy option.  To be honest he wasn't at the races last week at all but neither were the other forwards.  But if u can understand the decisions that the management have made at different times over this year then you'll be doing well. I said it before if it wasn't for MCManus I hate to think what the score would have been today. 

[ciaran1988]

Anyone know anything about a venue for the relegation playoff? Will it be at a neutral venue or will either ourselves or the Christy Ring winners have home advantage

[Antrim Coaster]

The way Antrim are hurling at present the Christy Ring is their level and I wouldnt be surprised if they lost a play off against the Christy Ring winners.

If Carlow had have came to Belfast to actually hurl instead of dishing out physical violence, they would have beaten Antrim out the gate.

Westmeath have 14 hurling clubs (a much lesser pick than Antrim) and with an astute manager in Michael Ryan they are playing brilliant hurling. Carlow and probably Kerry would be in the same boat.

While Antrim are more than capable of playing excellent hurling with plenty of very good hurlers (eg. the second half v Westmeath, first half v Kerry) it would appear there are no tactics or gameplan, The amount of aimless clearances out of defence that landed into a Westmeath paw last week must have been at least 70% and yesterday wasnt much better.

Antrim on a county level have been on a steady slide to hurling oblivion since the county board in their wisdom decided to appoint Jerry Wallace over Dinny Cahill, who had Antrim punching well above their weight especially when you think of the performances against Tipp, Wexford and Dublin. We were ahead of Carlow, Laois and Westmeath at that time. I remember saying at the time that Antrim would regret getting rid of Dinny and unfortunately that has been the case.

The present management team really have to go. 2 of them failed the previous time and a 4 man management team dosent work.

It is time for the county board to get their heads out of their hole and cop on that club hurling in Antrim is on life support, especially at lower levels. A hurling county with ONE hurling development officer does not cut it. We would need at least 4 or 5 more at least.

Saffron Vision my hole.

[old timers]

The way Antrim are hurling at present the Christy Ring is their level and I wouldnt be surprised if they lost a play off against the Christy Ring winners.

If Carlow had have came to Belfast to actually hurl instead of dishing out physical violence, they would have beaten Antrim out the gate.

Westmeath have 14 hurling clubs (a much lesser pick than Antrim) and with an astute manager in Michael Ryan they are playing brilliant hurling. Carlow and probably Kerry would be in the same boat.

While Antrim are more than capable of playing excellent hurling with plenty of very good hurlers (eg. the second half v Westmeath, first half v Kerry) it would appear there are no tactics or gameplan, The amount of aimless clearances out of defence that landed into a Westmeath paw last week must have been at least 70% and yesterday wasnt much better.

Antrim on a county level have been on a steady slide to hurling oblivion since the county board in their wisdom decided to appoint Jerry Wallace over Dinny Cahill, who had Antrim punching well above their weight especially when you think of the performances against Tipp, Wexford and Dublin. We were ahead of Carlow, Laois and Westmeath at that time. I remember saying at the time that Antrim would regret getting rid of Dinny and unfortunately that has been the case.

The present management team really have to go. 2 of them failed the previous time and a 4 man management team dosent work.

It is time for the county board to get their heads out of their hole and cop on that club hurling in Antrim is on life support, especially at lower levels. A hurling county with ONE hurling development officer does not cut it. We would need at least 4 or 5 more at least.

Saffron Vision my hole.

I couldn't agree more. Being a good hurler and gaining an All Star most certainly does not make you a good manager and this has been proven over the last few years.  IMO The "management team" Did not have the man Management skills that were required. unfortunately.  They "or really Sambo" because let's be honest he called most of the shots made a lot of strange decisions that lead to defeats and none more so than bringing Griffin back last year for the Christy ring final and snubbed players that had knocked their pan in for the pre-season and everything else.  Was it 3 Christy Ring finals lost?  How do u get players up for a relegation play off and with another few going from the panel to America what's are chances ? Antrim hurling is very low at the minute   

[north_antrim_hound]

The way Antrim are hurling at present the Christy Ring is their level and I wouldnt be surprised if they lost a play off against the Christy Ring winners.

If Carlow had have came to Belfast to actually hurl instead of dishing out physical violence, they would have beaten Antrim out the gate.

Westmeath have 14 hurling clubs (a much lesser pick than Antrim) and with an astute manager in Michael Ryan they are playing brilliant hurling. Carlow and probably Kerry would be in the same boat.

While Antrim are more than capable of playing excellent hurling with plenty of very good hurlers (eg. the second half v Westmeath, first half v Kerry) it would appear there are no tactics or gameplan, The amount of aimless clearances out of defence that landed into a Westmeath paw last week must have been at least 70% and yesterday wasnt much better.

Antrim on a county level have been on a steady slide to hurling oblivion since the county board in their wisdom decided to appoint Jerry Wallace over Dinny Cahill, who had Antrim punching well above their weight especially when you think of the performances against Tipp, Wexford and Dublin. We were ahead of Carlow, Laois and Westmeath at that time. I remember saying at the time that Antrim would regret getting rid of Dinny and unfortunately that has been the case.

The present management team really have to go. 2 of them failed the previous time and a 4 man management team dosent work.

It is time for the county board to get their heads out of their hole and cop on that club hurling in Antrim is on life support, especially at lower levels. A hurling county with ONE hurling development officer does not cut it. We would need at least 4 or 5 more at least.

Saffron Vision my hole.

Best post on here for weeks

[paddyjohn]

The way Antrim are hurling at present the Christy Ring is their level and I wouldnt be surprised if they lost a play off against the Christy Ring winners.

If Carlow had have came to Belfast to actually hurl instead of dishing out physical violence, they would have beaten Antrim out the gate.

Westmeath have 14 hurling clubs (a much lesser pick than Antrim) and with an astute manager in Michael Ryan they are playing brilliant hurling. Carlow and probably Kerry would be in the same boat.

While Antrim are more than capable of playing excellent hurling with plenty of very good hurlers (eg. the second half v Westmeath, first half v Kerry) it would appear there are no tactics or gameplan, The amount of aimless clearances out of defence that landed into a Westmeath paw last week must have been at least 70% and yesterday wasnt much better.

Antrim on a county level have been on a steady slide to hurling oblivion since the county board in their wisdom decided to appoint Jerry Wallace over Dinny Cahill, who had Antrim punching well above their weight especially when you think of the performances against Tipp, Wexford and Dublin. We were ahead of Carlow, Laois and Westmeath at that time. I remember saying at the time that Antrim would regret getting rid of Dinny and unfortunately that has been the case.

The present management team really have to go. 2 of them failed the previous time and a 4 man management team dosent work.

It is time for the county board to get their heads out of their hole and cop on that club hurling in Antrim is on life support, especially at lower levels. A hurling county with ONE hurling development officer does not cut it. We would need at least 4 or 5 more at least.

Saffron Vision my hole.

Best post on here for weeks

Months

[ardtole]

Did sambo and the others not take on the county job because no one else wanted it.

[imtommygunn]

Some of this stuff i would agree with but one thing i would say is mcmanus has kept us in games and when the going gets tough others need to stand up. A manager can not make a player do that.

I do not think we have the players some people think we have.

I would agree on distribution but do that has been an issue for years. I often wonder is the amount of ball we lose in the forwards due to bad quality of ball in or do we just not have ball winning forwards. Maybe a bit of both.

Yeah ardtole i am not sure anyone else wanted the job.

[imtommygunn]

I would agree with this.

[Milltown Row2]

The competition is were we are at, that level is very competitive and can only bring us on... I wasnt at the match so cant comment on it but was following on twitter as I was in Galway with the club, but the updates seemed to be very good until I checked at halftime!

9 points up was my last check and then only a point up, how did we let that slip? from there on in it was a battle by all accounts and we'd leveled it late on only for Kerry to tag on 3 points without reply..

We don't have big fit players, you can have your small speedy forwards or even small'ish corner backs but your Fullback all of your half back line and 3/4 line need to be bigger units, to win primary ball, not trying to pick up the scraps if the ball drops..

We need to develop better players NMcM can't do it all, more players need to step up to the plate

[cfclg]

Being a successful county team is normally a RESULT of a very strong and vibrant club scene. We put too much emphasis on county rather than clubs IMO. Cart before the horse. 1% of the playing population dictating to 99% of the playing population. It needs to stop.

Time for radical change. Forget about Joe McDonagh, Christy Ring et al until we get our club game in the right place. Fulfil the fixtures but lets not get too wound up until we get the foundations right. If we can't get someone to take the county team then pull out of the competitions all together for all I care. County team performance is not as important as getting our club game in order.

The same is paramount for underage. Abandon development squads that again only look after the 1% and ignore the 99%. Lets get more coaches on the ground with the kids and encourage participation rather than creating this elitist model that has a negative effect on those who aren't involved in it.

I have to agree with a previous poster. Saffron vision have a different approach to a lot of our issues in this county but none to this problem. Same old story.

[Tony Baloney]

The competition is were we are at, that level is very competitive and can only bring us on... I wasnt at the match so cant comment on it but was following on twitter as I was in Galway with the club, but the updates seemed to be very good until I checked at halftime!

9 points up was my last check and then only a point up, how did we let that slip? from there on in it was a battle by all accounts and we'd leveled it late on only for Kerry to tag on 3 points without reply..

We don't have big fit players, you can have your small speedy forwards or even small'ish corner backs but your Fullback all of your half back line and 3/4 line need to be bigger units, to win primary ball, not trying to pick up the scraps if the ball drops..

We need to develop better players NMcM can't do it all, more players need to step up to the plate

Yep. Way too reliant on him - he must be 30/31 now and won't be around forever so fills the gap when he isn't around.