Down Club Hurling & Football

[spiritof91and94]

2 Down selectors attended bryansford v burren only 4 weeks ago - a blind man would have seen that night that Dan McCartan was out of his depth, are these selectors doing their job? incidently that night we scored 1.17 and 4 of the down defenders were doing the same job for burren!
add to the fact 'axed' joe ireland cleaned out mcardle in the middle and 'axed' luke howard ran the ford defence with ease from number 6, the senior management need to be asked question on the squad they picked for the campaign.
How is it Down always seem hit by hamstring injuries at this time of year - is the training right?
Defence getting roasted - replace a corner forward? would clarke not have been an option at LHB at that stage?
Is Liam Doyle anyway near fit?

If people want to watch burren they can go along on friday night.
I thought we were going to use Paddy O'Rourke as all his other club mates were on!!!

Well said. The Burren bias has to stop. 8 Burren men on Down panel and all average enough apart from McKernan and Gerard McCartan. Anton McArdle faided to start for the county under 21s in their opening game this year and was a sub when Burren lost the league final last year having lost his place from the championship winning team. But come May he is used in the Ulster senior championship, when we have much better options in Colgan, Carr, Murphy etc... in reserve not to mention many other better midfielders not on the squad.

A few inaccuracies here.

Declan Rooney didnt play against ford that night and McKernan was midfield.  So 2 of saturdays defence played in burrens defence that night

Anton McCardle played in the forward line that night so i dont no how joe ireland cleaned him out if joe was indeed played in midfield.  The same lad didnt start for the under 21's as he wasnt fit to start, having had an operation during the off season.  It wasnt that he wasnt picked to start.

James Colgen is injured and wasnt fit to come on saturday.

Lads if yas are going to come on and slate management and certain players then I suggest yous get ur facts right before doing so!!  Also the fact that some are talking about getting clarke and doyle back into the defense means yous are living in fantasy land.  Its not 1999 ffs.  Clarke will most likely not play for the county again never mind at wing back and doyle has been on the panel all year and it is quite clear that the management dont see him as a viable option

I didnt see Dan McCartan or Declan Rooney getting much abuse last year on the way to an all ireland final!!

Fair enough rooney might not have played. McArdle and McKernan started in the positions but were moved when nothing was happening for them.
Burren won the Down Championship fair enough but no way does it warrant the number in the squad - how many Crossmaglen lads are in Armagh's panel? interesting.
people pay alot to watch county teams and are entitled to question things, without them it cant be played.

[supersub]

8 - the same number of Burren players in downs, your point?

[spiritof91and94]

8 - the same number of Burren players in downs, your point?

my point is they have nothing to prove.

[supersub]

8 - the same number of Burren players in downs, your point?

my point is they have nothing to prove.

fair play

[here comes 6]

Talk about the burren players all yous like but here a good one............................... Conor Laverty Discuss

[Oglach]

Talk about the burren players all yous like but here a good one............................... Conor Laverty Discuss

Try marking him sometime!!

[supersub]

Don't know how people get away with this level of personal abuse on here 

[13aside]

heard the senior c'ship is being re-drawn tonight

[norabeag]

heard the senior c'ship is being re-drawn tonight

next monday I heard

[whitegoodman]

Burren now have 7 county panalists ( Cathal Murdock not on it anymore from what i understand )

McKernan - deserved
Rooney - Deserved
Dan McCartan - Deserved
Gerrard McCartan - Deserved
McCardle - Not ready
Sean Murdock - Not ready if ever
Eoin McCarten - Not fit enough

IMO there should be 4 on the down panel from burren with possibly mccardle as part of a development squad. 

The abuse Dan McCartan gets on here is unreal, yes he was getting a roasting by clarke but he wasnt the first that that will happen to or the last.  People are saying he should have been taken off after 15 mins, does that usually happen to defenders? I thought the majority of the time players are switched onto another player instead of being replaced.  Dan did do a reasonable job on O Rourke who was giving mckernan plenty of trouble.  I dont see benny mccardle getting much stick having been destroyed by BJP who wouldnt have near the same ability as clarke.  People also forget that Dan was one of our better defenders last year in the run to the final.

On Conor Lavery, he is one of the best club footballers about but I think he has proven over the last 2 years that he is more than worth his place on the panel.  He wouldnt be in my top 8 but again he gets alot of unfair treatment on here.

On Anton McCardle, he has great potential but is not ready for this stage imo.  In fairness to James he couldnt call upon the likes of Ambrose or Colgen but suppose Murphy could have been an option.  Where are all these other midfielders in the county that should be on the panel?  Are we going back to the Marty McClean, Jackie Lynch, Declan Sheerin, Stephen Kearney days?  Please tell me no!!!

[Mid Down Gael]

Talk about the burren players all yous like but here a good one............................... Conor Laverty Discuss

On the evidence of performances in friendlys and training Laverty deserved a starting role on Saturday. Many of the players back this up and he has gave his all in every game he has featured in.
He destroyed Andy Mallon, who cleaned All star Hughes on saturday, in Februarys league meeting and played very well against Galway and all ireland champions Cork in this years national league. He also helped in Downs comeback against the Kingdom in our final league game, setting up a goal for Benny.
So to come on here without knowing the facts of a player who has had a decent season to date  and ask posters to discuss his inclusion is Ludicrous.
Benny Coulter and Marty Clarke have been on record saying they enjoy Lavertys presence in the forward line. his speed of thought, cuteness and his ability to orchestrate scores for others add greatly to Downs attack.

[Mourne Rover]

It's going to take some time for the gloom to lift, but it's fair to say that arguments can be made for and against the calls made by our management on Saturday. We were hampered by injuries, and it was probably only through their absence that we realised how important Rafferty and Garvey were last summer. Colgan would have given us a great option at midfield or centre half if he had been available, and Benny's hamstring was never likely to last 70 minutes. The feeling was probably that he would have been vulnerable in a central role but stood more chance of surviving on the wing with John Clarke on the square.

The problem was that John played in our first league game back in early February but had not featured since then and there was always a danger that he would be off the pace. Hooking him after less than 25 minutes was harsh, given that our main problems were at the other end, but he was having difficulty getting into the game.

What was really surprising was that the six starting defenders, who all found themselves under pressure at different times, were still there as a unit by the final whistle. Dan McCartan proved that he has what it takes at Croke Park, but when he has an off-day he should be replaced. Throwing in Murphy at the back at an early stage would have made much more sense than making a raft of dubious changes to the forward line when it was probably to late to make any difference.

Maginn was the only one of our subs to make any impact, and, as we failed to score in the last 15 minutes, the switches up front plainly did us little good.

It's too early to starting thinking about the line-up for the qualifiers in any detail, but those who are suggesting that big Dan should go back to midfield must have forgotten how many goals we conceded from basic thumps down the middle before he became our full back. The opening quarter in Donegal last summer was probably the worst example, but there were many others along the way, and McArdle certainly did not look like a serious rival for the position in Armagh. Dan may well go to midfield eventually, but, having kept McDonnell scoreless at the Athletic Grounds, he should stay put for now.

We have to hope that the missing faces come back as soon as possible - although it is looking like a long-term project for Ambrose - and that our big names regain their form of last year. The management were able to lift us after the Tyrone game last summer, and they need to do it again.

[EagleLord]

No-one would surely deny that Laverty is well worthy of a place in the squad. You can see him in club games, he pulls a lot of strings and someone used the term cuteness there, spot on. He is clever, picks out a pass alot of other players wouldnt see and is a serious handful. The thing that is always said about him though is that he isn't strong enough for the inter county game. Which is true enough. I would love to see what kind of influence he would have if he started, I reckon he would perform better, than as a super sub kind of role. And oh aye, he dives too much. His younger brother is going the same way too.

[pauly2]

I didnt post immediately after the game because i actually couldnt get my head round how we lost BOTH games on Saturday evening. I left the Athletic grounds angry and upset over a number of things.

1. The team is getting clearly wiped out in the middle sector and we take our corner forward off. Surely with the quality of coach/trainer/selector/eye in the stand/manager that someone can see this!
2. The armagh management team are a mickey mouse outfit but their team looked sharper and fitter than our guys?? Someone touched on here before about the injuries?? What are we actually doing at training?
3. I will not get personal about James younger brother but he should have been replaced after 15mins. Not fair on the lad to leave him hanging out to dry like that.
4. The burren players are not an issue for me, their current county champions so they deserve to be on the panel BUT!! if young Eoin cant get a start for Burren why do we need to bring him into an inter county championship tie? Are the rest that bad??
5. The minor debacle!! where do we start?? I said on this forum a long time ago Peter Mc Grath is a complete legend, but his appointment was a major major step back!! That was a crime that team didnt walk Ulster!!

Well if thats the case - ours must be worse.  Armagh have Paul Mc Grane in, Oisin Mc Conville in, Murtagh, O'Rourke - all - all Ireland winners, Mike Mc Gurn who is renowned fitness coach and O'Hare from Burren who lots in our county rate highly. How do you rate our overpaid underachieving coaches???

[NP 76]

.

if thats the case - ours must be worse.  Armagh have Paul Mc Grane in, Oisin Mc Conville in, Murtagh, O'Rourke - all - all Ireland winners, Mike Mc Gurn who is renowned fitness coach and O'Hare from Burren who lots in our county rate highly. How do you rate our overpaid underachieving coaches???
Wise up Paul talk sense will you all we lost was a game of football against Armagh doesnt make our team or backroom team bad and doesnt make POR a messiah . As for Mc Gurn not so long ago Armagh people were saying the players were too bulky but now he is the best trainer in ireland .O Hare highly rated in our county by who the ladies team if he was a keen Down man what was he doing dressed head to toe in orange and white .Mc Grane and Mc Conville only there this last few weeks hardly part of the management set up . POR was an all ireland winner when he was with us and look what good it did . As for our underachieving backroom team take a look at last year not going to go on any more but wise up