Armagh's Management had poor day at the office ..

[corn02]

Orangem,an this is certainly not just because he is Joes son. The insults should not be aimed at Stephen, he is a limited player but that is not his fault. The blame should lie at Joes feet for leaving him open to such ridicule.

[orangeman]

Agreed Corn 02 but leave it at that and give thanks for the great 7 or 8 years you had under the two Brians and Big Joe.

Joe was right in most other decisions / selections he made - why should this decision be such a point for discussion ?

[Armagh Exile]

What about Shane O'Neill (Dromintee) and David McKenna (Crossmaglen)?
Are these two players not worth their place in the panel?

[corn02]

Ahh Orangeman you went up in my estimation when you said thank Big Joe and the two Brians. You think opinions on Joe are bad, hardly anyone has a good word for the Brians.

Thank you Joe for delivery Sam, and thank you Brians for contributing greatly to it aswell. Regardless of how you played out the last few dyas, they defiently built a part of that team.

[corn02]

ONeill is in Australia and I believe McKenna opted not to join the panel this year?

[Armagh Exile]

If Joe decides to step down then the new manager will be Paul Grimley assisted by Diarmaid Marsden and Kieran McGeeney.

[corn02]

I wish Exile, but it will be Rafferty all the way.

[orangeman]

Which Rafferty ? John or Peter ?

[corn02]

John.

[Rufus T Firefly]

whether he is or he isn't- i don't think it's an appropriate topic for such personalised insults. Armagh's demise over the last few years is hardly all his fault. Team has simply aged that's all. An awful lot of players who've won everything and have simply nothing left to give. new management- some new players and armagh will be back again.

Agreed totally - the heading of this thread is an insult. Anyone having a go at the lad on the basis of today, do yourselves a favour. Have a serious look at the bigger picture. SK cannot be blamed for glaring failures in our full forward line!   

[GPA not OK]

Stephen Kernan's best position may not be CHF and perhaps he shouldn't be starting ahead of some other players, but he contributed 2 excellent points from play today. Armagh didn't loose because of him. They lost because they only scored 9 points and they are unable to rack up any more than 9/10 scores in a game. That's not Stephen Kernan's fault.

The defence played well. Holding a team to 10 points in a game has to be applauded. Midfield failed to win enough breaking ball with very little in the way of clean catches. This has been an increasing trend throughout the league.

In the half-forward line I thought Martin O'Rourke played well and done his job successfully. Kernan as a playmaker doesn't work, but he is capable of taking scores and seems to be improving. He just might a slow burner. Paddy McKeever contributed very little and is too far withdrawn from goal. We need another attacking minded half-forward.

McConville offered very little from open play today. Its two years since he hasn't been a passenger and should be no more than an impact sub. Marsden showed glimpses of yesteryear, but its hard to know whether he will be back next year either. I wouldn't say he's finished but his role should be that of an impact sub. This all leaves immense pressure on McDonnell for scores and it weighs on him. His confidence is not high for a man that was Player of the Year a few years ago. Dropping balls into the keepers hands and failing to shoot instinctively have been features of his game all year and he'll only improve once he gets more support in the full-forward line.

If Joe Kernan goes this year then it will be timely. Same Voice Syndrome is a problem. Dissension is another. If he does go, I'd imagine that several of the older hands will hang on depending on who comes in. Others will go and no matter how good the young crop is, they won't replace the older lads easily. Any body that attends National League matches will testify to that. Its very easy to talk about all of the lads that should be there. But if they were good enough, they would be playing. Although some of you lads that are fond of ridiculing the Kernan family should consider this; whoever replaces Joe will keep Aaron on the team, perhaps Steven on the panel and maybe even involve one of the other lads.

Fair play to this bunch of players and the management that have brought so much success to this team. They ought to be congratulated. If Clarke, Mallon and Bellew had been fit I don't think they'd be in this position, but they are and it looks like the end of an era.

[orangeman]

I've just watched the Sunday game and I saw Stephen Kernan score two great points and the commnetator state " Stephen Kernan is having a great game for Armagh today !"

What is this thread really about ?  Is it about Stephen or Joe ?

Oh and by the way - if the other Armagh forwards had scored the same as Stephen then SArmagh would have won by 2 !

[orangeman]

GPA OK - Fair enough analysis - Today was not about Stephen Kernan - Armagh lost cos they couldn't score enough - their inability to score more than 8/9/10 was always going to come home to roost - it did so against Donegal and again today !

But If I were an Armagh supporter as past 10 years I'd have been MORE than pleased.

[corn02]

Orangeman at that stage he was not having a great game as stated the first point was excellent and after the second point his runs were very good but up until his second score he had been missing in action.

I too think it is a ridicoulous thread to start and is no better than the booing of Mark Hasrte, but I feel that S Kernan is not County standard and I will state that although in more rlevant threads and with a more intelligent approach rather than "hes a shitebag!"

[Maguire01]

I'm confused. I was at this game as a neutral and thought Stephen was one of Armagh's best players!