Antrim Football Thread

[curious]

I was there and that's an accurate statement on what happened.B.B. having good game in both play and from frees.

[Dreen]

best wishes on recovery to Brendan, this kind of incident i think now is at the point of no return as the injury sustained by the lad playing in America a couple of seasons highlighted.  It just cannot be let happen by anyone involved, there will always be incidents in the future as in the nature of the physical game but off the ball cheap shots can be stamped out. 

On the county side, IMO last sunday to me was a culmination of a host of things.  FD most definitely was found wanting as a manager based not just on the tactics at the start but mainly during the game.  A good manager should provide a threat from the line as in seeing things that need changing and acting,  i personally think that didn't happen on sunday as i saw a few things that needed addressing and if i could see that I'm sure many more did as well.

There were also plenty of playing mistakes as well, taking 2 maybe 3 chances to gain possession, missed takes and missed pick ups that less face it cannot be afforded at the highest level, we won maybe 2 clean catches at midfield and the short kick outs and breaking ball wasn't much better.

I rather than blaming the short term as in managing and players fully for the state of the game in Antrim would have to look at the bigger picture.  We for one will accept anyone who turns up at the meeting as coaches for our developments squads, we have no real plan for young players to attain county senior level, its more about getting on an underage panel and getting the gear.  Theres no point that this is a stepping stone on the way to the top step. 

[theskull1]

Lets be honest ...... the vast majority of people who claim to follow the GAA in Antrim want someone else to to all the things that need to be done

That lack of bodies on the ground all the way through has a much bigger impact than anything FD or KR can do. Here lies the ugly truth

[Dreen]

well you also have to play the hand your dealt and it would be fair to say Frank did not do that on Sunday.  Everything has to start with the clubs and if people are not putting it in there in the right way then really they are wasting their time complaining about the senior sides.

[Corkey22]

Total disgrace that people should have to worry about getting their jaw broke when going to play a game of football. If it isn't dealt with properly, then it is more likely to put off boys like Bradley who actually want to play the game, and keep the fella who done it and similar people in our game as they can get away with it. Does anybody know what exactly happened in it? Off the ball slap?

That would be some slap!! Popeye couldn't slap ya that hard that you end up with a broken jaw in 3 places FFS

Slap has been known to mean 'hit' mr2...................

[Glensman]

Unreal - just heard what went on! Puts you off our great games! 

Everyone knows exactly what happened and who it was! Why would Brendan 'make it up' fceking lying in a hospital bed!
Hope YOU are reading this!!!!
Do yourself a favour and man up!!!

Head fried with it...

Can someone PM me who it was? Not sending round the boys just not in the know.

Thank you

[crosskeys gael]

In reply to skull,why not try to  get a meeting organised of all interested parties and we will form working groups and decide a way forward.I give 5 nights a week to gaa as it is and would love to contribute to the antrim cause.
     i understand the volume of work that's needed and the length of time that it might take but sure if we don't make a start we will never get there.
           when I say all parties this of course should involve the county board together with players of all codes ,ex players and people like myself i.e antrim supporters who think they have something positive to offer.
   if you cant get something organised let me try,this cant go on ,days like last sunday cannot be repeated.  I wonder how many casual fans we have lost last week as the result of that debacle.

[James Gatz]

I agree with crosskeys gael that something has to be done to drag the footballers out of the dire situation we are in right now. For me, this season is a write off, Dawson will be gone by the end of the year and we can hopefully acquire the services of a decent intercounty manager.
At the start of this year I said we should have been going for Aidan ORourke, Malachy ORourke, even Tohill or someone of that ilk. Aidan ORourke made it clear he was interested in the job. He had experience in various intercounty set ups and his day job is as head of GAA at QUB, meaning he lives and breathes GAA everyday, is based in Belfast and has come across many of our players through Sigerson. By all accounts they speak very highly of him and he would have had no problems in getting our best players out on the pitch (namely the large portion of St Galls players who arent playing, and he wouldnt have had the idiotic confrontations which Dawson has had which have managed to exclude some of our better players). He is a modern manager who would have installed a defensive system which would have been far more advanced than Bakers, and he would have got the most out of what is one of the most talented groups of Antrim footballers for generations. We only have to look at his time with Louth to date. He comfortably kept them up in Division 2, which is no mean feat, and they recently beat Laois by ten points (or around that) in the first round of the championship, bearing in mind Laois were in the AI QFs last year and are comfortably a top 12 side. After the match Justin McNulty openly conceded he was destroyed in the sideline battle, while the Louth midfielder Paddy Keenan commented that ORourkes set up is without doubt the most professional he has ever played under.
The reason ORourke was even as much as contacted about the Antrim job is money. To run a top intercounty side nowadays costs hundred of thousands a year. Tyrone can do it, Club Erne funds Canavan (who albeit lost today, but have IMO improved significantly under him) and neither of these two counties has the second biggest city in Ireland within its boundaries. Money is absolutely key, so the question I ask to all out there who are complaining about the disgrace that was last Sunday is this; how are you helping to fund our county? Have you signed up to the One Antrim scheme? Are you contributing to Club Aontroma every month? Or are you sitting behind a keyboard bemoaning the apparent fact that our potentially great county will never rise from the doldrums we currently find ourselves in? You may say any money we have (which is seemingly very little) is being pumped into Dunsilly and the hurlers. If this is indeed the case, and if you care about it enough, youll get involved with Club Aontroma and work to change it rather than complaining online which will help absolutely no one. There is no doubt that money is tight and the current economic situation has had its effect on most people. However, if you look at the One Antrim scheme it is 120 pounds a year, or a tenner a month, or 2.50 a week. Thats the price of a cup of coffee, an icecream a couple of bags of crisps or whatever. Is it really the case that the vast majority of gaels in Antrim cannot do this?

[Gold]

The St Pauls act was trampy. Plenty of teams are at it, mostly in Belfast.

Plenty of 'men' fit to hit you from behind but not fit to hit you a proper shoulder. Heard Macs v Sarsfields was a bloodbath

Another club's reserve team have broken a few bones from behind in last year or so. Tramps who'd be safer watchin their beloved soccer

PM me the name Glensman.

[CentreHalfBack]

The St Pauls act was trampy. Plenty of teams are at it, mostly in Belfast.

Plenty of 'men' fit to hit you from behind but not fit to hit you a proper shoulder. Heard Macs v Sarsfields was a bloodbath

Another club's reserve team have broken a few bones from behind in last year or so. Tramps who'd be safer watchin their beloved soccer

PM me the name Glensman.

Very harsh on Belfast teams Gold to suggest most are 'tramps and love soccer'.

[CentreHalfBack]

I heard Declan Lynch of Lamh Dhearg arrived in America on Wednesday, only to get deported on the first plane home.

Apparently his 60 day sanction was already approved and he is now unavailable!

Any other lads heading out?

[bannside]

So its poor Louth who have drawn the short straw and got the one county everyone wanted to avoid in the qualifiers....

[theskull1]

In reply to skull,why not try to  get a meeting organised of all interested parties and we will form working groups and decide a way forward.I give 5 nights a week to gaa as it is and would love to contribute to the antrim cause.
     i understand the volume of work that's needed and the length of time that it might take but sure if we don't make a start we will never get there.
           when I say all parties this of course should involve the county board together with players of all codes ,ex players and people like myself i.e antrim supporters who think they have something positive to offer.
   if you cant get something organised let me try,this cant go on ,days like last sunday cannot be repeated.  I wonder how many casual fans we have lost last week as the result of that debacle.

IMO It takes the fevered interests of many cg before good things would happen otherwise the interested few are only capable of keeping it going. More passionate volunteers needed....but how do you convince people who shouldn't need convincing to get involved when they've all got they're ready made excuses well prepared.

[bannside]

James Gatz your post about not enough people supporting Club Aontroma and One Antrim  (I subscribe to both) is valid. Of course many more should do so, because these are worthwhile initiatives which are on a par with the most progressive counties. Problem is not enough people get fully behind them. Thats Skulls main point all along, and he has been saying this consistently for years - we simply dont have sufficient numbers of supporters who care ENOUGH.

James Gatz, your other point being our county couldnt afford Aidan O Rourke and that is why we didnt "go after him" is not valid at all in my opinion. The simple truth is that no club nominated him, nor was he known to declare an interest in the position. The resources available to Frank Dawson, his assistant, and backroom staff, appear to be much much better than what has been made available to several recent managers. If this current management team does not produce the goods they certainly wont be able to point to the fact that they were restricted in any way due to lack of facilities or finance.

The facilities offered to the Antrim team are a country mile improved from the days of Mickey Culbert, or PJ`s days when it would have been difficult to get a pitch to do a scoring drill in.

Before you go on an offensive, I qualify this by recognising we arnt putting the same finance into this as the top counties eg, Donegal, Dublin Tyrone etc. Would you??? But I`d be confident that from January to end June 2013 our preparation costs would be on a par with most other counties outside the top half dozen. What more could the "county board" do to financially to support Dawson and co?

Heard excellent things too about Aidan O Rourke, while personally on this forum I recommended Malachy O Rourke or Brian Mc Ivor if we were going for an outsider. Both won promotion at first time of asking so judgement not too far away!!

Dawson will get a crack on Saturday night to prove for once and for all that he can cut it at this level, and mix it with the Aidan O Rourkes of this world. He will know that there are no hiding places.  This time  its a simple case of "shite or get off the bucket"

[jftj]

WAS B.BRADLEY HIT FROM BEHIND?