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Well yesterday was depressin! A shambles but whats our next step?
Management? County board?

I think to many are to quick to look for a quick fix. Rather than "Where do we go from here?" It could be - how did we get to here? The same question you ask about Sligo is being asked about Tyrone, Derry, Meath and Laois. No one will want to take on a job if we keep this up.

Well how did we get here? Did we know we were gettin here? Could we perhaps have avoided getting here? Or should we have looked at a map when getting here?

Sligo are no world beaters but there needs to be a look at what the problems are before we go suggesting solutions. A change of management is a solution but it is not necessarily the problem. I don't believe the likes of Kerry have all the success due to management, there must be something else they consistently do right.

I think like most counties not doing well at present, Sligo need to look at their youth development. It might take years to pay off but a good under age structure is key for any county. I saw the Sligo U-21 and minor teams this year and they had some very promising players but some passangers as well.

Sligo people IMO need to be realistic, winning Connaugh last year was a fantastic achievement but in doing so ye beat a poor Roscommon side and a tired(perhaps over confident) Galway side. Sligo did not play that well in any of their games in the championship last year. Maybe this year some of ye got carried away - the truth is any year Galway and Mayo are on opposite sides of the draw the likes of Ros, Leitrim and Sligo need to be lucky to contest the final.

I would not be too depressed, alot of teams are in the same position and it will take a few years of hard work inside these counties before things come right...

I wouldn't say last year was a fluke. Sligo have had a good team for 6 or 7 years. TBH I was surprised you won it last year not because of lack of quality but more because of the age of the key players. O'Hara, McNamara, Breheny, Davey, Naughton, Quinn. A lot of these boys have a lot of miles on board. I thought last year they were out of steam but in fairness they pulled a big year out of the bag. Maybe this year was going to the well once to often.

I'd also have to say Breheny did a fine job in managing ye last year. He should have been kept on at all costs.

Sligo is a soccer town. That effects numbers and Sligo have no great tradition in Connacht and that effects confidence. Sligo need a really good team to win a Connacht title. A lot more mediocre Galway and Mayo sides have won Connacht than mediocre Sligo sides.

This present team has probably run it's course. Young talent need to come through. If you're really asking yourself where teams go wrong it's bringing in young talent. Kerry bring one or two in ever year, of course it's easier to come into a winning team but the point remains.

We have got rid of Brady, O'Neill, McDonald (by the looks of it), Gary Ruane, Fergal Costello, Peter Burke since the final in 2004. Some other guys have fallen from favour or have lost places in the 1st 15 (Pat Kelly, Dermot Geragthy, Gill, BJP) and their places have mainly been taken by younger players from the U21 teams which got to the final in 04 and won it in 06 (Howley, Higgins, Clarke, Cunniffe, Parsons, Boyle, Andy Moran).

Galway have done something the same with young player from the 05 winning U21 team coming onto the team. Now there might be a lull or some transition period but the fact remains they are being brought through from relatively successful underage teams.

Can see this discussion having 3 separate paths . One being the current actual team and management, one been looking to next year and one more been a  fundamental overview of the future of sligo football and what can be done structure wide.

Will concentrate on the former in this post. The natural starting point is Tommy Jordan and his future. On the positive he was very good for club football in Sligo releasing players to play for clubs and panellist even 7 days before matches. He brought through alot of players giving debuts to more players than probably any other manager in the country in the last 9 months.

However sadly the negatives outweigh the positives. Firstly and fundamentally , how a manager can accept or seek out the very same selectors from the previous regime particuliarily when himself not totally offay with Sligo players I cant fathom.  He is automatcially compromised in my view.

How Maguire was fit to come on after 10 minutes but not fit to start against Mayo. Why then wasnt he given a full game a week ago vrs Roscommon to acquire match fitness ? How come Maguire didnt play in the less taxing fullback position when he did come on ?

The selection of a dummy team to play LONDON ???

The selection of 2 backs in J Davey and Mc Namara as forwards vrs Mayo

The selection of the smallest and lighest forward line in the country along with a relatively small midfield and half back line left our running game totally exposed.

In essence Tommy Jordan came across as a very decent man who took on a Sligo job at the worst possible time both as Connaught Championship and been in division 3 of the league. He was ultimately let down by his players but in my view all the above contributed to his downfall. I posed the question previously whether his success in Crossmolina was down to his management or been in charge of an extremely talented bunch of players led by 2 of the finest players of their generation. Sunday would appear to answer that question as been the latter.

The players who put a huge amount of time into Sligo football feel bad enough today however it is obvious that they didnt replicate the hunger of previous years this season. Sligo need a hungry team.Their talisman and still one of their best players in months away from 33 and cant be expected to dominate games from midfield anymore. Players like Davey, Mc Govern, McNamara , Quinn , Brehony and Curran all very key players last year had poor seasons and Sligo cant afford to have 1/2 their first choice team playing below par.

The question we need to look at , is where to now with this bunch of players ?? Are they all washed up or will a fresh approach next spring reignite their enthusiasm.

Alot of things well said there and youth is a key!
I mean Gerry McGowans shot the last day! Didnt even trouble the keeper. How is that man considered better then steoheb Coen i'll never know?

Im going to comeback on this issue in greater detail when Im over the initial pain of the performance.

I ask a few initial questions, the 2nd sub yday who came on was brendan phillips, for injured mcgovern. He didnt even get one runout in the FBD or NFL, can someone explain that to me? Sweeny no run at all yday, If Jordan wanted to make more mistakes he couldnt, he was a disaster.

He has no courage too, it was very easy to take off eoin mchugh (who wasnt our worst) and leave on others who were appalling.

I dont just blame him, his backroom team, listen i spoke to john kent a while as some of yee know, when I said to him mcnamara is not a chb, he disagreed strongly. Now if I was manager mcnamara wouldnt get near the senior team until he puts in a few outstanding performances for his club. There was an instance yday when he cowered out of contesting for a high ball.

Like bringing on mcgowan is a joke, who are we kidding? mayo bringing on BJP and aidan kilcoyne... look at JOM made the big calls and made an emphasis on youth and stood up to mayo people and may reap the benefits.

Maguire was fit too start. Why wasnt he?

The problem i have with Sligo football, we keep making the same mistakes over and over again. The work is being done on underage, etc.. IMHO and ive heard good things so that is not the problem.

Just seen something interesting on connachtgaa.ie
The following is the amount of clubs in each county in connacht.

Sligo 20 football 4 hurling
Leitrim 24 football 4 hurling
Roscommon 27 football 4 hurling
Mayo 44 football 6 hurling
Galway 43 football 35 hurling

We have the smallest pick of players in connacht, population has nothing to do with it. It is the amount of clubs that dictates the amount of players available to feed the county panel.

What does the above mean? That MAYBE we are not completely way off in developing talent and maximising our potential.

Underage is the key, with only 20 clubs it should be easier than bigger counties to develop a strategy for U14's and beyond. With a senior team with many of the players now at around the 30 mark there should be a flow of younsters ready to step up, I dont think they are there to be honest, Sligo need to start contesting consistantly and winning at a minimum minor and U21 connacht titles.

The senior team needs consistancy as well, the poor league form has rubbed off , there is an infectious attitude to winning but the same applies to losing. Hopefully Sligo can now start from the bottom and work themselves back up from Div 4

The stuff im seeing written on other message boards about bellaghy is shocking, im going to post them on here starting with this one. There even a more shocking one on hoganstand.

From sligogaa.ie
The age old debate about Bellaghy and its spelling came to promidence again last sunday. Bellaghy is spelt so. Bellaghy is in South Sligo and its translation is the mouth of the Slough.Its GAA team is Curry and that is where there players have played down through the years. people like Michael Marren, Allen Moran,Vincent Henry Marty Webb The Duffy Brothers All the Parsons'(not this genertion),etc. This has to be sorted out. Too many players are been lost to Mayo, Example, Paul Mulligan, Oliver Conway,Brendan Towey, Tom Parsons etc.Sligo can not afford this leak of talent.

Sorry lads but something needs to be done. FFS weve got 20 clubs they got 44 and there stealing players left right and centre.

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on June 23, 2008, 11:56:55 PM
Sorry lads but something needs to be done. FFS weve got 20 clubs they got 44 and there stealing players left right and centre.

I can't understand this sh!te about 'stealing' players. It's the same when we beat the Rossies, they go on about Andy Moran. In this day and age surely to god no one points a gun at a man's head and tells him he should play for Mayo. Obviously they do it on their own free will. Maurice Horan went and played for Limerick a couple of years ago and nobody begrudged him that.

Yep, I agree - however they're probabaly right to bring it up.

Nobody gives a fiddlers who the next Tom Parsons plays for when he is 9 years of age, best way to stop this is to ensure that all players within your boundaries play for your club and when the gem surfaces it's clear cut who he represents.

But stop whinging about it when the lad plays Senior Inter County - too late for that I'm afraid.

Look, Parsons has been a Charlestown and Mayo player always. I ve been telling people in the loop about himself and Pierce Hanley since they were kids [ @14]  and I saw them on opposition teams. He s the archtypical Mayo footballer and could hardly have been created anywhere else [ yeah, and I include Kerry in that]  and if we had the so called Ros player Hanley we would have a foundation for a team for a decade and maybe for the ages. They are Mayo players through and through and you only have to look at how they play to understand that. If I was a Sligo person I would be more concerned about the football wasteland that exists around the largest town in the county but stretches a bit outside as well rather than what we lost from a village over the border. Reality is lads if Parsons had been born in Sligo Town he d be playin centre half in the League of Ireland. One of the largest secondary schools in the province hardly makes an impression at Colleges B level any more. Why? That is more pertinent than thinking what may have been with a lad that  got all his nurturing in Mayo and is a Mayo type footballer to the core. Yeah he is a special talent but its a Mayo talent with yet some Mayo failings. In other words he ll never take the head off ya which is a trait of the more creative Mayo Players. But he s a special  player and some of you now will realise how one or two  had him down as a possible no. 11. Management will be a lapse rate behind as usual. If he was nurtured in Kerry he d have been a Darragh O Shea. He s a Mayo player to the core.

Typical feckin Sligo! Lets find a little shitty reason, pick on it and then use it as an excuse as to why we got hammered yesterday. So answer me if Tom Parsons was playing for Sligo yesterday would McNamara have buried his goal? Would Ross have cleaned Mortimer and would Gaughan have been class? I agree that its a sad sight and also that the rule must be looked at, not neccesarily changed, but we should get confirmation on it!
I read on the Hoganstand that Towey was playing for Curry until Tourlestrane complained and so he couldnt play. Heard it before actually.
Maybe not having the two mulligans and Parsons aint to bad because if we did, we would also have a very sided club championship!!

Tom was offered to play join the Sligo Minors and he declined. Says it all.

Quote from: moysider on June 24, 2008, 12:45:26 AM
Look, Parsons has been a Charlestown and Mayo player always. I ve been telling people in the loop about himself and Pierce Hanley since they were kids [ @14]  and I saw them on opposition teams. He s the archtypical Mayo footballer and could hardly have been created anywhere else [ yeah, and I include Kerry in that]  and if we had the so called Ros player Hanley we would have a foundation for a team for a decade and maybe for the ages. They are Mayo players through and through and you only have to look at how they play to understand that. If I was a Sligo person I would be more concerned about the football wasteland that exists around the largest town in the county but stretches a bit outside as well rather than what we lost from a village over the border. Reality is lads if Parsons had been born in Sligo Town he d be playin centre half in the League of Ireland. One of the largest secondary schools in the province hardly makes an impression at Colleges B level any more. Why? That is more pertinent than thinking what may have been with a lad that  got all his nurturing in Mayo and is a Mayo type footballer to the core. Yeah he is a special talent but its a Mayo talent with yet some Mayo failings. In other words he ll never take the head off ya which is a trait of the more creative Mayo Players. But he s a special  player and some of you now will realise how one or two  had him down as a possible no. 11. Management will be a lapse rate behind as usual. If he was nurtured in Kerry he d have been a Darragh O Shea. He s a Mayo player to the core.

Very true Moysider, had Ciaran MacDonald had been brought up in his Dads county Donegal he would have been a very different player, same for Ronan McGarrity had he grown up in Fermanagh, had Ronan O'Gara grown up in his mothers County Mayo, he would have a SFC club medal in his back pocket by now.

Quote from: moysider on June 24, 2008, 12:45:26 AM
Look, Parsons has been a Charlestown and Mayo player always. I ve been telling people in the loop about himself and Pierce Hanley since they were kids [ @14]  and I saw them on opposition teams. He s the archtypical Mayo footballer and could hardly have been created anywhere else [ yeah, and I include Kerry in that]  and if we had the so called Ros player Hanley we would have a foundation for a team for a decade and maybe for the ages. They are Mayo players through and through and you only have to look at how they play to understand that. If I was a Sligo person I would be more concerned about the football wasteland that exists around the largest town in the county but stretches a bit outside as well rather than what we lost from a village over the border. Reality is lads if Parsons had been born in Sligo Town he d be playin centre half in the League of Ireland. One of the largest secondary schools in the province hardly makes an impression at Colleges B level any more. Why? That is more pertinent than thinking what may have been with a lad that  got all his nurturing in Mayo and is a Mayo type footballer to the core. Yeah he is a special talent but its a Mayo talent with yet some Mayo failings. In other words he ll never take the head off ya which is a trait of the more creative Mayo Players. But he s a special  player and some of you now will realise how one or two  had him down as a possible no. 11. Management will be a lapse rate behind as usual. If he was nurtured in Kerry he d have been a Darragh O Shea. He s a Mayo player to the core.

Good post Moysider. Charlestown are the club who nurtured the likes of Parsons, the Mulligans etc. And as Stephenite says its way too late to be whinging now. I've said this before, this sort of thing will happen on borders. Parts of some parishes stretch into adjoining counties - they don't just stop at the border. Bellaghy, afaik, is in the Charlestown parish. Similarly there are Mayo players playing for Roscommon clubs because that is the parish they are in. I know of at least two examples and I'm a long way from the border. You can be sure this situation is replicated in plenty of places all over the county. Lads in such situations tend to have a choice of who they play for.
Another example - Trevor Lydon from Finney just inside the Mayo side of the Galway border plays his club football across the border with Clonbur. But he played Under 21 with Mayo in 2005 (I think) because he had the choice to pick. Parsons could pick Sligo if he wanted to. He chose not to.

The situation regarding Sligo town is very valid. Summerhill College are an average B Colleges team - they should be up there with Jarlath's, Mary's, Gerald's etc - but they're not. That should be a much more pressing concern for Sligo people imo

Quote from: Son_of_Sam on June 24, 2008, 08:49:47 AM
Very true Moysider, had Ciaran MacDonald had been brought up in his Dads county Donegal he would have been a very different player, same for Ronan McGarrity had he grown up in Fermanagh, had Ronan O'Gara grown up in his mothers County Mayo, he would have a SFC club medal in his back pocket by now.

What your saying is nonsence-Curry have nurtured some good players over last number of years also and are one of the better underage clubs in Sligo over the last decade winning many titles. They currently have 5 or 6 players on Sligo minor panel. Sligo clubs including Curry are well able to nurture young lads from under 10 all the way up to senior level.

A lot of it has to do with natural ability and athleticisn also and the Parsons lad looks to have it in abundance.

Im not using the parsons thing as an excuse sligoper, i want clarification on it. Is every quality player in bellaghy going to play with Mayo now? Is it legal? For the future we need this to be sorted out. And IMO PLAYERS shouldnt have a choice. He is either from sligo or mayo end of story. Does this mean that charlestown players can play with SLIGO?, its a joke when you think about it.

Once a player is playing for a club which is within the remit of the county board he's eligible to play for the county. Charlestown and Ballagh' are the obvious examples. A player can choose to switch county if he switches to a club in that county or he can choose to play for his home county.

Club rules are a little more of a grey area. But it essentially comes down to the individual player/kid. They could usually play for two clubs but will make a choice at a young age to go with one and will usually stick there throughout their career.

The only solution i see for the best for sligo football going forward is CURRY identify young players etc.. in bellaghy and provide transport etc.. to team matches ie make as easy as possible for them to turn up and sell the club ethics to them and know where there from. Have a sit down with the parents aswell. Get them involved before charlestown get them. Where do the bellaghy kids go to national school?

Was on the phone to a curry man today! Tom Parsons next door neighbour is a savage player with Curry U-14s!! I think its a laughable mess that the county board can only be to blame. But do you think they would help??? Do you think John Murphy would like to see Tom Parsons in midfield for Curry, with the two Mulligans in attack? Its laughable if you do, the man wouldn help 2 sligo lads play for Curry to help his own club, hes not going to fight to make Curry stronger!!

Football loyalties and stuff is not very clear cut. I know lads within a stone throw of James Stevens Park who play for Knockmore. I know 2 brothers who live in the same house and one plays for Ardnaree and the other for Knockmore. Then there s the Ballina/ Arndaree version of the Golan Heights and West Bank disputes. Thing is football allegiences can not be solved by cartography. And yes I ve seen young lads who have quit the game because a transfer was vetoed and I m aware Sligonian would rather likes of Parsons would not play at all rather than play for Mayo.  And I can appreciate that too because I hate some teams as well. Hate is agreat motivation in any sport.

I ve a nephew plays underage for Galway but will be wearing red and green for Connacht Final - largely because he got his interest in the game from a lunatic like me and a couple of brothers. Truth is he would nt be playin the game at all only for a couple of rabid uncles - his parents being almost disinterested in sport. But when he togs for the Maroon he ll be as committed as the rest.

Quote from: moysider on June 25, 2008, 01:38:39 AM
I know lads within a stone throw of James Stevens Park who play for Knockmore.

At Senior level?

Quote from: stephenite on June 25, 2008, 01:50:35 AM

Quote from: moysider on June 25, 2008, 01:38:39 AM
I know lads within a stone throw of James Stevens Park who play for Knockmore.

At Senior level?

Graham O'Hora? It'd be a serious throw though

Serious throw indeed :o  ;)



But the bridge just past Childers Heights is the boundary between the two parishes so he is well within Knockmore boundaries. Patrick McHale defected to the dark side for a year and back again, but that sort of shite acting should be cut out in my view. Brian Gibbons family lived in Childers Heights when I was living back in Ballina but apparently they moved out Knockmore area quite some time back, so he was a good prospect lost. Seamie Smyth never hit the heights at Senior level mainly due to injury but he was a good one at underage for the Stephenites.

Mind you, Liam McHales father was a Knockmore man so I suppose we can't complain about it when they move in the other direction!! ;D

The Ardnaree one is odd and there seems to be no hard and fast rule - a few of players that should've played for Ardnaree as kids played with the Stephenites in my age group coming up and then transferred back to Ardnaree once they went past minor level.

Didn't the McCarron brothers and Kieran Sweeney play with Ardnaree up until a couple of years ago? Is Ardnaree and Ballina the one parish? If so players are free to move between clubs, ie a club cannot object if a player decides to leave them for the other.
This is the situation with Breaffy and Castlebar as the former is a part of the Castlebar parish and as far as GAA goes who you play for tends to be dictated by what national school you went to and not an actual line.

I'd have some understanding of lads who might transfer to a neighbouring club if they were being screwed over or there was a fall out or whatever. But what McHale did, leaving Ballina for Knockmore and going back in the road to Ballina one year later is pure shite as you say Stephenite. That sort of thing should be kept restricted to soccer. It happens an awful lot in Mayo in soccer and we'd want to be sure it didn't spread to GAA.

Speaking of borders, isn't Damien Munnelly actually in the Ardagh parish?

Quote from: Sligoper on June 25, 2008, 01:07:35 AM
Was on the phone to a curry man today! Tom Parsons next door neighbour is a savage player with Curry U-14s!! I think its a laughable mess that the county board can only be to blame. But do you think they would help??? Do you think John Murphy would like to see Tom Parsons in midfield for Curry, with the two Mulligans in attack? Its laughable if you do, the man wouldn help 2 sligo lads play for Curry to help his own club, hes not going to fight to make Curry stronger!!

It is sad day for sligo football that club loyalites is so bitter and twisted that fellas would rather sligomen play for mayo clubs to benefit the chances of there own. The quicker we get rid of these oldmen who run a corrupt show the better.

Its posted on hoganstand that parsons played for curry at u14 aswell. but had played for charlestown before at u12, u10, that and they beat toulestrane in county u14 final that yr. Tourlestrane objected and won and replay had to be played without the bellaghy lads. Sligo county board need to take a long look at themselves, clearly the old farts are there for there own interest and not sligo football. As for toulestrane no comment  >:(.

O Hara comments from hoganstand:

Sligo talisman Eamonn O'Hara has expressed his deep disappointment at Sligo's fall from grace over the past 12 months.

Last year's Connacht champions were condemned to the Tommy Murphy Cup on Sunday following their heavy provincial semi-final loss to Mayo and their earlier relegation to Division 4 of the NFL, and former All-Star O'Hara admits that it's all very disheartening.

"It's very, very disheartening," he said.

"To think we have gone down to this level is embarrassing and disappointing at the same time."
O'Hara felt a missed goal opportunity at the start of the second half, when the Yeats County were still in contention, was the turning point in Sunday's game.

"We had a very good chance at the start of the second half. The ball bounced up to Brendan Phillips and he forced into - whoever it was - but they didn't stick it.

"That was really disappointing."

The long-serving Tourlestrane clubman is one of a number of Sligo players who are likely to consider their inter-county futures in the wake of this year's poor showing

Why were you not making such a big deal about this before the match? Its only when a few decent players come along that its a issue, im sure it happens n every county that there a few towns/villages with peculiar set ups.
What would you do to reslove the situation? Would you put a block on the likes of Parsons playing for charlestown/mayo if the rules said you could? Would you prefer for him to be lost to the game forever just for the advancement of your own counties fortunes?

Quote from: stephenite on June 25, 2008, 01:50:35 AM

Quote from: moysider on June 25, 2008, 01:38:39 AM
I know lads within a stone throw of James Stevens Park who play for Knockmore.

At Senior level?

Yes.

Quote from: moysider on June 25, 2008, 12:22:55 PM

Quote from: stephenite on June 25, 2008, 01:50:35 AM

Quote from: moysider on June 25, 2008, 01:38:39 AM
I know lads within a stone throw of James Stevens Park who play for Knockmore.

At Senior level?

Yes.

Go on Moysider, who ya on about? I mentioned Graham O'Hora earlier so I presume its not him you're referring too?

Parson's has never represented curry at any age. Thats a fact.

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on June 25, 2008, 11:54:36 AM
Its posted on hoganstand that parsons played for curry at u14 aswell. but had played for charlestown before at u12, u10, that and they beat toulestrane in county u14 final that yr. Tourlestrane objected and won and replay had to be played without the bellaghy lads. Sligo county board need to take a long look at themselves, clearly the old farts are there for there own interest and not sligo football. As for toulestrane no comment  >:(.

I have had a look at hoganstand and i don't know where you are getting this rubbish from. Your reading as well as your match predictions are clearly not up to scratch. What i read from Hogan stand is the following - 2 players who had already played for Charlestown in their underage leagues played for Curry (Mulligan and Towey were mentioned). Nowhere did it say Parsons played at underage for Curry. Tourlestrane rightly objected as obviously you cannot play for 2 clubs in the one year even though the 2 clubs are in different counties. Read it again there

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on June 25, 2008, 01:14:44 PM

Quote from: moysider on June 25, 2008, 12:22:55 PM

Quote from: stephenite on June 25, 2008, 01:50:35 AM

Quote from: moysider on June 25, 2008, 01:38:39 AM
I know lads within a stone throw of James Stevens Park who play for Knockmore.

At Senior level?

Yes.

Go on Moysider, who ya on about? I mentioned Graham O'Hora earlier so I presume its not him you're referring too?

No. Not him or James Noone who is also in Knockmore parish in Rathnaconeen but basically in Ballina. Stephenite mentions 1 but was under the impression he moved to live in Knockmore which his family have not done - yet anyway. The other lad does nt seem to be involved anymore but lived down the Killala Rd. while playing with Knockmore. Some Knockmore players down the years would be technically live in the Ardagh parish as well but were really Backs to the core. Nobody really minds - I think. There is also the case of young Cafferkey who has moved to Crossmolina. Some say he was always in Cross jurisdiction but it was more convenient to play underage with Ardmoy. I dont know for sure.

Quote from: moysider on June 25, 2008, 03:26:32 PM


There is also the case of young Cafferkey who has moved to Crossmolina. Some say he was always in Cross jurisdiction but it was more convenient to play underage with Ardmoy. I dont know.

Young cafferkey live in cross all his life but he went to school in moygownagh so he played underage with them. He transfered back to cross last year i think seen him play with the intermediates a few weeks ago and he looks a good prospect

Quote from: the Deel Rover on June 25, 2008, 03:39:11 PM

Quote from: moysider on June 25, 2008, 03:26:32 PM


There is also the case of young Cafferkey who has moved to Crossmolina. Some say he was always in Cross jurisdiction but it was more convenient to play underage with Ardmoy. I dont know.

Young cafferkey live in cross all his life but he went to school in moygownagh so he played underage with them. He transfered back to cross last year i think seen him play with the intermediates a few weeks ago and he looks a good prospect

Yeah. That tallys with what I believed to be the case. Thanks for that clarification Deel Rover. The lad is a fine player. A great boost for Cross and probably a future Senior County player. Anybody interested seeing him and a few more promising lads they ll be playing for Mayo minors this Sat. in Castlebar.

Quote from: Mano on June 25, 2008, 03:11:24 PM

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on June 25, 2008, 11:54:36 AM
Its posted on hoganstand that parsons played for curry at u14 aswell. but had played for charlestown before at u12, u10, that and they beat toulestrane in county u14 final that yr. Tourlestrane objected and won and replay had to be played without the bellaghy lads. Sligo county board need to take a long look at themselves, clearly the old farts are there for there own interest and not sligo football. As for toulestrane no comment  >:(.

I have had a look at hoganstand and i don't know where you are getting this rubbish from. Your reading as well as your match predictions are clearly not up to scratch. What i read from Hogan stand is the following - 2 players who had already played for Charlestown in their underage leagues played for Curry (Mulligan and Towey were mentioned). Nowhere did it say Parsons played at underage for Curry. Tourlestrane rightly objected as obviously you cannot play for 2 clubs in the one year even though the 2 clubs are in different counties. Read it again there

Yes sorry, not at the races since sunday and ffing seeing things now ::). Im sick of the parsons thing now, its wrecking my head. Best that I dont mention it again and only hope we can get bellaghy players to play with curry in future but not likely. It didnt say the lads played with charlestown in the same yr though mano, just said the mulligans wanted to play with curry. Ironically passing through bellaghy there were alot more sligo flags than usual. Very confusing place.

Quote from: moysider on June 25, 2008, 03:26:32 PM

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on June 25, 2008, 01:14:44 PM

Quote from: moysider on June 25, 2008, 12:22:55 PM

Quote from: stephenite on June 25, 2008, 01:50:35 AM

Quote from: moysider on June 25, 2008, 01:38:39 AM
I know lads within a stone throw of James Stevens Park who play for Knockmore.

At Senior level?

Yes.

Go on Moysider, who ya on about? I mentioned Graham O'Hora earlier so I presume its not him you're referring too?

No. Not him or James Noone who is also in Knockmore parish in Rathnaconeen but basically in Ballina. Stephenite mentions 1 but was under the impression he moved to live in Knockmore which his family have not done - yet anyway. The other lad does nt seem to be involved anymore but lived down the Killala Rd. while playing with Knockmore. Some Knockmore players down the years would be technically live in the Ardagh parish as well but were really Backs to the core. Nobody really minds - I think. There is also the case of young Cafferkey who has moved to Crossmolina. Some say he was always in Cross jurisdiction but it was more convenient to play underage with Ardmoy. I dont know.

Must be Brian Gibbons, was told that he had moved out to Knockmore, when Gibbons was out with the Irish U-17 team in Adelaide a few years back our All Ireland winning club captain confirmed this to me, the lying bastard :D

Yeah well I dont have much problem with lads playing with a parish that they have family ties even if they end up living in a different geographical area for reasons say of young couple moving into a housing estate in a nearby town when they got married but preferring to keep in touch with their rural roots or whatever.

Also I think the Patrick McHale situation was a once off. It was a wrong decision on his part - I m sure he would admit that himself. But he was nt happy with his lot in Ballina over a period of time and his roots were in Knockmore and was Ballina due to where his Dad built a house and he served Ballina well and in reality it was his club and where his mates were. But his Dad and Uncles were Knockmore legends - captains and multiple championship winners. With his Uncle managing the team you could imagine why he would feel like this would revitalised  his career - and he really is an unfulfilled talent. However he s probably realised it's not that simple and you cant just hop from Ballina to Knockmore same as James Nallen or whoever could never have moved from Cross to Knockmore or Ballina even if he had family ties with either. Anyway it's not something that will happen much. The lad should not be castigated for it either. We ve all thrown the toys out of the pram when it comes to football at some time.

Ah I know Moysider - and to be honest I'd rather have Gazza back playing for the Stephenites than anyone else because he is an unfulfilled talent, fantastic potential. I wouldn't know him personally but would know a lot of his family and cousins and they all told me it was probably a one off, as he was very frustrated with lack of opportunities he was getting with the Stephenites under the management team that was in place. I suppose my point was that I was more concerned that it would set a precedent and you'd see lads swopping clubs to follow managers about the place if they weren't happy with their lot.


Edit : some of that probaby made no sense but in work and boss just landed in to me and had to post quicky!

Look, I know everyone has spat the dummy from time to time but I agree with what Stephenite says about the precedent. It has to be a very genuine reason to leave in the first place. Maybe he had one. But to be able to go back to Ballina within a year says to me that the problem mustn't have been a major one.
I agree the lad is a talented footballer but that's not the issue whatsoever. The tie to your parish is one of the greatest gifts the GAA has and I just hate to see instances of where it becomes like soccer - you have a minor tiff with a manager, go out the road to another club and return to your first club. Perhaps I'm being harsh - I don't know the lad - but I just don't like this kinda thing

You re right of course Sniper. It was a once off and should nt have happened.

Ardnaree always have the threat of transfers hanging over them because of a very iffy set up within the 'greater' Ballina area. Example. We had 3 Ardnaree players starting on a Mayo U21 team this year and only 1 still playing with Ardnaree. Usually the flow is from  Ardnaree to Ballina. However Enda Devenney is now playing exclusively with Ballina B and there have been rumours that he my be about to move to Ardnaree. 

Quote from: moysider on June 26, 2008, 01:33:05 AM


You re right of course Sniper. It was a once off and should nt have happened.

Ardnaree always have the threat of transfers hanging over them because of a very iffy set up within the 'greater' Ballina area. Example. We had 3 Ardnaree players starting on a Mayo U21 team this year and only 1 still playing with Ardnaree. Usually the flow is from  Ardnaree to Ballina. However Enda Devenney is now playing exclusively with Ballina B and there have been rumours that he my be about to move to Ardnaree. 

Its some turnaround from starting for Mayo against Galway in Pearse Stadium in May 2007 to playing with Ballina B for Devenney.
Like I said in an earlier post I presume Ardnaree is part of the Ballina parish and therefore lads are free to move between the clubs? Its something that should be tightened up. You make a good point about the Under 21's - losing Burke to Dublin, Sweeney to Ballina. Who was the third player again? Ian Clarke?

Jesus wept - had heard Dev was playing B but was under the impression that it was because he was returning from injury. Some issues that obviously need to be addressed

Ian Clarke. Now there s a player with great potential and unfortunately he was nt even looked at for Mayo U21 s this year or minors in the past either. A  lad that would give options in several positions and way better than some of those played. The third man was Martin Rafter - younger brother of John whose in States for years. Had a serious injury run  but played U21 in McStays reign. Team captain if memory serves me correctly.

Quote from: stephenite on June 26, 2008, 02:10:22 AM
Jesus wept - had heard Dev was playing B but was under the impression that it was because he was returning from injury. Some issues that obviously need to be addressed

Yeah. True. Enda Dev. has had injury issues since before that AI club win. And he was way below his best last year with the County. Getting isolated in a corner back role last year in Pearse did nt help. He could be an excellent corner back as he s got great speed and recovery but he was in an attacking half back mode. I ve seen him do excellent marking jobs in the past against the most lethal of forwards  but he has to be instructed as to what is required. He suffered last year by being left to play it off the cuff as it were. Peadar Gardiner also suffered by being dragged into a role he was not familiar with. Enda s  best work for Ballina was done as a tear away attacking half back behind a dominant mid-field. He still has a lot to offer at the highest level if he got a bit of coaching.

He always struck me as someone who was very laid back about the whole thing. I remember seeing him leaving the park one day after a Connacht semi-final I think, literally went into the dressing room, grabbed his bag, put on a pair of runners and cycled out the gate!
I don't think he would let the game get the better of him and that's often a good thing. However I wonder does it mean he doesn't have a great drive to succeed at the level he is capable of playing at - ie with Mayo

I always harp on about the gulf between club and inter county but Enda Dev's performances for the Stephenites in the run to the All Ireland club were some of the best I've ever seen, and I know I wasn't alone in holding that opinion. I too feel with the right coaching and man management he could still offer a huge amount at club level but it's not going to happen playing with the Ballina B's unfortunately.

Enda has what it takes to be a player at the highest level. And not just at senior club. But yes there are question marks about his resolve and commitment. Thing is for management is whether he is worth the effort or are they going to go with less talented but easier options. Like a lot of the more gifted Mayo players down the years he needs extra effort as regards handling but if you get him onside ...... Mayo seem to have more problems with 'difficult' players than most. Because of our relatively large pick we can always move on and still have a competitive player in most positions but not necessarily the best available to us.

I think we all agree on his ability.

You're spot on Moysider regarding the man management end of things with Mayo. But confuses me is that Enda apparently has a great rapore with (Mayo selector) Tommy Lyons. I would have thought that would mean he would make the transition to inter-county that bit easier. It was Tommy that was over him during the All-Ireland success.

I remember those performances on the run to yer All-Ireland Stephenite - Enda was easily yer most influential player. The amount of ground breaking bursts he made upfield was frightening. I thought we really had a top quality player for the county in our midsts but it just hasn't happened, for whatever reasons and I presume its probably a combination of factors

I'm just after remembering the title of this thread - Sligo Football - where do we go from here?

There's been more discussed about north Mayo players and parish lines than Sligo football :D :D
We're given the lads no room to carry out their post mortem at all  :D

Quote from: moysider on June 26, 2008, 02:57:09 AM

Thing is for management is whether he is worth the effort or are they going to go with less talented but easier options. Like a lot of the more gifted Mayo players down the years he needs extra effort as regards handling but if you get him onside ...... Mayo seem to have more problems with 'difficult' players than most. Because of our relatively large pick we can always move on and still have a competitive player in most positions but not necessarily the best available to us.

I had thought that O'Mahony, given his history of facilitating difficult players, would be the man to iron all this out and have the best players playing, but he set down a marker with Ciaran Mac, and it would seem he's not going down the road of extra effort to man manage those players that need it most. Perhaps if he wasn't up and down the road to the Dail he'd have the time.

Quote from: stephenite on June 26, 2008, 03:24:31 AM

Quote from: moysider on June 26, 2008, 02:57:09 AM

Thing is for management is whether he is worth the effort or are they going to go with less talented but easier options. Like a lot of the more gifted Mayo players down the years he needs extra effort as regards handling but if you get him onside ...... Mayo seem to have more problems with 'difficult' players than most. Because of our relatively large pick we can always move on and still have a competitive player in most positions but not necessarily the best available to us.

I had thought that O'Mahony, given his history of facilitating difficult players, would be the man to iron all this out and have the best players playing, but he set down a marker with Ciaran Mac, and it would seem he's not going down the road of extra effort to man manage those players that need it most. Perhaps if he wasn't up and down the road to the Dail he'd have the time.

I don't know Stephenite this perception that Mc is "difficult" really annoys me ,it seems to be some of the publics perception of the man just like it was that he played very few league games for mayo when in fact as Iorras pointed out he played quite a high percentage of games that he was eliglbe to pay. The fact is that Mc loves football ,i have played and trained with him over 15 years and he is anything but difficult in fact i would say i have never came across a more committed footballer, he comes to training goes to the games plays a match and heads away no fuss .

Start yer own thread up lads! Its the devolopment of Sligo football that needs to be talked about here  ;D

Sorry Deel - didn't really mean to imply that Ciaran was 'difficult' per se, was more making the point that O'Mahony has a history of dealing with players that may have issues with setup, management, injuries or whatever. The issue with John and Micahel Donnelan as an example, point still stands that Johnno has proven ability in ensuring that the best players available to him are playing and with McD he's laid down the marker that he's not going to do this with the current crop of players available for Mayo

Quote from: stephenite on June 26, 2008, 10:24:00 AM
Sorry Deel - didn't really mean to imply that Ciaran was 'difficult' per se, was more making the point that O'Mahony has a history of dealing with players that may have issues with setup, management, injuries or whatever. The issue with John and Micahel Donnelan as an example, point still stands that Johnno has proven ability in ensuring that the best players available to him are playing and with McD he's laid down the marker that he's not going to do this with the current crop of players available for Mayo

no problem Stephenite i understand what your saying

Taking over bellaghy now taking over our threads :P, whats next? If it keeps going at this rate cliffoney will be part of mayo soon ;D. Joking obviously a few of yee got carried away. Anyway I cant complain too much ye showed alot of humility in yer win over us, and went easy on me, fair play.

On Sligo football does any of the sligo lads believe Jordan should be in charge next year? I would sack him and his backroom team. I think we need a total clean slate.

I was talking to a player who was on county panel but dropped not from my club who said he wasnt suprised at all the result, training was lacklustre all year and stop/start and said players werent as fit as they could be. 

Ye have to start again. Feel for Jordan but no way could he face into another season after that. Dont think he d want to. He got a chance to manage a county team but it was not a clever move. The first sign of a slump after last years high and he would be the first to be picked on.  Brehony knew it was going to be tough after Cork. Give it to one of yer own or maybe Denis Kearney. Anyway O Hara should be ready for it. Has loads to say and while  he s in the dressing room the manager will be playing second fiddle anyway.

 Re: Tommy Breheny resigns as Sligo boss - Tommy Jordan takes over
« Reply #72 on: November 08, 2007, 05:06:13 PM »     

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Quote from: SLIGONIAN on November 07, 2007, 11:33:44 AM
I heard about him ages ago on hoganstand. I think it could be a great appointment. I do have a few concerns. Maybe the Mayo posters will be able to help answer them. He won so much at club level albeit with great players but why was he never given a chance with Mayo? He won the AI in 2001 6yrs ago long time not to be given a chance with Mayo. What do the players of crossmolina think of him? I do wish the best of luck and he definitly deserves his chance.

Very excited about the mchale park battle now. Should be a cracker. What realistically would be success next yr to me would be retain connaght at least and put up a better showing in the qf and see what happens...Never look back 2007 is over and I want that feeling again of winning connaght again.

I know the lads on this board think Im stirring regards my comments on Brehony but Im not. I would loved to have seen him do another year because I believe he would of learned from his mistakes but I would strongly disagree with anyone who says he got the best from our panel last yr. My point is he got the best from our fb line and 2or3 others on the day. Hopefully Tommy jordan will sort out the hb line and forwards. Maybe push j davey, mcnamara, ohara into the forwards.
                                            **************************************************
i suppose the reason he never got the mayo job sligonian would be his lack of experience, He never played football at a senior club level he may have played intermediate with the club and bar crossmolina he has never managed any one else.He wouldn't be the most inspirational in the dressing room, most of the players he was managing at club level knew what had to be done to win a game. He is going to find it a big step up. He will have to make swithces quicker than at club level etc, i suppose when you see the cv's of the men who got the job ahead of him its hard to argue
                       
                                              ***********************************************
Above was my answer to Sligonain question last november when Tommy Got the Job and looking back at it it was fairly true, the truth is Tommy didn't have the experience necessary to manage at intercounty sure he led cross to the title but in fairness they didn't take much managing , intercounty level is a totally different ball game and unfortunately for tommy it didn't go well for him, i can't see him staying another year

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on June 26, 2008, 01:13:43 PM
Taking over bellaghy now taking over our threads :P, whats next? If it keeps going at this rate cliffoney will be part of mayo soon ;D. Joking obviously a few of yee got carried away. Anyway I cant complain too much ye showed alot of humility in yer win over us, and went easy on me, fair play.

On Sligo football does any of the sligo lads believe Jordan should be in charge next year? I would sack him and his backroom team. I think we need a total clean slate.

I was talking to a player who was on county panel but dropped not from my club who said he wasnt suprised at all the result, training was lacklustre all year and stop/start and said players werent as fit as they could be. 

Well that was certainly obvious from the Mayo game. I honestly couldnt believe I was watching the same Sligo team that won a connacht final last year. It was absolutely shocking. Ok, people will argue that we got a bit lucky last year but the performances against roscommon & galway were lightyears ahead of what we witnessed last sunday. And I think there were only 3 personnel changes from the starting connacht final team - Maguire, S.Davey, MacPartland replaced by Neachtain, McHugh, Gaughan.

All concerned need to hold themselves accountable. As Teeling Gael alluded to earlier in this thread, Jordan got it wrong from the start when he elected to go with the exact same backroom team. Big mistake. And from the performances in the league & ch'ship, the fitness/condition of the players & the insane gameplan, there are huge doubts whether he's up for the job.

I still think there's plenty of good days ahead in the future. Alot of work has been done at underage level, and in the next couple of years I'd be surprised if we're not close to winning a connacht minor title. More needs to be done in order to keep the conveyor belt moving.

As for the current senior team, a few players will certainly be thinking about packing it in but there's still a good spine to work with - our full back line is very solid so not really concerned there. The half back line certainly needs strenghtening up and other than neachtain, egan, davey, mcgovern Im not sure if we have too many options. Midfield is a concern - O'hara cant cut it there anymore so probably quinn & taylor will be the main men - what about beirne? - can he make the step up??? As for forwards, I'd like to see o'hara tried out in the full forward role - we were crying out for a ball winner in there and o'hara is as good as it gets. And he still has the pace. It's worked for tourlestrane so maybe it's worth a shot at county level. Kelly has stepped up big time and he's the real deal. Gaughan will also improve and I'd like to see Coen getting a run. Brehony will probably soldier on but he's a very weak centre forward. Curran has guts but I dont think he offers enough at that level. McGowan, MacPartland - will they continue???

Use the TM cup to try lads like mchugh, beirne, coen, gaughan, daniel davey, mcgowan, wilson. next season has to be about getting promoted and blooding some of the youth. If some of the younger lads can develop the way kelly is progressing, we wont be in bad shape.  

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on June 26, 2008, 01:13:43 PM
I was talking to a player who was on county panel but dropped not from my club who said he wasnt suprised at all the result, training was lacklustre all year and stop/start and said players werent as fit as they could be. 

I heard the same and i heard a few players had a few words with the management on this.

Quote from: stevo-08 on June 26, 2008, 02:07:54 PM
As for the current senior team, a few players will certainly be thinking about packing it in but there's still a good spine to work with - our full back line is very solid so not really concerned there. The half back line certainly needs strenghtening up and other than neachtain, egan, davey, mcgovern Im not sure if we have too many options. Midfield is a concern - O'hara cant cut it there anymore so probably quinn & taylor will be the main men - what about beirne? - can he make the step up??? As for forwards, I'd like to see o'hara tried out in the full forward role - we were crying out for a ball winner in there and o'hara is as good as it gets. And he still has the pace. It's worked for tourlestrane so maybe it's worth a shot at county level. Kelly has stepped up big time and he's the real deal. Gaughan will also improve and I'd like to see Coen getting a run. Brehony will probably soldier on but he's a very weak centre forward. Curran has guts but I dont think he offers enough at that level. McGowan, MacPartland - will they continue???

Some good points there Stevo. Eamon is definately not able for midfield anymore. The Parsons lad is 12 years younger and was too mobile. Plus Eamon got a cheap booking early on rather than using the booking to welcome the young Curry lad to championship football ;)
Tourlestrane used 2 younger lads at midfield and put Eamon centre forward to good affect. Both midfielders are under 21 this year and are well over 6 foot. They also performed very well against McGarrity, Harte and Brady in the Connaught championship. Midfield was too small last Sunday and Clarke took advantage ballooning high kickouts on top of Parsons and McGarrity.

Another thing i heard from a source within the camp. Sligo were training in Castlebar on Sunday a week before the game. They were having a training game between the starting team against the rest. 40 minutes in the session they notice someone in the press box-who was it but O'Mahony-the sneaky prxxx.
County boards will soon have to start hiring security personel to ensure their plans are not revealed before championship games if that behavior starts.

Quote from: Mano on June 26, 2008, 05:21:37 PM
Another thing i heard from a source within the camp. Sligo were training in Castlebar on Sunday a week before the game. They were having a training game between the starting team against the rest. 40 minutes in the session they notice someone in the press box-who was it but O'Mahony-the sneaky prxxx.
County boards will soon have to start hiring security personel to ensure their plans are not revealed before championship games if that behavior starts.

Lovely f****** lovely. Pay him better if he paid a visit to McDonald. Why am I not surprised by this? I d expect nothing  else from the man. Did they run him out or invite him to take the rest of the session?

Quote from: moysider on June 26, 2008, 05:28:54 PM

Quote from: Mano on June 26, 2008, 05:21:37 PM
Another thing i heard from a source within the camp. Sligo were training in Castlebar on Sunday a week before the game. They were having a training game between the starting team against the rest. 40 minutes in the session they notice someone in the press box-who was it but O'Mahony-the sneaky prxxx.
County boards will soon have to start hiring security personel to ensure their plans are not revealed before championship games if that behavior starts.

Lovely f****** lovely. Pay him better if he paid a visit to McDonald. Why am I not surprised by this? I d expect nothing  else from the man. Did they run him out or invite him to take the rest of the session?

:D :D :D very Good moysider

Here lads, i guarentee you now, Tommy Jordan will be in charge next year. Inside info

Going back to the Ballina boundaries, we have 2 brothers from the same townland as me playing for Knockmore and the other for Ardnaree as somebody rightly said. I never played football due to a heart condition but am a Knockmore man ;D, as the little stream that flows and separates the 2 parishes runs a bit to the North of my house. I once stood in 3 parishes, Ardagh being the other one... let's not go there!!! The Ardnaree one always puzzled me, perhaps if I re-read the post, I will see where the Ardnaree border is.

Quote from: Mano on June 26, 2008, 04:40:36 PM

Some good points there Stevo. Eamon is definately not able for midfield anymore. The Parsons lad is 12 years younger and was too mobile. Plus Eamon got a cheap booking early on rather than using the booking to welcome the young Curry lad to championship football ;)
Tourlestrane used 2 younger lads at midfield and put Eamon centre forward to good affect. Both midfielders are under 21 this year and are well over 6 foot. They also performed very well against McGarrity, Harte and Brady in the Connaught championship. Midfield was too small last Sunday and Clarke took advantage ballooning high kickouts on top of Parsons and McGarrity.

Forgot about Henry in my post above. Have always been impressed with him whenever I saw him play, would rate him much higher than Gilmartin but obviously the senior selectors think differently. Would like to see Henry given a chance in the TM cup.

Quote from: Sligoper on June 26, 2008, 05:56:53 PM
Here lads, i guarentee you now, Tommy Jordan will be in charge next year. Inside info

ah now, its been a depressing enough week as it is. No need for that sort of talk...

Quote from: stevo-08 on June 26, 2008, 10:12:54 PM

Quote from: Mano on June 26, 2008, 04:40:36 PM

Some good points there Stevo. Eamon is definately not able for midfield anymore. The Parsons lad is 12 years younger and was too mobile. Plus Eamon got a cheap booking early on rather than using the booking to welcome the young Curry lad to championship football ;)
Tourlestrane used 2 younger lads at midfield and put Eamon centre forward to good affect. Both midfielders are under 21 this year and are well over 6 foot. They also performed very well against McGarrity, Harte and Brady in the Connaught championship. Midfield was too small last Sunday and Clarke took advantage ballooning high kickouts on top of Parsons and McGarrity.

Forgot about Henry in my post above. Have always been impressed with him whenever I saw him play, would rate him much higher than Gilmartin but obviously the senior selectors think differently. Would like to see Henry given a chance in the TM cup.

Quote from: Sligoper on June 26, 2008, 05:56:53 PM
Here lads, i guarentee you now, Tommy Jordan will be in charge next year. Inside info

ah now, its been a depressing enough week as it is. No need for that sort of talk...

Lads i agree about ohara, just posted on hoganstand ohara thread i see him at FF or roaming aroung the forward line. He is just not cutout for midfield consistently as he used to be. Also i dont see quinn there either next yr. Just not mobile enough IMO and not the future. People seem to forget T Taylor a forgotten man but in last yrs league came good with a few outstanding showings in he latter stages of the nfl. He is fine footballer too. To me if he is fit he is a definite starter at midfield if regains his form after long injury layoff. I know he is back for his club and im looking forward to seeing him in club championship.

Id like to see either henry or wilson get the other midfield role. Dont rate gilmartin as highly as other 2. Henry has bags off football abilty along with a good engine and a bit of pace. Wilson who i see week in week out is outstanding for us, great reader of the game, ball winner, passing execution and his workrate is top class and can field it when ball is in his direction. He doesnt have a burst of speed but has one gear and that never waivers with good stamina.  Wilson pulled out of panel in april to give a long term shoulder injury some rest, he only came back for us 2 weeks ago. He needs to get it looked at in the closed season and hopefully raring to go come january.

We have to remember next yr its div4 and we should use that to give players a chance especially young ones. Like id say if i really thought about it i could give 15 reasons to get rid of jordan. One would his stupidity during league, phillips never got a look in and then 2nd sub in CSFC. That should not happen, he was starting kivelhan and beirne all league until he copped on.

Time to blood youth and get rid of dead weight.

Murphy has come out publicy and backed Jordan in all the local newspapers so its likely he'll be back. Quotes from champion "Tommy has a proven track record in CLUB MANAGEMENT and we remain convinced he is the right man to take Sligo forward"  ::) "the main thing is to remain commited to taking sligo forward over the next couple of yrs and despite last sundays performance, WE BELIEVE WE ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK"  ::)

John kent is quoted saying "SLIGO we way off the pace" is that not managements responsibilty to make sure the lads are fit and ready. Is that not a minimum requirement.

Quote from: Farrandeelin on June 26, 2008, 10:04:13 PM
Going back to the Ballina boundaries, we have 2 brothers from the same townland as me playing for Knockmore and the other for Ardnaree as somebody rightly said. I never played football due to a heart condition but am a Knockmore man ;D, as the little stream that flows and separates the 2 parishes runs a bit to the North of my house. I once stood in 3 parishes, Ardagh being the other one... let's not go there!!! The Ardnaree one always puzzled me, perhaps if I re-read the post, I will see where the Ardnaree border is.

Try lookin at a map. It should be the River Moy Farandeelin. There was once a politician who campaigned to have a bridge built across the mighty River moy at Mount Falcon so the Knockmore farmers could get their turf home from the bog  in Béal a Bó without going into Ballina. Dont know if he got elected but the bridge was never built.

Now as far as I know before Knockmore became a seperate club they used to play with Bonniconlon which is also the far side of the river but further south if that makes any sense.

Quote from: Farrandeelin on June 26, 2008, 10:04:13 PM
I once stood in 3 parishes

If we cut you off at the knees would it make you a tripod.

You're talking the talk but can you walk the walk ??? ???

Quote from: Frank Casey on June 26, 2008, 11:05:07 PM

Quote from: Farrandeelin on June 26, 2008, 10:04:13 PM
I once stood in 3 parishes

If we cut you off at the knees would it make you a tripod.

You're talking the talk but can you walk the walk ??? ???

Nice one Frank, nice one. I was thinkin myself it would be a fair man to plant a leg on either side of the River Moy - even in a Summer drought. Handy for nettin a few silvery fellas too.

No offence mayolads but wasnt there another thread made for ye to continue yer discussion...................Look i wasnt myself earlier in the week when i was ranting and ravving and just coming out my depression now and starting to talk some sense at last and think straight (ie im over the parsons thing) and want debate about our future with the sligo lads and not anymore parish debate. Cheers...i think its on page 2 or 3 if yee look.

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on June 26, 2008, 11:23:22 PM
No offence mayolads but wasnt there another thread made for ye to continue yer discussion...................Look i wasnt myself earlier in the week when i was ranting and ravving and just coming out my depression now and starting to talk some sense at last and think straight (ie im over the parsons thing) and want debate about our future with the sligo lads and not anymore parish debate. Cheers...i think its on page 2 or 3 if yee look.

Good to see your nearly back to your old self. As regards debate. Ye need 2 things.

* New management. Regardless of whose to blame a manager can not continue in those circumstances. No cedability goin back in to those players. They wont believe in him and he wont thrust them. Mayo Board shafted Moran [wrongly in my opinion, obviously] after 1 year and for losing an AIF. Yet we played much better than Sligo did against a great team. Management has to go.

* At least 5 new players and maybe more with 2 midfielders being a priority as well as a centre half back. O Hara could still do a job at 6, 11 or 14.

Good luck to ye.

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on June 26, 2008, 10:54:45 PM

Lads i agree about ohara, just posted on hoganstand ohara thread i see him at FF or roaming aroung the forward line. He is just not cutout for midfield consistently as he used to be. Also i dont see quinn there either next yr. Just not mobile enough IMO and not the future. People seem to forget T Taylor a forgotten man but in last yrs league came good with a few outstanding showings in he latter stages of the nfl. He is fine footballer too. To me if he is fit he is a definite starter at midfield if regains his form after long injury layoff. I know he is back for his club and im looking forward to seeing him in club championship.

Id like to see either henry or wilson get the other midfield role. Dont rate gilmartin as highly as other 2. Henry has bags off football abilty along with a good engine and a bit of pace. Wilson who i see week in week out is outstanding for us, great reader of the game, ball winner, passing execution and his workrate is top class and can field it when ball is in his direction. He doesnt have a burst of speed but has one gear and that never waivers with good stamina.  Wilson pulled out of panel in april to give a long term shoulder injury some rest, he only came back for us 2 weeks ago. He needs to get it looked at in the closed season and hopefully raring to go come january.

Sligonian, I havent forgotten about Taylor. i mentioned him in my post. However I definitely see Quinn partnering him in midfield until the likes of Henry make the step up. Dont underestimate the experience that Quinn has accumulated. There's going to be a transitional period and it'll be very important for the likes of Quinn, O'Hara, Maguire, Brehony to help the younger lads break into the team. I'd like to see the likes of Henry & some of the other players mentione given a chance in TM, FBD and some NFL games. But those senior players will still be needed for the big games.

 
Jordan gets vote of confidence from Yeats County
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Friday June 27 2008

SLIGO County Board chairman John Murphy still believes that Tommy Jordan is the right man for Sligo despite the county's poor showing this year.

Murphy declared that the "board remain convinced that he (Jordan) is the right man to bring Sligo forward" despite their relegation to Division 4 and subsequent relinquishing of their Connacht Championship crown.

"We have had a disappointing year but to lay all the blame at the manager's door would be wrong. We remain committed to taking Sligo forward and despite last Sunday's poor performance we believe we are on the right track and Tommy has a proven track record in club management," said Murphy.

Sligo entered 2008 with high hopes after their historic Connacht final win over Galway last summer but since then the Yeats men have failed to find their form.

Their interest in the All-Ireland series last year was ended by eventual finalists Cork -- a defeat that signalled the end of Tommy Breheny's reign as manager.

Mayo native Jordan -- who guided Crossmolina to a pair of All-Ireland club titles -- was installed as his successor but Sligo have enjoyed little success since then.

A disappointing Division 3 campaign that garnered just one win (at home to Limerick) saw them finish bottom of the table. And while they easily brushed aside the challenge of London in Ruislip in their championship opener, Mayo outclassed them in every department in McHale Park last Sunday to condemn them to Tommy Murphy Cup football for the remainder of the season.

And that competition is set to bring its own headaches as a number of senior players including Eamonn O'Hara, have already indicated that they will not be making themselves available for the secondary competition.

- Donnchadh Boyle

Quote from: stevo-08 on June 27, 2008, 09:28:44 AM

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on June 26, 2008, 10:54:45 PM

Lads i agree about ohara, just posted on hoganstand ohara thread i see him at FF or roaming aroung the forward line. He is just not cutout for midfield consistently as he used to be. Also i dont see quinn there either next yr. Just not mobile enough IMO and not the future. People seem to forget T Taylor a forgotten man but in last yrs league came good with a few outstanding showings in he latter stages of the nfl. He is fine footballer too. To me if he is fit he is a definite starter at midfield if regains his form after long injury layoff. I know he is back for his club and im looking forward to seeing him in club championship.

Id like to see either henry or wilson get the other midfield role. Dont rate gilmartin as highly as other 2. Henry has bags off football abilty along with a good engine and a bit of pace. Wilson who i see week in week out is outstanding for us, great reader of the game, ball winner, passing execution and his workrate is top class and can field it when ball is in his direction. He doesnt have a burst of speed but has one gear and that never waivers with good stamina.  Wilson pulled out of panel in april to give a long term shoulder injury some rest, he only came back for us 2 weeks ago. He needs to get it looked at in the closed season and hopefully raring to go come january.

Sligonian, I havent forgotten about Taylor. i mentioned him in my post. However I definitely see Quinn partnering him in midfield until the likes of Henry make the step up. Dont underestimate the experience that Quinn has accumulated. There's going to be a transitional period and it'll be very important for the likes of Quinn, O'Hara, Maguire, Brehony to help the younger lads break into the team. I'd like to see the likes of Henry & some of the other players mentione given a chance in TM, FBD and some NFL games. But those senior players will still be needed for the big games.

Ya just read it again there, sorry, Steve08 i have concerns about quinn now to be honest, he is a massive physical presence and does alot of hard work but this yr all yr hes been well below his best. Id like to think its because he wasnt fully fit but he should be fit. So i not sure he can back to his best.

Remember too gilmartin seems to be higher in the pecking order than henry (who got no run all yr) with the management. Wilson may break through he got a few runs earlier in the league but his progression was halted with a shoulder injury. I see him as an upgrade and younger fitter version of quinn, in that he has a similiar style of play. I feel sometimes experience can be over valued. If quinn returned to his best id love to see him midfield for us but with all these lads from u21 he should feel that pressure and that he gets the no9 based on current form rather than a game a yr ago.

On the jordan issue, getting the backing hes getting from murphy means its ok to just win 1 game all yr and thats heading the right direction. It creates a sense infalabilty and non accountabilty for management. If a monkey was manager of sligo this yr it wouldnt have done worse. Jordan made too many obvious mistakes, lacked leadership and couldnt make big calls, like looking from the outside in, he was out of his depth and not helped by inept people around him. Everyone i talk too want him and his selectors gone. Will murphy make our wishes a relaity? Is murphy a big enough man to admit he made a mistake and sack the management before we have another disaster next yr?

What do ye think of the draw? If london beat Kilkenny are we off to London again??

QuoteMurphy declared that the "board remain convinced that he (Jordan) is the right man to bring Sligo forward" despite their relegation to Division 4 and subsequent relinquishing of their Connacht Championship crown.

I do not know enough about Jordan to have any opinion on whether or not he should stay but I do think that county chairmen should keep their mouths closed on the issue until it is discussed in its proper forum. The view of the county chairman should have no more validity than that of Sligonian.

It is clear that those that care about football in Sligo need to have a good think about the future and how to get Sligo football to a level where it can challenge Mayo and Galway on a regular basis. I am around long enough to remember the euphoria when Sligo won in '75 and the lean years that followed. There are a lot of similarities between then and now and not least that when Sligo won in '75 it was with a team in decline and they should really have won 4 or 5 years earlier (especially '71). The same is probably true now. However this does not mean that the decline after 75 needs to happen again. A bit like Roscommon, Sligo needs to look at it's under age and club structures and see how the overall level can be improved. In this context it should then look at what type of management structure is appropriate for their county teams. I for one have serious reservations about bringing in outside managers (especially at minor level) in counties like Sligo. I am sure Jordan and Moyles are doing their best but what do they add. Unless no one in Sligo is interested in the job (and if this is the case then I am not sure there is any hope) there is no convincing case for bringing in managers from a neighbouring county – managers who have no exceptional credentials.

I hope those involved in Sligo football consider the future coolly and rationally and in the meantime the county chairman should remember "Is binn béal ina thost"

Agree with all of that Tatler. And good to see some people here are around as long/longer than I am.

Lads like Sligonian need to ask themselves why their board appointed Crossmolina lads as managers. Were Sligo fellas interested? I dont know but am interested to know. And why did Brehony resign?
If for example Dessie Sloyan or Paul Durcan expressed an interest in managing the Sligo minors surely he would have been given the gig? Who was in opposition to Moyles for the minor job? I dont know . Sligonian I m sure and the other Sligo lads on here do. Same with Jordan. Who were the alternatives and who would be interested now? Tatler is right about the chairman. Should have kept his mouth shut. As I ve said already I m not sure I d want to continue if I were Jordan. I d say he ll want to just finish out the year. Nearly impossible for him to continue and he will know that. Yet I dont think either Jordan or Moyles can be loaded with the bulk of the blame for the capitulation of either team.

Almost 20 tears ago Sligo board made an effort to promote the games in schools where it had never been entertained. Ballymote and Ballysodare competed in FAI schools soccer but not in football at that time. There has been considerable improvement since but more needs to be done to improve the player base. Whatever about winning a Connacht Colleges title Mayo have 3 teams in senior A Colleges football and they supply a good few of this minor team. Likes of O Shea will be playing 4 years senior Colleges next year and is already a top senior club player.

Tatler is right. management needs to go inhouse in sligo at the very least minor and U21. If natives are not interested its not a good sign. Sligo also needs to up the standard that their best players are playing at Colleges level.

It really has nothing to do with where there from to be honest. At the end of the day alot of Mayo lads on here were of the opinion that Jordan wasnt up to it and that anyone would of won with that crossmolina team. Jordans year was littered with obvious mistakes. He seemed never too learn from them either. Its hard on here to post and knew everything because no one does but the sligo management are closer to what goes on than I am. Take the team that played Mayo in csfc that team never played any NFL games at all. The whole team postions changed but jordan did it when league was over. That to me is crazy even if some changes were right. IF i really thought hard about it i could make a list as long as my arm on the mistakes he made. He got very little right in his first yr.

Moyles has had 2 yrs with very talented players but got feck all out of them.

Both moyles and jordan applied for mayo jobs and didnt get them, that makes me wonder? why are they good enough for us.

Now is there any alternatives, I am not a member of any selection commitee or cb so i havnt a clue who apllied for minor and senior jobs when they were available. I hear anthony brennan being touted alot but I dont know what he is like. I think he is manager of sligo IT at the minute. Tommy breheny gave family commitments as his reason for leaving and we have to respect that. Denis jonston is another man touted but I have first hand experience of him at sligo vec county team. He was a disaster. Old school and obsessed with physical players who could nt kick a ball straight to save there lives etc...

Personnally i would love to get a crack at the senior job now you know what i mean. Expectations are low but the team that won connacht is still there. There is a big difference in 75 and 07 in that 75 the whole team was old but majority of the 07 team are around 25. The main problem we have with players who have talent in our county is atitude and belief. The atitude of our players means we are NOT guarnteed a 100% from them when they represent sligo. I could go further and tell some truthful stories but that would be seen as personal attack. We need to get rid of this atitude. To me when anyone says "we dont know what happened against mayo" that to me is lie, the players know what happened they just dont have the bottle to look at themselves and say I could of given alot more today, why didnt I?.. Jordan was right to criticise them half way through the nfl questioning there atitude and commitment. See the only inside knowledge i have is of player telling sligo were not fit, training was lacklustre and lots of craic at training more interested in laughs apparantently. The panelists told me the unfit older lads are holding back the young lads. Management need to sort that out and players need a right going over. There would be 7or 8 lads that started against mayo and came on that i would never select again. Im not brave enough to name them as id get ate by sligo lads on here.

Just to point out paul durkan i think would a disaster too, he managed TM cup team a few yrs ago, he brought back ronan keane (overthe hill and not fit) to that team and left young up and coming lads on the line. That was a disgrace. That Competiion should be used to blood young lads not bring back lads so they can play in croker and only benefit themselves and not sligo football.

At colleges and school sligo coaches are putting alot of work in but the benfits of that will take time to see.

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on July 03, 2008, 12:59:38 PM
It really has nothing to do with where there from to be honest.1 At the end of the day alot of Mayo lads on here were of the opinion that Jordan wasnt up to it and that anyone would of won with that crossmolina team. Jordans year was littered with obvious mistakes. He seemed never too learn from them either. Its hard on here to post and knew everything because no one does but the sligo management are closer to what goes on than I am.4 Take the team that played Mayo in csfc that team never played any NFL games at all. The whole team postions changed but jordan did it when league was over. That to me is crazy even if some changes were right. IF i really thought hard about it i could make a list as long as my arm on the mistakes he made. He got very little right in his first yr.

2[b]Moyles has had 2 yrs with very talented players but got feck all out of them.
[/b]
Both moyles and jordan applied for mayo jobs and didnt get them, that makes me wonder? why are they good enough for us.

Now is there any alternatives, I am not a member of any selection commitee or cb so i havnt a clue who apllied for minor and senior jobs when they were available. I hear anthony brennan being touted alot but I dont know what he is like. I think he is manager of sligo IT at the minute. Tommy breheny gave family commitments as his reason for leaving and we have to respect that. Denis jonston is another man touted but I have first hand experience of him at sligo vec county team. He was a disaster. Old school and obsessed with physical players who could nt kick a ball straight to save there lives etc...

Personnally i would love to get a crack at the senior job now you know what i mean. Expectations are low but the team that won connacht is still there. There is a big difference in 75 and 07 in that 75 the whole team was old but majority of the 07 team are around 25. The main problem we have with players who have talent in our county is atitude and belief. The atitude of our players means we are NOT guarnteed a 100% from them when they represent sligo. I could go further and tell some truthful stories but that would be seen as personal attack. We need to get rid of this atitude. To me when anyone says "we dont know what happened against mayo" that to me is lie, the players know what happened they just dont have the bottle to look at themselves and say I could of given alot more today, why didnt I?.. Jordan was right to criticise them half way through the nfl questioning there atitude and commitment.3 See the only inside knowledge i have is of player telling sligo were not fit, training was lacklustre and lots of craic at training more interested in laughs apparantently. The panelists told me the unfit older lads are holding back the young lads. Management need to sort that out and players need a right going over. There would be 7or 8 lads that started against mayo and came on that i would never select again. Im not brave enough to name them as id get ate by sligo lads on here.

Just to point out paul durkan i think would a disaster too, he managed TM cup team a few yrs ago, he brought back ronan keane (overthe hill and not fit) to that team and left young up and coming lads on the line. That was a disgrace. That Competiion should be used to blood young lads not bring back lads so they can play in croker and only benefit themselves and not sligo football.

At colleges and school sligo coaches are putting alot of work in but the benfits of that will take time to see.

1. At the end of the day it s just lads opinion . If you dont go for managers with some degree of success in the game who do you go for. Sure Crossmolina would have won their All Ireland with another manager But so would the Kerry team of the 70s and 80s and the recent kerry team too.

2. From what I saw other evening while the Sligo minors might have been talented the Mayo lads were more talented and management could be switched and result would have stayed the same. The fact that Moyles didnt get the Mayo job does nt really matter. Dempsey probably got it because he was a bigger name and older. It was his turn. Would nt be surprised if Moyles is our next minor manager. If Dempsey ended up in Sligo instead he d be the one now taking the flak.

Why Moyles and Jordan were good enough for ye only the committee who appointed them can say. Did Jordan beat off any high profile managers like Tommy Carr or Tommy Lyons to the job? I think not.

3. Opposite of the complaints in Roscommon where Maughan was castigated for losing older unfit lads and concentrating on a disciplined fitness programme. Jordan maybe went for a more relaxed atmosphere. When things go wrong players never blame themselves and the training methods get the first shoeing. Cant win as a manager it would appear.

4. Nothing wrong with that. He was a new manager trying new players and new things. Do you think Mayo s NFL teams were all rehearsals for championship and that was  in their second year as management? Same with other teams as well.

Quote from: moysider on July 03, 2008, 01:35:44 PM

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on July 03, 2008, 12:59:38 PM
It really has nothing to do with where there from to be honest.1 At the end of the day alot of Mayo lads on here were of the opinion that Jordan wasnt up to it and that anyone would of won with that crossmolina team. Jordans year was littered with obvious mistakes. He seemed never too learn from them either. Its hard on here to post and knew everything because no one does but the sligo management are closer to what goes on than I am.4 Take the team that played Mayo in csfc that team never played any NFL games at all. The whole team postions changed but jordan did it when league was over. That to me is crazy even if some changes were right. IF i really thought hard about it i could make a list as long as my arm on the mistakes he made. He got very little right in his first yr.

2[b]Moyles has had 2 yrs with very talented players but got feck all out of them.
[/b]
Both moyles and jordan applied for mayo jobs and didnt get them, that makes me wonder? why are they good enough for us.

Now is there any alternatives, I am not a member of any selection commitee or cb so i havnt a clue who apllied for minor and senior jobs when they were available. I hear anthony brennan being touted alot but I dont know what he is like. I think he is manager of sligo IT at the minute. Tommy breheny gave family commitments as his reason for leaving and we have to respect that. Denis jonston is another man touted but I have first hand experience of him at sligo vec county team. He was a disaster. Old school and obsessed with physical players who could nt kick a ball straight to save there lives etc...

Personnally i would love to get a crack at the senior job now you know what i mean. Expectations are low but the team that won connacht is still there. There is a big difference in 75 and 07 in that 75 the whole team was old but majority of the 07 team are around 25. The main problem we have with players who have talent in our county is atitude and belief. The atitude of our players means we are NOT guarnteed a 100% from them when they represent sligo. I could go further and tell some truthful stories but that would be seen as personal attack. We need to get rid of this atitude. To me when anyone says "we dont know what happened against mayo" that to me is lie, the players know what happened they just dont have the bottle to look at themselves and say I could of given alot more today, why didnt I?.. Jordan was right to criticise them half way through the nfl questioning there atitude and commitment.3 See the only inside knowledge i have is of player telling sligo were not fit, training was lacklustre and lots of craic at training more interested in laughs apparantently. The panelists told me the unfit older lads are holding back the young lads. Management need to sort that out and players need a right going over. There would be 7or 8 lads that started against mayo and came on that i would never select again. Im not brave enough to name them as id get ate by sligo lads on here.

Just to point out paul durkan i think would a disaster too, he managed TM cup team a few yrs ago, he brought back ronan keane (overthe hill and not fit) to that team and left young up and coming lads on the line. That was a disgrace. That Competiion should be used to blood young lads not bring back lads so they can play in croker and only benefit themselves and not sligo football.

At colleges and school sligo coaches are putting alot of work in but the benfits of that will take time to see.

1. At the end of the day it s just lads opinion . If you dont go for managers with some degree of success in the game who do you go for. Sure Crossmolina would have won their All Ireland with another manager But so would the Kerry team of the 70s and 80s and the recent kerry team too.

2. From what I saw other evening while the Sligo minors might have been talented the Mayo lads were more talented and management could be switched and result would have stayed the same. The fact that Moyles didnt get the Mayo job does nt really matter. Dempsey probably got it because he was a bigger name and older. It was his turn. Would nt be surprised if Moyles is our next minor manager. If Dempsey ended up in Sligo instead he d be the one now taking the flak.

Why Moyles and Jordan were good enough for ye only the committee who appointed them can say. Did Jordan beat off any high profile managers like Tommy Carr or Tommy Lyons to the job? I think not.

3. Opposite of the complaints in Roscommon where Maughan was castigated for losing older unfit lads and concentrating on a disciplined fitness programme. Jordan maybe went for a more relaxed atmosphere. When things go wrong players never blame themselves and the training methods get the first shoeing. Cant win as a manager it would appear.

4. Nothing wrong with that. He was a new manager trying new players and new things. Do you think Mayo s NFL teams were all rehearsals for championship and that was  in their second year as management? Same with other teams as well.

Well i dont think anyone is naive to the fact that players and management are equally to blame. All side have to take responsibilty. Every Sligoman i speak to outside of this board, doesnt want jordan there next yr. Can that be ignored. We seen his demeanor and his involvement of who running the show has even been questioned. He let players away with piss poor performances and never dropped them especially older lads. He positional switches never worked and tactics were a joke. His team selections were beyond crazy, ive never whinged more about them with any other sligo manager :-\.

Maybe all the reasons so far are way off, the simple answer is this. Sligo have 20 football clubs Mayo have 44 football clubs (source connachtgaa.ie). Twice the amount of underage players to chose from and develop. Sligo has 13 summer gaa camps Mayo has 22...etc... we have less clubs than leitrim....

Sligo town has over 20 junior soccer clubs and 2 gaa clubs....

BUT despite that I honestly believe in my heart the level of performance from sligo seniors and minors was well below what there capable of despite what i have said above. With a manager i expect him to get the best of a particular group. Our talented players just werent up for it and that atitude had to change.

Days like the last 2 weeks i was in castlebar for both, it hurts so much that it motivates you to do something about it. There was one stage in 2nd half one the mayo minor forward laughed in johnny kellys face when he said to his teammates we are better than this. When you see something like that it makes you want to make a difference and make sure it never happens again. So i guess what im saying is i have intentions and desires that i hope one day may become reality. Im sick of talking on here and not being able to walk the walk. I see loads of football men not involved in club football and just criticising all the time when they could make a huge difference, never put themselves on the chopping board. Time for action is now. There is no way i'll accept our fate and past as winners every 32 yrs and have people looking down on us and laughing at us...we can do alot better IMHO and not give anyone a reason to laugh at us.

We are at a crossroads now, we can either accept these hammerings or do something and follow every other successful model used by other counties to develop talent. I pray and hope liam og gormley and others are copying the example by others and develop every inch of talent in this county to feed our county teams. Maybe that is happening (and success is around the corner) and all thats wrong is the management at top level in place arent up to it, that is certainly the case in my club and maybe county from what i hear and see.

I appreciate your hurt about the events of the last couple of weeks and also the resolve you have to improve matters. One thing I ve noticed though ,apart from Mayo lads - including myself, clowning around with parish boundaries and contributing little to the intent of the thread -  there s damn all contribution here from Sligo lads. Do they not care? Guaranteed, if Mayo lose to Galway in CF  the thread will run to several pages. Not you Sligonian but as a County I ve always felt maybe ye dont care enough.

I've typed out several replies to this thread but ended up deleting them before posting them. Its not cos I don't care.

Same as that

I know ive posted alot but Im sometimes write a post and dont follow through like the lads above, either its libel :D or its a new innovative idea and approach that may bring sligo forward that I dont want other counties to see ;). Sometimes too its hard to know where to start and even now the wounds are still there and sometimes its hard to think logically about whats happened without being irrational. In the week after the game i was numb and just couldnt make sense. Problem I have is im not in a position to influence or make a difference to sligo football at the moment so sometimes i think what benefit is there in giving ideas and solutions that may benefit sligo football. Sometimes it feels pointless. As a supporter all you can do is go to games and shout for sligo and whinge online and there nothing much more you can do. I feel kinda helpless.

Would the sligo manager or county chairman listen to us? Do they care what the fans think? I doubt it to be honest. Whos viewing this board looking for ideas and a reasoned approach to solving our lack of silverware at every level? Who cares what i think or write?

Sometimes i wish i was different to be honest moysider. I care too much and its not healthy when your from sligo and you get hurt so much by something outside of your control. Its who i am though . But not many people experience the highs the way i do so there are 2 sides and i expect no thanks or sympathy. Sligo football has given me alot too and the last 10yrs have been alot of highs in all fairness.

On the rest of the lads on here, i know they care, they care enough to come on here and give there opionins we are like minded when you think about it even though some wouldnt like to associate themselves with me. I only wish there another 10,000 more.

The biggest epiphany ive had in the last week, its time for us who do care to dedicate ourselves to sligo football and walk the walk. Get ourselves in a position to influence and benefit sligo. That is my goal now to start small ie with club and work my way up and play the political game and be diplomatic. Maybe a few of the lads are quiet for that reason, sick of talking and now is a time for doing.

Moysider "but as a County I ve always felt maybe ye dont care enough" can you elaborate on that quote? Im interested in outside perspective. Cheers.

Said about 5 pages ago that i would come back here and give my views on way forward. There are 2 parts to this, one being the pretty fundamental structures of Sligo football and one been the actual team going forward. Will deal with latter here.

Dont think there are 2 many club players in the county who arent on the panel and who deserve to be on it. The future lies at our U21 team and last couple of minor teams. They have been competitive without threatening to win anything and hopefully some of these can take the step from been competitive inter county minor players to been competitive inter county senior players. It goes without saying that there is now some deadwood on our senior panel. Some of this is down to the passage of time and some is down to players been on the panel year in year out without getting decent runs on the 1st team and their confidence at senior level been drained away. These palyers by virtue of the fact that they have senior inter county training and with their confidence back at club level , they star and get invited back into senior panel year after year. They dont get nurtured properly and eventually fade away from intercounty scene. Division 4 football and Tommy Murphy cup are ideal times to introduce some young players to inter county football and give other players an extended run in the team and once and for all we can evaluate their true worth.

Why as we discussed at length before Mayo match does the Sligo forwrad line consistently average 5ft 5 and 12.5 stone ?? This is a major problem for Sligo football and is there a reason why we produce such small men rather than big intercounty footballers ? My own "Jim Corr" style theory on this may extinguish any street cred I've built up on this board over last few years but here goes !! I blame the refs !! Sligo club refereeing is pretty consistent and of a good standard but in my view has one huge failing -- The inability to allow for any physical contact in the tackle area and breaking ball area. This automatically promotes small and fast forwards and naturally they stand out more hence making senior panels . No Physical contact is allowed at Sligo club football. One only needs to look at our most prominient intercounty ref and his refereeing of the tackle area to validate this point.

Dont want to get into naming players either who should come in or who should leave the panel at this stage but want to make 2 points. Consistently over the last few months , there is a notion of O Hara playing full forward for Sligo. Perhaps I am missing something here , but in my view he does not have the skillsets for full forward and its the last outfield place on the pitch i would play him. Secondly Sligonian has decreed PeterWilson as the next midfielder for Sligo. I sincerely hope he is but there is no evidence to date that he is Inter county standard let alone a starring midfielder.Let the lad develop , hes only 21 and for Sligo footballs sake I hope he stars at the business end of intermediate championship this year and then plays very well in Division 2 of the local leagues next year and then we can talk about him in those terms.

Also delighted to hear that you see the way to channel your massive interest is working your way up through the club structures.Actually it wont take very long at all before you are in a position to make a difference , Sligonian so best of luck with it. Know you are quoting connaughtgaa but there are 24 football clubs in Sligo not  20 and also there isnt close to 20 adult soccer teams in the town -- Frank Murphy will eat you for dust at congress if we dont help you eradicate these things !!!! Finally want to hear yours or indeed anyones blueprint for the development of Sligo football and how we can minimise dark days like Castlebar two weeks ago.

Quote from: magpie seanie on July 04, 2008, 11:11:19 AM
I've typed out several replies to this thread but ended up deleting them before posting them. Its not cos I don't care.

Same as myself. While i'm dossing here waiting for the clock to strike 4 i'll add my tuppence worth.

In my opinion the biggest reason why Sligo football is not more successful especially at under 21 and senior level is one main reason. The huge drop off rate of players from North Sligo after minor level. St Johns are a good example - they have beaten my own club Tourlestrane easily in 3 minor county finals. Yet when it comes to under 21 and senior level they are not a force. Most of those Tourlestrane lads have now won 2 county senior medals since and Egan, Gaughan & Henry are county senior players. Some of the Johns players if they kept playing would walk on the Sligo senior team. Fergus Roche gave an exhibition of fielding in a Connaught minor game against Ross in the Hyde a few years back-where is he now. Look at the drop off from the Minor team of 3 years ago to this year from North Sligo Rooney, O Grady are 2 i can think of who didn't commit. There are not many Tourlestrane players who decide to quit football at a young age only 2 i can think of are Brian Neary and Patrick Egan.
St Marys hammered Tourlestrane the other night in the under 14 county final-there will be more Tourlestrane lads who make it to senior level i can guarantee you that.
I don't think theres a any easy solutions to stop this drop off as in a city area there are a lot of other alternatives but it should be something that the county board looks into to.

Sligonian for Sligo coach!

Christ almighty that would be some craic. I keep picturing Timmy Ryan of D'Unbelievables fame. ;D

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=guT76kAPYs0 (http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=guT76kAPYs0)

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on July 04, 2008, 01:19:21 PM
That is my goal now to start small ie with club and work my way up and play the political game and be diplomatic.

Im not joking Sligionian but i nearly collapsed laughing at that bit  :D

Quote from: GalwayBayBoy on July 04, 2008, 03:45:53 PM
Sligonian for Sligo coach!

Christ almighty that would be some craic. I keep picturing Timmy Ryan of D'Unbelievables fame. ;D

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=guT76kAPYs0 (http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=guT76kAPYs0)

Cant help but laugh at that, funny :D :D :D,

Quote from: ludermor on July 04, 2008, 05:38:04 PM

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on July 04, 2008, 01:19:21 PM
That is my goal now to start small ie with club and work my way up and play the political game and be diplomatic.

Im not joking Sligionian but i nearly collapsed laughing at that bit  :D

Ive managed my local national school for a yr at cumann na mbuscola and got to 3/4 teachers final in markievicz a few yrs back miles further than we ever got before or since. My involvement in the club has been non existant last few yrs for reasons out of my control. I'll be back playing soon. Im only 26 and young and still learning and immature in ways. i know my own faults and diplomacy is something im working on ;) although its hard to be. I'll never get anywhere being brutally honest the whole time, sometimes you need to tell people what they want to hear especially those in power, who give management jobs out. Keep your enemies closer as they say. I can undertand you laughing at that though ludermor, i was worse believe it or not.

[/quote]Secondly Sligonian has decreed PeterWilson as the next midfielder for Sligo[/quote]

Im convinced he wil continue his development and hes 100% commited and has bagfuls of the right atitude which will carry his talent over the white line alot for sligo. Also there are exactly 10 soccer clubs in sligo town, just counted sorry was told by someone recently and should have checked myself first.

Ironically i seen st johns minors this week against our minors st molaise gaels who won 16A 2 yrs ago and they were class. They beat us by 3pts in our home patch and were far better team. Hope they stick at it and kick on from this level.

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on July 04, 2008, 06:25:33 PM
Ive managed my local national school for a yr at cumann na mbuscola

Jasus I hope you dont teach Gaeilge in that school of yours.  ;D

See on sligogaa.ie that Tommy Jordan resigned this evening for personal family reasons. Whilst his term wont be remembered for its success, he personally will be remembered as a very decent man who did his best for Sligo footballers . The access he gave clubs to their senior panellist was greater than any manager in recent years and him taking up his first intercounty appointment directly after the 2007 Connaught Championship win showed him to be a man of great courage.

Am certain that all Sligo Gaels wish him and his family all the best and pray that all works out for them.

Hear Hear. Sad for Tommy, but in fairness it was going to be difficult to go again after what was a bad year all round. Perhaps Durcan can take the reigns again for the TM cup now.

In response to an earlier suggestion by moysider, I had thought of one or two things to say here, didn't post them, though I haven't posted much since the Castlebar defeat, but many good points have been already covered, not least the poor quality of the local club scene (hence why I look in at yer squabbles now and again :)), the basketball-style attitude of certain "leading" referees and others, the need to change the panel to some degree (some there who aren't up to it, finished, or just don't seem to care) and the drop-off from the talented underage ranks from certain areas (usually in or around the Borough environs), but it is difficult to put the problems down to any one major point, and besides there are some things which are better said elsewhere. Also, while you say the Connacht final would have a long post-mortem if Mayo lose, there are a lot more Mayo posters than of ours, so that's probably a likely scenario.

Sligonian - the vacancy is there for you. If not now, when?

Quote from: Owenmoresider on July 07, 2008, 10:14:45 PM
Hear Hear. Sad for Tommy, but in fairness it was going to be difficult to go again after what was a bad year all round. Perhaps Durcan can take the reigns again for the TM cup now.

In response to an earlier suggestion by moysider, I had thought of one or two things to say here, didn't post them, though I haven't posted much since the Castlebar defeat, but many good points have been already covered, not least the poor quality of the local club scene (hence why I look in at yer squabbles now and again :)), the basketball-style attitude of certain "leading" referees and others, the need to change the panel to some degree (some there who aren't up to it, finished, or just don't seem to care) and the drop-off from the talented underage ranks from certain areas (usually in or around the Borough environs), but it is difficult to put the problems down to any one major point, and besides there are some things which are better said elsewhere. Also, while you say the Connacht final would have a long post-mortem if Mayo lose, there are a lot more Mayo posters than of ours, so that's probably a likely scenario.

Sligonian - the vacancy is there for you. If not now, when?

Thanks to Tommy for all his time and effort put in, it is appreciated. And i wish his family well. As teeling gael said he showed alot of courage all yr taking on the reigns in the first place was a big statement, but unfortunetly for him and sligo football it just didnt workout but he did his best. Best of luck in whatever he decides to do next.

I am happy though hearing the news from a sligo football perspective. He just was out of his depth. Made too many mistakes and to be honest he never learned from them which was worrying that wed get same service next yr.

Anyway most important thing now is Sligo County Board make a better appointment and get it right. Will brehony comeback? Personnaly would prefer someone else as i thought he was more lucky than good but we all know Napoleons saying. I dont want a good general i want a lucky one. No one knows how good any man will do to be honest but the interview process has to be some benefit in getting a good candidate. Personnaly its a great time to get the job, no pressure or expectations and hopefully after a lack of effort shown on the field by the panel it will be reignited by the hurt of this yr. Thats assuming the sligo players actually care, i didnt see it on the pitch. They didnt do jordan any favours with the lacklustre atitude shown this yr.

Im assuming a Sligo man will be selected, i couldnt see anyone outside the county going for it. Anthony brennan is the only other that springs to mind, all i hear from people is how good a job he does with IT Sligo but i havnt seen any of his teams first hand. Pat kilcoyne, paul durkan and denis jonstons are non runners for me, great servants to sligo gaa but kilcoyne was not impressive with sligo minors and durkan made a laughing stock of younger panelists when he brought back a shockingly unfit james curran and ronan keane for the TM cup a few yrs ago. That decision did not benefit sligo football.  I played under jonston for sligo county vocational schools and hes old school and training methods werent good and his management skills were poor. No tactics and obsessed with physical players who had no football abilty. He played a guy CHB who i scored 3-5 on in a game school semi we drew on my bad yr but he was over 6ft but thats all that matters with jonston.

OMS the vacancy is there but I dont think Murphy will give it to a 26yr old even though i know more than a few of our previous managers :D. My time will come ;). Try not to fall off yer chair laughing but seriously it is an ambition of mine. Talk the talk walk the walk.

What are yer thoughts on who the candidates are and who is best?

I forgot to say but if them selectors are kept were screwed...they need to go aswell.

Not an easy year for Tommy Jordan. His wife diagnosed with a serious illness during the year which I m sure many people would not have been aware of. It s a credit to him that he saw out the year. It would have been difficult for him to continue anyway after the Mayo performance but the personal family reasons are genuine and not a smoke screen or anything to walk away. Hopefully everything will work out well for the Jordans. And for Sligo football.

Well said Moysider.

Durcan wont even look at the job as he's busy with Curry and he def won't be interested in TM Cup.
Kilcoyne will be interested but will be refused. Doing well with Coolera bu tlook what he done with Johns?
Johnson? Perhaps although i thinks he's more intersted with Harps.
How about Carney? Two senior championships and he previously applied for the job! Another Mayo man at the helm? Very doubtful?
Brennan? Well a glowing CV although when he couldnt get anything out of Tubber so what makes ye think he will get somethin out of Sligo?


I think the important thing is that whoever they appoint that he is appointed in good time. I felt both senior and U21 managers were appointed very late last year. Do we appoint an inside or outside man? Out of the three managers last year (Senior, U21, Minor) fergal O'Flaherty, the only sligo man, got a decent result although admitedly they collapsd against Ros.

I feel there are very few options available and that Murphy and Co have their work cut out for them. James Kearins is an old friend of Murfs.........but not a chance...?

Quote from: moysider on July 07, 2008, 11:45:40 PM

Not an easy year for Tommy Jordan. His wife diagnosed with a serious illness during the year which I m sure many people would not have been aware of. It s a credit to him that he saw out the year. It would have been difficult for him to continue anyway after the Mayo performance but the personal family reasons are genuine and not a smoke screen or anything to walk away. Hopefully everything will work out well for the Jordans. And for Sligo football.

I sincerely hope everything works out for Tommy and his family as its obviously been a very tough few few months for him personally.  I happened to meet him on a coaching course a number of years ago and he was an absolute gentleman and football to the core.  I think it was about a year or two after Crossmolina won the All Ireland Club and he gave a superb analysis of how they plotted their way to the final once they won the Mayo county title.

Quote from: moysider on July 07, 2008, 11:45:40 PM

Not an easy year for Tommy Jordan. His wife diagnosed with a serious illness during the year which I m sure many people would not have been aware of.

I don't think too many people in Sligo are aware of this-i certainly wasn't. It puts the Connaught Championship into perspective. I wish Tommy and his family all the best and hopefully they can pull through these difficult times.

Tommy Jordan was fired at the request of the players. Don't buy into the carefully crafted press releases. I find it disgusting that they are using his family circumstances to cover over this shafting. Sligo GAA is rotten to the core and in a nutshell thats the answer to this thread.

Tommy Jordan is an excellent football man who never had a hope from day 1 in the Sligo job. I wish him and his family well.

QuoteI don't think too many people in Sligo are aware of this-i certainly wasn't.

Jordan isn't into the spin doctoring like those that surrounded him. He's just an honest GAA man who plays with a straight bat. The kind that get shafted.

That's shocking Seanie

Quote from: magpie seanie on July 08, 2008, 09:26:45 AM
Tommy Jordan was fired at the request of the players. Don't buy into the carefully crafted press releases. I find it disgusting that they are using his family circumstances to cover over this shafting. Sligo GAA is rotten to the core and in a nutshell thats the answer to this thread.

Tommy Jordan is an excellent football man who never had a hope from day 1 in the Sligo job. I wish him and his family well.

QuoteI don't think too many people in Sligo are aware of this-i certainly wasn't.

Jordan isn't into the spin doctoring like those that surrounded him. He's just an honest GAA man who plays with a straight bat. The kind that get shafted.

Not shocked to be honest, but a little taken a back at the way we do things, why cant we do things honestly? If he was sacked why use his personal circumstances to spin it. It is cowardly. Since when did players run the show and call the shots. Was the whole panel invloved in this request??? The decision is the right one IMO but there are ways of doing things. Our lads dont seem to understand the word integrity.

Quote from: magpie seanie on July 08, 2008, 09:26:45 AM
Tommy Jordan was fired at the request of the players. Don't buy into the carefully crafted press releases. I find it disgusting that they are using his family circumstances to cover over this shafting. Sligo GAA is rotten to the core and in a nutshell thats the answer to this thread.

Tommy Jordan is an excellent football man who never had a hope from day 1 in the Sligo job. I wish him and his family well.

QuoteI don't think too many people in Sligo are aware of this-i certainly wasn't.

Jordan isn't into the spin doctoring like those that surrounded him. He's just an honest GAA man who plays with a straight bat. The kind that get shafted.

I knew that's exactly what that press release was and I was surprised and disappointed that they used family reasons to justify his 'resignation'. And you're right Seanie, the sligo county board has gone from bad to worse and it'd be difficult to submit a post that analyses the reasons Sligo football is in such a state of crisis without defaming some of these clowns (oops). That together with the sickening and pathetic effort of Sligo's first fifteen (ha!) is the reason I, hitherto, have neglected to contribute to this thread.

We are now dealing with an executive which was described to me, by a great servant to Sligo football over the years, as a Mafia style organisation. Not a label I'd use but it at the very least conveys the real sense of disillusionment pervading the county at this time. I have absolutely no faith in John Murphy and I never had. He was fortunate that Tommy Brehony was ready to take Sligo on after the disgraceful treatment of Dom Corrigan. I should add that it's my opinion that Dom Corrigan and Tommy Jordan were not quite up to the job. I dont care how nice a person or how straight you are with people, if you cannot manage personnel effectively then you shouldn't be in the job. I apply that to all jobs in all walks of life.  Notwithstanding that I think the treatment doled out to Corrigan and Jordan was/is disgraceful but I'm not one bit surprised.

Anyway, I have enough to be doing without wasting valuable time writing about these flutes.

(PS - I havent proof read this so apologies for typo/grammar errors.)

Why would Jordan go along with this though? I mean he was on ocean fm this morning backing up the press release. Ive no doubt what seanies say is true but why would jordan agree to the press release. I would tell them im not going along with it in no uncertain terms and that if there man enough to sack me let them tell people of sligo the truth rather than this farce. What are the county board at? Weve had enough embarrasment bestowed on us for one yr.

I was just thinking that - surely TJ would have had seen the press release and approved prior it to being made public, that's what normally happens

I've said enough already. Believe what you like.

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on July 08, 2008, 01:00:07 PM
Why would Jordan go along with this though? I mean he was on ocean fm this morning backing up the press release. Ive no doubt what seanies say is true but why would jordan agree to the press release. I would tell them im not going along with it in no uncertain terms and that if there man enough to sack me let them tell people of sligo the truth rather than this farce. What are the county board at? Weve had enough embarrasment bestowed on us for one yr.

I might be way off target here but apart from Moysider's post I haven't seen any reference to an illness to his wife. Did he mention this on Oceanfm?

It seems to me that 'The Clowns' have just rehashed the same piece of spin they used last year with Brehony - didn't he cite family reasons too? The difference this year is that people have taken it up to differently.

Quote from: baoithe on July 08, 2008, 01:38:29 PM

Quote from: SLIGONIAN on July 08, 2008, 01:00:07 PM
Why would Jordan go along with this though? I mean he was on ocean fm this morning backing up the press release. Ive no doubt what seanies say is true but why would jordan agree to the press release. I would tell them im not going along with it in no uncertain terms and that if there man enough to sack me let them tell people of sligo the truth rather than this farce. What are the county board at? Weve had enough embarrasment bestowed on us for one yr.

I might be way off target here but apart from Moysider's post I haven't seen any reference to an illness to his wife. Did he mention this on Oceanfm?

It seems to me that 'The Clowns' have just rehashed the same piece of spin they used last year with Brehony - didn't he cite family reasons too? The difference this year is that people have taken it up to differently.

Not sure what your getting at baoithe but what moysider said is true and what seanie said too is true.

Baoithe

You are way of the mark regarding the illness. Moysiders original post is completely accurate and his wifes illness whilst not common knowledge has been in the public domain for awhile. He could justifably have resigned months ago.

I do not know Tommy Brehony but what I do know is that his already young family got even younger early this year and in  my mind this combined with the downturn in the business sector in which he works were the reasons he resigned as Sligo Manager. Hard to combine managing a county team with a baby and when you are under pressure at work. In my mind , there is no validation for consistent comments that Brehony got out when he seen the road ahead. He was a superb manager who resigned for family reasons. End of story.

Absolutely no problem apologising for being way off the mark there re Jordan. It was just a thought that probably should have remained within my head.

In respect of Brehony I wasn't questioning the validity or veracity of his rationale for resigning last year. What I was suggesting was that the county board simply underpinned the press release re Jordan's resignation by using that same rationale.

From what I have heard, I'm not inclined to believe that family reasons are the whole truth behind this but that is all I will say on the subject.

In any event, I was not in any way besmirching the names or characters of either Tommy Jordan or Tommy Brehony.

I see the Indo has linked John Maughan to the job for Sligo Manager - nothing concrete but wondered what the Sligo boys reaction would be?

Quote
while the Yeats men have also been linked with a move for former Clare, Mayo, Fermanagh and Roscommon manager John Maughan.
[\quote]

Well he is from the club we tend to be recruiting from.

Obviously would have mixed views as his own record is mixed. He is certainly ruthless and would demand discipline. If true it could be good or a disaster - very hard to tell. I struggle to see why he would be interested though.

Quote from: magpie seanie on July 16, 2008, 09:03:04 AM
. I struggle to see why he would be interested though.

Think of all them interviews, photos, ............................. :D

Quote from: Rossfan on July 16, 2008, 10:47:47 AM

Quote from: magpie seanie on July 16, 2008, 09:03:04 AM
. I struggle to see why he would be interested though.

Think of all them interviews, photos, ............................. :D

Or the chance to work with proper players that are interested in success and want to match his ambition :D

Quote from: stephenite on July 16, 2008, 06:29:01 AM
I see the Indo has linked John Maughan to the job for Sligo Manager - nothing concrete but wondered what the Sligo boys reaction would be?

Quote
while the Yeats men have also been linked with a move for former Clare, Mayo, Fermanagh and Roscommon manager John Maughan.
[\quote]



From his time with Ross all my mates there tell me he was a disaster. But someone who takes no shit and is ruthless would be good for us because alot of players need a good kick up the arse. Hard to know what to make of it.

2 names i heard was brendan kilcoyne sligo captain in 97 final and did very good work with st eunans in letterkenny and anthony brennan at it sligo.

No matter who gets the job and id hope they get rid of the current selectors.

Quote from: stephenite on July 16, 2008, 10:49:04 AM

Quote from: Rossfan on July 16, 2008, 10:47:47 AM

Quote from: magpie seanie on July 16, 2008, 09:03:04 AM
. I struggle to see why he would be interested though.

Think of all them interviews, photos, ............................. :D

Or the chance to work with proper players that are interested in success and want to match his ambition :D

They did qualify for the TMC after all. :-\

A bright spot for Sligo GAA with the U-16's winning the Manning Cup last night with a one point win over Roscommon. As mentioned on sligogaa.ie our previous winners of this competition in 1994 and 1996 both were desperately unlucky to lose Connacht finals at minor two years later by a pojnt (one after a replay) so hopefully third time lucky. Well done to all involved and hopefully they can kick on and really produce at minor.

Quote from: magpie seanie on July 17, 2008, 10:27:47 AM
A bright spot for Sligo GAA with the U-16's winning the Manning Cup last night with a one point win over Roscommon. As mentioned on sligogaa.ie our previous winners of this competition in 1994 and 1996 both were desperately unlucky to lose Connacht finals at minor two years later by a pojnt (one after a replay) so hopefully third time lucky. Well done to all involved and hopefully they can kick on and really produce at minor.

Good win, fair play - underage is the key IMO so this shows good work is been done in Sligo. The trick now is to keep these lads interested - same problem every club and county have  I suppose

Delighted to hear this good news, hopefully a precursor for better things. Well done to all involved. Roscommon have excellent underage teams coming through and keeping up with them is a good sign.

Delighted for liam kennedy, hard working tenacious player with pace and no little talent, see him play half back for the club recently at u16. He is the fittest young fella i have ever seen in my life. I managed him with cliffoney ns at cumann na mbuscola and delighted his developed alot further since. The great thing about this lad is his atitude. Congrats to him and the lads. Jees theres some talent coming through my club at the minute. In 5 or 6 yrs time we will have more county players than any other club.

From Sligogaa.ie

Well done to our County U-16 Boys who have won the Fr Manning Cup when they defeated Roscommon in the Final on a scoreline of Sligo 2-8  Roscommon 1-10

This is only the third time that Sligo have won this inter-county competition. The competition was first held in 1965 established by the Longford County Board in memory of Fr Sean Manning.  He served as Chairman of both Longford County Board for 6yrs and Leitrim Co Board for 9yrs.  He held many other positions within the association as well.

Sligo first won this Competition in 1994 and again in 1996, both these teams went on in two years time after their wins to contest the Connacht Minor Championship Finals loosing each of them by one point.

So after  12 years wait we are again the holders of the Cup.

Congratulations to Liam Kennedy (Molaise Gaels) who won Player of the Game.

Well done to the squad, management team of Eamonn Kelly and his back up team on their success.  This is where Sligo football begins so every success to this Squad in the Webb Cup Competition

WTF is going on, there is no excuse our lads are flying fit after the conditioning done all year at county and the club championship is coming up so fitness cant be hidden behind. The only positive from today is john kent will be ran and good riddens. Our current players at county are a disgrace to the jersey. There is no defending them. Effort they wouldnt know the meaning of the word. Its the one we lack big time. Like for crying out loud london players have little or no sense of pride or identity playing for london, its not there home there representing. Its only the TM cup. Thank f**k its gone next yr. But Sligo lads there needs to be a clear out of players that just dont have the right atitude.

From sligogaa.ie
The nightmare continues for Sligo as they are comprehensively defeated in Ruislip on a score line of London 3-14 Sligo 2-12. London took the spoils in extra time.

The home team led 0-6 to 0-3 until David Kelly converted a penalty to level things.The scores were level at half time but the visitors could not pull ahead in the second half even with the benefit of a strong breeze. A 65th., minute goal from Chris Donnellan left the score 1-10 to 1-10 at the end of normal time which saw a referee change because of cramp.The Londoners were 2-12 to 1-12 ahead at the intervel of extra time and they added a goal and two points to this tally to achieve a famous victory. Substitutes Paul Hehir and Ollie Coffey were the scorers of Londons extra time goals.

Quote from: Rossfan on July 16, 2008, 10:47:47 AM

Quote from: magpie seanie on July 16, 2008, 09:03:04 AM
. I struggle to see why he would be interested though.

Think of all them interviews, photos, ............................. :D

;) :D ;D

Considering their treatment of Jordan, it's hard to feel much sympathy for some of them. That said I'd like to see the team that lined out, surely not the one listed on the website.

Well done to the hurlers and the Under-16's too.

Yeah a dissapointing result but alot of players heads were in the wrong place im guessin.
Probably dissalusioned by players who ousted Jordan and then the same players dont turn up for the Tommy Murphy.

Ya well done to the hurlers, now 1 game away from croker.

O hara may have instigated the vote but wasnt it a secret ballet after that so players had there own choice to. They could have voted against getting rid of him.

Players lost interest Sligoper???, is it that simple when you put on the sligo jersey, f**k it lost interest wont bother me arse today. Would that be accepted in cork or anywhere else... today was an opportunity to save some grace and stick it to the lads who wouldnt play.

I say this to any sligo player whos lost interest or is happy with 1 connacht medal. f**k off we dont want you or need you. You are no use to us to anymore, just stay at home. Its about now move on to players who do give a shit and forget about the past even 07, its time find players willing to die for the jersey not primadonna hangers on.

You must have had some inspirational music playing in the background when you typed that. Lost interest was badly worded and im going to change it, i dont thinks heads were right is what i meant.

Quote from: Sligoper on July 19, 2008, 09:58:17 PM
You must have had some inspirational music playing in the background when you typed that. Lost interest was badly worded and im going to change it, i dont thinks heads were right is what i meant.

No when it comes to my county i dont need any extra motivation or inspiration to play, support or type about my county. It comes naturally, like it should for our players but clearly doesnt >:(.

Its an all time low.
Read the report in the paper and we were not missing that many from the Mayo game.
We should have sent Eastern Harps out to play them and I am not from that club but this Sligo team has no heart.

Sligonian for Sligo manager

What a shambles, you wouldn't know where to start. The players look a bit silly now after shafting Jordan and then losing to London. Also, amazing that only two subs were used in a game that went to extra time though amybe the reporter missed them. From the Sunday Independent:


London shock for sad Sligo

Sunday July 20 2008

There was a major shock in Ruislip yesterday as minnows London made it two wins in the space of eight days with a magnificent extra-time victory over Sligo.

Galway native Chris Donnellan produced an inspirational performance for the Exiles, scoring 1-7 while Paul Hehir and Ollie Coffey both came off the bench to fire goals for the hosts.

Sligo were a pale shadow of the side that cruised to a Connacht Championship victory against the same opposition two months ago. Minus big-name players such as Eamonn O'Hara and Sean Davey, the Yeats County can have no complaints with the final scoreline, and must now focus their attentions on finding a successor to Tommy Jordan.

Level at the break, the visitors looked to be en route to victory when they hit five quick points at the beginning of the second half but a superb goal from Donnellan got London back into contention.

A late point from Mark Butler forced extra-time but a goal in each half from Hehir and Coffey -- the latter's a stunning finish into the top corner of the net -- sealed a famous win for the hosts.

Scorers -- London: C Donnellan 1-7 (3f); P Duffy 0-3; P Hehir, O Coffey 1-0 each; A Hayes 0-2 (2f); M Hughes, A Raftery 0-1 each. Sligo: K Sweeney 1-2; M Breheny 0-4 (2f); D Kelly 1-0 (pen); D Davey 0-2; E Cawley, E McHugh, M Butler, B Curran 0-1 each.

London: E Byrne; R Morgan, B Comer, G O'Hare; P McDermott, E O Cuiv, O Henry; P Geraghty, A Raftery; H Murphy, P Duffy, C Donnellan; S Maguire, M Hughes, A Hayes. Subs: P Friel for Hayes (47); P Hehir for Murphy (52); D O'Leary for O'Hare (69); O Coffey for Hughes (80).

Sligo: P Greene; C Harrison, N McGuire, R Donovan; J Davey, B Philips, E McHugh; S Gilmartin, T Taylor; B Curran, M Breheny, D Davey; K Sweeney, E Cawley, D Kelly. Subs: M Butler for J Davey (50); G McGowan for Cawley (67).

Referee: E Kinsella (Laois).

I have to say im even more stunned seeing the team we had out.

That defence conceded 3-14 to london, with that fb line, unfortunetly nothing was in front of them defensively to protect them, wow we really are fucked. Who ever was marking c donnellan and Duffy did a good job? Not hard to work out.

We are Fucked big time now is all i can say. Its going to take lazurus type comeback next yr to be even competitive next yr.

Its pretty obvious that there was no interest in the Tommy Murphy Cup. O'Hara made it clear and the other players who were selected to play but didn't travel is an indication of that.

Quote from: shapes on July 20, 2008, 02:25:29 PM
Its an all time low.
Read the report in the paper and we were not missing that many from the Mayo game.
We should have sent Eastern Harps out to play them and I am not from that club but this Sligo team has no heart.

Its an overstatement to say this is an all time low-the players weren't interested and thats fairly blatant. I would be a lot more disappointed about the Mayo reult and performance.
There were 7 missing which is i think a lot of the team. Only 2 subs were used i noticed from the report-were there any other subs available.

Nobody really gave a damn about the TM Cup. Nonetheless, if a player has committed himself to taking part in the competition you'd expect him to have the personal pride and frankly a respect for the jersey not to be eliminated in such a gutless fashion to a team who in the normal course of things are at a level below Sligo.

The county boards next appointment is of crucial importance as it would seem that we are on the cusp of returning to the level we were at in the early nineties. I personally believe the players are better than that and to be honest I don't think the players back in the bad old days were much worse. The problem was the cliques that made the decisions in Sligo football and in my opinion we are heading that way again under the current chairman.

Karol O'Neill, despite getting treated disgracefully all year travelled over and was left on the bench for the whole game yet again. No-one can tell me that is right or proper. Its totally inexplicable.

I'm not going to say an awful lot more but I will say this. The players not being interested is not good enough especially in light of their actions in recent weeks. I'm far from anti player and I admire their efforts in general but when you take a stance like that you have to see it through.

Was talking to a few county panelists last few weeks, my first question is always what happened this yr??? and dont tell me ye dont know because ye do... fairly direct but i got 2 same answers from most of them.

1. answer seriously we werent fit this yr at all not even close to yr before levels, training was very amateur and very disjointed and poorly organised. Some older players holding the young ones back, very often telling lads to slow down. Management not organizing structured training drills.

2. Some players treating training like a social get together more than an emphasis on football. The guys told me dont get them wrong training has to be enjoyed and all but lads werent taking it serious all yr.

I pointed out that there is an obligation on the players to get themselves fit aswell in there own time if training isnt doing it. But they were the main reasons the players decided to meet up and vote out the last manager.

Interesting enough as it explains alot, being 6 pts up in games and lose and no where near the level of intensity shown this yr on the field especially in leitirm and mayo games.

Sligonian! The man who is Getting to the bottom of this crisis to educate the county!  ::)

Quote from: Sligoper on August 06, 2008, 07:07:22 PM
Sligonian! The man who is Getting to the bottom of this crisis to educate the county!  ::)

I dont believe we are in crisis to be honest, just giving a players perspective on here as they dont be posting on here Sligoper or do they? :P

I sincerely hope not cos reading some of this would depress them. Anyway, direction to start in, get manager in next 20 days, let him watch bit of championship, first training in the next 6-7 weeks. Clear out some of the players who arn't fit or good enough etc...

I was talking to chairman murphy in the last few weeks aswell, at a few of our club presentations, and i asked him about the search for the new manager. He didnt say much just nothing much done on it yet. I asked him was selection commitee formed. I honestly didnt get an answer.

I agree with sligoper, people say dont rush these things etc... and end up appointing him in november or december, but id like to see a man in place ASAP so he can watch the latter stages of club championship, watch as many games as possible take notes on as many players as possible. And start the training early aswell. If I knew i was going to go for it I would be working hard to maximise my knowledge of sligo football and each club to know what I was getting myself into especially if i was an outsider. Poor jordan was relying on kent and few others and i believe was mislead to his own detriment.

Also on Sligopers point about a clearout, ages ago i wrote a post with about 8 players of the current squad that I would drop but i wasnt brave enough to post it. It would get shot down fairly quickly on here. There are wasters in the current squad and should be shown the door.

Great to see we see things the same way Sligoper ;).

Whether the clear out happens is another thing or not. There is a massive comfort zone that exists around Sligo Intercounty football.

Perfect Scenerio would be:

Manager appointed with the next two weeks so basically before the club quarter finals.
Let the manager watch the games and the monday after the county final, each club should be contacted and told to send any players who they think will be good enough. Trials/Training, Fitness tests etc should be carried out for 4-5 weeks and by the end of october panel cut. There by on November 1st we will have the 30 best players in the county ready for action and will already have had 4 weeks hard training!

I feel the only stumbling block here is the timeframe of the managers appointment.

But by following the above plan we can whittle down a large number of players to the best.
It is very achievable and also low cost,  also a major advantage is that by doing is this way we can stop arguments over club politics or this lad is constantly ignored for county etc. If they are good enough they're club will send them and they will get a fair chance.

My idea may not fix things but it's better than any plan in place at the minute.

Did you see the latest about the manager? It says on sligogaa.ie that clubs are being asked to nominate people for senior, U-21 and minor jobs for discussion at September meeting. Hard to believe.

It's politics Seanie - means at the end of the day that Execd will be able to turn round and say - "well ye got yer chance" I might be wrong but I think that this was the way that Kearns's appointment started out which is no great omen

From Sligo GAA.ie

John Murphy Chairman of An Coiste Chontae Sligeach has written to all club secretaries seeking nominations for the vacant Managerial positions of the Senior,u21 and Minor panels. The matter of team management will be on the agenda of the September Board meeting. It is hoped that candidates will be selected shortly after that date for referal to a sub committee.



What are these lads playing at? The only result from this is getting shit candidates.

The reality from our county board is they obvously know they are shit and havnt the balls to stand by another appointment. They dont want any responsibilty. Will it ever change ffs.

So does this mean o flatherty (u21) and moyles (u18) are gone aswell?

As paddy says, it has to be done. You're right sligonian we'll have a bag load of shit candidates who will be given an interview by the selection committee. In fairness I'd give any money to sit in on some of those interviews - I'd say a couple of them will be hilarious.
I personally don't think there is anyone within the county who is a county standard manager but I could be wrong (maybe Anthony Brennan??). That said, who'll want it from outside the county?

Paddy - yeah, you are right. Probably not the best way to go about things but my major problem would be the wasted couple of months. Quarter finals will be over by the next county board meeting and I really think any assesment of potential talent for next season is better measured in Markievicz Park in August than some training field in November/December. I can see why the Exec are going this way alright. They got a lot of unjustified criticism over the last manager (by this I mean no matter who we had in charge we were going nowhere last year).

Sligonian - as far as I'm aware O'Flaherty wants the U-21 job again but was probably only appointed on a one year term last time. I'd be inclined to put him in there again. People say he erred tactically in the game they lost but even if that is the case I reckon the good outweighed the bad with his stint last year. We have somethnig to build on at this level for the first time in a while.

As for candidates for the senior job I wonder would Charlie Mulgrew be an option?

Despite my criticism of the o flatherty regime the good does out way the bad just. That u21 team left connacht behind them big time this yr. The reality is at underage you can get seriously lucky too with the talent available. A manager has to get the best of them and oflatherty did for a game and half. The NW league was atrocious stuff and 2nd ahalf against ros equally so. He needs to get better at changes, and tactics during the games. I can only pray he has learned and can do better next yr to faciltate what looks like another strong sligo u21 side.

Lads on the Sligo manager thing in my opinion its awful lazy approach relying on clubs to come up with candidates. It sends out the message too that the county board havent a clue who would be a candidate in sligo which shows there lack of knowledge of sligo club football. You cant just rely on sligoman to be next manager you have gather a list of AVAILABLE outside managers aswell. It could be the difference with our current panel to get someone in who has a great reputation at county level. In Sligo who will gain the respect from the players. NO ONE. So for me create a great package for an proven outside manager and try to entice them is what I would do. They are out there and money talks.

Personnally Id love to get fergal o donnel. What he did with ros minors was outstanding. With Michael ryan at there helm maybe we have a good chance get him.

On charlie mulgrew, i know his brother well, if he gets the job he may ask me to be selector :D. In all seriousness alot of fermanagh people i know are not complimentary about him which is suprising but looking from the outside in he did a great job so its hard to know.

I hear loads of good things about anthony brennan but cant remember him in a charge of team ive watched so cant judge him. I know he manager of sligo minors but cant remember what yr. He is supposed to have done a good job at IT Sligo.

Brendan kilcoyne was sligo captain in 97 and manager of st eunans when i worked in letterkenny, did a fine job up there but would be worried about lack of intercounty experience. And also he wouldnt be the first person people think of and a bit of risk. Safer bets probably needed now.

John Maughan is supposed to be interested but he was a disaster with ros. He never really got any good performances out of them. So i wouldnt like him.

Who are the candidates lads? Can anyone list the outside mangers available and within travelinng distance? Who do yee rate in Sligo?

Liam McHale, David Brady and John Casey.

I hate to say it because I am not particularly fond of the man - he comes across as a right arrogant so and so, but I think John Maughan could be the man to shake up the squad. I know he didnt endear himself to the Rossie folk, but he broke up the old boys club click that existed within their county team, similiar to what we have now. I think he is the man to ruffle up some of the old guard (if rumours are to be believed some of these guys were telling younger members of the squad to take it handy at training and slow down!!)
I think we would need a fairly tactically astute selector/assistant along with him as his past record in this regard is pretty shocking - Mayo /Meath All Ireland Final being the prime example.
Paudi O'Shea has Sligo connections and we all now that his motivational powers brought a provincial title to a Westmeath team who played with serious heart. Would be serious moneyimplications though and distance is also an issue here.
Mickey Moran is an option (think he got shafted by Mayo), but doubt he would take the job again.

Luke Dempsey is knocking around after his stint at Longford, Mulgrew is available.
At the end of the day the co board need to get the finger out and appoint someone at the very latest by first week in October. We do not want the situation like this year when players fitness levels never reached the levels of the Brehony campaign because the hard miles were not put in in the winter months.
I know SLIGONIAN that you have reservations about O Flaherty at u-21, but I have talked to some of the lads who played at this level and also at senior level last year  and they have said his training and dedication to detail was way ahead of what was encountered in the senior set up this year. I would definetly have him as u-21 manager again next year and I think that he should be involved with some level with the seniors with a view to grooming him for the senior job in a few years.

F*ck ye lads, if ye are out there will ye at least give our players a chnce for next year and appoint someone soon!!!!

Quote from: jjjshabadoojnr on August 24, 2008, 08:33:02 PM
I think John Maughan could be the man ....
Paudi O'Shea has Sligo connections ....Mickey Moran is an option .......

Luke Dempsey is knocking around ....... Mulgrew is available.

I hope ye have more money than Sligo Rovers if ye want any of them bucks. ;D

ROSSFAN
Dont think the Rossies coffers are exactly overflowing with green backs either Rossfan if reports in the papers last year were to be believed. Only so much money Sean Mulryan will throw away!!  ;)
As for the Rovers, could nt care less what happens to them.

Quote from: jjjshabadoojnr on August 24, 2008, 08:33:02 PM
I hate to say it because I am not particularly fond of the man - he comes across as a right arrogant so and so, but I think John Maughan could be the man to shake up the squad. I know he didnt endear himself to the Rossie folk, but he broke up the old boys club click that existed within their county team, similiar to what we have now. I think he is the man to ruffle up some of the old guard (if rumours are to be believed some of these guys were telling younger members of the squad to take it handy at training and slow down!!)
I think we would need a fairly tactically astute selector/assistant along with him as his past record in this regard is pretty shocking - Mayo /Meath All Ireland Final being the prime example.
Paudi O'Shea has Sligo connections and we all now that his motivational powers brought a provincial title to a Westmeath team who played with serious heart. Would be serious moneyimplications though and distance is also an issue here.
Mickey Moran is an option (think he got shafted by Mayo), but doubt he would take the job again.

Luke Dempsey is knocking around after his stint at Longford, Mulgrew is available.
At the end of the day the co board need to get the finger out and appoint someone at the very latest by first week in October. We do not want the situation like this year when players fitness levels never reached the levels of the Brehony campaign because the hard miles were not put in in the winter months.
I know SLIGONIAN that you have reservations about O Flaherty at u-21, but I have talked to some of the lads who played at this level and also at senior level last year  and they have said his training and dedication to detail was way ahead of what was encountered in the senior set up this year. I would definetly have him as u-21 manager again next year and I think that he should be involved with some level with the seniors with a view to grooming him for the senior job in a few years.

F*ck ye lads, if ye are out there will ye at least give our players a chnce for next year and appoint someone soon!!!!

I have my reservations on oflatherty but i would give him another shot as I said so no arguments there. He deserves it. I heard the same but theres a big difference between training and matches even for a manager.

Paidi is eyeing Dubs job so not a chance id say of him taking us. Mickey probably has unfinished business with us but unlikely to take it and luke dempsey im not sure about.

Well Didnt see us going this way anyway ;D