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[Sean Og O hAilpin has conceded that the player strike saga in Cork could well have brought down the curtain on his career.The legendary wing back admits that if he'd remained out of action for the entire season then his days in the Cork jersey could have whimpered out ingloriously:"I would have preferred to be four or five nights a week training rather than four or five nights a week meeting in hotel rooms and trying to get our case forward."The fact that we are working as well, we had to work around that. It has been stressful, let's put it that way."I think players were probably resigned to the fact that if this thing wasn't resolved that the year would be a write-off. For guys like myself, we would be looking at our careers gone at that stage."]

Great player or not, is this guy the greatest whinger and martyr of all time or what.

He keeps going on about the fact that he works. Well newsflash Sean Og, so do the rest of us.

From Hoganstand

Sean Og O hAilpin has conceded that the player strike saga in Cork could well have brought down the curtain on his career.

The legendary wing back admits that if he'd remained out of action for the entire season then his days in the Cork jersey could have whimpered out ingloriously:

"I would have preferred to be four or five nights a week training rather than four or five nights a week meeting in hotel rooms and trying to get our case forward.

"The fact that we are working as well, we had to work around that. It has been stressful, let's put it that way.

"I think players were probably resigned to the fact that if this thing wasn't resolved that the year would be a write-off. For guys like myself, we would be looking at our careers gone at that stage."

I know that some will say that this belongs on the local board but let's face it, if I put a London thread on the local board, no one would read it and I would end up replying to my own postings, which although quite amusing sometimes, it is also a little one-dimensional. Granted I would be able to dictate exactly where the argument was going to go, but it is a little counter-productive too.
I was involved in London GAA for many years in many different roles, although I'm no longer there. However, I know an awful lot of what has gone on there in the past and feel I am in a good position to comment on a number of issues that are worthy of a mention.
For a long time now, 15 years actually, London's footballers have been in the Nat League and for a long time people have been ridiculing and belittling them for their lack of achievements (or even results). A great deal of that ridicule has been deserved because in hindsight there was a large element of several blind men leading a host of other blind men around and around in circles and eventually up a dark alley.
Progress was non-existence and all we were doing for many years was fulfilling fixtures (or cluttering up fixtures) depending on how you look at these things.
And that was the case for many years but I feel that the efforts and improvements made over the past four years or so are worth mentioning and I also feel that by highlighting the commitment of a number of people involved, it will show just how willing players are to being part of what goes on in what is easily the weakest county in the competition.
Four significant people currently involved in inter-county competition at the moment gave a heck of a lot to London over the time they were there, and the guys I would like to mention are Jason Ryan( Wexford manager), Brendan Egan and Daniel Davey (both Sligo) and Paddy McConigley (Donegal).
Ryan was in London for about 6 or 7 years in total and was involved with the London senior footballers and hurlers for much of that time. Jason was the kind of player who never missed training and at times could be accused of overtraining, as his commitment to Strawberry Hill in the University competition was significant as well. Overall though, Rhino gave a lot to London's cause. I must admit I was as surprised as anyone to see him step up to the plate as an inter-county manager, but so far the reports are good about him and I hope he makes a success of the job.
Brendan Egan played for London in 2004, along with another current Sligo regular Charlie Harrison. At the time Egan was studying in Loughborough University and travelled down from Leicester twice a week for training. What you also must consider is that in London there isn't a squad of willing helpers to make sure that the guy who has just traversed half the length of the country to get to training is then collected at the station and brought to training. Mostly, these guys are then left to negotiate their way around London too and feed themselves to-boot..
Daniel Davey is exceptional in my book. He broke his leg about 15 months ago (for the second time: he did the other leg about a year before that playing for UCD). Daniel was studying in Bristol (about 120 miles from London) but even though he had a broken leg and wasn't able to train with the team, he made a point of being at training at least once a week just to be part of the whole thing. That's an incredible commitment. During his time with London, he slept on more living room floors and sofas and suffered more hardship than any player I have ever encountered. Unfortunately for Daniel the Championship came a little too soon for him to get a start, despite the fact that he had pushed himself so hard to get back fit, although he did make the Tommy Murphy Cup game in July. That was a heck of a lot of effort to put in to get seventy minutes of football in the Tommy Murphy Cup. The thing about Daniel though is that if he was asked at this point to do the whole thing over again, I think he would.
I hope he makes a big splash with Sligo as that was always his ambition when he was trying to get back fit.
Further to that, Daniel willingly and for free, doubled as the team's nutrionalist (that's what he's qualified in)and helped with all the players diets and pre and past match food and did a lot of work individually with several of the players.
The other guy is Paddy McConigley. Connie was a total legend in London and captained the team for a number of seasons, as well as captaining Tir Chonaill Gaels to a Championship. The one remarkable thing about him in my opinion was the fact that he lived and played football in London for four years but in all that time he never let his standards drop, which is an incredible achievement considering some of the opposition he was playing against at club level and also some of the hammerings he was taking at county level.
That comment is supported by the fact that six months after leaving London and moving back to Donegal he was winning a National League medal in Croke Park.
I and everyone involved with London GAA sincerely hope that Paddy will be able to resume his playing career at the highest level.
And there are other guys there too who have made incredible sacrifices, none more so than the current manager Noel Dunning who has moved mountains to get things progressing.
Last year Mickey Harte paid the squad a visit and upon observing what was going on commented that he felt it was as well organised and the team as well catered for as any team he had seen in Ireland at any level. A great deal of the credit for that goes to Dunning and also the coach last year, who also ended up playing, Martin Kennedy (St Vincents).
The reason that I have decided to submit this piece is based on the speculation that the London players may not be entitled to the GPA grants, a point I find quite unbelievable. I haven't spoken to London's GPA rep Brian McBrearty recently, but there are comments attributed to him suggesting that the grants might not happen for London, this despite the fact that the players are members and were balloted.
From a governmental point of view, there can be no reason for this, considering that the players are operating within the same tax system as those from the six counties.
London will never have a great team (or even a very good team) and if the current trends continue, that will not improve (in the past 15 years the number of football clubs in London has fallen from 50 to 24, a statistic that shows it is a shrinking sport at senior level in London.) Of those 24, the unfortunate reality is that only about 15 or so are of any real quality or standard
However, that fact does not take away from what the guys are doing over there and while they mightn't have the best players, the commitment and the sacrifices of many of those guys is as much as any other player playing the sport.
Should the GPA fail to support the London players in the claim for a grant, then they can expect a great deal of negative publicity. In McBrearty's comments he mentioned the world "elitism". He may not be wrong.
If anyone from the GPA should read this, maybe they could offer comment.
Thank you for taking the time to read this rant on London.

Footnote: I personally am not in favour of the grants system in any form.

Anyone heading to London for the All Ireland quarter final against Tir Chonaill Gaels?

I read on the Brian McGuigan thread quite a bit of comment on the way that the press, especially in Ulster, is reporting on the game and particularly how they are starting to sensationalise certain stories in an attempt to get people to buy papers.
One comment was about a story that appeared regarding McGuigan's comeback that had no quotes in it at all and it was a fair and correct judgement to make to say that it really was sloppy journalism.
Having worked for a long time in the sports media myself, the one thing that I got very fed up of very quickly was running after managers after matches and getting very benign quotes from them that sad absolutely nothing at all.
Editors are constantly on about getting quotes for all match reports etc etc etc, but you know exactly what most managers are going to say after a game anyway.  - Comment on conditions, comment on referee, comment on how hard the lads worked and how they will work hard at training next week, comment about injuries and suspensions and how the Championship is the key - end of comments. It is almost a cut and paste exercise.
As the guys who go out and buy the papers, do you take the comments managers and players make after matches are in any way worth reading and if not, why do editors insist on tracking these people down to get comment.
IMO all we are doing is feeding their egos, and even though some managers will say they hate talking to the press, the one thing I would say is that they can't hate it as much as most of the press hate talkigng to them after games.
The thing is too, once they have given us their pathetic quotes, we then have to go away and type the rubbish up and try and fit it into the context of what happened.

Article from last week's Irish World newspaper (London newspaper). The Spectator is a weekly column.

The Spectator

I genuinely don't like this time of the year; Ba Humbug and all that I know, but I really don't care.
Christmas decorations, Christmas shopping, Christmas cards, Christmas parties, mixing with people I genuinely don't like and pretending that I think they are great, it really isn't me at all.
The whole thing makes me feel very uncomfortable and I am mighty glad when everything can return to relative normality.
On top of all the festivities that surround the Christmas period, I also hate all the looking back on the year that has just passed and reminiscing.
Most it is rubbish and in protest to that practice, this week I intend to buck the trend and look forward instead.
While half the country will spend the next few weeks being force-fed nostalgia by irritating B-list wanna-be TV personalities, painfully recalling the supposed highs and lows of 2007, and handing out awards for what people have achieved (or in the case of so many British sportsmen and women, nearly achieved), my plan is to use this column to look ahead to things that I think will happen over the course of the next ten years or so within the Gaelic Athletic Association.

•   The All Ireland SFC will be revamped in a similar way to that which the hurling Championship has been restructured. The only differences being that there will only be two tiers in the football championship and that the provincial championships will still be played in the traditional manner for historical reasons. However, winning the provincial will have no bearing on whether a county plays in the premier competition (the Sam Maguire) or the secondary one, probably  known as the Tommy Murphy Cup.
•   The pay-for-play issue will have been taken to a new level, with players playing in the top-tier competitions in the SFC and SHC being paid an increasingly large fee in order to represent their counties, with many of the bigger name players now either not working or only working part-time in order to facilitate the demands on their time created by travel and training. Players in the lower tier will no longer be paid.
•   The Gaelic Players Association will have ceased to exists, with the less militant key figures in the GPA being brought on board by Croke Park to work full-time in the player's welfare department, while the more ambitious members of the GPA will have set up an agency to represent players in negotiating their individual contracts with their counties, as well as dealing with the brand and image rights and marketing of many of these players. At least one key former GAA administrator will also be involved in this practice.
•   The top flight hurlers and footballers will no longer be allowed to play league games for their clubs or for the colleges due to insurance reasons. The only time a player listed on the county panel will be allowed to represent his club will be in a Championship match. Likewise players will not be permitted to train with their clubs aside from in the week before a key Championship game.
•   A relatively obscure player, playing for a minor county, will be head-hunted by a larger county and while his original request to transfer will be turned down, an agent will encourage him to take the GAA to court, a case he will win. His landmark judgement will signal the beginning of a legitimate transfer and draft system within the GAA, the "bastard child" of the decision to pay players to play the game, meaning that the GAA does not have the right to restrict the movement of labour between the various counties..
•   Attendances at GAA fixtures will fall dramatically, prompting a review of the way the game is marketed. In an attempt to drag more money into the Association, a pay-to-view television station will gain exclusive rights to all Championship games.
•   All players will be given a squad number at the start of each season and jerseys will have the name of the player and his squad number on the back. Each player will be entitled to a percentage of the income from the sale of jerseys with his name on it.
•   London's hurlers and footballers will both be excluded from their respective National Leagues due to a lack of commercial interest in their participation and poor gate numbers, resulting in them failing to meet the new "revenue generation targets"  (RGTs) introduced in 2012 by an increasingly corporately structured Croke Park
•   Many of the third tier inter-county hurling teams will have ceased to play hurling competitively due to the increasing costs of running the teams and a general lack of interest from the public. These teams will still compete annually in their respective Championships, but the lowest division of the NHL will be scrapped, also victims of the RGT policy.
•   The lack of appropriate facilities at Ruislip will mean that all of London's Championship matches will have to be played in Ireland in order to comply with Europe-wide health and safety regulations.
•   The virtually non-existent Irish population in New York under the age of 30, together with the restructuring of the SFC, will mean that New York's participation in the Championship will also be terminated.


That's my look ahead over the next ten years, and while many of you may feel that there is a great deal of fantasy involved in what I have predicted, if you just take yourself back to 1997, would you ever have imagined that the England rugby team would be playing in front of 82,000 people in Croke Park or that inter-county players would be threatening to strike in order to get paid for the honour of trying to win an All Ireland or provincial championship?
Ten years later and just look where we are?

From IW Productions

As an outsider looking in, the relationship between Mickey Harte and the Tyrone public has always fascinated me.
Right from the word go, when he first got the job, there was a huge element within the county who resented him for being appointed, and there were many who would have preferred to see Eugene McKenna continue on without Art McRory.
However, Harte had the right to stand for interview, and in the end, the Board made what proved to be a very astute decision by appointing him to the job.
Less than ten months later, Harte had helped Tyrone to their first All Ireland senior title ever.
However, that success did not make him universally popular and many started to pick holes in his conduct and behaviour after the victory.
Not for Harte were there any drunken sessions and prolonged celebrations, but there was the book, there was the over-promotion of both himself and his family, in particular Michella, and there was the perceived nepotism towards his son Mark on the panel.
Some people in Tyrone chose to focus on those aspects of his character rather than the fact that as a football manager he had achieved exactly what he had been appointed to achieve. In football management terms, he was the closest thing you could get to a tin of Ronseal wood stain.
From what I have been told in the past, dislike from within is not something new to Harte, and I have heard it said that when he was running his shop in Ballygawley, there were as many local people who wouldn't go into the shop because Harte was in charge, as there were would go in.
That is all local gossip and probably does not stand up to any scrutiny, but it is fair to say that, as is the case with any successful person, in any line of business, you are going to make a few enemies along the way, and the secret is not to let it bother you.
Outwardly at least, Harte is very good at not showing his emotions to his detractors.
He is politically very astute, has been well advised in the PR department, after a few faux pas in his first year, and if he should ever chose, would probably make a very good politician. He says plenty, and says nothing at all at the same time. He is media friendly, but media savvy too.
His relationship with Peter Canavan is a fascinating one. Obviously, both being from Glencull, there is a link there and when PC collected the Sam he made a point of personally thanking MH for his help.
However, the feeling was that Harte needed to prove that Tyrone 's success wasn't just about  the genius of Canavan, and there were rumours of a less than happy relationship between them. Harte's ego was starting to show its face.
There was the well choreographed "retirement" announcement by Canavan and Harte on UTV, that was orchestrated by Tyrone's biggest fan Logie, and there was the feeling that Canavan was being ushered out a side door. Either that or it was a cunning plan between them to try and throw the rest of the country off the Canavan scent. Either way, no one really bought into the charade.
Come the day, come the man, and PC was instrumental once more in helping Tyrone to their second Sam in 2005.
Winning one without Canavan was never going to be an easy task and to date has proved impossible, but then again Canavan is a once in a life time sort of player, and even his biggest detractors would have to admit to that.
While all of us "experts" shout from the roof tops about who should be playing and who shouldn't, ultimately Harte knows these players and his system better than anyone and being a seriously ambitious man, I can not see him showing excess loyalty to any one player if it is to the long term detriment of the team.
Harte, like all managers, has a massive ego. It's a fundamental requirement for anyone who chooses to manage a football team.
In fact that ambition and ego has been Harte's Achilles heel in recent times and his insistence on trying to win every game has limited the opportunity for many young players to come through.
The over-use of players like Ricey, Dooher, Conor Gormley and Sean Cavanagh has been questionable, as they have at vital times of the season in the past few years, looked a long way off the required standard.
That's not to say they are past it or that they are bad players, more to say that they looked tired players.
The bad luck that has followed Tyrone since 2003 is almost unimaginable. The loss of Cormac, the long term injuries to the like of Gourley, Holmes, McGuigan, Dooher, O'Neill, the issues with Ger Cavlan and Shane Sweeney and the decision of Hub to go away for a year, have all been detrimental to the development of the team on an on-going basis. However, on their day, Tyrone still remain one of the most dynamic teams in the country.
And within that last statement is the problem. On their day Tyrone are good, indeed sometimes very good, but those days appear to be getting harder and harder for Harte to manufacture.
The job at hand for him now is a rebuilding job. As someone quite rightly pointed out yesterday, it's not a one year project, and if Harte is to do that job, then he and the Board need to think about an extended deal for him, whatever that deal is.
If Harte or the Board don't want that, then there is a real fear that for Tyrone fans next year, it could be a real make do and mend season, and that Harte will go out as manager in a whimper rather than a roar.
There is no doubt whatsoever that MH has been exceptional for football in the past five years.
His tactics have brought to life game analysis. Previously there were two sets of tactics. There was long ball or short ball, and then there was two men inside and a third midfielder, or the conventional six forwards; and that was pretty much that.
Suddenly Harte brought in a fluidity and intensity to football that had the experts scratching their heads and wondering what on earth was going on, to the point that Joe Brolly couldn't sit down for his breakfast without drawing all over the Rice Krispies box.
From the success of Harte's tactics, coaching has developed enormously, and a cottage industry of match analysis has developed. No longer is the team with the best fifteen players destined to win any game. Now, the team with the best tactics and the best executed game plan will be the winners. For most observers, the tactics have become far too complex to start to understand and instead we rely on media interpretation to form our opinions.
Hard work and application are the key to Harte's game plan and also two of his favoured phrases.
However, for those two facets to be of benefit, players need to be seriously hungry and crave success.
Maybe it is that both Harte and Tyrone have lost their appetite? There are plenty who would love to think that to be the case, but I am sure that Harte will feed his players on a very strict diet of the criticism they have received in the past week or so, to make sure they are ravenous for next year.
Two All Irelands puts Harte on a level with the likes of Peter McGrath, Billy Morgan and John O'Mahony of the modern day era.
Rarefied company indeed, but something about Harte's focus would lead you to think that he would rather go to the next level.
Whether he does it with Tyrone remains to be seen, but should he fail, then the rush to try and persuade him on board with another major force will be considerable.
If Harte leaves Tyrone next year with just 2 All Irelands he will probably be disappointed, but don't put money on him retiring with just two.

If you were to be asked to put together a management team for a senior inter-county team, what would your job description and expectations be for each of the following be and how in-depth should their knowledge, qualifications  and experience be?

Manager:

Coach:

Trainer:

Selector:

London team named last night to face Longford in NationalLeague on Sunday.

//http://www.theirishworld.com/article.asp?SubSection_Id=8&Article_Id=1938

Shot in the dark here folks but was anyone at the Ardclough v Robert Emmetts match yesterday in Newbridge?

Not looking for names of people or clubs here guys  but what would the going rate be to get someone to look after a  senior /  intermediate club. Three sessions a week... trainer only, no management input.
My club are on the look out for someone and before we make approaches we would want to know what the right sort of money to offer / expect to be asked for would be?
Any ideas there lads?

Some of you Sligo guys and maybe a few who have been to UCD, will know of a player called Daniel Davey.

Unfortunatley Daniel broke his leg on Sunday in the last minute of a game when playing for Round Towers in the Division 2 League Final in London.

Daniel is studying for his Masters in Bristol and was travelling up and down to London each weekend to play for Round Towers.

He had also been called up to the London National League panel and was travelling up one night a week for training.

The break was sustained when his foot appeared to get stuck in the ground and his body twisted the other way. There was no malice involved in the incident.

Let's hope he makes a full recovery.

Who is the favourite player you have ever played alongside. Not necessarily the best player but the one that you always liked having beside you. Some unsung hero of a corner back who put in 12 years on the club's senior team, or a keeper that no one ever gave credit to even though he was a real reliable skin at the back of the defence.

My own choice would be a fella called Joe Stack originally from St Finbarrs in Cork. Played with him for years and he was a very accurate corner forward, although a bit on the slow side. No matter, whenever Stackie was on the field , you always thought you had a chance of winning any game, he could conjure all sorts of magic.

Anyone able to tell me anything about the Ballybay senior team?

Would be great to do a bit of a survey to find out who on this Board has played in London or knows anyone who has played in London in the past 20 years or so. There have been some big names over there from time to time.

Here's a few inter-county players from the past few years, all of whom were in London and all of whom also played inter-county football at home.

Tony Blake (Donegal), Finbar Cullen (Offaly), Tommy McDermott (Donegal), Charlie Harrison (Sligo), Brendan Egan (Sligo), Lar Molloy (Carlow), Shane McAnarney (Meath), John Costello (Laois), Jody Gormley (Tyrone), Mattie McGlennon (Tyrone), James McCartan (Down), John Duffy (Donegal), Colin Galligan (Westmeath), Barry Brennan (Galway), Tommy Maguire (Fermanagh), Adrian Farrell (Down), Ollie Murphy (Meath), Barry Cunningham (Donegal) and Peter Whitnall (Down).

If you were to be allowed to make one change to the NFL or NHL for the coming year what would it be. Change can be either in structure or rule.

I know it is another sport but came across these about sledging in cricket and was wondering what the best one liner replies people have heard in football

Sledging...

1 Rod Marsh & Ian Botham: When Botham took guard in an Ashes match, Marsh welcomed him to the wicket with the immortal words: "So how's your wife & my kids?"

2. Daryll Cullinan & Shane Warne: As Cullinan was on his way to the wicket, Warne told him he had been waiting 2 years for another chance to humiliate him. "Looks like you spent it eating," Cullinan retorted.

3. Glenn McGrath (bowling to portly Zimbabwean chicken farmer Eddo Brandes): "Hey Eddo, why are you so F**ing Fat?" Eddo Brandes: "Because everytime I F*** your wife, she throws me a biscuit"

4. Robin Smith & Merv Hughes: During 1989 Lords Test Hughes said to Smith after he played & missed:"You can't f**king bat". Smith to Hughes after he smacked him to the boundary: "Hey Merv, we make a fine pair. I can't f**king bat & you can't f**king bowl."

5. Merv Hughes & Javed Miandad: During 1991 Adelaide Test, Javed called Merv a fat bus conductor. A few balls later Merv dismissed Javed: "Tickets please", Merv called out as he ran past the departing batsman.

6. Merv Hughes & Viv Richards: During a test match in the West Indies, Hughes didn't say a word to Viv, but continued to stare at him after deliveries. "This is my island, my culture. Don't you be staring at me. In my culture we just bowl." Merv didn't reply, but after he dismissed him he announced to the batsman: "In my culture we just say f**k *ff."

7. And of course you can't forget Ian Healy's legendary comment which was picked up by the Channel 9 microphones when Arjuna Ranatunga called for a runner on a particularly hot night during a one dayer in Sydney... "You don't get a runner for being an overweight, unfit, fat c**t!!!"

8. James Ormond had just come out to bat on an ashes tour and was greeted by Mark Waugh....... MW : "F*ck me, look who it is. Mate, what are you doing out here, there's no way you're good enough to play for England" JO : "Maybe not, but at least I'm the best player in my family"

9. McGrath to Ramnaresh Sarwan: "So what does Brian Lara's d*ck taste like?" Sarwan: "I don't know. Ask your wife." McGrath (losing it): "If you ever effing mention my wife again, I'll F*ing rip your F*fing throat out."

10. Mark Waugh standing at second slip, the new player (Adam Parore) comes to the crease playing & missing the first ball. Mark "Ohh, I remember you from a couple years ago in Australia. You were sh*t then, you're fu*king useless now". Parore- (Turning around) "Yeah, that's me & when I was there you were going out with that old, ugly sl*t & now I hear you've married her. You dumb c*nt".

11. Yet another Australian witticism with this time porky Sri Lankan batsman Arjuna Ranatunga the victim. Shane Warne, trying to tempt the batsman out of his crease mused what it took to get the plump character to get out of his crease and drive. Wicketkeeper Ian Healy piped up,"Put a Mars Bar on a good length. That should do it."

12. Malcolm Marshall was bowling to David Boon who had played and missed a couple of times. Marshall : "Now David, Are you going to get out now or am I going to have to bowl around the wicket and kill you?"

13. Fred Trueman bowling. The batsman edges and the ball goes to first sip, and right between Raman Subba Row's legs. Fred doesn't say a word. At the end of the over, Row ambles past Trueman and apologises sheepishly. "I should've kept my legs together, Fred". "So should your mother" he replied.


Devon Malcolm - after beating Viv Richards several times in one over "It's round and it's red, now try playing it!" Viv - having responded by hitting the ball out of the ground (the best possible retort of course!) "You know what it looks like, so you go and f***ing find it!!"

Funniest put downs in games

Star under-age player in Armagh (now uses this Board) tells referee during the game that he thinks he is the worst referee he has ever seen.

A little later said star under-age player misses a penalty, as he walks past the referee says "You know what, I think you are the worst player I have ever seen"

Was involved in some fitness testing last night and although there was nothing that spectacular among our modest crew I was wondering if any one has any amazing stories of endurance to recount on the bleep test.