Messages

To Armagh people.. Are yee loosing patience with McGeeney? Or is he untouchable?

don't want to speak for everyone but yes, I am losing patience. I know we don't have the most talented squad in Ireland nut there is some talent there and it is not being utilised properly. Plus, the football we play is dire

what time are these games on at?

Probably more around the 2k mark, point is they're the biggest GAA club in the county by membership.

they have grown a lot since I was a member. Does that include handball/ladies football etc?

[Time to stop looking to us to fix your problems and accept that the quality isn't what it was and take responsibility.]

Too many clubs and too many small clubs especially in Armagh for there to be a strong competitive club scene to feed into the county team. Cross are the exception to the rule and it's easy to chastise clubs for not challenging them and saying how the Monaghan junior scene is far superior to Armagh intermediate.. Fact is half the clubs in this county amalgamate at at least one grade to provide kids with a game of football and that includes many of the Division 1 clubs. The least the likes of Clann Éireann should be doing is fielding strong underage sides given they've 2-3k membership.

Thats not to say a strong club scene is necessary to make a half decent county team (Fermanagh). Absolute piles of money have been poured into armagh to develop youth in development squads etc, we have three schools playing McRory plus the two Newry schools. We have Ulster champions this year at u16, Minor and possibly u21. I actually think underage football has improved in the last decade in Armagh. I think with limited resources Armagh has punched above its weight and too many of us have high expectations when it comes to the county team.

Tony fishing for a Cross row?  The notion that Cross players not being available is a red herring. If the majority of non-Cross Armagh supporters are to believed only 2-3 Cross players would be playing if available, TK, James Morgan and Jamie. Jamie is gone so he can't be considered. TK and James would obviously add to the team but they are only 2 players. I can't comment on the games as I haven't seen them but the results speak for themselves. From watching club football over the last few years in the county the thing that is apparent to me is that there is simply a lack of talent in the county. Outside of ourselves no club has made any real impact at provincial level. No club has provided a significant challenge to us in the senior in Armagh. I don't know what the quality of coaching that is going on in some clubs but it does not seem to be transferring to quality players coming through to the senior team.
Outside of Clann Eireann and to a lesser extent Cullyhanna no club seems to be making real moves at underage. The next step of bringing that to senior is the difficult one. Pearse Ogs and Harps had possibly as strong underage structures for a number of years and only broke through once. The thing is other clubs were pushing us. Time to stop looking to us to fix your problems and accept that the quality isn't what it was and take responsibility.

I hope every club man in the county wouldn't use "your" when referring to Armagh.

Duffleking, Armagh football is where it is because of the lack of quality within the clubs generally which transfers up to a lack of quality in the county team. In the last 4-5 years I have seen the majority of the clubs in action in Armagh and there is a serious low standard in comparison for instance to Monaghan. I can do a direct comparison as I have coached teams in both counties and the difference level is dramatic. Your average Monaghan junior club would beat a high level intermediate club in Armagh. The lie that is being thrown out by people is that there are lots of 'regulars' missing on this Armagh team. There will be 4-5 additions maximum. The thing is that most counties play the early league games with 3-4 regulars missing due to one reason or another. The depth in the Armagh squad is not there and I lay that blame not at the door of the management (who btw are not exempt from criticism for tactical naivety and team preparation) but at the doors of the clubs throughout the county so it, in my opinion, is 'their' problem which then ultimately becomes 'our' problem.

are you sure Clann Eireann have a membership of 2-3000? Theres a lot of clubs in the Lurgan area and that number seems high to me.

Im home next weekend and will be at this game though I will be travelling more in hope than in expectation

I don't know a lot about Armagh football but there seems to be a few regulars missing off that. Half forward line is perhaps the biggest threat to Meath which is interesting as our half back line may be inexperienced, well going by our O'Byrne Cup selections anyway. Are there many debutants in that team?

McCaughley, Heffron and Grimley are debutants. Aidan Forker would normally be wing forward for Armagh, although he can play at 6 for his club. Stefan Forker, McParland and McVerry have been on the squad for a while. McKenna would be in his second year.

what are the new and newish fellas like? Living in Manchester I dont get to see any club football these days. Im home next weekend mindyou and will be at the Athletic Grounds

Id love Armagh to go up but it wont happen. As long as we dont get relegated, we need to be playing division 2 football at least to develop

Is there any great Kerry players who didn't manage to win an All Ireland medal?

No suggestions on the Kerry angle, possible early 90s lads?

Connie Murphy probably the best shout.

its hard to imagine that Kerry would have a whole generation who didnt win an AI

I can't see Jamie riding this crisis out much longer. It's pretty clear McGeeney & the Armagh fans want this man back.

If course we want him back, he's our best player. But most of us wish him well on his travels and will welcome him back if and and when he decides to recommit

There is a commercial transaction involved,gaining access to a county game,and in my and hundreds of other cases,purchasing a season ticket,with a reasonable expectation that one's county will field the strongest possible team available.Therefore we as a common courtesy should be informed why our best player is not making himself available.

We are bombarded all year with the message "Nothing beats being there!". If our top players don't subscribe to that why should supporters shell out hard earned cash?

And I imagine McGeeney will field our strongest team available. It won't include Clarke tho as he is not available

As an Armagh man it is disappointing but with the demands of the modern game I'm not that surprised. Kind of knew it was coming

Nice picture on independent.ie of Ciaran McKeever eye gouging.

Link here http://m.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/five-players-sent-off-as-cavan-edge-past-armagh-34332755.html

Quare stuff.... McKeever is a one random sc**bag on a pitch, he covers up his lack of footballing ability by trying to create as much drama and controversy as possible, and the Neanderthals that have been managing Armagh think that its great for morale.

On the other hand I could be being unfair as photos dont prove a thing, there is also the possibility that he was helping him to blow his nose.

Findon is the worst of the lot of them, seems like a half decent player but gets involved in everything going

True. He can be his own worst enemy at times

Is he going out milking cows?

He is going to develop a special haka for the dubs

the knacka haka with special eye gouging

Did it take you long to think that one up?

it should have stayed on the pitch. I give it everything. He didn't mind

Unfortunately with the Northern hordes brief window of success came a win at all costs mentality and a realisation that Football at the top level isn't played by choir boys (see the multiple concussions received by O'Carroll - one of the reasons he's taking the year out).

As Galway haven't won a game of significance in this time, you wouldn't know about that though.

Ni uasal agus iseal ach thuas seal agus thios seal, Heffo. Sure don't we have videos of the late 90s to remind us. I wouldn't want to be winning all the time.

Enjoy the good days.  They are special.
Meath will presumably rise from its slumber at some stage. Must have been a bad trip.

Re the gouging I thought it was a blight on the final myself. I hope it doesn't become a feature. 
The media management afterwards was disturbing . Gaelic football is in a bit of a hole.

It is exciting to see O Carroll taking a year off. I wish more players would do it. There is more to life than shnow and hailshtones, so to speak.

Well, Jamie Clarke is not turning out for Armagh this year

McGeeney didn't seem too pleased

He didn't. Not surprising tho

Is he going out milking cows?

He is going to develop a special haka for the dubs

the knacka haka with special eye gouging

Did it take you long to think that one up?

it should have stayed on the pitch. I give it everything. He didn't mind

Unfortunately with the Northern hordes brief window of success came a win at all costs mentality and a realisation that Football at the top level isn't played by choir boys (see the multiple concussions received by O'Carroll - one of the reasons he's taking the year out).

As Galway haven't won a game of significance in this time, you wouldn't know about that though.

Ni uasal agus iseal ach thuas seal agus thios seal, Heffo. Sure don't we have videos of the late 90s to remind us. I wouldn't want to be winning all the time.

Enjoy the good days.  They are special.
Meath will presumably rise from its slumber at some stage. Must have been a bad trip.

Re the gouging I thought it was a blight on the final myself. I hope it doesn't become a feature. 
The media management afterwards was disturbing . Gaelic football is in a bit of a hole.

It is exciting to see O Carroll taking a year off. I wish more players would do it. There is more to life than shnow and hailshtones, so to speak.

Well, Jamie Clarke is not turning out for Armagh this year

Be a big loss