Messages

 Down 10/3 Monaghan 3/10. 8/1 Draw

 Best of luck against Meath.We've always beat them when it matters.

To all the nodding dogs , the puppets and the supporters of the Burrenbridge brigade, this is my suggestion of the way forward with our finances because if we can sort this subject out we maybe able to pay our bills on time and every time and propress the notion of a centre of excellence.
Firstly to take a step forward we have to realise where we are and why we got here.
When the Burrenbridge brigade decided to go of on a solo without the backing of the full county board and the support of Croke Park (this is key),they acted as if they were property moguls which they certainly werent and their inexperience in dealing with this type of deal ultimately lead us to losing 550k, coupled with the fact that 2 possibly 3 of them had failed in business, therefore in all probability they were never going to succeed, they were well intentioned but clueless .
But where you are now asking did the other 1million of debt come from, ah for that answer you would need a forensic accountant to examine the finances of Pairc Esler , i for one like many others paid a monthly amount for 5 yrs, no big deal but there were many who questioned where this money and the money of the club down then went, im not suggesting any skull duggery but more of mis management of resources.
So the men in charge suddenly needed a few bob to finish the job, in steps Croke Park and hey presto we get the job done, oh and Newry Shamrocks own the fecking thing, side issue.
Now back to Burrenbridge where we handed over a non refundable deposit of 425k ,and then threw125k in fees at it,back to Croke Park who knew nothing of what was going on and were not a bit pleased, so much so that we now pay 10k a month for the next 20yrs to Croke Park, but according to Sean og i mmean the executive we have a good deal, eh no we dont by my maths we will be paying 2.4miliion back how the f  k is that a good deal, our association made 56million profit  last year,so the answer is quite simple we as members ask for the loan to be interest free , we extend the term to 100yrs , paying 15k back a year not 120k , we can then begin to invest in our youth,and our training facilities and breathe a little.Now to succeed in a debt restructuring like this we need hard nosed business people skilled in the art of restructuring debt.
I know there are people reading this saying 100yrs catch yourself on but if we went to Croke park and told them this is it take it or leave, they cant kick us out, its either give us the money or accept the request , so there you have it.

Some good points there,would Croke Park buy that and indeed would Down push this?

Are this week's games starred?

Minors just not good enough on the day,started slow, playing catch up , couldn't quite do it. We can be negative but I would rather take the positives because there are plenty, we now have a good management set up , a lot of the current minor players are available next year but as stated on this forum by several contributors, we have to get the school structures right, the right county coaches in place or the same coaches with a different level of commitment and that lads is the key , commitment , to a level not seen in this county before, I listened to the greatest coach/manager of all time and that was the one thing he sought in his players,commitment total and utter no halfway houses , if we get it from an early age right through to senior level from all concerned from the girl in the county office to the lad pulling on the red and black we will get back to where we should be, and one other thing ditch the notion we are second class, the same coach told me his ideas were founded on how Down played, we have lost our way but i am now more convinced than ever we will be back, now to the next event ,An Dun Abu keep the faith

And that it's all sorted now.

Instead of lamenting the loss of Gordon,laverty,benny etc could we not bring in some players who might offer us something going forward in the next ten years?it might be a step backwards to go two forwards,but it would be better than just constantly coming up short.

Any suggestions as to these players might be EDG?

 At least there seems to be plenty of varting results with no one walking away at the top of Div's 1&2.

Wouldn't say strange,St John's at home are very capable of pulling off a win against a good few teams in that division.

Well it's the first in three attempts this season.

Humble pie here,St Johns3-09 Liatroim 1-07

Div 1- for  me kilcoo best team in the county again this year. Agree with others that league not their priority and could be one of Burren, bryansford or the bridge to make the title theirs. Think ballymartin and longstone the sides most in danger of relegation.

Div 2- rostrevor and one of rgu or loughinisland to get promoted. St. John's to get relegated alongside one of Darragh Cross, Bredagh or Carryduff.

Div 3- Saul and Bosco to get promoted. Kilclief and dromara or teconnaught to bring up the rear

Div 4- dundrum and aughlisnafin to get promoted

Looking forward to a good year of club football in this county. Good start from clonduff last night!

Contradicting yourself a bit tonight!You previously had St Johns done as a cert for relegation

Quick lesson for some:

How managers pick representative squads: they look for players who lead the way in terms of ability, athleticism, attitude and aptitude. They will build their team around the players who score highly in all four areas, and when they don't have enough of those, will fill the squad out, and build specialist roles, for those who excel in three areas, and with players who excel in two areas but show signs of potential to be coached for improvement in the others.

How managers don't pick representative squads:  1. by referencing the importance of the regional breakdown of the 1991 senior team in selection meetings. 2. by ignoring the advice of trusted football men from across the county, and most of all, 3.  by drawing a line just south of Kilcoo and using it as the new first parameter in every squad decision.



If a player is both good enough and willing, he will be found.

I think the issue is we're not finding players of suitable ability lately and rightly or wrongly the east down brigade see the lack of progress with all Down county teams is somehow down to this perceived geographical bias.

  Well at least we can have a slight hope that our fortunes are improving on the field.

 Weekend in Dublin for us this weekend.A bit of nostalgia instead of another drubbing although Cork is a great place to stay over.

Always had a feeling that Mooney  in danger of falling off the radar similar to Kyle Coney. He hasnt made the imact we were all hoping for.

I think you are doing Coney a disservice,at least he has done something at Senior level for Club and County.Mooney has done nothing

Unless any of Blueisland,6thSam or indeed any others sit on county board we are all wasting out keyboard time on something that we have no control over. Potential Down team for Sat night,anyone?

Okay, so now the problem with Down football is drink related? somehow we've created a system that turns average club footballers into ranging alcoholics? And that despite having entire summers without a club fixture, those rural Donegal footballers never turn to the stuff?

Some of you folks are so busy looking for excuses that you've forgotten what  the problem is.

What is "the problem"?

The widening gap between Down football teams and success.

Play the Senior games and reserves on the same day as the more successful counties do and forget about Super Sundays on sky TV.

You all should admit that Sundays are good for lazing about watching Sky Sports and the foreign game.Good wins for Swansea and Chelsea today while our "stand up"rugby colleagues in the other foreign game failed to qualify for the knock-out stages of Europe :-

The sooner the NFL starts the better to get rid of this bullsh-tting that's been written over the past month.