Wee James Is The New Down Manager

[Brick Tamlin]

not a hope in hell of those two working together, complete clash of personalities.
Whoever mantioned Cathal Murray, Catch yerself on!!

[norabeag]

on a separate note can someone even name 5 good young up and coming managers in Down football these days??

This would be a problem in any county, let alone in one where the Senior Championship has become a procession.


There's plenty of young managers around though, off the top of head:

Gerard Colgan (Loughinisland)
Declan Morgan (Saval)
Stephen Poacher (An Riocht)


Terry McGivern  / Glen Elmore (Ballyholland)
John Kane (Kilclief)
Tony Wilson (Clann na Banna)
Tom Morgan (Tullylish)


Are those all well under 40.


Eamon Burns (Darragh Cross) and Richard Starkey (Downpatrick) would be young in management terms.


James McCartan and Cathal Murray aren't 40 yet either.


There's more than a few big names acting as selectors across the county too.

Richard Starkey manages RGU reserves. Would be a big step up to manage the County!!

[thewobbler]

Richard Starkey manages RGU reserves. Would be a big step up to manage the County!!

I could have sworn he was in charge of RGU when they were in Ballyholland earlier the year. Who is in charge?

A partnership with McGrath as manager and McCartan as coach could go horribly wrong but it might just take us a long way.

Sorry, but this is the kind of madness I would normally associate with a soccer fan - putting two and three together and somehow making a nice round four. McCartan has made his mark so far as a manager, not as a coach. Two very, very different things. Quite how his ability to select, lead and inspire belief would make him a good choice for coach, I just don't know.

Even when two people are positioned as joint managers, somebody has to have the controlling hand. Somebody has to have the dicating vote on tactics, training methods and selection issues. It tends to work a whole lot better when those involved have a similar footballing ethos. Stops them blaming each other and all that.

[WhoAreYaWhoAreYa!]

a bit like steve staunton and bobby robson there it sounds to me, woeful idea.

[norabeag]

Richard Starkey manages RGU reserves. Would be a big step up to manage the County!!

I could have sworn he was in charge of RGU when they were in Ballyholland earlier the year. Who is in charge?

Richard managed Downpatrick 2 years ago. K Smyth now the manager.
Good lad but with difficult job in hand. Did a great job with Ardglass last year but couldn't just get them over the finish line.
In time he will do well with Downpatrick, once he gets a few of the loose cannons sorted
Bar one or two they are all late teens early twenties

[Mourne Rover]

Wobbler regards the idea that the two best qualified candidates in Down might work together as `madness`, and has proposed that we should instead somehow bring in the Waterford-based Jason Ryan. It  shows that football is all about opinions, and I would acknowledge that Wobbler has an insight into Down football well beyond most of the other posters on this site. However, I never mentioned joint managers. If McGrath goes for the top post, which seems likely, he is in line to get it.  This would leave the position as coach/assistant available if McCartan wanted to have a crack at it.

Ross and DJ were presumably on the same wavelength, as were Paddy O'Rourke and his team, but that did not take us very far over the last seven years. A manager and a coach who could argue over the issues and come up with the best solutions might or might not work, but it could be worth a try. Moving the existing u21 management up is an alternative which is also a gamble. We need to look at all our options closely.

[LilySavage]

Derek Davis hasnt been mentioned?

[Brick Tamlin]

once selected, a manager usually brings in his own backroom team, and since mcgrath and james have never been a management team before then i dont see a reason why they would be thrown together now and expected to work with each other, they definitely cant work together as a managament team, really cant see how anyone could see that happening.

[wobbller]

  What about Jim Mc Corry?

[goh4205]

  What about Jim Mc Corry?

Good point, as he has tried almost every down club already so the natural progression would be county manager. Armagh are like Down in many ways always go for the stupid choice or sympathic vote.

[Pangurban]

James as assistant would be another DJ, nothing but trouble

[The GAA]

When has McCartan ever been "trouble"?

[angermanagement]

Was chatting to a few St Pauls men who said it was the worst performance they had seen in any St Pauls team in over 40 years.

[naka]

will  it be Pete and Mickey Linden i, if i were wee  james i would wait a while

[dodgy umpire]

seriously got to think outside the box here, whilst there will never be a perfect candidate i think the tactics employed by mc grath wouldnt cut it at senior level.

turley would be a complete disaster we would be better off with o rourke back!