Antrim Hurling

[NAG1]

Skull I would go back to them over the Starred and Non Starred games, where did this come from if not to apease the county hurling set up of the day!

[playwiththewind1st]

In a few short years, there won't be a club scene to speak of, if things continue the way they are.

The worst thing the GAA ever did was to introduce the back door system. You get a few weeks of club action in the spring, then the only thing that matters from May-August is inter-county action. Suddenly, the counties realise that their club championships have to be squeezed in in late August - early October, to meet provincial club championship timetables & that's it. No club activity to speak of during the summer & then a mad rush to complete everything in a few weeks, when the clock has gone back & pitches are too heavy. Why anyone would want to bust a gut from Jan-Mar or Apr doing pre-season just for that is getting difficult to understand. League matches should be played off on a regular basis throughout the entire period, end of.

[slow corner back]

Not happy with Dinny back, costs a fortune which could be spent better elsewhere and treats the national league with total disdain to say nothing of club matches. Personally would have been happier with a lower profile and lower cost manager who would build steadily and not try to hype things up. Dinny will never be off the back page of the Irish News, journalists must be rubbing their hands.

[Minder]

Not happy with Dinny back, costs a fortune which could be spent better elsewhere and treats the national league with total disdain to say nothing of club matches. Personally would have been happier with a lower profile and lower cost manager who would build steadily and not try to hype things up. Dinny will never be off the back page of the Irish News, journalists must be rubbing their hands.

[/b]

Not much different to his predecessors then, there must not have been a soul interested if we are back to Dinny.

[whiskeysteve]

cant understand the moaning about dinnys appointment on here, as far as i can remember antrim seemed to be going places under him. i was there for the games against tipp and wexford. fair enough he shot himself in the foot with the cork prematch comments but thats the kind of mistake easily learned from.

since dinny, what? great white hope u21 teams beat by derry twice (who done f all training for them) and worse than nothing when outside ulster. i was at the dublin game this year and i thought the lack of competitiveness shown by antrim was a disgrace. to see the players troop off at full time like they knew they were just down to fulfill a fixture was a disgrace.

antrim hurling has had false dawns down the years but at least they looked like they were out for a big scalp under dinny

[NAG1]

Steve the problem was that he took 30 players to that level and the rest of the players were screwed over for them to get there. The clubs didnt get to play games they never saw their county players from one month to the next and hence what ever competitiveness was left in the league games seeped away.

The players were so committed in that time that the clubs suffered and hence why the debate about Dinny coming back.

He will no doubt improve the current team and will make them competitive but the clubs are no satisfied to sacrifice their season this time around to that end.

So either he comes in and works with the clubs and lets the games go ahead or he comes in butts heads with them and makes an early exit.

[theskull1]

cant understand the moaning about dinnys appointment on here, as far as i can remember antrim seemed to be going places under him.

If you read this thread then surely you'd get the picture?

Putting all your eggs in the one basket (i.e. Development of the County Teams fortunes) with no regard for the club game is committing suicide from a hurling development perspective. Strengthening the club game is the only way to improve/increase the number of players who play the game at close to the right level in this County.

People who know the local game know this to be the truth. Fly by night supporters with their antrim umbrella see nothing else but County hurling & do not have a clue about the local game itself because they never see it. But that won't stop them bleating on that this is nothing else than a great appointment. Many people have reservations based on past experiences. I hope he has evolved

[whiskeysteve]

cant understand the moaning about dinnys appointment on here, as far as i can remember antrim seemed to be going places under him.

If you read this thread then surely you'd get the picture?

Putting all your eggs in the one basket (i.e. Development of the County Teams fortunes) with no regard for the club game is committing suicide from a hurling development perspective. Strengthening the club game is the only way to improve/increase the number of players who play the game at close to the right level in this County.

People who know the local game know this to be the truth. Fly by night supporters with their antrim umbrella see nothing else but County hurling & do not have a clue about the local game itself because they never see it. But that won't stop them bleating on that this is nothing else than a great appointment. Many people have reservations based on past experiences. I hope he has evolved

surely the county board have as much a say as dinny when something has a detrimental effect on club games seems harsh to pin it all on dinny. im sure an accommodation can be made with the clubs this time, in which event i dont see a reason for the gloom

antrim had a bit of fight about them when dinny was there, last time out they looked an apathetic bunch ready to limp out according to script

[Fairhead]

cant understand the moaning about dinnys appointment on here, as far as i can remember antrim seemed to be going places under him.

If you read this thread then surely you'd get the picture?

Putting all your eggs in the one basket (i.e. Development of the County Teams fortunes) with no regard for the club game is committing suicide from a hurling development perspective. Strengthening the club game is the only way to improve/increase the number of players who play the game at close to the right level in this County.

People who know the local game know this to be the truth. Fly by night supporters with their antrim umbrella see nothing else but County hurling & do not have a clue about the local game itself because they never see it. But that won't stop them bleating on that this is nothing else than a great appointment. Many people have reservations based on past experiences. I hope he has evolved

surely the county board have as much a say as dinny when something has a detrimental effect on club games seems harsh to pin it all on dinny. im sure an accommodation can be made with the clubs this time, in which event i dont see a reason for the gloom

antrim had a bit of fight about them when dinny was there, last time out they looked an apathetic bunch ready to limp out according to script

Agree with you Steve about it being harsh on pinning some of the blame on Dinny for the current state of Antrim club hurling. Before Dinny came in 2002 there had only been 2 winners of the county title in the previous 11 seasons and the competiveness of club hurling had been going down for a time before 2002. What he got out of the players in 2002 and especially 2003 was extraordinary and hopefully he can get something out of this different group of players, of whom a core group of 7/8 will be around the 21 to 23 age bracket so there should be room for improvement with them.

However the last 2 seasons of Dinnys first reign were not good and the day they trooped off the pitch in Salthill after a qualifier with Galway in 2005, they were a sad looking bunch. Hopefully we dont see his team looking like that too much in the next couple of years but rather he gets an improvement in the players. If he can also helpe out with the underage coaching in the county as he mentioned in the paper today all the better.

We have to have a county manager and if hes willing and able let him at it and we can have a discussion about performances, state of club hurling etc. under his watch this time next year. 

[milltown row]

would love to kown where he gets all the time to coach these teams!! he was looking after a Kilkenny club and is currently lookng after a galway club this year too!!!

he's like a sailor.............

[ha ha derry]

Thats it boys give him a trial before you hang him. 

[imtommygunn]

This time last year we were having the same discussion about baker, we do it all the time...

I hope he does well. I like him and I don't think the club stuff was solely his fault. If they manage the club stuff I hope he can get a bit of heart back into the county team. It's been sadly lacking this last year at least.

[ha ha derry]

You'll be in danger if he announces a 3 year plan. You need to be aiming to be compeditive 2010 ITG.

[NAG1]

Believe me lads, I think Dinny will do a good job with the county team we have as there are a good number of quality players there, I think their egos got the better of them in some cases.

But the clubs need to be strong enough to say no to 3day weekend training during the league season at least. They need to be strong enough to play their county players in their league games and not be dictated too by anyone.

And lastly if Dinny is to do any club work (which in his statement was intimated that he would) he must undertake to do this in a fair and equitable manner and not run after one club as he did previously.

[the colonel]

I was going to say the other day would Karl McKeegan go on another year. He only continued last year because Antrim got into Leinster. I see on hoganstand he said he might go ahead with retiring as wasn't sure was it worth the effort. I'd say Dinny would want Karl to play as he was probably the star performer in Dinny's reign.