Paddy O'Rourke named as new Armagh Manager

[ONeill]

Do I detect a softening of the ridiculous hysteria that we suffered reading in the initial hours after Paddy's appointment? NFL promotion and a couple of good SFC performances and you'll all be holidaying in Newcastle.

[The Pundit]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/8313511.stm

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Do I detect a softening of the ridiculous hysteria that we suffered reading in the initial hours after Paddy's appointment? NFL promotion and a couple of good SFC performances and you'll all be holidaying in Newcastle.

If ya were suffering that badly you coulda stopped reading!

I think it'd be fair to say that most Armagh people are a right bit more positive now than we were when O'Rourke was initially appointed but that's almost exclusively to do with the very strong backroom team, none of which was certain to happen at the time of the appointment.

But we are now in the bizarre position where the two assistants look far better qualified for the main job than the person who has it. If Donal Murtagh had been appointed with Jutin and Mike McGurn I think that would have been the strongest possible management team available once Grimley pulled out. At the minute, I'm just not sure where Paddy O'Rourke fits in. As manager the buck stops with him and no doubt he will be making the final decisions on team selection and tactics. Is his decision making likely to be better than that of Donal Murtagh? I''m not sure. Is Paddy O'Rourke more likely to motivate the Armagh team than Donal Murtagh? I'm not sure. If the answer to those questions is No, then is his presence really a positive development?

That said, we are where we are at this stage and we can only hope for the best.

[The Konica]

McGurn is a great appointment but the county board deserve no credit for that one. Grimley head hunted McGurn months back, sold him the all encompassing role and got a couple of big backers to finance it. After grimley left the scene the backers insisted that the McGurn appointment stay on the table irrespective of who got the job because it was such a good idea.

That is also absolute and complete bollox and it shows you know f*ck all about what really happened.

Why don't you te us what happened then.

That didn't happen for one thing.
Grimley and McGurn never met and never spoke before or since he left for Monaghan.

To say he head-hunted McGurn months back is bullsh!t.
McGurn was never head hunted at all, he approached one of the players with the idea, who in turn went to the powers that be with the idea.

[DuffleKing]

Stevie took it to grimley.

Anyway, who did our new manager give the official mom to yesterday?

[mountainboii]

Nugent scathing in Orchard report

Armagh secretary Patrick Og Nugent has slammed the managerial controversy in the county this year.

Peter McDonnell resigned as boss in July and Nugent claimed the "treatment dealt out to him was despicable".

"If that hadn't brought Armagh down to the gutter, what was to follow when we set about the appointment of a new manager most certainly did.

"To say Paddy O'Rourke's appointment caused a few ripples would be the understatement of the decade."

He added: "The furore soon died down when he addressed the clubs for the first time as Paddy clearly showed the passion and belief he has for the current set-up in Armagh."

Nugent's comments are contained in his report to the next week's county convention.

McDonnell led Armagh to the Ulster title last year but stepped down after the All-Ireland qualifier defeat by Monaghan in the summer.

Nugent said: "While this may not have been totally unexpected, the reasons he gave for doing so certainly were.

"He stated that he had been put in an impossible situation by a number of so-called influential people outside of the team and county board, who had continually tried to undermine his authority and what he was attempting to do with the senior squad.

"This, he said, came to its lowest ebb when he became aware two days prior to the qualifier game with Monaghan that changes to the team he had announced earlier in the week and the tactics he was intending to adopt for the match were given directly to a member of the Monaghan management team."

Paul Grimley was the front-runner to be McDonnell's successor but he opted to accept a position in Seamus McEnaney's backroom team in Monaghan.

"Whilst it was obvious that Paul's name was going to be associated with the post, the county board had agreed a process that had to be followed.

"Unfortunately, though, the five-man selection committee (which included Nugent) didn't really get a clean run at the process as other 'players' with no directive from anyone decided to become involved and the whole system turned chaotic with members of the selection committee accusing each other of having hidden agendas.

"Inevitably the whole process collapsed and Paul Grimley, who had been in talks with Monaghan for a number of weeks, decided to take up the role that they had offered him, which was perfectly permitted and correct to do so if he believed that this was the best move for him."

However, Nugent added that Grimley's decision "did nothing to help the Armagh management position".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/8401217.stm

[The Konica]

Nugent scathing in Orchard report

Armagh secretary Patrick Og Nugent has slammed the managerial controversy in the county this year.

Peter McDonnell resigned as boss in July and Nugent claimed the "treatment dealt out to him was despicable".

"If that hadn't brought Armagh down to the gutter, what was to follow when we set about the appointment of a new manager most certainly did.

"To say Paddy O'Rourke's appointment caused a few ripples would be the understatement of the decade."

He added: "The furore soon died down when he addressed the clubs for the first time as Paddy clearly showed the passion and belief he has for the current set-up in Armagh."

Nugent's comments are contained in his report to the next week's county convention.

McDonnell led Armagh to the Ulster title last year but stepped down after the All-Ireland qualifier defeat by Monaghan in the summer.

Nugent said: "While this may not have been totally unexpected, the reasons he gave for doing so certainly were.

"He stated that he had been put in an impossible situation by a number of so-called influential people outside of the team and county board, who had continually tried to undermine his authority and what he was attempting to do with the senior squad.

"This, he said, came to its lowest ebb when he became aware two days prior to the qualifier game with Monaghan that changes to the team he had announced earlier in the week and the tactics he was intending to adopt for the match were given directly to a member of the Monaghan management team."
Paul Grimley was the front-runner to be McDonnell's successor but he opted to accept a position in Seamus McEnaney's backroom team in Monaghan.

"Whilst it was obvious that Paul's name was going to be associated with the post, the county board had agreed a process that had to be followed.

"Unfortunately, though, the five-man selection committee (which included Nugent) didn't really get a clean run at the process as other 'players' with no directive from anyone decided to become involved and the whole system turned chaotic with members of the selection committee accusing each other of having hidden agendas.

"Inevitably the whole process collapsed and Paul Grimley, who had been in talks with Monaghan for a number of weeks, decided to take up the role that they had offered him, which was perfectly permitted and correct to do so if he believed that this was the best move for him."

However, Nugent added that Grimley's decision "did nothing to help the Armagh management position".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/8401217.stm

Holy molely!!!!

What player or players were at it.

That's pretty well known by now

Some of the Monaghan management team though are experts at that kind of stuff
In fact that's mild compared to some other things that have happened

[haranguerer]

That's pretty well known by now

Some of the Monaghan management team though are experts at that kind of stuff
In fact that's mild compared to some other things that have happened

Those sneaky Monaghan f**kers! I knew there was a reason i hate them so much! 

Tell us more about this Konica, this is the kind of stuff I love hearing about. Dont worry if its unfounded or scurrilous or anything, just let rip!

[Onion Bag]

Pockets Og Nugent grinds my gears, (I know should be on the thread)

talking about the 5 person Selection Committe, WTF does he know about managing an Intercounty football team, 'Fish Supper comes to mind'

[mackers]

He's a complete gobsh1te!! In the Irish News article on the same topic this morning they say he's finishes off his statement by saying that it's important to put this behind us and move on!! Why bring it up again then??? Maybe just to get his name & ugly mug on the back page of the Irish News.
The one thing I do agree with is his belief that the media made a bad situation worse............

[JMohan]

He's a complete gobsh1te!! In the Irish News article on the same topic this morning they say he's finishes off his statement by saying that it's important to put this behind us and move on!! Why bring it up again then??? Maybe just to get his name & ugly mug on the back page of the Irish News.
The one thing I do agree with is his belief that the media made a bad situation worse............

I think it was the secretaries report where he would comment on the year as a whole.
He'd have had to mention it in some way.
Of course the media were always going to report that too ...

[T Fearon]

It would appear that Mc Donnell was facing significant opposition within the camp from day one, obviously many people wanted Grimley and not him in the first place

[BroJolly]

It's about time that the person who revealed the team and tactics is named to clear the air and move on rather than Mr Nugent airing the matter again in the same manner as Mr McDonnell with a background of hints and rumours.

Couldn't agree more with this. What is the point bringing this up again just to leave a vacuum for rumour and inuendo. I've no inside line, but have heard rumours about this and that etc which could be true or rubbish.

He could have scripted his review of the year without going down this line. But if he is going down it then name names

[ogshead]

Nugent scathing in Orchard report

Armagh secretary Patrick Og Nugent has slammed the managerial controversy in the county this year.

Peter McDonnell resigned as boss in July and Nugent claimed the "treatment dealt out to him was despicable".

"If that hadn't brought Armagh down to the gutter, what was to follow when we set about the appointment of a new manager most certainly did.

"To say Paddy O'Rourke's appointment caused a few ripples would be the understatement of the decade."

He added: "The furore soon died down when he addressed the clubs for the first time as Paddy clearly showed the passion and belief he has for the current set-up in Armagh."

Nugent's comments are contained in his report to the next week's county convention.

McDonnell led Armagh to the Ulster title last year but stepped down after the All-Ireland qualifier defeat by Monaghan in the summer.

Nugent said: "While this may not have been totally unexpected, the reasons he gave for doing so certainly were.

"He stated that he had been put in an impossible situation by a number of so-called influential people outside of the team and county board, who had continually tried to undermine his authority and what he was attempting to do with the senior squad.

"This, he said, came to its lowest ebb when he became aware two days prior to the qualifier game with Monaghan that changes to the team he had announced earlier in the week and the tactics he was intending to adopt for the match were given directly to a member of the Monaghan management team."

Paul Grimley was the front-runner to be McDonnell's successor but he opted to accept a position in Seamus McEnaney's backroom team in Monaghan.

"Whilst it was obvious that Paul's name was going to be associated with the post, the county board had agreed a process that had to be followed.

"Unfortunately, though, the five-man selection committee (which included Nugent) didn't really get a clean run at the process as other 'players' with no directive from anyone decided to become involved and the whole system turned chaotic with members of the selection committee accusing each other of having hidden agendas.

"Inevitably the whole process collapsed and Paul Grimley, who had been in talks with Monaghan for a number of weeks, decided to take up the role that they had offered him, which was perfectly permitted and correct to do so if he believed that this was the best move for him."

However, Nugent added that Grimley's decision "did nothing to help the Armagh management position".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/8401217.stm

That Paddy Og, is a horrible being altogether. Without going into it again, this man, which is typical of him, is just trying to deflect the attention away from himself when he goes in front of the county convention. Paddy O Rourke is our manager now and needs our support and I believe he will do a good job. The thing I would wish for is that the clubs put in a vote of no confidence in the man. He creates divisions and for someone having the priviledge of a paid position he's not great at his job. It's almost as if the man had nothing to do with it at all and is trying to shift the attention on Grimley.

[Muhammed McCarthy]

Patrick og has been involved on the county board for many years, and every county convention offers thge opportunity to remove him.....so no doubt next year we will have plenty of new nominations