Antrim Football Thread

EOC1923 · June 15, 2021, 11:45:32 AM

Honeymoon period an interesting take on it. Reading previous posts I thought getting out of Div 4 was Antrims main goal. Antrim have won all 4 games and went up a division, now you say the performance v Armagh will dictate whether they retain peoples respect. You do realise Armagh are division 1 team, with K McG in his 5th year developing them. Paddy Power has Armagh at 1/16 to win this game. Hoping for a good performance and I think we'll get it as Armagh will suit Antrim, but it wont take away from the promotion no matter what happens.

imtommygunn · June 15, 2021, 11:55:29 AM

Yeah our main goal has been achieved. Watching division four and even the division two promotion games the pace difference is night and day. Physicality levels and basic fitness are massively different. Big task but bonus territory. No one cares about pat spillane...

BrendanAntrim · June 15, 2021, 12:48:49 PM

Promotion was absolutely key and if we lost to Armagh, that's a line drawn under a successful season. It's just a real shame that it's such a curtailed county season. Enda and the management team will only have had 5 games. In any normal season we have McKenna Cup x 3 (at least), league x 7 games, USFC x 1 (at least) and qualifier(s) - so at least 12 games to build a team, develop a plan, try players etc. They have had none of that space this year and is we do go out of Championship on 4th July, that's it for the squad and management until Jan 2022.

As for Armagh - Enda will have his plan I'm sure, I would love to see us taking the game to them, press them and see if we can score more than them, but then I'm a simple man

asaffgael · June 15, 2021, 01:15:46 PM

Promotion was the main goal. Maybe I am getting ahead of myself here but looking at Div 3 and we have a real chance to go again. No team to be scared of in there. Have beat a good few of them in recent years and no big hitters. Laois and Fermanagh have dropped off alot.

JimStynes · June 15, 2021, 01:21:30 PM

I'm surprised Bannside is being so critical as usually he is the most positive and hopeful person in Antrim. The season has been a success. A lot of players back, blooded some good young players, got rid of some dead weight or players who need to try get back onto the panel and then got promoted from division 4. Preventing a hammering or at least a bit of performance is all Antrim can hope for this year. It's division 1 v a newly promoted div 4 team.

bannside · June 15, 2021, 01:54:09 PM

I came home from all four games thinking the win is the main thing....obviously... but the overall performance was very disjointed. We had lady luck and no shortage of hunger which are great traits....but we are playing in ten minute spells if you know what I mean. The players and management know this too, so this won't be news to them.

It's meant to be a mixture of balance and constructive opinion..I have a lot of hope that this management team can bring us on, and high praise will follow accordingly. At the minute I call it as I see it. We are winning but not playing well. There's another level we can go to. And you could say thats still in our favour because some day it will unfold.

Milltown Row2 · June 15, 2021, 02:49:19 PM

Quote from: bannside on June 15, 2021, 01:54:09 PM
I came home from all four games thinking the win is the main thing....obviously... but the overall performance was very disjointed. We had lady luck and no shortage of hunger which are great traits....but we are playing in ten minute spells if you know what I mean. The players and management know this too, so this won't be news to them.

It's meant to be a mixture of balance and constructive opinion..I have a lot of hope that this management team can bring us on, and high praise will follow accordingly. At the minute I call it as I see it. We are winning but not playing well. There's another level we can go to. And you could say thats still in our favour because some day it will unfold.

Id rather be wining playing shite than losing and playing well!! Some older lads might not be there next year, who knows, they have certainly added much needed experience to the squad and came up with vital plays and scores when needed.

Is there selection issues?

You feeling the balance isn't there or can be improved?

imtommygunn · June 15, 2021, 03:05:11 PM

I wondered about McCabe corner back on Sunday as he's usually more of a forward but he was very good I thought.

We really should have put Louth and Waterford away more efficiently would have been my thoughts. I missed the other two games but winning more important.

bannside · June 15, 2021, 04:37:02 PM

Funny enough MR, all coaches and athletes will tell you that the performance is better than the result. If/when you are performing well, the results will follow.

Here's an example. You're a golfer who can play to scratch but wins a competition playing shite, just marginally less shite than the others.. will you go home happy because you won another golf umbrella at the prize giving.

Or a hundred metre sprinter who can do 11 seconds but wins a bad race in 14 seconds. Do you think that athlete will go home happy. Not a chance.

Sport is about being the best individually you can be. Or collectively in a team sport. That's not happening, and we are getting away with poor performances because we are winning. Other days we might not have a Paddy Cunningham special to rely on to get us out of jail.

That's my point. When we start performing to our potential I will be the very first to acknowledge and applaud. Don't worry about that!

bannside · June 15, 2021, 04:42:16 PM

ITG, to be fair Eoghan Mc Cabe did well I thought. Not sure if he has ever played corner back in his life, Sean Kelly would know more about that. Thankfully his man did not stay in the corner and he got a chance to come out the pitch where he is a bit more familiar. He can be pleased with his debut performance.

Milltown Row2 · June 15, 2021, 06:11:46 PM

But we are in a results business and playing really well and losing won't get us up to a higher grade.

It's only at that higher grade can Antrim improve, just like the hurlers have done, moved up a level, in fact a level and a half and this has been done, a few years of playing well but not beating Laois, Westmeath and even losing to Meath was hard to watch.

To use St Enda's as an example, they've had many false dawns over the years, great kids coming through loads of promise, in both codes, only for those kids to end up playing a level well below their skill set.

Now that their senior teams are playing at senior level those youngsters will automatically improve all aspects of their game to try and compete with the established clubs.

So let's get out of Div4 tick, get out of Div 3 and then we can go into Ulster championships with some confidence, backed up by experience and better conditioning

bannside · June 15, 2021, 08:19:15 PM

Not disputing that at all MR. By far the biggest priority, in fact really the only priority was promotion. That has been achieved without setting the world on fire. No doubt div 3 pace will be a bit quicker and we shouldn't be afraid of those teams whom we have met regularly over the last year or two.

Theres lot of positives. Your point dosent need to be right to make mine wrong. I'm confident enough the performances will follow. All we need is a reasonably competitive showing against Armagh and it's been a good year.

JimStynes · June 15, 2021, 10:08:23 PM

From speaking to a few players from my own club and a few from other clubs, they all have said that the set up is like night and day compared to last year. The professionalism, training, communication etc have all improved massively. They need to stay for a good few years to make a real difference though. Time will tell.

bannside · June 16, 2021, 10:04:35 AM

All the vibes I'm picking up are good too Jim. Nothing I say is meant to be negative. Just like every true supporter (almost 50 years at this stage lol) I see things that I comment on, hopefully in a fair and balanced manner.

The boys are new and finding their feet. None of them have any more than a couple of years managing teams and are still learning their trade. They have all the credentials to be great.

If someone on here thinks that we need a couple of extra man marking defenders (at the expense of everyone bombing forward and letting teams like Leitrim put six scores on the bounce against us when we were leading comfortably) or a few players to move the ball much much quicker than what they do...well I'm sure if the new Antrim management look in here, they won't have any objection to a bit of constructive opinion. It's nearly all good!

Spike · June 16, 2021, 11:00:11 AM

bs normally you are the shining light of positivity on here yet now you seem disappointed in the manner of our promotion despite us being in the most difficult section of the league and beating teams of higher ranking. Perhaps you're not giving credit to the teams we have beaten that should be given? Normally you are the one getting ahead of yourself, what has happened? are you ok?

Antrim are playing in patches during matches but they have been full value for their wins. Plenty to work on but there is a good spread of club representation, youth and experience in there. Reports on the set up have been positive, both codes making progression which is good for the county board as well. Progression is very welcome and it feels like a long time since an Antrim team looked like they were progressing.