Antrim Football Thread

[Flanker]

There's no doubt those two were very quiet in the final, can't argue with that. There have been plenty of days when they haven't been though. Those two in particular did most of the damage against Portglenone in the elongated semi final. Their mountain had been climbed I think.

BS to steal some words from a famous Tyrone manager The next time Antrim are playing PG1......

The guys have undoubted potential
Adam didn't get much of a look in last year and didn't start for a UCD sigerson team beaten by Letterkenny
An undoubted underage talent but yet to make the mark at the higher level. Could be injuries & studies that have stalled the progress. Time is on his side to kick on.

On Ruairi you may have hit the nail on the head.... When in the mood.... Unfortunately at the higher level when in the mood doesn't really do it. You need the 6/10 on a bad day.

Again has time to rectify and bring the consistency required at that level

[EOC1923]

There's no doubt those two were very quiet in the final, can't argue with that. There have been plenty of days when they haven't been though. Those two in particular did most of the damage against Portglenone in the elongated semi final. Their mountain had been climbed I think.

BS to steal some words from a famous Tyrone manager The next time Antrim are playing PG1......

The guys have undoubted potential
Adam didn't get much of a look in last year and didn't start for a UCD sigerson team beaten by Letterkenny
An undoubted underage talent but yet to make the mark at the higher level. Could be injuries & studies that have stalled the progress. Time is on his side to kick on.

On Ruairi you may have hit the nail on the head.... When in the mood.... Unfortunately at the higher level when in the mood doesn't really do it. You need the 6/10 on a bad day.

Again has time to rectify and bring the consistency required at that level

That was great quote, Art McCrory I think it was

[Flanker]

There's no doubt those two were very quiet in the final, can't argue with that. There have been plenty of days when they haven't been though. Those two in particular did most of the damage against Portglenone in the elongated semi final. Their mountain had been climbed I think.

BS to steal some words from a famous Tyrone manager The next time Antrim are playing PG1......

The guys have undoubted potential
Adam didn't get much of a look in last year and didn't start for a UCD sigerson team beaten by Letterkenny
An undoubted underage talent but yet to make the mark at the higher level. Could be injuries & studies that have stalled the progress. Time is on his side to kick on.

On Ruairi you may have hit the nail on the head.... When in the mood.... Unfortunately at the higher level when in the mood doesn't really do it. You need the 6/10 on a bad day.

Again has time to rectify and bring the consistency required at that level

That was great quote, Art McCrory I think it was

It was  A confident lough shore forward supposedly on the receiving end

[Milltown Row2]

What would Louth be like in Leinster at underage and schools cup level?

Would Westmeath have a decent under age set up county and schools? I know they won I think a minor championship before, can't remember how long that was. In Football are Limerick doing well at under age for county or schools?

[bannside]

Next time Tyrone are playing the Rock lol.

[Flanker]

What would Louth be like in Leinster at underage and schools cup level?


Would Westmeath have a decent under age set up county and schools? I know they won I think a minor championship before, can't remember how long that was. In Football are Limerick doing well at under age for county or schools?

Westmeath schools in 5 A finals between 2014 & 2020 + probably pupils going to. St Pats Navan

Louth 2 wins in A in last 20 years + probably pupils going to St Pats Navan & Gormanstown

Might be something in this Schools football after all

Munster dominated by Kerry so Limerick schools don't feature.

Strong sporting county Maybe JP throwing a few coppers behind it trying to follow the hurling model

[bannside]

Spike I must be missing something here. You say Louth are on a completely different projectory as if that's perfectly normal, like they are some superpower. We beat them three times in a row between 2019 and 2021, the latest being just over a year ago.

I'm hearing now oh theyve better players, and they've more experienced management and all that drivel. Well they hadn't up until very recently (eg 10 days ago) so for me that's a perfectly normal and acceptable benchmark to measure our own progress by.

If they're making much larger strides than us we should be asking why, not accepting that as some kind of norm.

[Saffsof82]

Spike I must be missing something here. You say Louth are on a completely different projectory as if that's perfectly normal, like they are some superpower. We beat them three times in a row between 2019 and 2021, the latest being just over a year ago.

I'm hearing now oh theyve better players, and they've more experienced management and all that drivel. Well they hadn't up until very recently (eg 10 days ago) so for me that's a perfectly normal and acceptable benchmark to measure our own progress by.

If they're making much larger strides than us we should be asking why, not accepting that as some kind of norm.

Think it was the Irish Examiner that had an article a couple of weeks back about how poor juvenile football was in Louth after their minors were beat by 25 points in Leinster championship. I think they are very like us, produce some good juvenile teams every now and again and senior team medicore. Dont see them as any model to try to replicate.

[imtommygunn]

McGinley is doing great but Harte has three all irelands at senior, multiple at under 21, a minor, a provincial club and the list goes on. He has a lot of experience and McGinley is very new to the game. Also what would we give for a scoring forward like they have - tbh if we had a boy of that level we'd be a lot better too.

It would be nice to have done back to back like they did yes but not doing that doesn't make us a failure.

[country bumpkin]

Spike I must be missing something here. You say Louth are on a completely different projectory as if that's perfectly normal, like they are some superpower. We beat them three times in a row between 2019 and 2021, the latest being just over a year ago.

I'm hearing now oh theyve better players, and they've more experienced management and all that drivel. Well they hadn't up until very recently (eg 10 days ago) so for me that's a perfectly normal and acceptable benchmark to measure our own progress by.

If they're making much larger strides than us we should be asking why, not accepting that as some kind of norm.

Perhaps if you consider the make up of the current Antrim team it does reveal that just two clubs make up about 60% of those who participated on Sunday.
And acknowledge the fact that despite being without '(county personnel) for the 2021 season Cargin who proceeded throughout without did win that competition.
Also consider that several players called refused to answer Mc Ginley's call (As you would say in the case of Pg1) to concentrate on our own affairs or something similar.

Is our county equipped with enough players to cross swords with the best?

The acid test is ahead when we reach championship.

Now although the 'seeded draw' did ensure PG1 and St Mary's look more than likely on course for a county final in a far from difficult route are either on course to meet up with the silverware?
I am sure those who will anticipate such a few pounds invested on such will receive  a handsome return.

I do consider the merits of those lads you are promoting to Saffron and am afraid some would struggle.

[Caesar]

I don't think Antrim have the players or panel to make these huge strides people are hoping for.

One of the problems we have in Antrim is looking for a quick fix or the easy route.  There is none. We have went too far down that road for a quick solution to work.        We tried a different approach with the management team and it has brought progress.  Time to address our longstanding underage issues, correct them and continue to advance in the long term, building a foundation for success and players equipped to deal with the higher divisions.    The crash and burn from our last exploits in Div 2 has taken a decade to recover from. New players will be blooded again next season and hungry for promotion but they need to believe in the project.

This is the nail on the head. Our underage development structures are still miles away from where they need to be. Until we get that side of things right we are simply papering over the cracks.

So I will ask again, does anyone now what our Director Of Football has been up to? 6 months into the job and not a peep

[general_lee]

If Down can get to Division 2 then so can Antrim.

[NatSoSaff]

I don't think Antrim have the players or panel to make these huge strides people are hoping for.

One of the problems we have in Antrim is looking for a quick fix or the easy route.  There is none. We have went too far down that road for a quick solution to work.        We tried a different approach with the management team and it has brought progress.  Time to address our longstanding underage issues, correct them and continue to advance in the long term, building a foundation for success and players equipped to deal with the higher divisions.    The crash and burn from our last exploits in Div 2 has taken a decade to recover from. New players will be blooded again next season and hungry for promotion but they need to believe in the project.

This is the nail on the head. Our underage development structures are still miles away from where they need to be. Until we get that side of things right we are simply papering over the cracks.

So I will ask again, does anyone now what our Director Of Football has been up to? 6 months into the job and not a peep

I read somewhere, maybe The Gaelic Life, a snippet from him praising the work of the senior football management. I think it was only a sentence or two, but absolutely nothing about the targets for development within the county or any strategy to improve football. It's as strange as things get!

[EOC1923]

If you watch U8 U9 games young players are all at the same level, the talent here as good as anywhere, its what happens between 8/9 and 14/15/16 that is the problem. Despite that I am no expert myself but I think its a numbers game. Other counties have a higher volume of clubs that are pushing and pushing which leads to higher volume of better players. Tyrone for example have clubs driving on at underage doesn't matter if their in Divison 1,2, 3 or 4. We have clubs in divison 1 that don't even field a minor team.
Same at senior club level really Derry Tyrone etc every league game is a competitive war, alot of Antrim Division 1 games are uncompetitive.

[bannside]

100% agree. It's up to clubs to push on all all age groups, get quality coaches in place and do much more than what has been attempted in the past.

Anything a player gets from  county dev squads or schools etc is a welcome bonus, but let's not depend on anything in this regard.

Couldn't be happier with what I see in PG1 underage, plenty going on in good hands and my admittedly sometimes over optimistic eye can see a club with a lot of genuine talent starting to emerge especially in the age 10 to 14 bracket.

As I said before several times, there is probably a bigger push at juvenile level than at senior, although John Mc Keever has noticably upped the ante around senior squad activity.