Down Club Hurling & Football

[SamFever]

 YAWN yawn.Change the record.

[SHEEDY]

Twenty one years ago today we won our last silverware at senior level. Two Ulster titles and two All Irelands in three years and then nothing, nadda, zip, zilch. We've seen Armagh come and go, the rise of Tyrone, the Dublin drought 1995 - 2011. Kerry have won six All Irelands in that time, could be seven before the weekend is over. Meath won a couple, even Galway managed one. We came agonisingly close in 2010, close but no cigar.
We've seen managers come and go, from Pete McGrath to Jim McCorry. The highs of beating Kerry in Croke Park again, Kalum King's finger tips against Kildare. We repaid Sligo with interest and then some, to the lows of Aughrim, Enniskillen and the Boyne Wexford.

We have no strategy in place at any level, no training facilities of our own, no management. We managed to make a complete cluster f**k of the sale of Newcastle and we won't mention the fiasco of the purchase of land and planning at Bryansford, but every little helps. I could go on, but I'd be here to next Friday, but no worries there for our highly paid county secretary. It's time for change.

#SackSeanOg

YAWN yawn.Change the record.

yawn yawn all you want but at the end of the day he's not wrong. Change needed.

[45]

I agree I think it is time for a change from the top right to the bottom. This is not an attack on people who have been great servants to Down Gaa. It is just time for new voices and fresh ideas as the whole thing is starting to stagnate and going nowhere quick, as some one said earlier in the board if we do not sort ourselves out we could be the new Antrim in Ulster in a few years and that is very worrying.

[thebar]

I agree I think it is time for a change from the top right to the bottom. This is not an attack on people who have been great servants to Down Gaa. It is just time for new voices and fresh ideas as the whole thing is starting to stagnate and going nowhere quick, as some one said earlier in the board if we do not sort ourselves out we could be the new Antrim in Ulster in a few years and that is very worrying.

Explain what changes you think need addressed from top to bottom?

SAMFEVER you think the current set up in Down has been / is / will be a success? Lets look at it very simply. The Down Senior team has won nothing meaningful in over 20 years. Will they or do they look like winning anything soon - No. That tells me something is seriously wrong. And its not just at Senior level but at all grades from U-21 / Minor etc.  The county has been standing still waiting for a team to simply appear from nowhere without putting resources / plans in place to bring through players of a sufficient standard needed to compete at the highest level in the modern day.  These are plans which should have been put in place at least 15 years ago in the late 90's / early 2000's when the Armaghs / Tyrones / Donegals / Monaghans got there act together and planned for the future. Down GAA have fallen way behind counties competing for silverware and I cant see that changing if we continue with what we have at present and the County Board BADLY needs new blood with new ideas if Down is ever to turn a corner because at present the current set up offers nothing in moving Down Football forward. 

[super reds 99]

Loughinisland 1 11 ballymartin 0 07 deserved win tonight for loughinisland could off been closer only for the sending of just before half time ref didn't have a great one!

[SamFever]

I agree I think it is time for a change from the top right to the bottom. This is not an attack on people who have been great servants to Down Gaa. It is just time for new voices and fresh ideas as the whole thing is starting to stagnate and going nowhere quick, as some one said earlier in the board if we do not sort ourselves out we could be the new Antrim in Ulster in a few years and that is very worrying.

Explain what changes you think need addressed from top to bottom?

SAMFEVER you think the current set up in Down has been / is / will be a success? Lets look at it very simply. The Down Senior team has won nothing meaningful in over 20 years. Will they or do they look like winning anything soon - No. That tells me something is seriously wrong. And its not just at Senior level but at all grades from U-21 / Minor etc.  The county has been standing still waiting for a team to simply appear from nowhere without putting resources / plans in place to bring through players of a sufficient standard needed to compete at the highest level in the modern day.  These are plans which should have been put in place at least 15 years ago in the late 90's / early 2000's when the Armaghs / Tyrones / Donegals / Monaghans got there act together and planned for the future. Down GAA have fallen way behind counties competing for silverware and I cant see that changing if we continue with what we have at present and the County Board BADLY needs new blood with new ideas if Down is ever to turn a corner because at present the current set up offers nothing in moving Down Football forward.

I didn't give a view on any of this.All I asked was what should be changed?

[thebar]

I agree I think it is time for a change from the top right to the bottom. This is not an attack on people who have been great servants to Down Gaa. It is just time for new voices and fresh ideas as the whole thing is starting to stagnate and going nowhere quick, as some one said earlier in the board if we do not sort ourselves out we could be the new Antrim in Ulster in a few years and that is very worrying.

Explain what changes you think need addressed from top to bottom?

SAMFEVER you think the current set up in Down has been / is / will be a success? Lets look at it very simply. The Down Senior team has won nothing meaningful in over 20 years. Will they or do they look like winning anything soon - No. That tells me something is seriously wrong. And its not just at Senior level but at all grades from U-21 / Minor etc.  The county has been standing still waiting for a team to simply appear from nowhere without putting resources / plans in place to bring through players of a sufficient standard needed to compete at the highest level in the modern day.  These are plans which should have been put in place at least 15 years ago in the late 90's / early 2000's when the Armaghs / Tyrones / Donegals / Monaghans got there act together and planned for the future. Down GAA have fallen way behind counties competing for silverware and I cant see that changing if we continue with what we have at present and the County Board BADLY needs new blood with new ideas if Down is ever to turn a corner because at present the current set up offers nothing in moving Down Football forward.

I didn't give a view on any of this.All I asked was what should be changed?

Excuse my ignorance but your response when asking someone to explain what changes are needed implies to me anyway everything is grand and rosey?

[SamFever]

I agree I think it is time for a change from the top right to the bottom. This is not an attack on people who have been great servants to Down Gaa. It is just time for new voices and fresh ideas as the whole thing is starting to stagnate and going nowhere quick, as some one said earlier in the board if we do not sort ourselves out we could be the new Antrim in Ulster in a few years and that is very worrying.

Explain what changes you think need addressed from top to bottom?

SAMFEVER you think the current set up in Down has been / is / will be a success? Lets look at it very simply. The Down Senior team has won nothing meaningful in over 20 years. Will they or do they look like winning anything soon - No. That tells me something is seriously wrong. And its not just at Senior level but at all grades from U-21 / Minor etc.  The county has been standing still waiting for a team to simply appear from nowhere without putting resources / plans in place to bring through players of a sufficient standard needed to compete at the highest level in the modern day.  These are plans which should have been put in place at least 15 years ago in the late 90's / early 2000's when the Armaghs / Tyrones / Donegals / Monaghans got there act together and planned for the future. Down GAA have fallen way behind counties competing for silverware and I cant see that changing if we continue with what we have at present and the County Board BADLY needs new blood with new ideas if Down is ever to turn a corner because at present the current set up offers nothing in moving Down Football forward.

I didn't give a view on any of this.All I asked was what should be changed?

Excuse my ignorance but your response when asking someone to explain what changes are needed implies to me anyway everything is grand and rosey?

For clarity,everything is most definitely not rosy and grand.What changes and strategy should occur?

[SHEEDY]

Big win for longstone tonight beating mayobridge 2-12 to 0-12. Brings a few teams into the mix for the last relegation places.

[45]

I do not have all night to go through what all these changes should be, but  I have noticed our under teams form has dipped considerably since they have been trained and set up so defensively . This is not what Down football is about , it's about attacking football with a certain amount of freedom to express ourselves on the field. That's what has made us different to every other county in Ulster through the years and it is on these core values that down teams should be coached.

[thebar]

I agree I think it is time for a change from the top right to the bottom. This is not an attack on people who have been great servants to Down Gaa. It is just time for new voices and fresh ideas as the whole thing is starting to stagnate and going nowhere quick, as some one said earlier in the board if we do not sort ourselves out we could be the new Antrim in Ulster in a few years and that is very worrying.

Explain what changes you think need addressed from top to bottom?

SAMFEVER you think the current set up in Down has been / is / will be a success? Lets look at it very simply. The Down Senior team has won nothing meaningful in over 20 years. Will they or do they look like winning anything soon - No. That tells me something is seriously wrong. And its not just at Senior level but at all grades from U-21 / Minor etc.  The county has been standing still waiting for a team to simply appear from nowhere without putting resources / plans in place to bring through players of a sufficient standard needed to compete at the highest level in the modern day.  These are plans which should have been put in place at least 15 years ago in the late 90's / early 2000's when the Armaghs / Tyrones / Donegals / Monaghans got there act together and planned for the future. Down GAA have fallen way behind counties competing for silverware and I cant see that changing if we continue with what we have at present and the County Board BADLY needs new blood with new ideas if Down is ever to turn a corner because at present the current set up offers nothing in moving Down Football forward.

I didn't give a view on any of this.All I asked was what should be changed?

Excuse my ignorance but your response when asking someone to explain what changes are needed implies to me anyway everything is grand and rosey?

For clarity,everything is most definitely not rosy and grand.What changes and strategy should occur?

I'm glad you agree..As an individual I dont have all the answers your looking and I believe no 1 individual has but it will take something other than the current norm to make changes (what / who that is needs to be addressed - why dont we go and look at what structures have been put in place where success is going to?) but what I will note is the current set up is failing and failing badly. I think we can all see that. 

[SamFever]

Agreed and I'm at at a loss as to who or what can help us?

[charlieTully]

Agreed and I'm at at a loss as to who or what can help us?

We are in a terrible predicament in the fact that a serious amount of our talent emigrate. I would guess every poster on here could name a good few young guys who have headed off abroad. For work, opportunities etc etc. Many will never return on a permanent basis. What's worth staying for? Counties like Tyrone at least have some chance of winning an AI again. They are always reaching the last 8 or 4 of the competition. As long as the rot continues there is no incentive for young lads to stay.

[Red eye]

I do not have all night to go through what all these changes should be, but  I have noticed our under teams form has dipped considerably since they have been trained and set up so defensively . This is not what Down football is about , it's about attacking football with a certain amount of freedom to express ourselves on the field. That's what has made us different to every other county in Ulster through the years and it is on these core values that down teams should be coached.

This style of play has not garnered success in the recent past - Donegal, Tyrone (as someone says are reaching last 4 / 8 reg), even Dublin and Kerry today rely to some degree on the sweeper / defensive formation.
Have all the attacking free flowing football you want but in the current climate it will win nothing.

[Jofus]

Two very close games in the Intermediate championship over the weekend.  Loughinisland got a stroke of luck when the Ballymartin full forward seemed to get wrongly sent off when it was another player who had struck. They just about got over the line but probably deserved it. An Riocht put in a similar performance to do enough to win, Bredagh were very dogged and could have gotten something out of it in the end but An Riocht were the better side alright. I thought the refereeing in both games was brutal and you could sense the frustration from spectators, mentors and players.