Down Club Hurling & Football

[downup]

I think a bit of realism is what is needed here. Down were never going to beat Kerry and anyone who thought they had a chance are deluded. We can argue til the cows come home about defensive systems and yes they would help curtail scores to a degree but for me the biggest problem is our attacking system. Fair play to Eamon, he is at least trying to get faster, longer ball into our full forward line but the reality is that we do not have forwards that are the standard required for division one. Who are our go to men in the forward line, who are our prolific scorers? We don't have any. A previous poster spoke about times when other Ulster counties won All - Irelands, look at the forward lines they had. Look at our own forwards in the early 90's, even the forwards we had in 2010. We just simply don't have enough of that quality at our disposal. Its not Eamon Burn's fault, he can only work with what he has. And I am not trying to put players down, I am simply being realistic in terms of the level they are at compared to other teams. In the past when we were light up front we would have had Benny Coulter for example, we don't have any real stars available anymore. Look at our club football, its no different. Armagh are in the same predicament only at least they are in Div 2. Unfortunately we will be relegated and I say unfortunately as I am a proud Down man and hate to see our teams in that position. We will not win anything championship wise this year either. But that doesn't mean we just give up. As supporters we must get behind our team, difficult at times as it may be. There will be the odd great Down win when we will all get our hopes up but until we get a new bunch of top class players together at the one time then the few is all we can hope for.

[wobbller]

Do Down have any sort of defensive system or game plan? The amount of times the full back line were left exposed was ridiculous. Luke Howard in particular was left isolated one on one a few times during the game and not another down player within 30m of him.

Down need to start building from the back in my opinion. Get a solid defensive game plan in place and build from there. If it means dropping 12 men back behind the ball then so be it. The days of going 15 on 15 and fluid flowing football in this county are over. We simply do not have the players at the minute.

Look at all the Ulster teams that have won all irelands since Down last won. Tyrone, Donegal & Armagh have all been built on a solid defensive plan which gives them a platform to build. Even Kerry & Dublin drop players back and have some sort of defensive system in place.

if we continue going the way we are it'll be a very long time before we win Ulster never mind Sam.

Aposter above mentioned we would be ranked 8th in Ulster. I'm presuming that was ahead of Antrim? I would argue we are the worst team in ulster at theminute.

Joint 8th is where we are at and that might be disrespectful to Antrim.

[ardtole]

I think a bit of realism is what is needed here. Down were never going to beat Kerry and anyone who thought they had a chance are deluded. We can argue til the cows come home about defensive systems and yes they would help curtail scores to a degree but for me the biggest problem is our attacking system. Fair play to Eamon, he is at least trying to get faster, longer ball into our full forward line but the reality is that we do not have forwards that are the standard required for division one. Who are our go to men in the forward line, who are our prolific scorers? We don't have any. A previous poster spoke about times when other Ulster counties won All - Irelands, look at the forward lines they had. Look at our own forwards in the early 90's, even the forwards we had in 2010. We just simply don't have enough of that quality at our disposal. Its not Eamon Burn's fault, he can only work with what he has. And I am not trying to put players down, I am simply being realistic in terms of the level they are at compared to other teams. In the past when we were light up front we would have had Benny Coulter for example, we don't have any real stars available anymore. Look at our club football, its no different. Armagh are in the same predicament only at least they are in Div 2. Unfortunately we will be relegated and I say unfortunately as I am a proud Down man and hate to see our teams in that position. We will not win anything championship wise this year either. But that doesn't mean we just give up. As supporters we must get behind our team, difficult at times as it may be. There will be the odd great Down win when we will all get our hopes up but until we get a new bunch of top class players together at the one time then the few is all we can hope for.

Most sensible post Ive read on here in a long time.

[east down gael]

We are not joint 8th in my opinion.don't forget it's not even a year since we ran derry close in celtic park in championship.Personally I'd still be disappointed if we lost to fermanagh,shocked if we lost to antrim and wouldn't be at all surprised if we beat cavan,derry or armagh in a championship game.The step up in class in division one is enormous,so these results are to be expected.
   Maybe we are now realising that the team we had for the last ten or so years was actually very strong.We had top class players like mcveigh in nets,dee rafferty,Dan Gordon,benny coulter,Danny Hughes,ronan murtagh,john clarke,liam doyle.Even when tyrone were at the height of their powers we always have them a battle and beat them on a few occasions.Add to that the introduction of Clark,mccomiskey,maginn,mckernan,laverty,poland and for a few years we were a match for most.
   The team at the minute isn't of that standard,but it isn't as low as some are making out either.

[snoopdog]

We are not joint 8th in my opinion.don't forget it's not even a year since we ran derry close in celtic park in championship.Personally I'd still be disappointed if we lost to fermanagh,shocked if we lost to antrim and wouldn't be at all surprised if we beat cavan,derry or armagh in a championship game.The step up in class in division one is enormous,so these results are to be expected.
   Maybe we are now realising that the team we had for the last ten or so years was actually very strong.We had top class players like mcveigh in nets,dee rafferty,Dan Gordon,benny coulter,Danny Hughes,ronan murtagh,john clarke,liam doyle.Even when tyrone were at the height of their powers we always have them a battle and beat them on a few occasions.Add to that the introduction of Clark,mccomiskey,maginn,mckernan,laverty,poland and for a few years we were a match for most.
   The team at the minute isn't of that standard,but it isn't as low as some are making out either.

That group of players had 1 good year. So we can't say we were a match for most when we were losing to wicklow in the  qualifiers and playing div 3 football. Clare nearly knocked us out the year after the all ireland final appearance.  It's more than just a lack of quality footballers. There is some sort of preparation missing . Jim mcguinness got into the heads of Donegal players and give them more consistency
Some Down have lacked for many years.

[wobbller]

We are not joint 8th in my opinion.don't forget it's not even a year since we ran derry close in celtic park in championship.Personally I'd still be disappointed if we lost to fermanagh,shocked if we lost to antrim and wouldn't be at all surprised if we beat cavan,derry or armagh in a championship game.The step up in class in division one is enormous,so these results are to be expected.
   Maybe we are now realising that the team we had for the last ten or so years was actually very strong.We had top class players like mcveigh in nets,dee rafferty,Dan Gordon,benny coulter,Danny Hughes,ronan murtagh,john clarke,liam doyle.Even when tyrone were at the height of their powers we always have them a battle and beat them on a few occasions.Add to that the introduction of Clark,mccomiskey,maginn,mckernan,laverty,poland and for a few years we were a match for most.
   The team at the minute isn't of that standard,but it isn't as low as some are making out either.

It is very low and it's not as if we're waiting on any sublime talent to come through from the underage setup.I'm afraid we're on the way down to probably at least Div 3 in the next few seasons where it'll be easier to blood some faces.The top 2 Divisions are unforgiving and no place to be trying good young players.

[Aristo 60]

It'd be a hard sell at the minute I'd say.

I'm in it to make sure I get the 2 tickets that I most certainly will need throughout the summer.

[snoopdog]

It'd be a hard sell at the minute I'd say.

I'm in it to make sure I get the 2 tickets that I most certainly will need throughout the summer.

and what 2 tickets would they be?

I used to be a member of club Down. But I ended it. I honestly don't see where the money is being used wisely in terms of the county set up.feel free to correct me and let me know where it goes. Have we any hope in minor or U21 level this year? Does hurling get any contribution? 

[Lecale Gael]

I actually think there are decent minors coming through. we will know soon enough. and james mccartan right man to oversee it.

I reckon mccartan will return to the senior job when some of his current crop progress

[cut the crap]

It didn't take long for the knives to come out for Eamonn Burns , the man is in the job 5 mins and we have him out with James ready to take over. We all know we have a squad of players who are out of their depth in Div 1 but if we unearth some players for the future it may be all in vain.
As for the future, well no one has a crystal ball but if all the hard work currently being undertaken at academy level, minor and u 21 continues, then who knows the future may not be as bad as people would have you believe. Our problem is all programmes at underage level don't have longevity , after the 60s we expected the success to continue forever, sadly the opposite was true,the 90s should have been built on, but we failed to learn from the mistakes of the future.
We need a leader in the county , instead we have an executive who will be looking around for another manager shortly , which is wrong given Eamonn Burns took the job in good faith for the right reasons, the lads taking the field don't play badly deliberately, so KEEP THE FAITH success will come back, new stars will emerge and AN DUN will be back.

[Brick Tamlin]

That's the sort of misty-eyed cr@p that would sicken yer hole. And its all we peddle in this county.
Last weekend had to endure those god awful roadside electronic message boards dotted around the marshes - "2 Kingdoms clash....they couldn't beat us in the 60s..nor the 90s yadda yadda yadda". Talk about cringeworthy stuff.

Again someone on here supposes to know the mindset of the manager. Why he took the job on, his motivations, his attitude towards it etc. How can anyone say he took the job on in good faith and with good reason unless they were that man himself.

And its obvious that the seat is only being kept warm for James in 3 years time.

As for Club Down, it was torpedoed as soon as the Down club draws came in.

[snoopdog]

Roscommon v Down moved to pearse park Longford. The Hyde must be unplayable.

[rosskarr]

That's the sort of misty-eyed cr@p that would sicken yer hole. And its all we peddle in this county.
Last weekend had to endure those god awful roadside electronic message boards dotted around the marshes - "2 Kingdoms clash....they couldn't beat us in the 60s..nor the 90s yadda yadda yadda". Talk about cringeworthy stuff.

Again someone on here supposes to know the mindset of the manager. Why he took the job on, his motivations, his attitude towards it etc. How can anyone say he took the job on in good faith and with good reason unless they were that man himself.

And its obvious that the seat is only being kept warm for James in 3 years time.

As for Club Down, it was torpedoed as soon as the Down club draws came in.

The current group of players and Eamon Burns are doing their best but they are both limited in ability.Not unlike our County Board over the years as they try to do their best but they really don't have the same ability as administrators in the more successful counties.
I really think that if you have a good County board it'll eventually provide a good County side.Sadly our people at the top are really like labourers in suits trying to do the jobs that clearly they are not fit for.Not saying that can't do certain jobs but not to be leading a County which has the same raw materials as any other County at any age but they don't have the know-how to bring all this through underage setups that ultimately will lead to a successful Senior team.
   TP Murphy,Maurice Hayes,Danny Murphy and various astute Committee men in the 60's-the 90's were all higher up the ability/capability ladder than the muppets we have had the past twenty years.

A bit harsh on Eamon and the players but you could be right on the county Board analysis although no one goes out to do it wrongly but the signs last week were pitiful and embarrassing to look at.

[cut the crap]

Brick your a first class w**ker who is obviously has a pocket full of county medals and is clearly a legend in his own mind

[snoopdog]

Brick your a first class w**ker who is obviously has a pocket full of county medals and is clearly a legend in his own mind

Entitled to his opinion. That's the point of the board.  No point getting abusive. Would it not be better to challenge with an argument against what his opinion is.