Down Club Hurling & Football

[gaaman2016]

If McCorry was still in charge would we be in such a mess?

[whitegoodman]

Serious questions have to be asked as to how he was given another year.  I don't think the Burns/Murray package is free of charge so it can't be because it's the cheap option.

Wobbler is correct in that the county board are unlikely to act but if Eamon doesn't do the right thing (which if he has the best interests of the county at heart he will) then somebody has to step up and tell him thanks for your efforts but they fall well well short.

We will struggle to get anyone of note to take over mid season so I'd tend to look at the under 21 or minor management to see us through to the end of the season.

If anyone comes out and says we don't have the players then yes we don't have the players to win ulster or all Ireland's but we sure as hell have the players to compete with Fermanagh and f**king Clare.

[saulzer]

If McCorry was still in charge, we would still have been relegated but probably not with zero points. I expect we would have been a relatively competitive division 2 team. By all accounts the quality of his analysis and preparation was on a level light years ahead of the current management's. McCorry did make mistakes, eg not playing Peter Turkey against Derry in the championship cost that game. The qualifier against Wexford was a disaster, but part of that was down to the fact that the travel and accommodation arrangements were a mess.

[Smurfy123]

Agree with wobbler and whitegoodman

Yes we are far from a top 8-10 team but for goodness sake Fermanagh and now Clare which is pretty demoralising to say the very least.

Who in there right mind would come in at this stage of the season?
I can tell you now our backroom team does not come cheap.

Would Big Deegans step up to the plate?

[wobbller]

Agree with wobbler and whitegoodman

Yes we are far from a top 8-10 team but for goodness sake Fermanagh and now Clare which is pretty demoralising to say the very least.

Who in there right mind would come in at this stage of the season?
I can tell you now our backroom team does not come cheap.

Would Big Deegans step up to the plate?

Promise made to wife- I will not attend another away game until the McKenna Cup 2018. Promise to myself -I will not attend another game until June in the Marshes..
     A puncture on the way down and got stuck at the Toll at Drogheda with a clown from Louth who had no change for the Toll.No attendant came for about 15 mins while the traffic built up behind us.F-ckin waste of a day.

[Mourne Rover]

It is tough to be referring to Burns in the past tense but great players sadly do not necessarily make great managers. His body language against Fermanagh indicated that he knew his time was nearly up but he probably thought that it was worth another roll of the dice against Clare who were in D3 last year. The result today may well have been decided when they scored a goal with their first real attack and the reports suggest that only our keeper prevented a complete hammering.

Most people will be expecting another collapse when Meath, who had a massive win over Derry today, come to Newry in a fortnight, and the gap should provide an opportunity for some serious thinking to take place. Walking away at this stage of the season would not be easy but hanging on to supervise a further grim series of defeats in front of increasingly disgruntled supporters would be the wrong call.

Deegan has yet to manage the u21s in a competitive match, and, with his championship date barely a month away, it would be unfair to turn to him. James has apparently been putting in a huge effort with the minors and will not want to ditch them now.

Big Paddy is a calmer and much more experienced figure than when he last stepped in, and, as he is already working with the county board, there must a fair chance he will get the call.

There are very few other obvious options, and something needs to happen sooner rather than later. Down fans will know that relegation is almost certain already but we have to be given at least some hope before the championship comes around.

[wobbller]

It is tough to be referring to Burns in the past tense but great players sadly do not necessarily make great managers. His body language against Fermanagh indicated that he knew his time was nearly up but he probably thought that it was worth another roll of the dice against Clare who were in D3 last year. The result today may well have been decided when they scored a goal with their first real attack and the reports suggest that only our keeper prevented a complete hammering.

Most people will be expecting another collapse when Meath, who had a massive win over Derry today, come to Newry in a fortnight, and the gap should provide an opportunity for some serious thinking to take place. Walking away at this stage of the season would not be easy but hanging on to supervise a further grim series of defeats in front of increasingly disgruntled supporters would be the wrong call.

Deegan has yet to manage the u21s in a competitive match, and, with his championship date barely a month away, it would be unfair to turn to him. James has apparently been putting in a huge effort with the minors and will not want to ditch them now.

Big Paddy is a calmer and much more experienced figure than when he last stepped in, and, as he is already working with the county board, there must a fair chance he will get the call.

There are very few other obvious options, and something needs to happen sooner rather than later. Down fans will know that relegation is almost certain already but we have to be given at least some hope before the championship comes around.

MourneRover,you appear to be following the usual options by mentioning previous All-Ireland winners.Deegan is untried.James's CV in his last years with us and his record in Queens the past few years wasn't great and Paddy is with Burren.

[wobbller]

It is tough to be referring to Burns in the past tense but great players sadly do not necessarily make great managers. His body language against Fermanagh indicated that he knew his time was nearly up but he probably thought that it was worth another roll of the dice against Clare who were in D3 last year. The result today may well have been decided when they scored a goal with their first real attack and the reports suggest that only our keeper prevented a complete hammering.

Most people will be expecting another collapse when Meath, who had a massive win over Derry today, come to Newry in a fortnight, and the gap should provide an opportunity for some serious thinking to take place. Walking away at this stage of the season would not be easy but hanging on to supervise a further grim series of defeats in front of increasingly disgruntled supporters would be the wrong call.

Deegan has yet to manage the u21s in a competitive match, and, with his championship date barely a month away, it would be unfair to turn to him. James has apparently been putting in a huge effort with the minors and will not want to ditch them now.

Big Paddy is a calmer and much more experienced figure than when he last stepped in, and, as he is already working with the county board, there must a fair chance he will get the call.

There are very few other obvious options, and something needs to happen sooner rather than later. Down fans will know that relegation is almost certain already but we have to be given at least some hope before the championship comes around.

MourneRover,you appear to be following the usual options by mentioning previous All-Ireland winners.Deegan is untried.James's CV in his last years with us and his record in Queens the past few years wasn't great and Paddy is with Burren.

Ps. I don't know who is an option.

[whitegoodman]

That's the problem Wobbler, we would be very limited in our options at this stage even just to see out the season.

I'd have James back in a heartbeat but think he wants to concentrate on the minors for a few years before going back to seniors, Paddy is with Burren as you say as well as the development squads so that leaves Deegans and Walsh.  I'd be surprised if they wouldn't take it if asked and it could act as a trial run for them if things were to improve.

It's all hypothetical at this stage and it feels very un-GAA to be calling for people's head during the season but we are now at desperate times

[forevergreen]

Would Brian McIvor take the job.

Has familiarity with Down football. And obviously his son has the experience with Kilcoo.
Players loved him in 2010.

[whitegoodman]

Good call but unlikely I'd say

[OgraAnDun]

Would Brian McIvor take the job.

Has familiarity with Down football. And obviously his son has the experience with Kilcoo.
Players loved him in 2010.

Good shout, although isn't he director of football in Derry at the minute?

[Dubh driocht]

520 miles, tolls, admission, programme, tae agus sarneys to see us stuffed by Clare. Probably about £100 although Ennis is a great town but when the Clare people are feeling sorry for you ,not sure if this is the Down Way I want.
Make no mistake, a difference of two goals masks a huge difference between the teams. They took off their star man Gary Brennan SEVEN minutes in to the second half before proceeding to empty their bench, safe in the knowledge that the game was in the bag after 15 minutes.
They knew, as we all did, that our confidence was brittle and clearly Burns, Murray, Colgan, Collins, Sloan and Brannigan ( as identified in the programme) had learned nothing from last week's humiliation. So they went at us from the start and rather than take easy points they clearly went for an early goal. Now we could see that from the stand and if ever you wanted a sweeper to steady things , this was the time. But no- the management missed that as well and while it took a silly misplaced  pass to lose possession, the first goal signalled the end to any chance we had.
The second one came when Conaill McGovern got bottled up just before half time although I don't blame him as Clare saw the vulnerability of Down's 'work the ball out' strategy, and there could have been other goals if there hadn't been some heroic defending. Cue a management meeting on the field, with County Secretary in attendance, while the players trudged off 10 points down. WTF?
Conor Maginn worked hard in the second half, Ryan Johnstone, Peter Turley and Kevin McKernan all brought something to the party so why did they not start in a critical game ? Donal Hughes wasted his afternoon on the bench again when he could have been hurling to prevent a bad beating in Trim,
If the Clare FM commentator thought Mooney was good they must have seen something I didn't; it's clear that he and most of the players don't have confidence in the management. To be fair Darren O'Hagan, Reid, the midfielders and particularly Shay Millar tried hard but it's the end my friend and if someone doesn't stop the rot we will follow Westmeath to Division 4.

[forevergreen]

Think he might well be but if approached in the right way he might move, though don't think he would want to be the catalyst for Eamon getting pushed.

After watching Slaughtneill yesterday there might be some merit in considering Mickey Moran after Paddys day. Seems to go about his business with quiet efficiency.

Other thing to consider is that Eamon has made it clear to CB that he has a development plan that involves a bit of pain in early part of league, the selection for Meath will indicate either way.

Need to harness the drive and positivity of the kilcoo contingent and hope it rubs of on the rest but at minute it appears Management think otherwise

[Mourne Rover]

Wobbler, my post said that our u21 and minor managers were unlikely to step up, meaning that Paddy is one of our few available options. It is hardly an ideal one, as taking on club and county posts at the same time would be a big ask, but it would only be for a limited period and is clearly not impossible. As you acknowledge, alternative suggestions are in short supply.

Your criticisms of James are also harsh, as his overall record with Down was excellent and looks even better in retrospect. Even in his last season, when our squad was nothing special, he was capable of getting a championship draw in Omagh which should have been a win. It is unlikely that we would get within 12 points of Tyrone if we went back there this summer.

It is also worth noting that we have only played six championship matches at Croke Park since the open draw was introduced in 2001 and five of them were under James.