Armagh vs Laois

[No wides]

Successful counties are those where club football is relegated to the margins and the County side quite rightly is the priority.I agree with the Tyrone approach,whether it be the Mc Kenna Cup or All Ireland,the aim is to win the competition.

What a load of balls - where the county without club?

[general_lee]

Too many clubs and too many small clubs especially in Armagh for there to be a strong competitive club scene to feed into the county team. Cross are the exception to the rule and it's easy to chastise clubs for not challenging them and saying how the Monaghan junior scene is far superior to Armagh intermediate.. Fact is half the clubs in this county amalgamate at at least one grade to provide kids with a game of football and that includes many of the Division 1 clubs. The least the likes of Clann Éireann should be doing is fielding strong underage sides given they've 2-3k membership.

Thats not to say a strong club scene is necessary to make a half decent county team (Fermanagh). Absolute piles of money have been poured into armagh to develop youth in development squads etc, we have three schools playing McRory plus the two Newry schools. We have Ulster champions this year at u16, Minor and possibly u21. I actually think underage football has improved in the last decade in Armagh. I think with limited resources Armagh has punched above its weight and too many of us have high expectations when it comes to the county team.

Tony fishing for a Cross row?  The notion that Cross players not being available is a red herring. If the majority of non-Cross Armagh supporters are to believed only 2-3 Cross players would be playing if available, TK, James Morgan and Jamie. Jamie is gone so he can't be considered. TK and James would obviously add to the team but they are only 2 players. I can't comment on the games as I haven't seen them but the results speak for themselves. From watching club football over the last few years in the county the thing that is apparent to me is that there is simply a lack of talent in the county. Outside of ourselves no club has made any real impact at provincial level. No club has provided a significant challenge to us in the senior in Armagh. I don't know what the quality of coaching that is going on in some clubs but it does not seem to be transferring to quality players coming through to the senior team.
Outside of Clann Eireann and to a lesser extent Cullyhanna no club seems to be making real moves at underage. The next step of bringing that to senior is the difficult one. Pearse Ogs and Harps had possibly as strong underage structures for a number of years and only broke through once. The thing is other clubs were pushing us. Time to stop looking to us to fix your problems and accept that the quality isn't what it was and take responsibility.

I hope every club man in the county wouldn't use "your" when referring to Armagh.

Duffleking, Armagh football is where it is because of the lack of quality within the clubs generally which transfers up to a lack of quality in the county team. In the last 4-5 years I have seen the majority of the clubs in action in Armagh and there is a serious low standard in comparison for instance to Monaghan. I can do a direct comparison as I have coached teams in both counties and the difference level is dramatic. Your average Monaghan junior club would beat a high level intermediate club in Armagh. The lie that is being thrown out by people is that there are lots of 'regulars' missing on this Armagh team. There will be 4-5 additions maximum. The thing is that most counties play the early league games with 3-4 regulars missing due to one reason or another. The depth in the Armagh squad is not there and I lay that blame not at the door of the management (who btw are not exempt from criticism for tactical naivety and team preparation) but at the doors of the clubs throughout the county so it, in my opinion, is 'their' problem which then ultimately becomes 'our' problem.

[tonto1888]

Too many clubs and too many small clubs especially in Armagh for there to be a strong competitive club scene to feed into the county team. Cross are the exception to the rule and it's easy to chastise clubs for not challenging them and saying how the Monaghan junior scene is far superior to Armagh intermediate.. Fact is half the clubs in this county amalgamate at at least one grade to provide kids with a game of football and that includes many of the Division 1 clubs. The least the likes of Clann Éireann should be doing is fielding strong underage sides given they've 2-3k membership.

Thats not to say a strong club scene is necessary to make a half decent county team (Fermanagh). Absolute piles of money have been poured into armagh to develop youth in development squads etc, we have three schools playing McRory plus the two Newry schools. We have Ulster champions this year at u16, Minor and possibly u21. I actually think underage football has improved in the last decade in Armagh. I think with limited resources Armagh has punched above its weight and too many of us have high expectations when it comes to the county team.

Tony fishing for a Cross row?  The notion that Cross players not being available is a red herring. If the majority of non-Cross Armagh supporters are to believed only 2-3 Cross players would be playing if available, TK, James Morgan and Jamie. Jamie is gone so he can't be considered. TK and James would obviously add to the team but they are only 2 players. I can't comment on the games as I haven't seen them but the results speak for themselves. From watching club football over the last few years in the county the thing that is apparent to me is that there is simply a lack of talent in the county. Outside of ourselves no club has made any real impact at provincial level. No club has provided a significant challenge to us in the senior in Armagh. I don't know what the quality of coaching that is going on in some clubs but it does not seem to be transferring to quality players coming through to the senior team.
Outside of Clann Eireann and to a lesser extent Cullyhanna no club seems to be making real moves at underage. The next step of bringing that to senior is the difficult one. Pearse Ogs and Harps had possibly as strong underage structures for a number of years and only broke through once. The thing is other clubs were pushing us. Time to stop looking to us to fix your problems and accept that the quality isn't what it was and take responsibility.

I hope every club man in the county wouldn't use "your" when referring to Armagh.

Duffleking, Armagh football is where it is because of the lack of quality within the clubs generally which transfers up to a lack of quality in the county team. In the last 4-5 years I have seen the majority of the clubs in action in Armagh and there is a serious low standard in comparison for instance to Monaghan. I can do a direct comparison as I have coached teams in both counties and the difference level is dramatic. Your average Monaghan junior club would beat a high level intermediate club in Armagh. The lie that is being thrown out by people is that there are lots of 'regulars' missing on this Armagh team. There will be 4-5 additions maximum. The thing is that most counties play the early league games with 3-4 regulars missing due to one reason or another. The depth in the Armagh squad is not there and I lay that blame not at the door of the management (who btw are not exempt from criticism for tactical naivety and team preparation) but at the doors of the clubs throughout the county so it, in my opinion, is 'their' problem which then ultimately becomes 'our' problem.

are you sure Clann Eireann have a membership of 2-3000? Theres a lot of clubs in the Lurgan area and that number seems high to me.

[general_lee]

Probably more around the 2k mark, point is they're the biggest GAA club in the county by membership.

[Orior]

Probably more around the 2k mark, point is they're the biggest GAA club in the county by membership.

Is it true that some of the Dublin clubs have more members than the county of Leitrim?

[tonto1888]

Probably more around the 2k mark, point is they're the biggest GAA club in the county by membership.

they have grown a lot since I was a member. Does that include handball/ladies football etc?

[illdecide]

Probably more around the 2k mark, point is they're the biggest GAA club in the county by membership.

No where near it...and your prob counting all underage registrations too

[general_lee]

Stand corrected - 1500

[The Iceman]

So looking at the success of underage football in the county as recently quoted are Armagh's best years ahead of us at the Senior County Level or will we continue to struggle with competition from other sports, emigration and the demands of the game?
From 6000 miles away there is a decent mix of old and new and a lot of the current squad are very talented footballers. What's the main problem at the matches for those who are there in person? Drive, desire?
Management/tactics?

[Throw ball]

So looking at the success of underage football in the county as recently quoted are Armagh's best years ahead of us at the Senior County Level or will we continue to struggle with competition from other sports, emigration and the demands of the game?
From 6000 miles away there is a decent mix of old and new and a lot of the current squad are very talented footballers. What's the main problem at the matches for those who are there in person? Drive, desire?
Management/tactics?

May only be me but experience, composure and a fear of making mistakes cover a lot of the problems. Campbell runs his guts out looking for space. He is an example to the rest. To many others aren't making these runs and too many times the man on the ball takes the easy option instead of the right option.

I wonder is part of this due to Cross dominance in the county. Too few players have won anything. Too many are used to getting beat. It is a bad habit. As others have said their are too many clubs in such a small county and the talent I split too far - but there are talented players there.

Too many times I hear people in the county say the referee favours Cross or Cross are dirty, fly or whatever. That to me is a load of rubbish. They are no different in this regard than any other team. To suggest so is only making excuses for failure and hinders the county in the long run.

[ardchieftain]

Throw ball's first paragraph covers a lot of the problems. I would add that it looks like a number of player's don't understand the system.

[seafoid]

Armagh aren't winning much at underage as far as I know.

[T Fearon]

Crossmaglen's obsession (the novelty should have worn off after the third title in 2000) with the All Ireland club championship has held the County team back for the last twenty years.It is no coincidence that Sam was won and the peak years,2002 to 2006 for the County team did not clash with Crossmaglen's appearance in the All Ireland club finals.No coincidence either that during that period a Crossmaglen man was in charge of the County team.

[smelmoth]

So looking at the success of underage football in the county as recently quoted are Armagh's best years ahead of us at the Senior County Level or will we continue to struggle with competition from other sports, emigration and the demands of the game?
From 6000 miles away there is a decent mix of old and new and a lot of the current squad are very talented footballers. What's the main problem at the matches for those who are there in person? Drive, desire?
Management/tactics?

May only be me but experience, composure and a fear of making mistakes cover a lot of the problems. Campbell runs his guts out looking for space. He is an example to the rest. To many others aren't making these runs and too many times the man on the ball takes the easy option instead of the right option.

I wonder is part of this due to Cross dominance in the county. Too few players have won anything. Too many are used to getting beat. It is a bad habit. As others have said their are too many clubs in such a small county and the talent I split too far - but there are talented players there.

Too many times I hear people in the county say the referee favours Cross or Cross are dirty, fly or whatever. That to me is a load of rubbish. They are no different in this regard than any other team. To suggest so is only making excuses for failure and hinders the county in the long run.

Throw ball's first paragraph covers a lot of the problems. I would add that it looks like a number of player's don't understand the system.

The point I make about McParland is that he is one of those players making the runs but nobody is hitting the pass. McGeeney reacts by taking McParland off. Can he not see what is actually happening? I get the impression that if the milkman didn't deliver the milk to chez Geezer for a couple of days, Kieran would react by throwing out the milk he already had in the fridge. Just so that he could feel that he was doing something.

If what we are watching now had happened on O'Rourke or Grimley's watch there would have been riots by now. As it is the fans seem to voting with their feet (and their wallets).

[Armamike]

So looking at the success of underage football in the county as recently quoted are Armagh's best years ahead of us at the Senior County Level or will we continue to struggle with competition from other sports, emigration and the demands of the game?
From 6000 miles away there is a decent mix of old and new and a lot of the current squad are very talented footballers. What's the main problem at the matches for those who are there in person? Drive, desire?
Management/tactics?

May only be me but experience, composure and a fear of making mistakes cover a lot of the problems. Campbell runs his guts out looking for space. He is an example to the rest. To many others aren't making these runs and too many times the man on the ball takes the easy option instead of the right option.

I wonder is part of this due to Cross dominance in the county. Too few players have won anything. Too many are used to getting beat. It is a bad habit. As others have said their are too many clubs in such a small county and the talent I split too far - but there are talented players there.

Too many times I hear people in the county say the referee favours Cross or Cross are dirty, fly or whatever. That to me is a load of rubbish. They are no different in this regard than any other team. To suggest so is only making excuses for failure and hinders the county in the long run.

Would agree with this.  There was a lack of movement against Laois.  At times the game was crying out for someone to make a run into the wide spaces that were opening up, but it hardly happened.  Whether this is inexperience, tactics or lack of nous or fitness I don't really know.