Derry Club Football & Hurling original

[Wildweasel74]

I think after this weeks championship games i see why we ended up in division 4

[ONEDerry]

I think after this weeks championship games i see why we ended up in division 4

The level is really poor.  A lot of it suited to scrambling around on poor pitches later in the year where you can get away with not being at the skill or athleticism level of top players. It will be interesting to see how many of these underage players from the last few years will come through to play at county or even club senior level.

It looks to have all the enjoyment of getting your teeth pulled out without an anesthetic for those who have the skill level to play a bit of football never mind watching it.  Of course what is normally put forward is that young lads didn't really have the hunger or desire rather than looking at what is at fault.

[Wildweasel74]

Its that bad am going to watch the tyrone championship instead!

[Wildweasel74]

4 teams in the senior championship couldnt manage over 10pts this wkend, even taking into account the opposite; thats not pretty reading

[JoG2]

I think after this weeks championship games i see why we ended up in division 4

The level is really poor.  A lot of it suited to scrambling around on poor pitches later in the year where you can get away with not being at the skill or athleticism level of top players. It will be interesting to see how many of these underage players from the last few years will come through to play at county or even club senior level.

It looks to have all the enjoyment of getting your teeth pulled out without an anesthetic for those who have the skill level to play a bit of football never mind watching it.  Of course what is normally put forward is that young lads didn't really have the hunger or desire rather than looking at what is at fault.

You seem to have a fair emotional interest in club / county football. What do you suggest we do to lift the level? Are you personally involved in shaping players through your club?

My personal opinion is we have 25/30 players that would rival any county outside the top 6. Do you think we don't have a squad of players in the county to rivil Meath, Roscommon, Kildare?? For I do.  The problem is, management last year culled too many big hitters and blooded too many young guns, leaving us relegated rather than pushing for promotion back to div 2. Will Mackers and co learn from this or continue down the same lines as last year ? Who knows...

As regards club football, and Derry are far from the only county hit with this, but the scourge of the money mercenaries infesting the club scene isn't helping. They've zero emotional attachment to the clubs. They drain the club and imo leave a lot of resentment along the way. For every Micky Moran, there's a couple of dozen blow ins taking the cheque and winning nothing (because winning must be everything if a club is paying huge amounts of money to these cowboys).

Imagine the Magherafelt u12/u14 coaches watching that dirge on Sunday evening. Are they developing future players to stand off their men en masse without laying a hand on the ball (ie anti-football)?? Meanwhile they go back to coaching on Wed / Sun and the latest money man rides off into the sunset with his big brown envelope scouring for his next club with their latest defensive anti-football masterplan in place. 

[Josey Wales]

I think after this weeks championship games i see why we ended up in division 4

The level is really poor.  A lot of it suited to scrambling around on poor pitches later in the year where you can get away with not being at the skill or athleticism level of top players. It will be interesting to see how many of these underage players from the last few years will come through to play at county or even club senior level.

It looks to have all the enjoyment of getting your teeth pulled out without an anesthetic for those who have the skill level to play a bit of football never mind watching it.  Of course what is normally put forward is that young lads didn't really have the hunger or desire rather than looking at what is at fault.

You seem to have a fair emotional interest in club / county football. What do you suggest we do to lift the level? Are you personally involved in shaping players through your club?

My personal opinion is we have 25/30 players that would rival any county outside the top 6. Do you think we don't have a squad of players in the county to rivil Meath, Roscommon, Kildare?? For I do.  The problem is, management last year culled too many big hitters and blooded too many young guns, leaving us relegated rather than pushing for promotion back to div 2. Will Mackers and co learn from this or continue down the same lines as last year ? Who knows...

As regards club football, and Derry are far from the only county hit with this, but the scourge of the money mercenaries infesting the club scene isn't helping. They've zero emotional attachment to the clubs. They drain the club and imo leave a lot of resentment along the way. For every Micky Moran, there's a couple of dozen blow ins taking the cheque and winning nothing (because winning must be everything if a club is paying huge amounts of money to these cowboys).

Imagine the Magherafelt u12/u14 coaches watching that dirge on Sunday evening. Are they developing future players to stand off their men en masse without laying a hand on the ball (ie anti-football)?? Meanwhile they go back to coaching on Wed / Sun and the latest money man rides off into the sunset with his big brown envelope scouring for his next club with their latest defensive anti-football masterplan in place.

There is some self preservation in club management these days.  Not in all teams but certainly some.  i.e. dont risk getting a tanking and your reputation will be intact for a nicely paid job the next season either at your existing club or the next.  One way of stopping this is reducing or eliminating the money as you say.

[ONEDerry]

I think after this weeks championship games i see why we ended up in division 4

The level is really poor.  A lot of it suited to scrambling around on poor pitches later in the year where you can get away with not being at the skill or athleticism level of top players. It will be interesting to see how many of these underage players from the last few years will come through to play at county or even club senior level.

It looks to have all the enjoyment of getting your teeth pulled out without an anesthetic for those who have the skill level to play a bit of football never mind watching it.  Of course what is normally put forward is that young lads didn't really have the hunger or desire rather than looking at what is at fault.

You seem to have a fair emotional interest in club / county football. What do you suggest we do to lift the level? Are you personally involved in shaping players through your club?

My personal opinion is we have 25/30 players that would rival any county outside the top 6. Do you think we don't have a squad of players in the county to rivil Meath, Roscommon, Kildare?? For I do.  The problem is, management last year culled too many big hitters and blooded too many young guns, leaving us relegated rather than pushing for promotion back to div 2. Will Mackers and co learn from this or continue down the same lines as last year ? Who knows...

As regards club football, and Derry are far from the only county hit with this, but the scourge of the money mercenaries infesting the club scene isn't helping. They've zero emotional attachment to the clubs. They drain the club and imo leave a lot of resentment along the way. For every Micky Moran, there's a couple of dozen blow ins taking the cheque and winning nothing (because winning must be everything if a club is paying huge amounts of money to these cowboys).

Imagine the Magherafelt u12/u14 coaches watching that dirge on Sunday evening. Are they developing future players to stand off their men en masse without laying a hand on the ball (ie anti-football)?? Meanwhile they go back to coaching on Wed / Sun and the latest money man rides off into the sunset with his big brown envelope scouring for his next club with their latest defensive anti-football masterplan in place.

I coach underage at my club, not that's either here or there. Like all clubs we have the ability to mess it up as soon as they get above about U14s when some of the lads feck off or become fecked off by it.

One of the first things we have to do is stop fooling ourselves that our lack of success or interest at county level is balanced by our great club football with plenty of top players.  It's not even competitive the last while with Slaughtneils dominance and those who watch a bit of it say intermediate and junior are going the wrong way in the standard played.

I don't know much about the likes of  Meath but I don't see a load of players not involved who are going to take us to the level of a Kildare at the minute from what I've seen of them. Who's out there that matches up with the Flynns in the forwards or the strength around midfield from Kildare ? What two footed forwards are ready to make a big impact.
Maybe there are a few hidden talents. I haven't seen all club players but there's not many being touted as untapped talent. Those lads who have done well the last few years look to be the main hope of doing something different that look remotely like the level needed - without being rushed into it.

These managers coming in are aren't a help. Few if any have an interest in developing fellas who might be coming through minors or playing reserve football. They are not looking 2 or 3 years ahead. Maybe for club and county we need to take a load of young players and not just development squads to decent coaching sessions to improve.

[oakleaflad]

Without getting into a heated debate I disagree. Our clubs are strong in my opinion. Slaughtneil have won the last few Ulsters, it's not as if they're winning Derry and then getting knocked out every year. Even taking Slaughtneil out of the equation our clubs always do well in the Ulster league (I know it's pre-season but one of the very few barometers of provincial standard we have) and you have the likes of Coleraine winning the All Ireland 7s last year. I believe the likes of Magherafelt, Coleraine and Ballinderry would all compete for County championships elsewhere. 

[JoG2]

I think after this weeks championship games i see why we ended up in division 4

The level is really poor.  A lot of it suited to scrambling around on poor pitches later in the year where you can get away with not being at the skill or athleticism level of top players. It will be interesting to see how many of these underage players from the last few years will come through to play at county or even club senior level.

It looks to have all the enjoyment of getting your teeth pulled out without an anesthetic for those who have the skill level to play a bit of football never mind watching it.  Of course what is normally put forward is that young lads didn't really have the hunger or desire rather than looking at what is at fault.

You seem to have a fair emotional interest in club / county football. What do you suggest we do to lift the level? Are you personally involved in shaping players through your club?

My personal opinion is we have 25/30 players that would rival any county outside the top 6. Do you think we don't have a squad of players in the county to rivil Meath, Roscommon, Kildare?? For I do.  The problem is, management last year culled too many big hitters and blooded too many young guns, leaving us relegated rather than pushing for promotion back to div 2. Will Mackers and co learn from this or continue down the same lines as last year ? Who knows...

As regards club football, and Derry are far from the only county hit with this, but the scourge of the money mercenaries infesting the club scene isn't helping. They've zero emotional attachment to the clubs. They drain the club and imo leave a lot of resentment along the way. For every Micky Moran, there's a couple of dozen blow ins taking the cheque and winning nothing (because winning must be everything if a club is paying huge amounts of money to these cowboys).

Imagine the Magherafelt u12/u14 coaches watching that dirge on Sunday evening. Are they developing future players to stand off their men en masse without laying a hand on the ball (ie anti-football)?? Meanwhile they go back to coaching on Wed / Sun and the latest money man rides off into the sunset with his big brown envelope scouring for his next club with their latest defensive anti-football masterplan in place.

I coach underage at my club, not that's either here or there. Like all clubs we have the ability to mess it up as soon as they get above about U14s when some of the lads feck off or become fecked off by it.

One of the first things we have to do is stop fooling ourselves that our lack of success or interest at county level is balanced by our great club football with plenty of top players.  It's not even competitive the last while with Slaughtneils dominance and those who watch a bit of it say intermediate and junior are going the wrong way in the standard played.

I don't know much about the likes of  Meath but I don't see a load of players not involved who are going to take us to the level of a Kildare at the minute from what I've seen of them. Who's out there that matches up with the Flynns in the forwards or the strength around midfield from Kildare ? What two footed forwards are ready to make a big impact.
Maybe there are a few hidden talents. I haven't seen all club players but there's not many being touted as untapped talent. Those lads who have done well the last few years look to be the main hope of doing something different that look remotely like the level needed - without being rushed into it.

These managers coming in are aren't a help. Few if any have an interest in developing fellas who might be coming through minors or playing reserve football. They are not looking 2 or 3 years ahead. Maybe for club and county we need to take a load of young players and not just development squads to decent coaching sessions to improve.

Good to know you're coaching.

The Flynn's of this world, do Tyrone and they made the AI Final? I'd rather have a midfield axis of McKaigue, Bradley, McAtamney and Paudie Tad than what Meath / Kildare currently have. Paudie has bulked up rightly too and will be a serious force this year. Meath don't have the calibre of linkmen / runners like Heavron, Sean Leo and Lynn, all imo of course. There's plenty of talented footballers in Derry, but no marquee forwards. Sammy, Sukie, the McGuigans, Loughran, Heron, O'Brien..all quality forwards. And we're not too shabby in defence. You think these men couldn't compete with the Meath's and Kildares of this world? Sure these men were a couple of years ago and all the players mentioned above are still playing.
Mackers was the wrong choice, but he's there and we can only hope he has called with a few men in the county off season and we can see the best players lining out this year. I'd love to see the likes of James Horan or O'Rourke have a run with the best 30 players in the county.

Current club competitiveness is down to Slaughtneil being so strong, though haven't won the AIC yet, they're the strongest club team in Ulster and one of the best in the whole country. Should this impact the likes of the other clubs having 1/2/3 players that can star at county level, no, why should it?

Current apathy towards the county team?...sure it's pretty much always been there in reality. But we've thee biggest bandwagon ready to roll should the glory years return!

[tooolonggg]

chat with a Magherafelt man earlier today.
While very disappointed with his clubs second half showing he was refusing to blame their management or players for the pre half time shambles.

There was 1 point in the game not 5.
Myth wind advantage was only favoring those playing cross field passes towards the terrace or shooting from the cover stand side of the pitch.
The call to sit deep came just before their 20m free to tie up the game at 4-4 went bizarrely wide 29th minute of the half, the aim from management was to not concede a killer goal before the ref blew an end to the half.
Slaughtneil pulled 3 ahead and continued to cut off the scoring zone 2nd half using all their experience.
Magherafelt team ran out of ideas.

[JoG2]

chat with a Magherafelt man earlier today.
While very disappointed with his clubs second half showing he was refusing to blame their management or players for the pre half time shambles.

There was 1 point in the game not 5.
Myth wind advantage was only favoring those playing cross field passes towards the terrace or shooting from the cover stand side of the pitch.
The call to sit deep came just before their 20m free to tie up the game at 4-4 went bizarrely wide 29th minute of the half, the aim from management was to not concede a killer goal before the ref blew an end to the half.
Slaughtneil pulled 3 ahead and continued to cut off the scoring zone 2nd half using all their experience.
Magherafelt team ran out of ideas.

Why would anyone want to blame the players?  Full blame laid at their mercenary manager conducting his damage / reputation limitation act

[Rawhide]

I think I should ask a obvious question, how do you know that he didn't conducted group work with the team to assess how they felt was the best way to try and win that game in the players view, considering he would or should have known that the players know s'neill better then him. Just a thought, seen one manager do that. Looks you haven't.

[JoG2]

I think I should ask a obvious question, how do you know that he didn't conducted group work with the team to assess how they felt was the best way to try and win that game in the players view, considering he would or should have known that the players know s'neill better then him. Just a thought, seen one manager do that. Looks you haven't.

That's all well and good, always good to get input from the players, but this man is on the big bucks and the ah hem, buck stops with him. You feel differently, that's fine, you maybe have the inside track

[Glenman93]

The county board are laughable.  The poor reserves shafted again.  The next round of reserve championship is set for the Monday 24th Sept at 630pm!!! We are away to Dungiven which means our players would have to try and leave work early if they work to 5/530 and be there for 545pm.  Plus I don't think Dungiven have lights??  Complete shambles. Why not set the matches for 8pm and if first team drawn out doesn't have lights the match is played at the second teams pitch. If neither have lights play at a neutral venue?

[Estimator]

I read The Boys of '93 yesterday. The chapter by Gary is particularly revealing especially about '95.. "Tyrone beat us in the Ulster Semi-Final with thirteen men. If Tyrone had have had 10 men, they'd have beaten us that day.... the whole year was a joke... people played for the sake of playing".