What now for Armagh?

[Over the Bar]

It's the end of an era in Armagh, even the most ardent Joe fan has to admit it.   So what now?

Most of McConville, Bellew, McGeeney, O'Rourke, McGrane, Marsden etc all likely to follow Joe en masse out of the Armagh set up.

Who takes over?   John Raffery?  Peter Rafferty?  Paul Grimely?  All are likely to throw their hat in the ring for the job as all feel they deserve a crack at it.  The obvious choice seems like Peter Rafferty as it will be mainly players from his u21 squad that fill the gaps left by the old stalwarts.   Who do the Armagh brethren think should take over?

[spiritof91and94]

After watching them today it looks like the rearguard will all go and I just hope for all your sakes that you dont end up like Down have - for we are in one big mess at the moment and it came from never getting the adequate replacements from the team that won 2 AI's.

[ONeill]

A new manager with a fresh approach will have a capable squad to work with. Armagh could be dangerous again in 2008. Joe's approach, whilst novel and innovative in 2002, had become stale and predictable. 2005 and that semi-final was when the scales tipped in terms of credible Sam contenders. I see young Dyas was introduced. With players of this calibre and the likes of Forker in the wings, they'll not regress to the dark days of the 80s/90s.

[ziggysego]

Well the wheel's came off the Tyrone bus last year and were pretty much in the same position as Armagh see themselve in now. 12 months later, Tyrone back are in another Ulster Final and are 2nd favourites to win the All-Ireland.

Don't write off Armagh yet, they will have plenty of time to regroup and to blood a lot of new potential players. Add into the mix that there'll be a new management team, with fresh new ideas..... Armagh could be a force to be reckoned with again next year.

EDIT: Spelling and grammatical errors

[J70]

Well the wheel's came off the Tyrone bus last year and were pretty much in the same position as Armagh see themselve in now. 12 months later, Tyrone back are in another Ulster Final and are 2nd favours to win the All-Ireland.

Don't write off Armagh yet, they will have plenty of time to regroup and to blood a lot of new potential players. Add into the mix that there'll be a new management team, with fresh new ideas..... Armagh could be a force to be reckoned with again next year.

Aren't Tyrone's top players about four or five years younger than Armagh's though?

[ONeill]

Not really. The likes of McDonnell, Mallon, Clarke, Kernan etc are all of a similar age bracket.

[J70]

I was thinking more of the likes of McGrane, McNulty, Bellew, McGeeney, McKeever and McConville!

[twotwocharlie]

Paul grimley is the man . armagh through and through.HE kept joe right that much is now clear.All said that team owes us nothing . I have some great great memories.Thanks Lads.

[ziggysego]

Aren't Tyrone's top players about four or five years younger than Armagh's though?

To be honest, part of Armagh's problem (in my opinion) was that they relied too much on old talents for too long. Tyrone was guilty of the same thing.

It's time to use this time wisely and search the county for new players, like Tyrone did. We now have McGuigan Jnr, Cavanagh Jnr, Gormley and others coming through to the team and marking their terrority.

[5 Sams]

Big Joe gone?? Thats the chips vans outside the Carrickdale fucked.

So the great one in a row team has eventually come to an end....the only team to win two All Irelands in the same year....their first and their last

[Rufus T Firefly]

Big Joe gone?? Thats the chips vans outside the Carrickdale fucked.

So the great one in a row team has eventually come to an end....the only team to win two All Irelands in the same year....their first and their last

Nice one 5 Sams - laighing and pointing the finger at our ship going down, as you bob up and down on the waves in your life jacket!   

[Datsun Donaghy]

Big Joe gone?? Thats the chips vans outside the Carrickdale fucked.

So the great one in a row team has eventually come to an end....the only team to win two All Irelands in the same year....their first and their last Cheesy Cheesy

Maybe we'll join you now 5Sams - and we'll all live in the past!
We'll watch ours on DVD and you can dust down the redundant VCR and black & white newsreel !

Armagh have to rebuild now - Down don't appear to even have a site!!

[Rufus T Firefly]

A new manager with a fresh approach will have a capable squad to work with. Armagh could be dangerous again in 2008. Joe's approach, whilst novel and innovative in 2002, had become stale and predictable. 2005 and that semi-final was when the scales tipped in terms of credible Sam contenders. I see young Dyas was introduced. With players of this calibre and the likes of Forker in the wings, they'll not regress to the dark days of the 80s/90s.

Good man Shane - spot on submission.

I'm afraid today was the day we all dreaded, knew was coming but tried to put it out of our minds. I think it is clear that the Father Time has caught up with the main men that took us to the dizzy heights of an All Ireland. They owe us nothing and go into the Armagh pantheon as football immortals - take a bow!

I'm loathe to say it but I'm afraid that at this juncture it is probably best that Big Joe moves on. I feel, and it was evident today, that he is too conservative in his approach, both in team selection, tactics and changes throughout the game. The time is right for a new approach.

The man I reckon who would be best for the job would be Paul Grimley - a brilliant man manager, tactician, innovator and motivator, and someone who will not stand by and stick with tried and tested formulae. I would love to see McGeeney as his right hand man - someone who would have the respect of the players and would instill discipline and a will to win that he himself helped bring to the squad.

My guess though is that John or Peter Rafferty will in all likelihood get the job. Hvaing said all that, maybe Joe might want to stay on - who knows?

My feeling as regards the players is that we are bound to lose some or all of Francie, Oisin, Enda, Paul McGrane and Geezer. The nightmare scenario for me would be Stevie, Martin O'Rourke and Paddy McKeever quitting along with these five. That would be too much to lose.

As stated by Shane above - there is potential there. My concern would be that we have not done what Down did and left it too late. I would like to see the likes of Paul Duffy, Kevin Dyas, James Lavery, Donaghy, Toner, Vernon, Michael O'Rourke, Peadar Toal, Stefan Forker all get a good run in the team with a view to next year and beyond. There is plenty of talent there - it must be given the opportunity. We already have solid established players like Ciaran McKeever, Aaron Kernan, Martin O'Rourke, Ronan Clarke, Andy Mallon, Stevie etc. There is no reason why we cannot look forward with some optimism.

It looks at this point that it is a very long way back - still, where there's life there's hope!    

[corn02]

Spot on Rufus, excellent post. I don't think you need to worry about O Rourke though he is only 27 I think and playing the football of his life.

The popularity of the game in Armagh over the last ten years has ensured that a return to the black days is certainly not on the cards. Since the All Ireland win we have won an U21 All Ireland plus an Ulster in the same grade as well as a minor Ulster title. Todays game could be a blessing in disguise. When an era ends it means new players and hopefully a new manager will have to come in. I too would love to see Grimley in charge, a man who most defiently would have the respect of the dressing room but it would appear Raff will take over which is also fair enough. The young talent is there, as I stated elsewhere, look at the bench today, the young talent was unreal.

Next year the team could line  out like this.  ( I am not guessing a team by the way, I am being hypothetical.)

McKinney
Mallon Donaghy McKeever
Dyas Vernon Duffy
Toner Lavery
A Kernan Mallon Toal
McDonnell  Clarke O Rourke

An extremely young team it would be, but looks like a good team. It shows we have the talent coming through.

[Sandy Hill]

Test