Where,What,How for the GAA in Down?

[Leo]

The direction this discussion has taken explains precisely why Down GAA is a basket case - from persoanl attacks on Sean Og to questions about Eugene Grant's assistance to Bryansford (which presumably they asked for) shows we are more interested in personalities then practicalities. Grant played for Bryansford and now he turns up helping them secure the future of the club? Shock horror!
Get a grip ouyt there. The issues are HUGELY more important.

[Caitlin]

I'm with Leo on the personalities. I have come across Sean og, Peter Quinn and Eugene Grant in my time and ,like us all, they have positives and negatives. For what it's worth, IMO Sean og is probably the pick!
If Down is to benefit from this windfall and use it for a proper training base to prepare County teams capable of winning at all levels we will need leadership, professionalism, commitment and single-mindedness. Money must be accounted for and the days of stuffing fivers into bags, with no proper receipts, abolished for good. Development of facilities will need the advice of paid professionals.Players must be treated fairly and mentally and physically coached.Hurling needs more attention but we must be conscious of demands on dual players- after under 16 a player should focus on one sport alone. All of this needs a 5-10 year plan and managers should be given what they need for a 3 year term.The most important AI is always the next one !

[thewobbler]

5 year plans, facilities, sack the board, transparency. This thread is full of buzz words and bullshit.

When the clubs start producing county standard players again, we will be a force again. Until then, we won't.

[wobbller]

 5times --I usually agree with most of your posts but the Sean Og rant is a bit OTT.We should stick to our future and not dwell on the past although your point on the socks I would also disagree with also.The GAA directives were clear at the time about team presentation and the possibility of fines,etc and only this year our Senior Footballers were subject to fines of ?000Euro for various disdemeanours during the course of the Championship.Somebody has to pay so Sean Og would have been right in his actions at that particular time.

[wobbller]

 A good football reply 5times and this what we shoud be talking instead of the goings-on of committees.

[johnneycool]

5times --I usually agree with most of your posts but the Sean Og rant is a bit OTT.

It may be a bit OTT, but I have no time for the man. Did he ever kick a ball in his life?

He probably never lifted a hurl either (a bit like most hurling board chairmen) but that doesn't mean he can't be a good administrator.

I am aware that his duties with the footballers under POR was  lot more than the PRO job he was supposed to hold and that was wrong, however he may well have the right tools for the admin side of the job. The direction we take on the development of hurling and football has to be decided by those with a knowledge and interest in those codes and whatever needs done on an organisational level should be sorted by the full time officer.

[behind the wire]

you are exactly right wobbler, we just dont have the players at the minute, especially defenders. clubs definitely need to work on coaching, but then again its the same old story of people not willing to help out with underage teams anymore. this is a much bigger problem in the county than anyone cares to notice. it is very evident in my own club.

also, correct me if im wrong, but i definitely dont think there are as many hard players in down football as there used to be. this is also reflected in the county team. there was a time when down had 6 or 7 players that would have gone through a brick wall, but not anymore.

[orangeman]

I'm glad you're starting to realise at last that the necessary players are not there at the moment - but they will arrive - menwhile Down will compete.

[Pangurban]

I wonder if the style of refereeing in Down is impacting upon the way our defenders play, covering the space rather than attack the Ball or the Man in possession. Forwards in Down Club football at the moment can win frees fairly easily as referees seem to frown on any hard physical contact,even it is within the rules. Just a thought, what say you

[AZOffaly]

Well, ye did reach an All Ireland final

[orangeman]

In 2008, Down bate Tyrone over 2 games - Tyrone went on to win Sam that September.

Down were very near winning the AI in 2010.

Division one for 2016. Target achieved according to Mc Corry. It depends on your perspective whether things have improved or not.

[bcarrier]

Down never got the team that beat Kerry in 2010 QF on the field again.

[Bingo]

5 year plans, facilities, sack the board, transparency. This thread is full of buzz words and bullshit.

When the clubs start producing county standard players again, we will be a force again. Until then, we won't.

But you not think that clubs are been put through the ringer regards developing players? Not sure of the situation in Down but I'd worry in Monaghan regards the direction the county development squads are heading.

From U14 up we have large development squads and gradually each year they are taking up more time with players. It seems all players with potential are drafted into these squads. Don't get me wrong, i'm not against them and its great for players to be put into an environment where they are tested at a high level and against similar standard players.

However, it is taking away from clubs. Give a 14/15/16 year old a county top and he thinks he has it made. He could be on a development squad up to minor and onto top of club, he has a ball of football played. From a squad of 50 players at U14, maybe 20 of them will be on the minor squad down the road. The rejection and disappointment has an impact. Plus they are impressionable at those ages and between that and schools football, you can suddenly find the club been 3rd choice.

It can be hard to the club to get these players back at times and their development can suffer. I seen Monaghan minors this year and to see what was happening was shocking. They trying to minor a Donegal style with two corner forwards playing in defence. This isn't developing players in my eyes. Its happening at club level too but that comes back to the clubs and there own choices on mgt and how they develop teams. I lot of work at development squad levels seem to be shooting fish in a barrel - they would be happy to get 3/4 players per year from a development set up from 40/50 players through to senior. The rest are left back at clubs and having been through the system, will they really push themselves to go again?

I read recently about Kilkenny hurling clubs been met by Brian Cody and he spelled out how he seen hurling been played by Kilkenny and they bought into this. In his eyes it worked for anyone. It is probably similar to Cross with a structure across the board from underage up. Consistency in Management is one thing that these two teams have that other counties/clubs may lack.

We have to be very careful about who is developing the players or soon clubs will be a second thought for players. Its hard for coach to handle players nowadays without knowing that 2/3 of his best players will be missing at underage level, has a huge impact on team training and morale in a young squad.

[johnneycool]

5 year plans, facilities, sack the board, transparency. This thread is full of buzz words and bullshit.

When the clubs start producing county standard players again, we will be a force again. Until then, we won't.

I read recently about Kilkenny hurling clubs been met by Brian Cody and he spelled out how he seen hurling been played by Kilkenny and they bought into this. In his eyes it worked for anyone. It is probably similar to Cross with a structure across the board from underage up. Consistency in Management is one thing that these two teams have that other counties/clubs may lack.

The Kilkenny model from senior squads, right the way down through all the underage intercounty teams, development squads work on a very similar basis. All players are expected to play with their clubs throughout the year. Development squads supplement the clubs, not becoming the be all and end all like in some counties.
There's a picture doing the rounds of Richie Hogan being double marked in a club game, and they're still in the championship, albeit not for another month or so, but Cody is adamant that club games go ahead as much as possible to ensure his players are getting plenty of competitive action rather than running the shite out of them round Nowlan park to justify the expenses of him and his backroom staff..

Surprised more counties, hurling and football don't seem to think this method would work for them!