Barney Rock

[Dinny Breen]

Mr Rock has been named Celbridge Manager for this season, a great player but whats his managerial track record like?

[lynchbhoy]

Quite good.

Well liked in Westmeath and another man whose tenure helped lift them out of the doldrums

Did superb work bringing Garristown up the leagues and championships to (near) senior status. I cant remember if they actually made it up to senior.

Celbridge need a fresh man - and it has to be an outsider.
Celbridge have done nothing of note this past while other than to dump towers out of the 2005 championship!

[Dinny Breen]

Ignoring the bait I forgot about his spell with Westmeath, Celbridge are a prgressive club looks like with Barney on board they might start fufilling their potential..

[lynchbhoy]

seems to be disciplinary problemsin that club.

Woudnt mind seeing them do well.

All those N Kildare sides have difficulties with player psychology - Leixlip, Celbridge, Kilcock just cannot seem to beleive they could win anything and are beaten before they play the game
Also internal fighting problems in each of them down the years. Maybe because they are situated too close to the Meath border !

Maynooth - worse again, their board dont seem to want progression, well they do, but in 1940's style - on and off the field.
A disgrace for such a big club with massive potential.

Was talking to the future Towers manager last weekend (dragged shopping in new Kildare village outlet and whitewater centres on Sat)
L.T. - a player on the first team I coached. He didnt know where you were living.(where the caravan was parked)

[Dinny Breen]

North Kildare clubs beyond Clane tend to be a bit soft, too many blow-ins and not enough identity, don't talk me about Maynooth Fergus Devereux and my Aunt have been on the committee's there in some role or another for the last 20 years, both are pretty backwards and the 40's analogy is spot on....

LT, wouldn't see eye-to-eye to often with him, his heart is the right place not sure about the intelligence.....he wouldn't have the best management skills either..

You're some man for the shopping 

[Bord na Mona man]

I think feelings about Rock were mixed in Westmeath.
Remember he inherited a team that in 1994 had beaten Derry in the league quarter final under Mattie Kerrigan.
Ger Heavin said that after the famous draw against Offaly in 1997, Rock ran the shite of them during the following week in training. They were beaten by 10 points in the replay.
It was under Brendan Lowry that Westmeath made the step up.

[lynchbhoy]

North Kildare clubs beyond Clane tend to be a bit soft, too many blow-ins and not enough identity, don't talk me about Maynooth Fergus Devereux and my Aunt have been on the committee's there in some role or another for the last 20 years, both are pretty backwards and the 40's analogy is spot on....

LT, wouldn't see eye-to-eye to often with him, his heart is the right place not sure about the intelligence.....he wouldn't have the best management skills either..

You're some man for the shopping 

is yer aunt married to fergus or just on the committee with him?

hes some boyo.
As a ref , He used to send my brother off all the time whenever he reffed challenge matches- bear in mind that the brother and fergus are both affiliated with maynooth!

Was chatting to fergus last year and he let slip that he never fogave the brother for continually humiliating him when fergus was playing against him years ago when the brother was a nipper (he used to beat  Niall buckley also but thats abother story)


Jeez North kildare has changed then since I left.
We were always lording it in the intermediate as we knocked the stuffing out of most teams - esp southern ones (apart from suncroft and their army contingent). Kilcock and Celbridge were always good for a big row.
I wouldnt ever describe the 'bridge as being soft ! 

As for shopping, well I like sport, she likes shopping. I just carry the purchases and try to make sure she doesnt spend too much !
Feck- I think I am living with Imelda marcos's re-incarnation (except that imelda isnt dead)

[lynchbhoy]

I think feelings about Rock were mixed in Westmeath.
Remember he inherited a team that in 1994 had beaten Derry in the league quarter final under Mattie Kerrigan.
Ger Heavin said that after the famous draw against Offaly in 1997, Rock ran the shite of them during the following week in training. They were beaten by 10 points in the replay.
It was under Brendan Lowry that Westmeath made the step up.

a few of the East-Westmeath county players I knew liked Barney.

They loved mattie, but he was way too soft as a manager. A great trainer, but Barney was a little more cutting.
Still did quite well as a side and all those three or four managers kept them progressing until their plauteued, then made the breakthrough

A gradual incline, I dont think Lowry was any better then Barney - certainly not from the sentiments of the kinnegad lads...

[turk]

Lowry presented Westmeath with the breakthrough oppurtunity after beating Leix in 2000 but the players chose to fawn at dublin and knock each other over trying to swap jerseys with them!!

[Dinny Breen]

Is yer aunt married to fergus or just on the committee with him?

god no but sometimes I think they are...

Johnstown of course the exception to the soft comment, I was in Newbridge the day of the big row, I think it was Cathal O'Grady's brother that kicked a friend of mine in the head while he lay prone on the ground. Tough men but rarely dirty in fairness...

[lynchbhoy]

Is yer aunt married to fergus or just on the committee with him?

god no but sometimes I think they are...

Johnstown of course the exception to the soft comment, I was in Newbridge the day of the big row, I think it was Cathal O'Grady's brother that kicked a friend of mine in the head while he lay prone on the ground. Tough men but rarely dirty in fairness...

it was indeed Cathals brother.

He got a lengthy suspension out of it too.
Another great boxer he was too, but seemed to have a tough time for some reason - decked a teacher at school in edenderry who was giving him dogs abuse got expelled and ended up going back to the fathers homeplace in clare to finish school.

Is now back and captaining 'the clocks'

the funny thing is he is as quiet as a mouse off the field of play.Just had a bad turn of temper as a kid.

Funny - we always thought mid and south kildare were softy teams and bullied our way to victory....

[The Claw]

Last year, Rock managed Duleek. Duleek had been a team pushing the intermediate ranks for the last couple of year and they eventually won it with Rock in charge. THey stayed up senior this year also.

[Bord na Mona man]

Lowry presented Westmeath with the breakthrough oppurtunity after beating Leix in 2000 but the players chose to fawn at dublin and knock each other over trying to swap jerseys with them!!

Turk is spot on.
Lowry put Westmeath well on the way. Remember in his final year in charge when he steered to victory over Leix, he was without Dessie Dolan who was injured. He took a very young team to the brink and was disgracefully shafted.
Dempsey and Paidi simply cashed on on Lowry's good work.
I think I have an idea who Lynchbhoy might have talking to from the Kinnegad side of the county. Certainly someone who would have been a little mutinous towards Lowry while he was there.

[lynchbhoy]

Lowry presented Westmeath with the breakthrough oppurtunity after beating Leix in 2000 but the players chose to fawn at dublin and knock each other over trying to swap jerseys with them!!

Turk is spot on.
Lowry put Westmeath well on the way. Remember in his final year in charge when he steered to victory over Leix, he was without Dessie Dolan who was injured. He took a very young team to the brink and was disgracefully shafted.
Dempsey and Paidi simply cashed on on Lowry's good work.
I think I have an idea who Lynchbhoy might have talking to from the Kinnegad side of the county. Certainly someone who would have been a little mutinous towards Lowry while he was there.

wasnt thinking about any one of them in particular,but also I heard nothing negative about Lowry (used to play club football along with his cousin so was always a fan and wanted him to do well).

As an outsider, I think that all the Westmeath mentors from those years can justifiably say they played a part in the Westmeath revival.
Mattie, Sean, Barney etc etc

Sure Mattie can even claim to be the instigator of the whole lot and he is complete pants as a boss - great trainer/coach and will instill massive confidence and pride into a squad.
He just couldnt manage and I experienced this first hand with the guy, and he was an old family friend who was the reason for us transferring to his club so I wouldnt say anything bad about him , but in reality he just hasnt got it.
...and he's Westmeath's first messiah
I think it is doing these managers all a dis-service if you say one was better than the other, they all aided the rise of Westmeath football imo
Lowry AND Barney

[reillycavan]

Mr Rock has been named Celbridge Manager for this season, a great player but whats his managerial track record like?

Selector with Ballymun this year.