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Think the original list of candidates was as follows:

Jim Gavin
Mickey Harte
Jim McGuinness
Scrooge McDuck
Pat Mustard

Heard that from a prominent County Board member...

I can gather thats a flippant comment from you but if Louth can go out on a limb to get one of the best managers in the game, why should we accept this level of mediocre yet again? How many of those named have experience of senior intercounty level outside of ORourke who in his first and only managerial post in Louth was a total and utter failure. There is no outstanding candidates in our own county, time to think big or we will be heading one direction.

Hearing the shortlist for Down position down to 4?


Tony McEntee Danny Hughes
Conor Deegan Aidan O Rourke An Other
Conor Laverty Marty Clarke
Mickey Walsh Mickey Linden


All things considered that's not a bad list.
A few outsiders didn't want to be considered
With the championship 3 weeks away today an appointment is imminent

Unfortunately no one on this list was the famous fives first choices. Turned down unsurprisingly on 3 occasions by former hi profile intercounty managers.

What a poor list that is such an underwhelming list of candidates. It's a sad sign of the times when we can't attract a high profile manager and if the famous five can't come up with something more appealing than this then they are the wrong men to select the manager.

Some of th names above to manage at intercounty senior level is laughable, this cannot be true Smurfy?

You are right Sheedy, it happens every week, every week in Kilcoo, eye gouging an opponent is up there with spitting, the lowest of the low but is anyone really that surprised with this carry on. The player in question, and his manager and his club have plenty of history and it just seems to happen all too often. Thought it would have taken till at least the club championship for the mask to slip but it only took a week.

Disappointing night, Down were in control and looked to have the match won but unfortunately the lads just seemed to be running on empty for the last 10/15 mins. The extra time win over monaghan clearly still in the legs in the heavy conditions.
We probably should have been further ahead but for some poor misses and shot selection. Hopefully still a big future ahead in the Down jersey for some of these young fellas.

Seriously??? The team beat Fermanagh, Cavan and Monaghan on route to an Ulster title.. meanwhile the big hitters Donegal, Tyrone, Derry were all in the other side of the draw Batein lumps outta each other.. still in the legs after extra time - every dog on the street knows they have been training since January in the parks around the county. Legs shudnt be a problem in their 4th game of a campaign...

I think tonight we were found out on the pitch and on the line. Some of the substitutions made were baffling - mccusker and Clarke offer zero off the bench IMO but club blood runs thicker than county water... our discipline was appalling in the tackle and shot selection was poor too..
unfortunately a number of these lads will probably be rushed thru to senior now and in all fairness probably only 3/4 of them are fit for it.

interesting the couple of fellas you named out of the entire panel are from a certain club, think it's clear you have an agenda. Last week's match was both mentally and physically exhausting and clearly had an impact in last 10 minutes.
Knock yourself with the negativity if it makes you feel better.

No agenda needed against any club, you only have to look at the captain and the KK blinkers that ultimately cost him the down job but if rumours are to believed our first choice has turned it down, hope it doesn't make the press and turn this into a chaos as before.

Disgraceful scenes at the end of the minor league final today in Mayobridge.. Burren win the game easily but started an absolute melee.. these clubs need to be held to account like Ballyholland and Downpatrick were a few years ago.

sssshhh move on.. nothing to see here, two of the so-called superclubs, nothing will be done about it. The videos did not look too kind though.

Well done to u20 team, that setup should be moved to senior ASAP, does anyone know if Conor and team are interested in going?

Is Conor interested? Where have you been living the past 4 days it's the biggest propaganda drive on social media since the US presidential election campaign. Conor and his Kilcoo compadres are beautifully construing an image of this angelic figure who has all of a sudden has been touched by an angel. The club championship is only around the corner, it won't be long before the mask slips. Never forget!

A day in the life of Down GAA, first we have the announcement of a new 5 man panel to pick the next Down manager but everyone knows only one name on that 5 man list will make the final call. Then we have the news that planing permission has been passed for our much needed center of excellence.

But to finish the day off in true Down fashion we go and get one of the biggest drubbings we have ever taken in underage championship, what an utter farce. Look at the great men who were overlooked for this job, hard questions must now start being asked and answered about the selection process, how the likes of Carr, Linden, Walsh, Hughes, were overlooked for this role is confusing. One of the biggest questions though has to be about our games manager, what progress are we making or what progress have we made with him in charge of development for over a decade now?

If someone in the county board would come out and admit they made an absolute balls of the leagues. Corn an Duin started 9 weeks ago why could the leagues not have started with 18 games and the normal started system like every year?
In a 9 game league as was mentioned here every point is vital
In this weather what a disaster that we will have no matches to attend on Friday

They didn't make a balls of the leagues, at the time it was the right call but unfortunately covid has raised its head again and we didn't make hay while the sun shined so therefore we have no competitive football played and it's frustrating for everyone involved.

Covid is one thing but clubs being held to ransom by an u20 development squad is a bigger issue. Surprised clubs allowing this to happen. Outcome of tonight's meeting will be interesting.

Very sad news about the Monaghan under 20 captain
A very sad day
It's really hard to take in that
Thoughts and prayers with his family

It's really does make you think
We talk about leagues getting held up
For what's it's worth
Let all club leagues go ahead next Friday and do away with relegation
And let the under 20s concentrate on that

But after the news this morning I'm not really worried what happens
Let lads play and enjoy football

Smurfy why are you still going on about the league's, I can't believe you are still going on about this! It's a development squad, the league's go ahead, players can play both, end of the line.

Interesting lots calling for Laverty to be appointed next Down manager, couldn't win a game with Monaghan last year, and you look at a year older Monaghan team today winning through to an Ulster final.

It's one thing coaching 16, 17 and 18 year olds in your own club but a different game with senior IC players. I really don't know where we turn to maybe an outsider again but please don't mention the usual same old names like Wee James, Poacher, Ross, Deegan, Mulholland, they simply aren't good enough. People might not agree here but surely Benny needs to be considered?

It will only take precedence if our clubs allow it to happen.

How players are released for county fixtures is not set by central council. It is motioned by the county board executive, and agreed by the county board (the clubs).

My personal belief (in no way representative of my club) is that senior league fixtures should be fulfilled on same weekend throughout the u2 competitions, and u20 players are eligible to play for clubs.

I have to agree, the leagues have to go ahead, we are the only county in Ulster that hasn't started the league's yet and now we are stopping them for an underage development squad!!! What's next???

Laverty has been training these lads from February the whole way through lockdown, time to push on with the senior club leagues.

It certainly would be nice to have a more competitive championship, same old gets fairly boring after a while.
Maybe the recent issues have created a more open and attacking philosophy, watching the Inter county there seems to be much more scores and a better attacking system.
Be interesting to see who comes out on top today, have the feeling it's more important for CPN

More important for CPN, really??? A meaningless pre season competition, wise up.

Excellent win for our U20 side Friday evening, I agree with Wobbler, more to come from this young side, they have a head start on most teams as they have been training since January, so there is an Ulster title there for the taking.

Just wondering why our Down social media channels of twitter and facebook are solely County based? We must have the worst PRO's in Ireland over the last few years who cannot retweet or post any club activity, every other county can do this apart from us apparently.

Almost every single club championship game Junior to Senior is covered at adult level and has been the last few years. Your comments are wide of the mark. Last year during the league there was actually a live score show on social media covering the club matches that no one could attend. The coverage of club football has increased dramatically over the last number of years not to mention the live streaming.

Don't mind him supersub, he's a moron, total wum who doesn't contribute anything positive at all. Yesterday was a much improved performance and a big result! I think we have a chance v Donegal especially in Newry with our own supporters giving the team a lift. Look at Cavan, Ulster champions but now in division 4, it was important we didn't drop to 3.

Brilliant win on Sunday against an ultra defensive set up, Laois are very poor and we should be winning that game comfortably especially with home advantage. With Murphy and McGee injured, have we a glimmer of hope v Donegal ?

Why are they not in squad?

Would have liked to see both in Action

It's a massive match.

Meath supporters seem to feel they have went back in 2 years and put in a poor performance on Sunday so we may see the backlash

Thinking about the keeper situation. Whilst I'm certainly not his biggest fan Burns seems to be hung out to dry by management and players. No kickout strategy falls back on him. He has obviously been told to hit that famous pack where all the players bunch and try win the break ball.

Annett left and O'Hare hasnt been on the panel in two years. Why would you not play your own club man Smurfy?

Massive game is right, we really need to win this Sunday (and we can) or else its a battle on the final day to see who gets the handier relegation play off. Staying up is all we can hope for because we wont beat Donegal.

Donegal at Pairc Esler is a tough one in a year with no back door.  One to look forward to so we need a good league preparation. They were being talked about as possibly the only threat to the Dubs last year until Cavan tore into them, we will need everything to go right and pray that everything goes wrong for them

Its the hardest draw we could have got, home or away is irrelevant with no supporters and we certainly wont win that game. That will be 3 years with one championship win v Fermanagh for Tally and co. No Ulster title in 28 years next year, it really beggars belief. Any news on the U20 season, excited to see what Conor Lav can do with that talented group.

Havent posted here in a while but I have been a constant peeper, interesting to see the eulogising here a few weeks ago when Down U20s won a development league that consisted of zero of the main challengers in Ulster and had people calling Deegan and Co the new messiahs of Down football and not a mention of todays result anywhere in the one game that really mattered. Also worth noting the absolute shambolic record of King James and his 15 man management team in the U17 championship. Anyone else providing such failure and lack of progress after 4 years would have serious questions to answer of their futures.

Looking forward to All Ireland Final day to see the 1994 team deservedly paraded on the pitch, the only high point of a dismal year, giving us great memories of special days and a team that symbolised the way Down teams should play and not the negative rubbish we are currently subjected to.