Down Club Hurling & Football

[Smurfy123]

Why would you consult the players when we don't know how many will be involved
Why even ask the players
By tally's interview he is going no where

[Hedgehunter]

Players need to be consulted on new management, no disrespect to those players out there today but we need to get the best players in the County back involved. Need to know why there are so many opt outs and what will it take to get them back. Do they oppose a regimented structure without the freedoms to express themselves? We need to appoint someone who will get the best out of the players rather than shoehorn them into something that they are not.

Which players are you going to consult on management. The ones there that you don't rate or every adult player in the county. Unworkable way of appointing a management set up

I'm not saying the players will appoint the management. I'm saying they need to be consulted. We need to understand why so many walk away and so many refuse to commit or make themselves available and take these learnings and come up with a plan that suits.

[Lotto]

Consult the players, catch yourselves on. We have too many pampered pooches in Down currently without this. Kevin Mc Kernan had a major influence on getting our current disaster of a management in place and we can see how that worked out.

Tally's three year and £100,000 contract negotiated by Danny Hughes who helped raise the funds for him is at an end I believe. That performance today sums up how far we have declined recently. Eamon Burns was ridiculed by so many but getting to an Ulster Final and great days on the way just shows us what we are missing. We are so far off pace of the way football is currently and having such a manager who can't see that is holding us back. Today, so many of his players let him and us down. What have they been doing in training for months now when we are so defensively set up but yet so open at the same time. No movement on our own kickouts, hanging our keeper out to dry like many days is just scandalous and not pushing up on Donegal's kickouts today was pathetic. We have been an embarrassment for 3 years now, bye Paddy.

Conor Deegan seems to think he should be the next manager. Talk about going from to dumb to dumber.

[urbangael]

Tally comes across as quite arrogant in his interviews. Can see why a lot of players have walked away. Conceding 2.25 while playing defensive football is just embarrassing. Massive gulf in class and donegal just so well conditioned and slicker all over the park. Realistically it what most people expected today.

[SHEEDY]

That was like a junior/intermediate team playing a senior team in the championship, the difference in 2 teams was night and day. Donegal were fitter, stronger, had a game plan, had a kick out strategy and could kick points from distance. Apart from Barry OHagan who was superb and Liam kerr in flashes, Down had nobody who could carry the fight.
I'm not knocking the players because I know the commitment they give but surely Down football is better than that. To play a defensive brand of football and still concede 2-25 leaves serious question marks over the management continuing into next year.

[Smurfy123]

The lack of a winning mentality is why the brannigans and now the Johnstone's don't play for Down
I woukdnt be a fan of Tally but only so much he can do
Imagine Kilcoo getting hammered out the gate and a player writing on social media "TIGHT MATCH TODAY"
Them sort of players should be no where near Down squads
Undervalues the whole thing that
That sort of crap annoys the hell out of me
No doubt I will get criticised here for picking on players

[Cuan12]

Poor performance by Down yesterday, I fear for us in Div 2 next year, but it's the here and now we have to deal.To suggest the players should be consulted is laughable, next you will have letters hand delivered pleading for players to play.
The involvement of certain senior players getting Tally appointed needs looked at so it never happens again, Paddy Tally might be a fine coach but county manager he is not, why he sets up so defensive beggars belief, we can't defend , we have some quality forwards but to have them track back and then expect them to get forward and score is a very big ask.
Who would replace PT is the question but my preference is the one we passed over, Banty, proved he can get a county who were in the doldrums to one who were and still are very competitive, forget about the 91 and 94 teams , I hope PT recognises he isn't up to the job and any new manager develops us into a formidable attacking unit and not one remembered as a failed defensive unit with one or two good forwards.
What would yesterday's score had been if OHagan had been absent and about yesterday , why in blue blazes was Kerr hauled ashore and we can't trust McGovern , fine player but bad disciplinary record.

[Truth hurts]

Was anyone really shocked at yesterday's scoreline? A lot of our players never performed and the shooting boots were definitely off but sometimes that happens in football. Who was the player writing stuff on social media?
There are too many players / former players who talk too much about setups etc when they should look at their own performance. This county needs to unite and whoever has the job need year has a massive job on their hands. we are not producing the same calibre of players and there is a lot of good work going on in clubs. Are schools an issue with some schools doing nothing to promote Gaelic games?

Onto the u20s now and good luck to the squad, there seems to be a good squad in place with many tipping this side for ulster glory.

On the club scene, does anyone know how the league will be sorted? Will they go ahead as normal if the u20s are still in the competition? I think we need to give Conor and his team all the time and no complications to go far and to try and get some silverware to the county. An u20 title would be a huge boost to us

[thewobbler]

Really?

If we were to postpone senior club leagues for an underage inter-county competition, we might as well go back in time thirty years.

I don't give a damn how fancied they are. They're 19 year old lads, and doubling up on club and county commitments should be a breeze for them.

[Truth hurts]

I agree with you totally that leagues will go ahead as planned but if Down is still in the competition then I do not think they should be playing for their respective clubs in the league. This will cause problems with clubs I would imagine?

[Smurfy123]

So now you want the clubs leagues stopped to facilitate the under 20s?
Club players are bound to be pretty pissed off at this stage
When do the leagues start?
Why not start them this week?
What's the hold up now

[Truth hurts]

So now you want the club's leagues stopped to facilitate the under 20s?
Club players are bound to be pretty pissed off at this stage
When do the leagues start?
Why not start them this week?
What's the hold up now

When did I once say that I wanted the leagues stopped. I am just stating that it would not be fair on clubs playing in leagues without their u20 players providing they go on a run. Has anyone a breakdown of the squad and their clubs?
The leagues cannot be started this week as warm-up competitions need to be finished, I can not wait to see the final stages of the Corn an Duin plate. Kilcoo look to be in good nick but Burren and Warrenpoint under new management seems to be motoring a long rightly

[thewobbler]

They shouldn't have to play without their u20s.

If they're as good as we hope, they'll be playing 5 weeks out of 6 between 9 July and 15 August. That's 6 weeks of prime football season. It's just not feasible to postpone our adult leagues indefinitely, for under-age football. And if county board relents and stars the club fixtures on those weekends, there'll be uproar.

The most sensible way out is to play full club fixtures in tandem. That might reduce Laverty and co's preparation time, but f**k me they've been prepping for an awful long time already. There's surely little room left in their heads for motivation and instruction at this point.

[Smurfy123]

Agree with Wobbler we must play on regardless
This team is touted as All Ireland winners so what hope do we have if you now tell club players that the leagues won't start until August 20th?
Where does that leave club football in Down?
It may ruin it if that's the case

[Truth hurts]

Always remember that Ambrose Rodgers got his injury before the all Ireland in a club championship game which could have been avoided. In a normal season(2 rounds of fixtures), having a few starred fixtures would not have been that detrimental but as the league is only one round and 2up2down then I can see a headache for county board officials if the u20s can get a decent run. The leagues are needed soon as the warm-up competition has not captured the imagination but there could be a few tasty clashes coming up. BTW would you think it was fair asking players to play on a Friday night and then another game on a Sunday, surely this would be detrimental to our young footballers who we need to get through to senior level.