Antrim Football Thread

[Milltown Row2]

What are you talking about excuses? Who made excuses?

It's fine to be ambitious but you have to have realism in there  as well. You expect us to beat Sligo, Clare, Fermanagh, Kildare. Offaly, Wexford and Laois and think we're a failure if we don't?

Have you followed our county team much at all? Incremental progress is fine with me.

Long time follower, long time realist.

there is no one in that group you just mentioned that are unbeatable. that is why they are in Division 3 after all and they will all be taking points off each other as well.

Progress? Relegation battle in the league. dumped out of championship by an average down side.  cant win a 2nd rate competition that no one cared about than us. 

Down were in Division 3 with us this year.  was their ambition at the start of the year to win the Tailteann?

I am 100% in the camp that looks down their nose at the Tailteann Cup. We are the only county in Ireland relishing getting back into it and that sums us up.
Rather than take the hard road of remedying the cause of our mediocrity we take the easy road. Winning the TC isn't going to solve our problems. All it will do is mask them for another year.

I think we need to stop playing football and concentrate on hurling, wasting money and effort on it, it's obviously not entertaining nor successful but we keep at it.

Sure they're as far away in the hurling as they are in the football. The TC is a good competition for Antrim. It the level they're at and has brought them to Croke Park for the last 2 years! What would be the point playing in the All Ireland series currently??

I was taking the piss but here we go lol

We are as far away from winning the TC cup as winning the McCarthy cup.

Div 1 hurling div 3 football

The problem with the armchair experts is that they know better but they'd struggle to look after under 8's

[Spike]

Yes MR2, your track record in management has firmly established you as an armchair expert.  

[Milltown Row2]

Yes MR2, your track record in management has firmly established you as an armchair expert.  

I'm not the one talking down the manager or claiming to know how he should have done it.

[imtommygunn]

So we take this competition seriously and no one else does? How have you drawn that conclusion?

What difference does whether that was down's target make to us? Also that down side ran Armagh to a point and have all Ireland club champions in their midst too. They are mediocre for a down side but for this level of football are a half decent team.

By all means target promotion I would love us to be promoted but I am saying it will be bloody hard to get out of that division and if you deem Antrim, yes that's Antrim, as a failure for not doing so then one thing you are not is a realist.

Look down your nose all you want but further highlights lack of realism. It was all we had post championship so why not embrace it? You'd have been complaining were we dumped out of it early too.

Aim for the stars by all means but to get promoted I would say we will need to be 30-40% better. Possible yes but big ask.

Division 2 isn't the stars, its a decent league campaign away.

Post championship? People on here desperate to get started in the tailteann as if that's when our season really starts.

No one said staying in div 3 was a failure but not having div 2 as a prime aim for the season is nothing short of a disgrace.

But thats us.  Short cuts and sticking plasters everywhere and dolling out excuses before we've even tried. 

The tailteann has rubbish attendances because it's a rubbish competition.  Blitzes played yesterday in the county because most people preferred watching kids play friendlies than travel to Dublin to watch antrim seniors play. 
Says it all.

There are multiple things you claim which are nonsense.

So we take this competition seriously and no one else does? How have you drawn that conclusion?

What difference does whether that was down's target make to us? Also that down side ran Armagh to a point and have all Ireland club champions in their midst too. They are mediocre for a down side but for this level of football are a half decent team.

By all means target promotion I would love us to be promoted but I am saying it will be bloody hard to get out of that division and if you deem Antrim, yes that's Antrim, as a failure for not doing so then one thing you are not is a realist.

Look down your nose all you want but further highlights lack of realism. It was all we had post championship so why not embrace it? You'd have been complaining were we dumped out of it early too.

Aim for the stars by all means but to get promoted I would say we will need to be 30-40% better. Possible yes but big ask.

Division 2 isn't the stars, its a decent league campaign away.

Post championship? People on here desperate to get started in the tailteann as if that's when our season really starts.

No one said staying in div 3 was a failure but not having div 2 as a prime aim for the season is nothing short of a disgrace.

But thats us.  Short cuts and sticking plasters everywhere and dolling out excuses before we've even tried. 

The tailteann has rubbish attendances because it's a rubbish competition.  Blitzes played yesterday in the county because most people preferred watching kids play friendlies than travel to Dublin to watch antrim seniors play. 
Says it all.

So we take this competition seriously and no one else does? How have you drawn that conclusion?

What difference does whether that was down's target make to us? Also that down side ran Armagh to a point and have all Ireland club champions in their midst too. They are mediocre for a down side but for this level of football are a half decent team.

By all means target promotion I would love us to be promoted but I am saying it will be bloody hard to get out of that division and if you deem Antrim, yes that's Antrim, as a failure for not doing so then one thing you are not is a realist.

Look down your nose all you want but further highlights lack of realism. It was all we had post championship so why not embrace it? You'd have been complaining were we dumped out of it early too.

Aim for the stars by all means but to get promoted I would say we will need to be 30-40% better. Possible yes but big ask.

Division 2 isn't the stars, its a decent league campaign away.

Post championship? People on here desperate to get started in the tailteann as if that's when our season really starts.

No one said staying in div 3 was a failure but not having div 2 as a prime aim for the season is nothing short of a disgrace.

But thats us.  Short cuts and sticking plasters everywhere and dolling out excuses before we've even tried. 

The tailteann has rubbish attendances because it's a rubbish competition.  Blitzes played yesterday in the county because most people preferred watching kids play friendlies than travel to Dublin to watch antrim seniors play. 
Says it all.

"nothing short of a disgrace". Wise up. We need to improve significantly to be looking at division 2. Lay out the teams on paper and where we stand. Where we are now we are down the pecking order a good bit. We should absolutely target it but you are putting it as a yardstick like it's failure if we don't get it. I would put it as 30-40% improvement. Is that possible yes but it would take a big improvement. That's a proper realistic take not a disgrace. None of that is excuses. How is saying you are nowhere near favourites in a league where you are nowhere near favourites  disgrace?

How many ulster championship matches, yes matches, have we won in your lifetime? I don't know what age you are but regardless it won't be  lot. You have that and suddenly you frown upon a B competition?

What are we supposed to do here? Sure we'll just not support out county in it and sit and slag them off?

It'd be great if we were in division 2 and competitive in ulster championship matches but both will take a lot of improvement.

[InnocentByStander]

People say the footballers have not won anything in 50 years, now im not the biggest saffron on here but give them credit 2008 Tommy Murphy Cup   

[NorthAntrim]

The tailteann has rubbish attendances because it's a rubbish competition.  Blitzes played yesterday in the county because most people preferred watching kids play friendlies than travel to Dublin to watch antrim seniors play. 
Says it all.

well there is a massive problem if thats peoples attitude. Kids watching antrim play in Croke park could do a hell of a lot for them. Maybe these Blitzs were fixed a long time ago and nobody had the sense to pull them or refix. Maybe parents cant be bothered with the hassle of a trip to croke park so heading to creggan or glenravel is a handier option

[BelSaft]

No one notice how the Down players celebrated after the final whistle on Sunday? Why should it mean nothing to us but mean a lot to Down who have had lots of success at underage and Senior level historically? The negativity from certain sectors towards the county team and management is pretty pathetic

[BrendanAntrim]

Of course it matters, it's the championship we are in, we can't win, or advance to latter stages of a competition we are not in, so we have to aim to win the Tailteann Cup.

There were far more Antrim supporters in Croke Park on Sunday than you ever see at a league game in Corrigan. Part of that is the appeal of seeing the county playing on the big stage and that's perfectly fine. The prize for winning is entry into the Sam Maguire competition in 2025 which we would not win, but which would lift the profile of the game and the team beyond anything we could hope for while playing Div 3 and Tailteann Cup. It matters to Down, to Sligo, to Laois and rightly it matters to Antrim too.

Anyone think that if we were playing Down on July 13th in the final that it wouldn't be an enticing prospect? It would have been huge.

[bannside]

Absolutely no point aiming for the moon and the stars and falling short. Set realistic targets and try to achieve them or get as close to achieving them, because there are such small margins at times between winning and losing.

Imo, we target promotion from Div 3 next season, but it's a very tough ask. Relegation is a definite no go.

Ulster championship we have a good rattle, be competitive if we can, no more double digit defeats, but ultimately we won't be winning it next year or the year after.

The TC is absolutely our level, and if we were good enough to get to a final there would be busloads from every club filled to go.

Westmeath and Meath have won first two runnings of it and they definitely celebrated it like it meant a lot, and so will Down or Laois or the vast majority of Antrim football fraternity should we get there, hopefully that's next season. Some of those are counties with numerous Sam Maguires in their CV, why anyone in Antrim wouldn't really welcome and embrace that happening is beyond me tbh.

[paddyjohn]

Knife the footballs, burn the hurls and concentrate on Scor.

[imtommygunn]

Absolutely BS. Fully agree with pretty much all of that.

[antrimman667]

100% agree with MR2, No right to turn our noses up at the Tailteann

[Spike]

Some waffle on here but I will try and address what I can.

The irony of claiming the TC is a great competition to be in and will raise profiles yet most Antrim supporters could not be bothered going, preferring to watch under 8 football instead.   Would a TC semi final raise the profile more than a single championship win in ulster or promotion to div 2? Would there be more Antrim supporters at the TC semi final in Croker than in an Ulster semi final in Clones? The answers to both are no.

30-40% improvement needed to get into Div 2?  Division 2???  I would suggest that figure at possibly getting up and winning division 2 or more likely, getting into Division 1 and staying there.   Plenty of sad stories written on here during the league campaign about unlucky defeats and what might have beens. Did you ever think that with a slight improvement those narrow defeats could have been wins?  30 to 40% improvement needed?  Crazy.  Simple fact is we want an excuse ready and waiting for when we don't beat them.  No team in Division 3 is unbeatable.  That is why they are in Division 3 after all.

TC is our level.   So what do we do then if we win it and get put into the Sam Maguire?  Likely we will apply to get put back into the TC because we don't feel we are good enough to play in the proper championship. Wont want to play in it as we will get a few hidings.  That's our mentality.  B championships. 

I will break it down simply.  Should we enjoy winning the TC cup: Of course yes, but not start off every year waiting to get into the competition. Beginning each season with little ambition is precisely my gripe. We have readymade excuses for next year's championship failure already. Excuses for promotion failure in 2025 thrown out in 2024. But as long as we don't get relegated. Wow, great ambition.
   
One win in Ulster and a promotion push out of division 3 is not aiming for the Moon but people on here saying it is like suggesting we could win Sam Maguire. 

Our sole ambition for the season appears to be to not be relegated from Division 3. A poor Ulster campaign is acceptable. A poor League campaign is acceptable. Failure to win the B championship is acceptable.   

Truth is getting beat in the Ulster championship isn't hurting enough and no amount of TC cup wins in empty stadiums will raise the profile.  And if you are really honest with yourselves, getting beaten in the Tailteann isn't hurting as much as it should either.   

[imtommygunn]

Some waffle on here but I will try and address what I can.

The irony of claiming the TC is a great competition to be in and will raise profiles yet most Antrim supporters could not be bothered going, preferring to watch under 8 football instead.   Would a TC semi final raise the profile more than a single championship win in ulster or promotion to div 2? Would there be more Antrim supporters at the TC semi final in Croker than in an Ulster semi final in Clones? The answers to both are no.

30-40% improvement needed to get into Div 2?  Division 2???  I would suggest that figure at possibly getting up and winning division 2 or more likely, getting into Division 1 and staying there.   Plenty of sad stories written on here during the league campaign about unlucky defeats and what might have beens. Did you ever think that with a slight improvement those narrow defeats could have been wins?  30 to 40% improvement needed?  Crazy.  Simple fact is we want an excuse ready and waiting for when we don't beat them.  No team in Division 3 is unbeatable.  That is why they are in Division 3 after all.

TC is our level.   So what do we do then if we win it and get put into the Sam Maguire?  Likely we will apply to get put back into the TC because we don't feel we are good enough to play in the proper championship. Wont want to play in it as we will get a few hidings.  That's our mentality.  B championships. 

I will break it down simply.  Should we enjoy winning the TC cup: Of course yes, but not start off every year waiting to get into the competition. Beginning each season with little ambition is precisely my gripe. We have readymade excuses for next year's championship failure already. Excuses for promotion failure in 2025 thrown out in 2024. But as long as we don't get relegated. Wow, great ambition.
   
One win in Ulster and a promotion push out of division 3 is not aiming for the Moon but people on here saying it is like suggesting we could win Sam Maguire. 

Our sole ambition for the season appears to be to not be relegated from Division 3. A poor Ulster campaign is acceptable. A poor League campaign is acceptable. Failure to win the B championship is acceptable.   

Truth is getting beat in the Ulster championship isn't hurting enough and no amount of TC cup wins in empty stadiums will raise the profile.  And if you are really honest with yourselves, getting beaten in the Tailteann isn't hurting as much as it should either.   

You are right here. You have taken what people have said and completely misrepresented it.(again)

BTW I concede 30-40% is a stretch but it would take a significant improvement.

[NorthAntrim]

Some waffle on here but I will try and address what I can.

The irony of claiming the TC is a great competition to be in and will raise profiles yet most Antrim supporters could not be bothered going, preferring to watch under 8 football instead.   Would a TC semi final raise the profile more than a single championship win in ulster or promotion to div 2? Would there be more Antrim supporters at the TC semi final in Croker than in an Ulster semi final in Clones? The answers to both are no.

30-40% improvement needed to get into Div 2?  Division 2???  I would suggest that figure at possibly getting up and winning division 2 or more likely, getting into Division 1 and staying there.   Plenty of sad stories written on here during the league campaign about unlucky defeats and what might have beens. Did you ever think that with a slight improvement those narrow defeats could have been wins?  30 to 40% improvement needed?  Crazy.  Simple fact is we want an excuse ready and waiting for when we don't beat them.  No team in Division 3 is unbeatable.  That is why they are in Division 3 after all.

TC is our level.   So what do we do then if we win it and get put into the Sam Maguire?  Likely we will apply to get put back into the TC because we don't feel we are good enough to play in the proper championship. Wont want to play in it as we will get a few hidings.  That's our mentality.  B championships. 

I will break it down simply.  Should we enjoy winning the TC cup: Of course yes, but not start off every year waiting to get into the competition. Beginning each season with little ambition is precisely my gripe. We have readymade excuses for next year's championship failure already. Excuses for promotion failure in 2025 thrown out in 2024. But as long as we don't get relegated. Wow, great ambition.
   
One win in Ulster and a promotion push out of division 3 is not aiming for the Moon but people on here saying it is like suggesting we could win Sam Maguire. 

Our sole ambition for the season appears to be to not be relegated from Division 3. A poor Ulster campaign is acceptable. A poor League campaign is acceptable. Failure to win the B championship is acceptable.   

Truth is getting beat in the Ulster championship isn't hurting enough and no amount of TC cup wins in empty stadiums will raise the profile.  And if you are really honest with yourselves, getting beaten in the Tailteann isn't hurting as much as it should either.   

You are right here. You have taken what people have said and completely misrepresented it.(again)

BTW I concede 30-40% is a stretch but it would take a significant improvement.

30% isnt crazy. Can we add 3 starting forwards into our team next year (johnston, murray and loughran) that alone would be a massive bonus