Joe Kernan Resigns

[Armagh Exile]

Joe Kernan is to be interviewed on Drive Time Sport on RTE Radio 1.
This programme has just commenced at 6.30pm and concludes at 7.00pm

[Goin Down]

He surly achieved alot with Armagh, he was nearly the best at the start with Armagh but in the last few years standard has dropped from Armagh, although bar this year very competitive they were not going to win Sam. Time they refreshed the panel.
Well Done Joe on a good career and all the best.

[corn02]

Well he certainly lost his way in the last few years, but thank you big Joe for the memorable day in 2002, you took us that extra step.

[Mack the finger]

I've had some great days in life.......
Getting married, having 3 great kids, passing exams, winning Club championships, hell I even won £20,000 in a draw about 25 years ago..........

But nothing compares to the feeling of standing on the pitch with my arms wrapped round my Da, remembering my dead Granda's and crying like 2 babies as Kieran McGeeney lifted Sam for us.........

Thanks Joe.....for the best day of my life.

Wel said PI - was gonna say something similar, but ye said it better.

In the end Joe was a victim of his own success - trophies means expectations are raised. Its not so long ago that Armagh were way off the pace
when it came to sitting at the top table. A barren spell mighn't be too far off again - but it'll be in spite of the massive amount of passion and effort that Joe and the lads put in.

And all this talk about not getting another all-ireland - nobody has a divine right to them. I'm just glad that I lived during a time when my county won
an All-Ireland - there's a lot of people won't get that chance.

Cheers Joe, and good luck with the golf handicap.

[corn02]

Eh passing interest, you put the All Ireland ahead of winning club championship there? You want to edit?

[armawman]

The eras of the two Brians and Joe have been by far the most successful in Armagh's history. We hadn't played in the championship in Croke Park since 1982 until the Brians brought us there in 1999. We've practically lived there since.

Armagh people should be forever grateful to Brian McAlinden, Brian Canavan and Joe Kernan for the outstanding service they have given to the County, both as players and management.

Its a sad day to see Joe depart. He brought us such joy in 2002 and it was such a great achievement to get us back to the final in 2003 despite so many injuries. It was also a tremendous achievement to keep this team at the top table for so long. How many supporters would have expected in 2002 that this team would still be challenging strongly for the All - Ireland in 2006? How many would have thought we'd be back in the final in 2003 and then win three Ulster titles in a row, including the first from the preliminary round in sixty years? From 2002 - 2006, Armagh only lost one Ulster championship match under Joe. This occurred at a time when Ulster was never more competitive.

Well done to the two Brians for starting it all off and for bringing such wonderful success and well done Joe for putting the icing on the cake and for keeping us at the top for so long. The three of you have given us so many great days out and have made Armagh a football county to be respected the length and breadth of Ireland.   

[Armagh Exile]

Good to learn from today's papers that the clubs in Armagh will be able to nominate a successor to Big Joe.

[Bensars]

How many supporters would have expected in 2002 that this team would still be challenging strongly for the All - Ireland in 2006?

Dont get carried away too much now.

Armagh 1-13 Kerry 3-15

Getting hammered by 8 points in a quarter final isnt exactly challenging strongly 

[lynchbhoy]

How many supporters would have expected in 2002 that this team would still be challenging strongly for the All - Ireland in 2006?

Dont get carried away too much now.

Armagh 1-13 Kerry 3-15

Getting hammered by 8 points in a quarter final isnt exactly challenging strongly 

dont think the scoreline reflected the actual game
Kerry deserved to win, but there was not that much in it - clinical finishing and a bit of luck either way to both sides was the diff imo

[johnpower]

Heard Joe on Newstalk and the thing that struck me was the margins,. from the semi in 99 ,the draw in 2000 (last minute Maurice Fitz point ) Galways late point in 2001 .Eoin Brosnans miss in 2002 . Conner Gormley tackle in 2003 and then losing 2 championship games in 2007 by a point .He was right to quote "Any Given Sunday " it is about the Inches . Best of luck to him in the  future I used to enjoy his articles in the Star circa 2000 he would make a good tv pundit

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Ronán Mc Sherry's piece in today's Gaelic Life (and we're not innocent either, the opulence of success, and we'd accuse the Kingdom!):


Sure we're all spoilt!

What's got into us all? While Sligo folk celebrate with abandon, Tyrone folk are less than enamoured with winning Ulster

I was enjoying a coffee with a member of the Tyrone minor management team on Monday as he glowed in the warmth of Sunday's success. At the next table an elderly couple supped tea and the old man who obviously overheard our musings informed us he had been to Clones the previous day. "What did you think?" says I, referring to the endeavours of the Tyrone senior team. "Ah now," he replied, "they weren't tarra" before complaining about the ticket price and his bald head getting a touch of the sun. I was startled to hear such a lack of insight from one with so many years on the clock. He had lived in a time when winning the Anglo Celt Cup sparked mass celebrations across the county with players being carried shoulder high through towns and villages accompanied by the local accordion band. His attitude is not unique.

Contrast Grumpy Old Git with Reggie McNulty of Sligo featured on last week's 'Road To Croker' on RTE 2. The bould Reggie has the grand title of 'Kit Manager' for the newly crowned Connacht champions. His reaction when the All Blacks won the provincial title for the first time since 1975 was a joy to behold. He lay prostrate on the ground with his fists clenched before finally getting to his feet and whimpering through his tears, "I'm delighted-I'm delighted."

Presenter Des Cahill remarked, "That brings the tears to your eyes." Now it is unlikely Tyrone or Armagh supporters would react in a similar fashion with their recent years of success, nor should they be expected to, but it does no harm to remember from whence we came and cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Absence sure makes the heart grow fonder and a win for Monaghan on Sunday would have unleashed celebrations more Reggie than senior citizen in the coffee shop. The Oriel county was festooned with flags and banners while their supporters were animated with unbridled passion when their heroes looked like overturning the Red Hand in the dying minutes.

Meanwhile barely a flag flew across the land of O'Neill. It is not so long ago Tyrone and Armagh were on the same plateau as the Monaghans and Sligos of this world, rarely winning a provincial title and light years away from All-Ireland glory. The Gaels of those counties would give up their pensions for a taste of what the Orchard and O'Neill clans have experienced since the turn of the century. It is hard to stomach begrudgery when it comes from within rather than from jealous rivals. The spoilt child's face lights up the first time Daddy brings home sweets and then expects it as of right all the time, huffing when he arrives back empty-handed. The only thing worse than a spoilt child is a spoilt adult. Some of the comments regarding the apparent conclusion of 'Armagh - the Glory Years' have been less than complimentary.

Among the begrudgers have been letters to provincial newspapers and messages on websites from their own supporters/critics, convinced the last nine years were somehow a time of under-achievement and failure. Since 1999 the Orange have won as many Ulster titles as they did in the previous 100 years, two years ago they secured their first ever National League and in September 2002 an Armagh captain lifted the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time. My abiding memory of the television images is a supporter with his arms outstretched to the Heavens in a pose captured by Tim Robbins as he stands knee high in water in the pouring rain after tunneling through four hundred yards of foul smelling shit to freedom from Shawshank prison. Redemption!

Armagh people should be erecting a statue to Joe Kernan and putting up plaques to those boys, including the two Brians, for what they have achieved. So too should Tyrone followers for their managers and players, whatever the future holds. They have taken us on a journey we hardly dared to dream. It won't last forever. These are our Glory Years. We should savour every moment of this era, get to as many games as possible and keep all the videos to show the next generation. Everything comes to an end, except of course a cat's tail which comes to a point.

Change is the beauty of sport. Joe Louis told how it was often said to him. "You're unbeatable Joe, you're unbeatable." The Brown Bomber would reply, "I know one man will beat me, Father Time." He beat the great Galway team of the sixties, Kerry and Dublin in the seventies and eighties, Down and Derry in the nineties and Tyrone's day will come too.

The story is told of Brendan Behan riding the high stool in a Dublin pub while ignoring the overtures from a half cut Jackeen. Says he to the playwright, "You bollox ye   Behan, I remember when you hadn't an arse in your trousers." Behan turned, looked him in the eye and said, "Not half as well as I do." It is not long ago Armagh and Tyrone hadn't an arse in their trousers and some of their supporters seem to have forgotten it already.

[johnpower]

Great piece

[armaghniac]

Enda McNulty was interviewed by Brian Carthy on the radio this evening, he suggested that he was suprised that Joe left, as that wasn't the impression given in the dressing room immediately after the game.

[ONeill]

I had to do stats for an article lately on Armagh since 1999 and what was remarkable was how many games Armagh in this period lost when ahead with 15 mins left and won when behind at around the same period.

v Kerry in 2000, they had the game in the bag. I know he's not Armagh's favourite journo but after that replay Sweeney wrote: And Armagh repeated a grave tactical error which has bedevilled them in the past. This fallacy was to believe that you can defend a lead in a game of gaelic football, that getting as many men as possible behind the ball will see you through. But, had they not clammed up after John McEntee's point at the start of the second half put them five clear, they would probably have won the game in normal-time and we would have been denied those brave extra-time comebacks which gave the young team such nobility in defeat. (http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2000/09/04/current/spage_0.htm)

2001: They hit the lead for the first time v Tyrone 1-8 to 1-6 early in the second half (scoring 1-2 in the first 3 minutes) but couldn't hold out and were overturned by 5. Then v Galway, we witnessed the other side of the coin. Galway lead 12-5 and we then get to see what made this Armagh team tick.

2002: In the first game v Tyrone they lead 1-11 to 0-10 with 20 mins to go and almost throw the game away. In the replay they are level with 7 mins left and Armagh edge Tyrone. The matches v Sligo and Dublin again mirror this trend. Armagh lead Sligo by 6 with 20 minutes left and fold, hanging on for a draw. Against Dublin, Dublin lead by two with 9 minutes left, Armagh reel off 3 points. In the final, Kerry lead by 4 with 17 mins left....

2003: Probably the one year when Armagh didn't push on from a scenario made for them - 4 down to Tyrone at Half time, 3 with 10 mins left.

2004: Armagh spend most of the 2nd half a point ahead of Fermanagh, but lose out.

2005: Armagh spend most of the two Ulster Final games behind, but still win the title. In the semi final, they hit the front by 2 points  with 7 mins left, concede 3.

2006: Armagh lead Kerry by 4 after 33 mins. Lose out. Earlier they led Monaghan by 4 with 15 mins remaining - hold on for a draw. v Fermanagh and the Erne men spent the majority of the second half 2/3 points ahead - Armagh force a draw.

2007:  v Donegal and Armagh spend most of the 2nd half a goal ahead of Donegal - lose the game. v Derry and Armagh lead by 2 early in the 2nd half - lose the game.

What does the above tell you about Kernan's tenure? Absolutely nothing.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

I had to do stats for an article lately on Armagh since 1999 and what was remarkable was how many games Armagh in this period lost when ahead with 15 mins left and won when behind at around the same period.

Good man, if there could be any criticism levelled against him, and in the overall scheme it's a minor one (though perhaps less so with ourselves  ), it's that the offensive option was abandoned too readily, sometimes much to readily, at times. It comes back to the piece about how Armagh just didn't score enough, which ties in with Joe's primarily defensive mindset. Having said that, someone with a less defensive mindset in the first instance, wouldn't have reached the Holy Grail, and Joe's problem, ultimately, was disengaging from that, even when the monumental psychological barrier of the first All-Ireland was breached.