Sligo Football - Where do we go from here?

[stevo-08]

Lads i agree about ohara, just posted on hoganstand ohara thread i see him at FF or roaming aroung the forward line. He is just not cutout for midfield consistently as he used to be. Also i dont see quinn there either next yr. Just not mobile enough IMO and not the future. People seem to forget T Taylor a forgotten man but in last yrs league came good with a few outstanding showings in he latter stages of the nfl. He is fine footballer too. To me if he is fit he is a definite starter at midfield if regains his form after long injury layoff. I know he is back for his club and im looking forward to seeing him in club championship.

Id like to see either henry or wilson get the other midfield role. Dont rate gilmartin as highly as other 2. Henry has bags off football abilty along with a good engine and a bit of pace. Wilson who i see week in week out is outstanding for us, great reader of the game, ball winner, passing execution and his workrate is top class and can field it when ball is in his direction. He doesnt have a burst of speed but has one gear and that never waivers with good stamina.  Wilson pulled out of panel in april to give a long term shoulder injury some rest, he only came back for us 2 weeks ago. He needs to get it looked at in the closed season and hopefully raring to go come january.

Sligonian, I havent forgotten about Taylor. i mentioned him in my post. However I definitely see Quinn partnering him in midfield until the likes of Henry make the step up. Dont underestimate the experience that Quinn has accumulated. There's going to be a transitional period and it'll be very important for the likes of Quinn, O'Hara, Maguire, Brehony to help the younger lads break into the team. I'd like to see the likes of Henry & some of the other players mentione given a chance in TM, FBD and some NFL games. But those senior players will still be needed for the big games.

[the Deel Rover]

 
Jordan gets vote of confidence from Yeats County
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Friday June 27 2008

SLIGO County Board chairman John Murphy still believes that Tommy Jordan is the right man for Sligo despite the county's poor showing this year.

Murphy declared that the "board remain convinced that he (Jordan) is the right man to bring Sligo forward" despite their relegation to Division 4 and subsequent relinquishing of their Connacht Championship crown.

"We have had a disappointing year but to lay all the blame at the manager's door would be wrong. We remain committed to taking Sligo forward and despite last Sunday's poor performance we believe we are on the right track and Tommy has a proven track record in club management," said Murphy.

Sligo entered 2008 with high hopes after their historic Connacht final win over Galway last summer but since then the Yeats men have failed to find their form.

Their interest in the All-Ireland series last year was ended by eventual finalists Cork -- a defeat that signalled the end of Tommy Breheny's reign as manager.

Mayo native Jordan -- who guided Crossmolina to a pair of All-Ireland club titles -- was installed as his successor but Sligo have enjoyed little success since then.

A disappointing Division 3 campaign that garnered just one win (at home to Limerick) saw them finish bottom of the table. And while they easily brushed aside the challenge of London in Ruislip in their championship opener, Mayo outclassed them in every department in McHale Park last Sunday to condemn them to Tommy Murphy Cup football for the remainder of the season.

And that competition is set to bring its own headaches as a number of senior players including Eamonn O'Hara, have already indicated that they will not be making themselves available for the secondary competition.

- Donnchadh Boyle

[SLIGONIAN]

Lads i agree about ohara, just posted on hoganstand ohara thread i see him at FF or roaming aroung the forward line. He is just not cutout for midfield consistently as he used to be. Also i dont see quinn there either next yr. Just not mobile enough IMO and not the future. People seem to forget T Taylor a forgotten man but in last yrs league came good with a few outstanding showings in he latter stages of the nfl. He is fine footballer too. To me if he is fit he is a definite starter at midfield if regains his form after long injury layoff. I know he is back for his club and im looking forward to seeing him in club championship.

Id like to see either henry or wilson get the other midfield role. Dont rate gilmartin as highly as other 2. Henry has bags off football abilty along with a good engine and a bit of pace. Wilson who i see week in week out is outstanding for us, great reader of the game, ball winner, passing execution and his workrate is top class and can field it when ball is in his direction. He doesnt have a burst of speed but has one gear and that never waivers with good stamina.  Wilson pulled out of panel in april to give a long term shoulder injury some rest, he only came back for us 2 weeks ago. He needs to get it looked at in the closed season and hopefully raring to go come january.

Sligonian, I havent forgotten about Taylor. i mentioned him in my post. However I definitely see Quinn partnering him in midfield until the likes of Henry make the step up. Dont underestimate the experience that Quinn has accumulated. There's going to be a transitional period and it'll be very important for the likes of Quinn, O'Hara, Maguire, Brehony to help the younger lads break into the team. I'd like to see the likes of Henry & some of the other players mentione given a chance in TM, FBD and some NFL games. But those senior players will still be needed for the big games.

Ya just read it again there, sorry, Steve08 i have concerns about quinn now to be honest, he is a massive physical presence and does alot of hard work but this yr all yr hes been well below his best. Id like to think its because he wasnt fully fit but he should be fit. So i not sure he can back to his best.

Remember too gilmartin seems to be higher in the pecking order than henry (who got no run all yr) with the management. Wilson may break through he got a few runs earlier in the league but his progression was halted with a shoulder injury. I see him as an upgrade and younger fitter version of quinn, in that he has a similiar style of play. I feel sometimes experience can be over valued. If quinn returned to his best id love to see him midfield for us but with all these lads from u21 he should feel that pressure and that he gets the no9 based on current form rather than a game a yr ago.

On the jordan issue, getting the backing hes getting from murphy means its ok to just win 1 game all yr and thats heading the right direction. It creates a sense infalabilty and non accountabilty for management. If a monkey was manager of sligo this yr it wouldnt have done worse. Jordan made too many obvious mistakes, lacked leadership and couldnt make big calls, like looking from the outside in, he was out of his depth and not helped by inept people around him. Everyone i talk too want him and his selectors gone. Will murphy make our wishes a relaity? Is murphy a big enough man to admit he made a mistake and sack the management before we have another disaster next yr?

[Sligoper]

What do ye think of the draw? If london beat Kilkenny are we off to London again??

[Tatler Jack]

Murphy declared that the "board remain convinced that he (Jordan) is the right man to bring Sligo forward" despite their relegation to Division 4 and subsequent relinquishing of their Connacht Championship crown.

I do not know enough about Jordan to have any opinion on whether or not he should stay but I do think that county chairmen should keep their mouths closed on the issue until it is discussed in its proper forum. The view of the county chairman should have no more validity than that of Sligonian.

It is clear that those that care about football in Sligo need to have a good think about the future and how to get Sligo football to a level where it can challenge Mayo and Galway on a regular basis. I am around long enough to remember the euphoria when Sligo won in '75 and the lean years that followed. There are a lot of similarities between then and now and not least that when Sligo won in '75 it was with a team in decline and they should really have won 4 or 5 years earlier (especially '71). The same is probably true now. However this does not mean that the decline after 75 needs to happen again. A bit like Roscommon, Sligo needs to look at it's under age and club structures and see how the overall level can be improved. In this context it should then look at what type of management structure is appropriate for their county teams. I for one have serious reservations about bringing in outside managers (especially at minor level) in counties like Sligo. I am sure Jordan and Moyles are doing their best but what do they add. Unless no one in Sligo is interested in the job (and if this is the case then I am not sure there is any hope) there is no convincing case for bringing in managers from a neighbouring county – managers who have no exceptional credentials.

I hope those involved in Sligo football consider the future coolly and rationally and in the meantime the county chairman should remember "Is binn béal ina thost"

[moysider]

Agree with all of that Tatler. And good to see some people here are around as long/longer than I am.

Lads like Sligonian need to ask themselves why their board appointed Crossmolina lads as managers. Were Sligo fellas interested? I dont know but am interested to know. And why did Brehony resign?
If for example Dessie Sloyan or Paul Durcan expressed an interest in managing the Sligo minors surely he would have been given the gig? Who was in opposition to Moyles for the minor job? I dont know . Sligonian I m sure and the other Sligo lads on here do. Same with Jordan. Who were the alternatives and who would be interested now? Tatler is right about the chairman. Should have kept his mouth shut. As I ve said already I m not sure I d want to continue if I were Jordan. I d say he ll want to just finish out the year. Nearly impossible for him to continue and he will know that. Yet I dont think either Jordan or Moyles can be loaded with the bulk of the blame for the capitulation of either team.

Almost 20 tears ago Sligo board made an effort to promote the games in schools where it had never been entertained. Ballymote and Ballysodare competed in FAI schools soccer but not in football at that time. There has been considerable improvement since but more needs to be done to improve the player base. Whatever about winning a Connacht Colleges title Mayo have 3 teams in senior A Colleges football and they supply a good few of this minor team. Likes of O Shea will be playing 4 years senior Colleges next year and is already a top senior club player.

Tatler is right. management needs to go inhouse in sligo at the very least minor and U21. If natives are not interested its not a good sign. Sligo also needs to up the standard that their best players are playing at Colleges level.

[SLIGONIAN]

It really has nothing to do with where there from to be honest. At the end of the day alot of Mayo lads on here were of the opinion that Jordan wasnt up to it and that anyone would of won with that crossmolina team. Jordans year was littered with obvious mistakes. He seemed never too learn from them either. Its hard on here to post and knew everything because no one does but the sligo management are closer to what goes on than I am. Take the team that played Mayo in csfc that team never played any NFL games at all. The whole team postions changed but jordan did it when league was over. That to me is crazy even if some changes were right. IF i really thought hard about it i could make a list as long as my arm on the mistakes he made. He got very little right in his first yr.

Moyles has had 2 yrs with very talented players but got feck all out of them.

Both moyles and jordan applied for mayo jobs and didnt get them, that makes me wonder? why are they good enough for us.

Now is there any alternatives, I am not a member of any selection commitee or cb so i havnt a clue who apllied for minor and senior jobs when they were available. I hear anthony brennan being touted alot but I dont know what he is like. I think he is manager of sligo IT at the minute. Tommy breheny gave family commitments as his reason for leaving and we have to respect that. Denis jonston is another man touted but I have first hand experience of him at sligo vec county team. He was a disaster. Old school and obsessed with physical players who could nt kick a ball straight to save there lives etc...

Personnally i would love to get a crack at the senior job now you know what i mean. Expectations are low but the team that won connacht is still there. There is a big difference in 75 and 07 in that 75 the whole team was old but majority of the 07 team are around 25. The main problem we have with players who have talent in our county is atitude and belief. The atitude of our players means we are NOT guarnteed a 100% from them when they represent sligo. I could go further and tell some truthful stories but that would be seen as personal attack. We need to get rid of this atitude. To me when anyone says "we dont know what happened against mayo" that to me is lie, the players know what happened they just dont have the bottle to look at themselves and say I could of given alot more today, why didnt I?.. Jordan was right to criticise them half way through the nfl questioning there atitude and commitment. See the only inside knowledge i have is of player telling sligo were not fit, training was lacklustre and lots of craic at training more interested in laughs apparantently. The panelists told me the unfit older lads are holding back the young lads. Management need to sort that out and players need a right going over. There would be 7or 8 lads that started against mayo and came on that i would never select again. Im not brave enough to name them as id get ate by sligo lads on here.

Just to point out paul durkan i think would a disaster too, he managed TM cup team a few yrs ago, he brought back ronan keane (overthe hill and not fit) to that team and left young up and coming lads on the line. That was a disgrace. That Competiion should be used to blood young lads not bring back lads so they can play in croker and only benefit themselves and not sligo football.

At colleges and school sligo coaches are putting alot of work in but the benfits of that will take time to see.

[moysider]

It really has nothing to do with where there from to be honest.1 At the end of the day alot of Mayo lads on here were of the opinion that Jordan wasnt up to it and that anyone would of won with that crossmolina team. Jordans year was littered with obvious mistakes. He seemed never too learn from them either. Its hard on here to post and knew everything because no one does but the sligo management are closer to what goes on than I am.4 Take the team that played Mayo in csfc that team never played any NFL games at all. The whole team postions changed but jordan did it when league was over. That to me is crazy even if some changes were right. IF i really thought hard about it i could make a list as long as my arm on the mistakes he made. He got very little right in his first yr.

2[b]Moyles has had 2 yrs with very talented players but got feck all out of them.
[/b]
Both moyles and jordan applied for mayo jobs and didnt get them, that makes me wonder? why are they good enough for us.

Now is there any alternatives, I am not a member of any selection commitee or cb so i havnt a clue who apllied for minor and senior jobs when they were available. I hear anthony brennan being touted alot but I dont know what he is like. I think he is manager of sligo IT at the minute. Tommy breheny gave family commitments as his reason for leaving and we have to respect that. Denis jonston is another man touted but I have first hand experience of him at sligo vec county team. He was a disaster. Old school and obsessed with physical players who could nt kick a ball straight to save there lives etc...

Personnally i would love to get a crack at the senior job now you know what i mean. Expectations are low but the team that won connacht is still there. There is a big difference in 75 and 07 in that 75 the whole team was old but majority of the 07 team are around 25. The main problem we have with players who have talent in our county is atitude and belief. The atitude of our players means we are NOT guarnteed a 100% from them when they represent sligo. I could go further and tell some truthful stories but that would be seen as personal attack. We need to get rid of this atitude. To me when anyone says "we dont know what happened against mayo" that to me is lie, the players know what happened they just dont have the bottle to look at themselves and say I could of given alot more today, why didnt I?.. Jordan was right to criticise them half way through the nfl questioning there atitude and commitment.3 See the only inside knowledge i have is of player telling sligo were not fit, training was lacklustre and lots of craic at training more interested in laughs apparantently. The panelists told me the unfit older lads are holding back the young lads. Management need to sort that out and players need a right going over. There would be 7or 8 lads that started against mayo and came on that i would never select again. Im not brave enough to name them as id get ate by sligo lads on here.

Just to point out paul durkan i think would a disaster too, he managed TM cup team a few yrs ago, he brought back ronan keane (overthe hill and not fit) to that team and left young up and coming lads on the line. That was a disgrace. That Competiion should be used to blood young lads not bring back lads so they can play in croker and only benefit themselves and not sligo football.

At colleges and school sligo coaches are putting alot of work in but the benfits of that will take time to see.

1. At the end of the day it s just lads opinion . If you dont go for managers with some degree of success in the game who do you go for. Sure Crossmolina would have won their All Ireland with another manager But so would the Kerry team of the 70s and 80s and the recent kerry team too.

2. From what I saw other evening while the Sligo minors might have been talented the Mayo lads were more talented and management could be switched and result would have stayed the same. The fact that Moyles didnt get the Mayo job does nt really matter. Dempsey probably got it because he was a bigger name and older. It was his turn. Would nt be surprised if Moyles is our next minor manager. If Dempsey ended up in Sligo instead he d be the one now taking the flak.

Why Moyles and Jordan were good enough for ye only the committee who appointed them can say. Did Jordan beat off any high profile managers like Tommy Carr or Tommy Lyons to the job? I think not.

3. Opposite of the complaints in Roscommon where Maughan was castigated for losing older unfit lads and concentrating on a disciplined fitness programme. Jordan maybe went for a more relaxed atmosphere. When things go wrong players never blame themselves and the training methods get the first shoeing. Cant win as a manager it would appear.

4. Nothing wrong with that. He was a new manager trying new players and new things. Do you think Mayo s NFL teams were all rehearsals for championship and that was  in their second year as management? Same with other teams as well.

[SLIGONIAN]

It really has nothing to do with where there from to be honest.1 At the end of the day alot of Mayo lads on here were of the opinion that Jordan wasnt up to it and that anyone would of won with that crossmolina team. Jordans year was littered with obvious mistakes. He seemed never too learn from them either. Its hard on here to post and knew everything because no one does but the sligo management are closer to what goes on than I am.4 Take the team that played Mayo in csfc that team never played any NFL games at all. The whole team postions changed but jordan did it when league was over. That to me is crazy even if some changes were right. IF i really thought hard about it i could make a list as long as my arm on the mistakes he made. He got very little right in his first yr.

2[b]Moyles has had 2 yrs with very talented players but got feck all out of them.
[/b]
Both moyles and jordan applied for mayo jobs and didnt get them, that makes me wonder? why are they good enough for us.

Now is there any alternatives, I am not a member of any selection commitee or cb so i havnt a clue who apllied for minor and senior jobs when they were available. I hear anthony brennan being touted alot but I dont know what he is like. I think he is manager of sligo IT at the minute. Tommy breheny gave family commitments as his reason for leaving and we have to respect that. Denis jonston is another man touted but I have first hand experience of him at sligo vec county team. He was a disaster. Old school and obsessed with physical players who could nt kick a ball straight to save there lives etc...

Personnally i would love to get a crack at the senior job now you know what i mean. Expectations are low but the team that won connacht is still there. There is a big difference in 75 and 07 in that 75 the whole team was old but majority of the 07 team are around 25. The main problem we have with players who have talent in our county is atitude and belief. The atitude of our players means we are NOT guarnteed a 100% from them when they represent sligo. I could go further and tell some truthful stories but that would be seen as personal attack. We need to get rid of this atitude. To me when anyone says "we dont know what happened against mayo" that to me is lie, the players know what happened they just dont have the bottle to look at themselves and say I could of given alot more today, why didnt I?.. Jordan was right to criticise them half way through the nfl questioning there atitude and commitment.3 See the only inside knowledge i have is of player telling sligo were not fit, training was lacklustre and lots of craic at training more interested in laughs apparantently. The panelists told me the unfit older lads are holding back the young lads. Management need to sort that out and players need a right going over. There would be 7or 8 lads that started against mayo and came on that i would never select again. Im not brave enough to name them as id get ate by sligo lads on here.

Just to point out paul durkan i think would a disaster too, he managed TM cup team a few yrs ago, he brought back ronan keane (overthe hill and not fit) to that team and left young up and coming lads on the line. That was a disgrace. That Competiion should be used to blood young lads not bring back lads so they can play in croker and only benefit themselves and not sligo football.

At colleges and school sligo coaches are putting alot of work in but the benfits of that will take time to see.

1. At the end of the day it s just lads opinion . If you dont go for managers with some degree of success in the game who do you go for. Sure Crossmolina would have won their All Ireland with another manager But so would the Kerry team of the 70s and 80s and the recent kerry team too.

2. From what I saw other evening while the Sligo minors might have been talented the Mayo lads were more talented and management could be switched and result would have stayed the same. The fact that Moyles didnt get the Mayo job does nt really matter. Dempsey probably got it because he was a bigger name and older. It was his turn. Would nt be surprised if Moyles is our next minor manager. If Dempsey ended up in Sligo instead he d be the one now taking the flak.

Why Moyles and Jordan were good enough for ye only the committee who appointed them can say. Did Jordan beat off any high profile managers like Tommy Carr or Tommy Lyons to the job? I think not.

3. Opposite of the complaints in Roscommon where Maughan was castigated for losing older unfit lads and concentrating on a disciplined fitness programme. Jordan maybe went for a more relaxed atmosphere. When things go wrong players never blame themselves and the training methods get the first shoeing. Cant win as a manager it would appear.

4. Nothing wrong with that. He was a new manager trying new players and new things. Do you think Mayo s NFL teams were all rehearsals for championship and that was  in their second year as management? Same with other teams as well.

Well i dont think anyone is naive to the fact that players and management are equally to blame. All side have to take responsibilty. Every Sligoman i speak to outside of this board, doesnt want jordan there next yr. Can that be ignored. We seen his demeanor and his involvement of who running the show has even been questioned. He let players away with piss poor performances and never dropped them especially older lads. He positional switches never worked and tactics were a joke. His team selections were beyond crazy, ive never whinged more about them with any other sligo manager .

Maybe all the reasons so far are way off, the simple answer is this. Sligo have 20 football clubs Mayo have 44 football clubs (source connachtgaa.ie). Twice the amount of underage players to chose from and develop. Sligo has 13 summer gaa camps Mayo has 22...etc... we have less clubs than leitrim....

Sligo town has over 20 junior soccer clubs and 2 gaa clubs....

BUT despite that I honestly believe in my heart the level of performance from sligo seniors and minors was well below what there capable of despite what i have said above. With a manager i expect him to get the best of a particular group. Our talented players just werent up for it and that atitude had to change.

Days like the last 2 weeks i was in castlebar for both, it hurts so much that it motivates you to do something about it. There was one stage in 2nd half one the mayo minor forward laughed in johnny kellys face when he said to his teammates we are better than this. When you see something like that it makes you want to make a difference and make sure it never happens again. So i guess what im saying is i have intentions and desires that i hope one day may become reality. Im sick of talking on here and not being able to walk the walk. I see loads of football men not involved in club football and just criticising all the time when they could make a huge difference, never put themselves on the chopping board. Time for action is now. There is no way i'll accept our fate and past as winners every 32 yrs and have people looking down on us and laughing at us...we can do alot better IMHO and not give anyone a reason to laugh at us.

We are at a crossroads now, we can either accept these hammerings or do something and follow every other successful model used by other counties to develop talent. I pray and hope liam og gormley and others are copying the example by others and develop every inch of talent in this county to feed our county teams. Maybe that is happening (and success is around the corner) and all thats wrong is the management at top level in place arent up to it, that is certainly the case in my club and maybe county from what i hear and see.

[moysider]

I appreciate your hurt about the events of the last couple of weeks and also the resolve you have to improve matters. One thing I ve noticed though ,apart from Mayo lads - including myself, clowning around with parish boundaries and contributing little to the intent of the thread -  there s damn all contribution here from Sligo lads. Do they not care? Guaranteed, if Mayo lose to Galway in CF  the thread will run to several pages. Not you Sligonian but as a County I ve always felt maybe ye dont care enough.

[magpie seanie]

I've typed out several replies to this thread but ended up deleting them before posting them. Its not cos I don't care.

[jjjshabadoojnr]

Same as that

[SLIGONIAN]

I know ive posted alot but Im sometimes write a post and dont follow through like the lads above, either its libel or its a new innovative idea and approach that may bring sligo forward that I dont want other counties to see . Sometimes too its hard to know where to start and even now the wounds are still there and sometimes its hard to think logically about whats happened without being irrational. In the week after the game i was numb and just couldnt make sense. Problem I have is im not in a position to influence or make a difference to sligo football at the moment so sometimes i think what benefit is there in giving ideas and solutions that may benefit sligo football. Sometimes it feels pointless. As a supporter all you can do is go to games and shout for sligo and whinge online and there nothing much more you can do. I feel kinda helpless.

Would the sligo manager or county chairman listen to us? Do they care what the fans think? I doubt it to be honest. Whos viewing this board looking for ideas and a reasoned approach to solving our lack of silverware at every level? Who cares what i think or write?

Sometimes i wish i was different to be honest moysider. I care too much and its not healthy when your from sligo and you get hurt so much by something outside of your control. Its who i am though . But not many people experience the highs the way i do so there are 2 sides and i expect no thanks or sympathy. Sligo football has given me alot too and the last 10yrs have been alot of highs in all fairness.

On the rest of the lads on here, i know they care, they care enough to come on here and give there opionins we are like minded when you think about it even though some wouldnt like to associate themselves with me. I only wish there another 10,000 more.

The biggest epiphany ive had in the last week, its time for us who do care to dedicate ourselves to sligo football and walk the walk. Get ourselves in a position to influence and benefit sligo. That is my goal now to start small ie with club and work my way up and play the political game and be diplomatic. Maybe a few of the lads are quiet for that reason, sick of talking and now is a time for doing.

Moysider "but as a County I ve always felt maybe ye dont care enough" can you elaborate on that quote? Im interested in outside perspective. Cheers.

[Teeling Gael]

Said about 5 pages ago that i would come back here and give my views on way forward. There are 2 parts to this, one being the pretty fundamental structures of Sligo football and one been the actual team going forward. Will deal with latter here.

Dont think there are 2 many club players in the county who arent on the panel and who deserve to be on it. The future lies at our U21 team and last couple of minor teams. They have been competitive without threatening to win anything and hopefully some of these can take the step from been competitive inter county minor players to been competitive inter county senior players. It goes without saying that there is now some deadwood on our senior panel. Some of this is down to the passage of time and some is down to players been on the panel year in year out without getting decent runs on the 1st team and their confidence at senior level been drained away. These palyers by virtue of the fact that they have senior inter county training and with their confidence back at club level , they star and get invited back into senior panel year after year. They dont get nurtured properly and eventually fade away from intercounty scene. Division 4 football and Tommy Murphy cup are ideal times to introduce some young players to inter county football and give other players an extended run in the team and once and for all we can evaluate their true worth.

Why as we discussed at length before Mayo match does the Sligo forwrad line consistently average 5ft 5 and 12.5 stone ?? This is a major problem for Sligo football and is there a reason why we produce such small men rather than big intercounty footballers ? My own "Jim Corr" style theory on this may extinguish any street cred I've built up on this board over last few years but here goes !! I blame the refs !! Sligo club refereeing is pretty consistent and of a good standard but in my view has one huge failing -- The inability to allow for any physical contact in the tackle area and breaking ball area. This automatically promotes small and fast forwards and naturally they stand out more hence making senior panels . No Physical contact is allowed at Sligo club football. One only needs to look at our most prominient intercounty ref and his refereeing of the tackle area to validate this point.

Dont want to get into naming players either who should come in or who should leave the panel at this stage but want to make 2 points. Consistently over the last few months , there is a notion of O Hara playing full forward for Sligo. Perhaps I am missing something here , but in my view he does not have the skillsets for full forward and its the last outfield place on the pitch i would play him. Secondly Sligonian has decreed PeterWilson as the next midfielder for Sligo. I sincerely hope he is but there is no evidence to date that he is Inter county standard let alone a starring midfielder.Let the lad develop , hes only 21 and for Sligo footballs sake I hope he stars at the business end of intermediate championship this year and then plays very well in Division 2 of the local leagues next year and then we can talk about him in those terms.

Also delighted to hear that you see the way to channel your massive interest is working your way up through the club structures.Actually it wont take very long at all before you are in a position to make a difference , Sligonian so best of luck with it. Know you are quoting connaughtgaa but there are 24 football clubs in Sligo not  20 and also there isnt close to 20 adult soccer teams in the town -- Frank Murphy will eat you for dust at congress if we dont help you eradicate these things !!!! Finally want to hear yours or indeed anyones blueprint for the development of Sligo football and how we can minimise dark days like Castlebar two weeks ago.

[Mano]

I've typed out several replies to this thread but ended up deleting them before posting them. Its not cos I don't care.

Same as myself. While i'm dossing here waiting for the clock to strike 4 i'll add my tuppence worth.

In my opinion the biggest reason why Sligo football is not more successful especially at under 21 and senior level is one main reason. The huge drop off rate of players from North Sligo after minor level. St Johns are a good example - they have beaten my own club Tourlestrane easily in 3 minor county finals. Yet when it comes to under 21 and senior level they are not a force. Most of those Tourlestrane lads have now won 2 county senior medals since and Egan, Gaughan & Henry are county senior players. Some of the Johns players if they kept playing would walk on the Sligo senior team. Fergus Roche gave an exhibition of fielding in a Connaught minor game against Ross in the Hyde a few years back-where is he now. Look at the drop off from the Minor team of 3 years ago to this year from North Sligo Rooney, O Grady are 2 i can think of who didn't commit. There are not many Tourlestrane players who decide to quit football at a young age only 2 i can think of are Brian Neary and Patrick Egan.
St Marys hammered Tourlestrane the other night in the under 14 county final-there will be more Tourlestrane lads who make it to senior level i can guarantee you that.
I don't think theres a any easy solutions to stop this drop off as in a city area there are a lot of other alternatives but it should be something that the county board looks into to.