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A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #40 on Oct 25, 2009, 6:10pm »
Football Analyst, Liam Hayes - More gold from the alchemist Any ranking of the managerial feats of the year must begin with the job done in Wicklow by a man with a unique, golden instinct for the game
One game questioned right to the core practically every minute of Pat Gilroy's year of management. Either he was fooling himself or he was being fooled Garden party: thanks to Wicklow's displays last summer Mick O'Dwyer can be judged as the most impressive county manager of the season 12The year before Mick O'Dwyer arrived to manage Wicklow, I had managed Carlow to a nine-point victory over them in the first round of the Leinster Championship in Wexford Park. It could have been 18 points! In fact, at one stage, early in the second-half, our lead over Wicklow was closer to 18 points than nine points. Sitting in the stand that day (as Laois team boss awaiting an opponent for the Leinster quarter-final) was O'Dwyer.
Leighton Glynn – that's right, the brilliant, multi-talented Leighton Glynn – was playing that day. So too was three-quarters of this summer's Wicklow team. Later, when O'Dwyer transferred from Laois to Wicklow, I wrote that he had formally introduced himself to the least talented group of footballers in the entire country (with the exception of the tiny bunch of Kilkenny footballers).
On TV3, on one occasion, I also announced that Mick O'Dwyer had failed to bring forth the fullest potential of either the Kildare football team (which he had led to an All Ireland final) or the Laois football team (which he had led to a first Leinster title in over 40 years).
That, hands up, was an amazingly stupid thing to come out with, but the statement was sourced in my genuine belief that O'Dwyer had a magnificently talented group of footballers in Laois during his long reign there and in only winning one Leinster title, he had failed them, and indeed those footballers had failed him. Of course, as we all know, in such a scenario, the manager has to take the bullet!
That Laois team could, and should, have won three or four Leinster titles, and built a credible mini-era for their county. After that, Mick O'Dwyer wound up in Wicklow, and my genuine belief was that The Almighty Himself needed to be formally asked to help the whole sorry lot of them.
I was wrong.
Mick O'Dwyer was the greatest football manager in the country in 2009. Though, even when his magnificent two-months' run came to an end in O'Moore Park, with defeat to Kildare in the fourth round of the All Ireland qualifiers, I still found myself having to question the old man's general level of intelligence, in addition to his sanity. By refusing to put on a substitute, week after week, and by claiming that there were only 15 footballers to begin with in Wicklow, O'Dwyer was simply acting the part of a stubborn old goat – and recklessly priding himself in that role.
Everyone knows that there are only about 10 footballers of decent inter-county standard in Wicklow and then, after that, there's about a couple of dozen who are every bit as good as one another.
It's still my belief that Mick O'Dwyer might have actually cost Wicklow a deserved place in this year's All Ireland quarter-finals, and if he had introduced the required number of fresh legs in the second-half of the narrow defeat by Kildare then he, and not Kieran McGeeney, could have been facing up to a meeting with reigning champions Tyrone.
Anyhow, Wicklow defeating Fermanagh, Cavan and Down, in turn, in Aughrim, was the managerial performance of the year now about to end. It took guts, intelligence, bravery and, most of all, a golden instinct for the game, which I have now come to believe is the property of Mick O'Dwyer and Mick O'Dwyer alone.
In 2009, by my calculations, Mick O'Dwyer is tops, and Jack O'Connor, despite leading Kerry to a mighty All Ireland final triumph against near-impossible mid-summer odds, is a distant runner-up. (My ranking of the top 10 managers of the football year is in the panel above.)
What's the essential difference between O'Dwyer and O'Connor? Simple really. O'Connor was 10 out of 10 in 2009. O'Dwyer, actually, for all his madness at the very end in O'Moore Park, did not find the figure 10 to be any form of ceiling.
After that, my 10 greatest managers of 2009 list follows a logical order with Counihan, McGeeney and Harte, all pushing out their own boundaries and the boundaries of their teams. Eamonn O'Brien and John O'Mahony are up there too, even though I had some hard things to say about the pair of them in the middle of the year, and still believe that I was right in doing so. O'Mahony has to take a very large slice of the blame for Mayo's exit at the hands of O'Brien's Meath.
O'Mahony is a brilliant manager, and this Mayo team is full of excellent footballers, and ultimately it is for them to share out the blame for that entirely gutless performance in the All Ireland quarter-final. O'Brien, it's my genuine belief, got it all wrong after that game in announcing publicly that Meath were half-terrified of meeting Kerry in the semi-final.
The truth is that this Meath team had every reason to be half-terrified of meeting Kerry, and they did not need to hear their manager say it outside the dressing-room door.
The last three names in this top 10 would never have been considered worthy contenders at the start of the year. Liam Bradley marched Antrim to an Ulster final, and even if he did enjoy slices of good fortune along the way, he marched with intent. Antrim looked as good, and played as well, as they could ever have reasonably hoped to in 2009. Top marks to the manager.
John Evans got lots of praise for his good work in building a young Tipperary team into an exciting, credible opponent for anyone in the country. John Kiely, in contrast in Waterford, mainly was on the receiving end of the usual choice of platitudes for maintaining his thankless job of work. Both men are always in danger of having their ambitions pummeled to smithereens by the two hurling squads they have to share a county with. Both, however, were sensational in the first half of the year, and when you are at the bottom of the ladder, the first half of the year is even more important and deserving of closer inspection than the second half of the year.
Evans brought Tipperary to the Division Three league final. Kiely went close in Division Four, with Waterford, don't forget, finishing higher up the table than Wicklow after winning four (Kilkenny, Clare, Leitrim and Carlow), drawing one (Wicklow), and losing three (Antrim, Sligo and London). Waterford actually lost that game to London in Ruislip by a single point, and but for that slip-up Waterford would have been breathing down the necks of everyone for promotion to Division Three. John Kiely's was one of the smartest and strong-hearted managerial performances of the year.
I have also compiled a list of the seven managers who disappointed during the season (see panel). All seven can have very little argument about finding themselves in this group. One game, awful beyond words, makes Pat Gilroy number one on this particular list, but that does not mean that he is a worthless manager. All this says is that he got it wrong in one game, and very badly wrong at that – which, in Gilroy's case, it must be said, came as a surprise for most of us (me more than anyone!).
That game, however, questioned right to the core practically every minute of Gilroy's management all year long. He was either fooling himself, or being fooled. Either way, it's not a good place for a manager to be, but the question now is has Pat Gilroy got what it takes to smash up a five in-a-row Leinster title winning team and rebuild a team, in double quick order, into one capable of competing for an All Ireland title?
When you look at it like that, you wonder if the combined strength and characteristics of Mick Dwyer and Jack O'Connor, could serve up that gigantic ask? My money's on Gilroy, and his number two Mickey Whelan, to get the right job done in Dublin, and my money's still on Dublin to win that All Ireland title within the next two or three years.
Everyone else on this list actually watched their teams fall apart over a longer period of time than just one single game. Jason Ryan and Wexford were a wreck from the beginning of the year to the end, Seán Dempsey made agonizingly slow progress in 'Year One' with a county which has oodles of talent, Damien Cassidy's Derry looked like a team which had no notion of moving out of third gear, John Joe Doherty and Donegal should have enjoyed a straight run to the Ulster final and simply couldn't handle what was a modicum of pressure, and Liam Sammon's Galway had one of those years when Galway football teams decide to officially take the entire summer off.
The stand-out man in this list, for me, is Seamus McEneaney. He is so passionate and so ambitious. Monaghan are meticulously prepared, and McEneaney has at his disposal half a dozen footballers the length of the field who are as fine and credible as the top half dozen in any other Ulster county, including Tyrone. McEneaney finds himself in this regrettable bunch simply because he has had the most disappointing personal performance in five good and worthy years as Monaghan team boss.
Finally to the list of the absolutely indistinguishable (see panel).
Tom Carr is a friend of mine. He is an outstandingly talented, motivated manager, and an expert leader of men as well. I would have personally backed him - if anyone had cared to ask me, which nobody ever will – for the job of Meath team manager in 2009. Instead, Tom became Cavan team boss.
I honestly do not believe it is his fault that he lies in the 'indistinguishable' category. Just look at the county he has at his back. One mediocre year, at the end of a decade of fairly mediocre years, and a great number of people with power in the county were trying to get rid of him!
Some of the gentlemen listed above could have done much better. Others, like Mickey Ned O'Sullivan did very well indeed, but even Mickey Ned bringing Limerick to within inches of defeating Cork in the Munster final, was not enough to convince his team and their supporters that they can do any better than they did under the excellent all-round management of Liam Kearns through the first-half of the decade. There was, indeed, something indistinguishable therefore about Limerick's year of football.
And others, like Tom Carr, simply did well to stand still. And in this regard, I happen to know what I am talking about. As some of you know, I spent two years mostly standing still as manager of Carlow in the middle of the decade now ending. I worked my backside off in that role.
I actually thought I did good work. I know some of the men around me could not have done anymore but, looking back at my time in inter-county management, I now realise that it will take someone four or five years to actually begin to 'shift' Carlow from the place they have been for several decades.
And, that is the place and the predicament in which the greatest number of the good gentlemen listed above find themselves – doing everything they possibly can, and passing indistinguishable years, and waiting and waiting for that something which the strongest counties know as 'momentum'.
Bainisteoir Bliss
The Top Ten football managers in the country
1. Mick O'Dwyer 2. Jack O'Connor 3. Conor Counihan 4. Kieran McGeeney 5. Mickey Harte 6. Eamonn O'Brien 7. John Kiely 8. John O'Mahony 9. Liam Bradley 10. John Evans
The especially disappointing Seven
1. Pat Gilroy 2. Liam Sammon 3. John Joe Doherty 4. Seamus McEneaney 5. Damien Cassidy 6. Seán Dempsey 7. Jason Ryan
The absolutely Indistinguishable
Luke Dempsey, Eamonn McEneaney, Tomás O'Flahartha, Glenn Ryan, Tom Cribben, Frank Doherty, Mickey Ned O'Sullivan, Mickey Moran, Kevin Walsh, Peter McDonnell, Tom Carr, Ross Carr, Malachy O'Rourke, Fergal O'Donnell
Joined: Aug 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 767 Location: kilcullen, co kildare
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #41 on Oct 25, 2009, 9:03pm »
Thanks for posting it KG, Hayes admits he was wrong about something! Incredible really! He has been wrong about a lot more than just that subject in recent times. I think John Evans' achievements with Tipp this year have been fantastic and it is nice to see him get some recognition for it, likewise John Kiely. For me Jack O Connor was no 1, closely followed by Micko.
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #42 on Oct 26, 2009, 3:49pm »
Humble pie must be on the menu every day at Tribune HQ
***************** PICKING the football team of the decade was a lot like the football decade itself. In many ways it was hugely democratic as counties like Westmeath, Fermanagh and Wexford had their greatest era in nearly 100 years. But when it actually came to handing out the prizes and separating the champions from the contenders, our team was dominated just like Sam Maguire itself – by the Big Three. That's one of the most striking aspects of both our team and All Star selection. While these past couple of years there's been so much talk about whether Kerry or Tyrone were the team of the decade, the importance and prominence of Armagh is near the fore here. In all our team features six Kerry men, with a further six being nominated, while Tyrone and Armagh each have three players on the team and eight in total nominated. Dublin, Cork and Derry complete the team. Six other counties had at least one nomination, but such was the savagery of the competition, the likes of Sligo's Eamonn O'Hara, Laois's Joe Higgins, Monaghan's Tommy Freeman and Donegal's Adrian Sweeney didn't even make our top 45 players. Galway were unfortunate not to have anyone make the side itself but their failure to reach an All Ireland semi-final this past eight years cost them. Also conspicuous by their absence are Darren Fay and Peter Canavan, but only for the reason they would have made the 1990s team when their contributions were more sustained than their sporadic though sometimes brilliant '00s output. Kieran Shannon
1. Stephen Cluxton (Dublin) It would be wrong to say he hasn't put a foot wrong since breaking onto the Dublin team as a teenager in 2002. His tempestuous sending off against Armagh in 2003, the short kickout against Tyrone in '05 and the turnover against Kerry late on in '07 all shaped the outcome of those games. But those few moments of error apart, yeah, he's barely put a foot wrong. Probably the best shotstopper in the game and possesses easily the best kickout in the game, even though by August its favourite targets tend to have been well copped by vigilant quarter-final opponents.
In contention: Paul Hearty (Armagh), Diarmuid Murphy (Kerry)
2. Ryan McMenamin (Tyrone)
The most aggravating corner-back of recent times but also the most consistent and complete, personifying Tyrone's capacity to go from blanket defence to blanket attack in a flash. The snarls and theatrics unfortunately will be remembered outside of Tyrone long after the football ends but he couldn't be denied his three All Irelands and three Ulsters and he can't be denied his spot here.
In contention: Tom O'Sullivan (Kerry), Michael McCarthy (Kerry)
3. Graham Canty (Cork) Full-back play changed this past decade; going from a position played about halfway between the two corners to somewhere between the old square and the corners. Francie Bellew will probably go down as the last archetypal full-back but Barry Owens with his two All Stars was an even better and more natural number three – and we didn't see enough of Owens through injuries and illness. Canty suffered his own injuries and setbacks, but along with Seamus Moynihan he was the best footballer to play full-back this decade and personified the resilience of a Cork team that has kept coming back to reach five consecutive All Ireland semi-finals. In contention: Barry Owens (Fermanagh), Francie Bellew (Armagh)
4. Marc Ó Sé (Kerry) Another McMenamin – without the antics. Kerry have produced some exceptional corner-backs this decade but the youngest Ó Sé has been the most enduring and the most complete. When we think of how Kerry epitomise total football, we think of Marc Ó Sé, sweeping across his line, leaving corner-forwards on their backside with a shimmy and a solo, before dashing up the field to set up or even take a score.
In contention: Anthony Lynch (Cork), Seán Marty Lockhart (Derry)
5. TomáS Ó Sé (Kerry) His famous uncle was probably the wing-back of the last millennium but a point we made about three All Irelands ago – could Páidí in his prime really have been any better than Tomás in his? Probably the most remarkable thing about Tomás is that his prime has been an entire decade, from when he blotted out Michael Donnellan in 2000 right up to Paul Kerrigan in 2009. Maybe not even the Ó Sé of the decade but in these eyes, the defender of the decade. In contention: Davy Harte (Tyrone), David Heaney (Mayo)
6. Kieran McGeeney (Armagh)
The centre-back of the decade, no question, but a lot more than just a centre-back; McGeeney was the most influential player of the decade. When Armagh won the 2002 All Ireland, they forced Tyrone and Kerry to step up tactically, mentally, holistically – and for all their talent, Armagh would not have won the All Ireland without McGeeney. The Roy Keane of Gaelic football, even if he was a tad more discreet in his dealings and disagreements with his manager.
In contention: Conor Gormley (Tyrone), Aidan O'Mahony (Kerry)
7. Seamus Moynihan (Kerry) Conor Gormley is the one other defender of the noughties that could play anywhere from number two to seven, but Moynihan's game was so well-rounded, he could have played anywhere from two to 15. He was more than that too – he was perpetual motion, a spiritual leader, a virtual life-force for a generation of Kerry players. When Kerry were in crisis this summer, Moynihan was a key figure in steadying the ship with his discreet observations from the bank and the stand. Kerry's next manager in waiting? In contention: Philip Jordan (Tyrone), Aaron Kernan (Armagh)
8. Darragh Ó Sé (Kerry) The one player on this team where no surname or nickname is required – his first name will do. We've often heard how high fielding is a dying art; Darragh kept it alive. We've heard how difficult it is to win an All Ireland in the modern era; Darragh has won six, as many as Cork have in 125 years. This decade showcased many marvellous midfielders but at some stage or other Darragh either out-fielded, outplayed, outsmarted, bullied or outlasted them all. He may never have won the Footballer of the Year but he was the Footballer of the Decade.
In contention: Ciarán Whelan (Dublin), Nicholas Murphy (Cork)
9. Seán Cavanagh (Tyrone) He burst onto the scene in 2002 as a full-forward and won Player of the Year from there as well in 2008 but in the intervening years Cavanagh won three All Stars from midfield as the second coming of Jack O'Shea. The one thing levelled against Darragh in recent years was that his legs weren't the quickest, but with Cavanagh alongside him, he would no longer have to worry about that. That mobility and scoring power is why the Moy man edges out totems like McGrane, Walsh, Whelan and Murphy.
In contention: Paul McGrane (Armagh), Kevin Walsh (Galway)
10. Brian Dooher (Tyrone) The Darragh Ó Sé of wing-forward play; a lot of fliers have come and gone since Dooher won Ulster Player of the Year for 1996, yet here he still is, shaping the outcome of Ulster and All Ireland titles. As Damian Lawlor puts it in his new book Working on a Dream, with Dooher, it's like he has a twin brother on the field, while his point-taking and distribution still hasn't received its due credit. Paul Galvin has had an exceptional decade for Kerry but it was Dooher who redefined how the position – and football itself – should be played in the 21st century. In contention: Paul Galvin (Kerry), Michael Donnellan (Galway)
11. Declan O'Sullivan (Kerry) Brian McGuigan and Ciarán McDonald played some of the most delightful football of the decade but unfortunately injuries and sabbaticals robbed them off too many years, and ultimately, a spot on this team. Declan O'Sullivan is the most cultured footballer of his generation, so cultured, he not only has a cultured left foot but a right one as well. Ever since he broke onto the scene in 2003 as a 19-year-old, only once has there been a season where he hasn't dictated either a Munster or All Ireland final. In contention: Brian McGuigan (Tyrone), Ciarán McDonald (Mayo)
12. Oisín McConville (Armagh) The most important and indeed best club footballer of the decade, the best free-taker of the decade, and one of the best clutch players of the decade; how could you not have him on the team of the decade? Between club and county, he has won five All Irelands and an astonishing 14 Ulster medals. Whatever about the former, the latter will never be repeated again.
In contention: Alan Brogan (Dublin), Dessie Dolan (Westmeath)
13. Colm Cooper (Kerry) Like hurling, football has been blessed with a red-haired genius of a forward to adorn the decade. Through a combination of Kerry and Killarney's rich football tradition and the outrageous talent and imagination of a young Cooper, Gooch has extended the possibilities of how football can be played. He's essentially the first street Gaelic footballer, coming up with moves the game hasn't seen before. True, he's been peripheral enough in two of Kerry's last three All Ireland wins but a measure of his and Kerry's brilliance is that in 2002, 2005 and 2008 when the Kingdom were All Ireland runners-up, Cooper was an All Star and Player of the Year nominee. And lest you forget, he's only 26.
In contention: Matty Forde (Wexford), Declan Browne (Tipperary)
14. Paddy Bradley (Derry) The most contended position of all, and quite likely the most contentious selection as well. Between the backdoor, a calendar-year national league and the wide expanses of the new Croke Park, it has been a glorious decade for forward play. Bradley may now have gone nine years without even reaching an Ulster final but his accuracy, scoring power and consistency still eclipses more feted and honoured players.
In contention: Ronan Clarke (Armagh), Kieran Donaghy (Kerry)
15. Stevie McDonnell (Armagh)
The best goalscorer of the decade who developed into one of its greatest point-takers as well. He may not have had the fake series of a Gooch or an O'Neill but his capacity to win dirty ball and kick scores week in week out, from wet miserable Sundays in Crossmaglen to sun-basked Croke Park, was extraordinary. Stephen O'Neill had a strong claim for this spot, but McDonnell's contributions were as lethal and more sustained. After he won his first All Ireland, his goal was to win another and become the next Seán O'Neill. He's fallen just short of the first goal but the second has been realised.
In contention: Stephen O'Neill (Tyrone), Pádraic Joyce (Galway)
A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #43 on Oct 27, 2009, 8:36am »
Tuesday October 27 2009
A former Armagh football manager has claimed the imbalance of the provincial championship structures in football has led to continued Kerry success "by default".
Peter Makem, who managed Armagh to the 1982 Ulster football title, has come out strongly against the provincial structures in the wake of last week's draws.
"The GAA as an institution is dominated by the provincial councils in keeping with the old Irish tradition of provincially strong chiefs and kings and family lines creating a weak centre to the overall detriment of the country down through history," he said.
"Because of the obvious mathematical difference in the number of counties in each province and the particular growth of the various codes in these provinces, the provincial system is naturally unbalanced.
"Kerry's constant presence in championship football can only be attributed to their provincial position," Makem argues.
"They play the system as any other county would do if born into such privilege and so it has become a cult there.
Status
"The self-worth and status conferred by this tradition in Kerry ensures that young people will naturally gravitate towards it.
"This is why there is an endless supply to fill the annual market. Yet the reality is that they win their All-Irelands by default.
"They win because the majority of other counties do not have the same facility to develop as they are afforded, and the potential of the vast majority of footballers for over a century has been cut off by the very championship that should have given them real opportunity and access. This is a genuine betrayal."
Makem recalled penning a similar article 21 years ago -- published in the Irish Independent -- under the heading 'The GAA needs a Gorbachev'. Little, he says, has changed.
"Proof that Kerry generally win the All-Ireland by default is when other counties, in order to get out of the straight jacket imposed by the provincial system, have had to reinvent the game and introduce a new dynamic to their play.
"The most notable of these are Down before the Troubles and Armagh and Tyrone after the Troubles. Kerry are suddenly out of their depth when confronted with these teams in finals, and by the time they catch up, the teams, including Galway of the '60s and the Dubs at their peak in '76 and 77, are over the hill," added Makem.
"Since northern football came of age with the arrival of Down, the reality is that Kerry can not beat the great teams from there in finals. This is because their dominance is dependent on the natural weakening of counties by the provincial system."
A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #44 on Oct 27, 2009, 11:45pm »
GAVIN CUMMISKEYA LETTER sent on by the Clare senior hurling panel to the county executive seeking the removal of manager Mike McNamara has sparked more off-season unrest between intercounty hurlers and their management.
This evening’s county board meeting was initially expected to rubberstamp McNamara for a third year in charge. That now seems unlikely as panel members request their club delegates postpone any decision until a mandate is sought.
When contacted by The Irish Times yesterday McNamara refused to comment. It was reported on Sunday that McNamara lost the dressingroom after a disastrous season that saw them relegated to Division Two and limply knocked out of the championship by Galway at Cusack Park. The 2009 Clare captain Brian O’Connell is believed to have met McNamara recently but he too refused to provide any clarity on the matter yesterday.
It also became apparent over the weekend the Clare panel does not possess the same unity and organisation shown by their Cork counterparts after a similar dispute with the county board and their former manager, Gerald McCarthy, earlier this year.
“A letter has been received by the executive expressing concern about the manager continuing,” said Clare PRO Syl O’Connor. “It was on behalf of the panel, bar one obvious player, and it comes from the more established players.”
McNamara’s son Conor is a current member of the panel.
“Top of the list for the county board is to avoid any player unrest,” O’Connor continued. “The intention is to put any problem to bed as soon as possible.”
Clare’s hurling’s low ebb, after narrowly avoiding relegation from the Liam MacCarthy Cup, took a remarkable turn when the under-21s overcame Joe Canning’s Galway, and then Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final, with a group whose only player to feature prominently on the senior side was free-taker Colin Ryan.
The manager of that team was John Minogue although he was assisted by former senior manager Cyril Lyons.
There are two other players from the All-Ireland winning teams of the 1990s managing intercounty panels at present. Anthony Daly, who already had a term in charge of Clare, is with Dublin while, despite having another year to run with Waterford, Davy Fitzgerald would become the immediate favourite should McNamara step down or the players get their wish and he is removed.
There will be no representation from the players or management at tonight’s meeting at the West County hotel in Ennis.
Should the county board support McNamara’s intention to stay on for another season, a second winter of player striking may be facing the GAA.
Meanwhile, comments attributed to Wexford county chairman Ger Doyle last week, when he presumed Wexford were entitled to home advantage against Dublin in next year’s Leinster football championship, have been corrected by Leinster council chief Michael Delaney. The match is likely to be played at Croke Park as part of a double header alongside another Leinster football quarter-final.
“That’s the way we have done it in the recent past,” said Delaney yesterday. “There has been no decision as yet and, yes, it is true Dublin were sent down to Longford a few years ago but we will be looking at a double header in Croke Park as an option.”
There are obvious financial concerns associated with taking the Dublin footballers out of Croke Park but Delaney was adamant this is not the primary motivation, rather the need to satisfy the large demand for tickets in the capital once the championship begins. “It is not so much the amount of revenue that may be lost but the amount of people who wish to attend Dublin championship matches that would be denied by a move out of Croke Park.”
Delaney clarified any confusion about last week’s draw when Doyle presumed Wexford were entitled to home advantage as they came out before Dublin.
“There is no such thing as names first out of the hat anymore as it is two bowls. The first name out used to have home advantage but not any more besides certain cases when a home and away agreement is in place, like with Laois and Offaly.”
The Wexford executive meet tomorrow night when they hope to make their collective opinion on the matter clear to the Leinster Council. “Obviously we are looking for any advantage we can get,” said Wexford secretary Margaret Doyle.
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times
A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #45 on Oct 29, 2009, 9:34am »
By Donnchadh Boyle
Thursday October 29 2009
FITNESS guru Mike McGurn has hit out at the GAA's close-season and claims authorities are "missing the point" when it comes to the issue of burnout.
The hugely respected Belfast man, who has worked with the likes of the Irish rugby team, rugby league side St Helen's, the Ospreys and former boxing World champion Bernard Dunne, believes the current schedule -- which sees collective training ruled out in November and December -- means players are at a greater risk to injury.
McGurn, who has also recently agreed to join Paddy O'Rourke's backroom team with Armagh's senior footballers, also feels that burnout in young players can be prevented by improving lines of communication.
"I think they're missing the point here. They're on about player burnout, if you train for two hours you're going to get burned out. My training sessions take 45 minutes maximum. You get in, you rip the place apart and get out again. If you're doing two 45-minute sessions a week you won't burn out, ever," said McGurn, speaking yesterday at the launch of Kinetica's new range of sports nutritional products.
"It's when you bring them in and do the laps and do two and half hours, which is happening, you burn out. Clubs and teams have got to talk. If you've got a player who is playing colleges, club and county, coaches should get around and say, 'You are the player, what's best for you?'
"You have him for an hour on a Tuesday, we'll take him for half on hour on a Thursday and he plays for his club on Sunday. But people don't talk. If you don't talk you don't know so the player gets caught in the middle."
McGurn had a similar row with the IRFU in 2002 when he picked up a suspension after he made public his dissatisfaction with the brevity of the three-week pre-season that existed at the time. However, he maintains that the stand had to be taken on the grounds of player welfare.
"But I don't regret it because it led to us getting a 12-week pre-season and we haven't looked back since.
"They're putting these boys out to battle with McKenna Cup, National League and Championship from January to September which is nine months, on a very limited pre-season.
"If you want to keep these guys healthy and on the pitch, you need to increase that time. Your pre-season is the time where you keep the players strong, fit and healthy and prevent them getting injured.
"The more money you put in the bank in pre-season, the more you take out during the season."
A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #46 on Oct 29, 2009, 9:44am »
IAN O'RIORDANSENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: THE OLD end-of-season chestnut of how the football championship would be best structured was the inevitable talking point yesterday with Cork captain Graham Canty, given his team, like many others, discovered winning the provincial title is not necessarily to best way to win an All-Ireland title.
Canty suggested the provincial champions should be rewarded with a bye into the All-Ireland semi-final – same as in hurling – although that may well create some problems of its own.
“I don’t think there’s a huge advantage either way, in winning the provincial or losing it, in the quest for All-Ireland glory. In saying that, you’ll be starting out next year, everyone inside in Munster, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, will want to win Munster. Cork and Kerry are the favourites, and speaking for ourselves anyway, we want to win Munster, and go forward for the All-Ireland that way.
“The way it is at the moment you have two championships; your provincial championship, and your All-Ireland series. I don’t think you should have an open draw. My own view would be to keep the provincial final. That has served the GAA well over the last number of years, and I wouldn’t be in favour of getting rid of it.
“But a bye into All-Ireland semi-final is something they could look it. How you’d get around the gap then from the provincial final to the All-Ireland semi-final is another thing, but you could look at it. It would be one way or rewarding someone for winning the provincial title. I know the hurling has gone that way and it seemed to work alright there.”
Losing this year’s All-Ireland final to Kerry was a bitter pill to swallow, for lots of reasons, but over a month on, Canty is still not sure what went wrong, beyond Cork not playing up to scratch.
“I suppose, we didn’t probably perform to our potential on the day, but a lot of that was probably to do with the day Kerry played on the day as well. That’s our own fault, as players. We’ll have to take that on board, and learn from it.
“Overall, throughout the year we performed fairly consistently. Even throughout the league. But we didn’t perform on the last day, in the All-Ireland final, and that’s something we need to look at; try to find out why.”
The notion they peaked too soon, or at least against Tyrone in the semi-final, is something Canty dismisses: “I think more than peaking, we got some consistency. We did alright against Kerry in a couple of games, the All-Ireland quarter-final against Donegal, and against Tyrone. I think overall our performances throughout the year were consistently good enough.
“We had a dip against Kerry in the last game, but I don’t think it was down to peaking or anything like that, to be honest.
“It’s like anything – fine lines change games. We got a good start but we didn’t maintain it, didn’t keep going. The last 15 or 20 minutes of the first half we were non-existent in the game, we came out in the second half and did pretty well.
“After 55 minutes we were a point down but missed a couple of chances we could have got but they were probably hard enough scores to get. Overall, tactics-wise we created chances, didn’t take them and probably let Kerry get a couple of easy scores. On the day, small things could have changed the game, and it could have ended up a small bit differently.”
The challenge for Cork now is to raise their game again in 2010 and Canty remains confident.
“We’ve a good young, team, bar myself and another couple of hangers-on. I believe we are good enough to win an All-Ireland. But then I believed that the last two or three years, especially. We haven’t won it. Just because you think you are good enough and you think you might deserve it doesn’t mean you are actually going to get there.
“You just have to keep doing the right things and if it is going to happen it is going to happen.”
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times
Joined: May 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 2,093 Location: Rath Eanaigh
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #47 on Oct 29, 2009, 11:31pm »
Hayes has reached a new level of rambling b*xology, covering every base with lashings of mumbo jumbo sauce. The man has completely lost the courage of his convictions, and that's because his predictions were so woeful
I love to see the Blue & Navy flags fly along the Liffey. Look at the flags & bunting in the backstreets of Summerhill & Ballybough - that's GAA heartlands!
Joined: Jun 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 1,131 Location: Jackeen Town
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #48 on Oct 30, 2009, 10:08am »
I've always found his "journalism" was of the rambling wayward kind. I believe the Tribune is struggling, much like most print publications. However, the loss of ad revenue, the advent of free online papers etc cannot fully explain the Tribunes imminent demise.
Any paper that has LH on its books is a sure sign of gross editorial mismanagement.
A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #49 on Oct 31, 2009, 11:07am »
Saturday October 31 2009
The GAA is the most important socio-cultural movement in Ireland; our nation's spiritual core
A TELEVISION advertisement running this summer for the GAA football championships imagined a group photograph of several men gathered in Hayes Hotel, Thurles, Co Tipperary, on November 1, 1884. Their grandiose facial hair, uncomfortable-looking suits and fin de siecle optimism was captured forever in burnished sepia.
It was a lovely image and a great advertisement for the GAA: just the right blend of nostalgia, sentimentality and vibrancy. Of course, that photograph didn't exist -- it was a creative construct, history crossed with poetry.
But that moment was real -- the moment when an idea was given life. This was the beginning of the Gaelic Athletic Association, way back when.
Think about how different the world was 125 years ago: Ireland was part of the British empire; Russians were serfs; Japan, an autocratic Shogunate.
There were no planes, cars, televisions. The digital age would have seemed like a crazed dream. Two weeks after the GAA was founded, the European powers met to carve up, quite civilly, the 'Dark Continent' of Africa.
This was the world into which the association was born -- a bizarre world to our eyes, its practices and sensibilities long outmoded, long dead. Little from then has survived; but the small acorn of the GAA, in glorious contrast, not only survived but grew into an imposing, enduring and remarkable oak.
It's easy to be blase about all this because Gaelic games have been such an ingrained part of Irish life for so long. They've always been there, we think, and always will be, so what's the big deal? But that's the thing: they weren't always there, at least not at their current strength. When Michael Cusack and his fellow soldiers formed the GAA, Irish arts, pastimes and sports were all but dead.
This is why they felt the need to establish a body to protect, foster and proselytise, in the face of British hostility and a certain amount of native apathy. It's to their eternal credit -- and our great fortune -- that they did.
The GAA could nowadays be described, without exaggeration, as the most successful amateur sporting organisation in the world; the largest and most important socio-cultural movement in this country; the spiritual core of this thing we call the 'Irish nation'. But again, it might not have turned out like that.
In the early days, the GAA was considered to be little more than a collection of republican sleeper cells by the Crown. For decades the intelligentsia within the Pale looked down their patrician noses at these uncouth savages and their barbaric games; the nadir being reached in James Joyce's scurrilous attacks on Cusack, via the character of The Citizen, in 'Ulysses'. Even now we still have certain media malcontents sneering about 'bogball' and 'stickfighting'.
And for some never-explained reason, huge tranches of our urban working classes have long cherished a visceral antipathy towards Gaelic games, the Irish language and indeed all aspects of indigenous culture.
All of this -- this cultural cringe, this self-hatred -- is quite baffling to me. I grew up in a GAA household and a GAA area. To me, playing and following hurling and football was as natural as eating or sleeping (and almost as pleasurable). It was the simplest yet most profound expression possible of my Irishness. And in contrast to the atavistic horrors of the Troubles, it was benign, positive and fun.
But enough of the negative as we approach this historic anniversary. The jibes and jeers have diminished to nothingness while the GAA's march has risen in volume and quickened in tempo. Here we now stand in 2009, a century and a quarter later, and the idea conceived in Hayes Hotel is vital, durable, gigantic.
People talk a lot these days about national self-confidence, about how we now feel comfortable in our skins, sure-footed in the world. And that's true; but I'm going to let you in on a little secret: the GAA always felt like that. Nothing has really changed.
Down the long decades the association knew what it was, where it was and what it was about. It didn't ape trends or follow the current; it didn't crave the validation of the in-crowd like an insecure teenager. The GAA's very lack of coolness, ironically, saw it become very cool, properly cool.
TO some extent it always knew where it was going, too, but not fully. And this is part of the charm and beauty of the organisation: it's a flexible sort of an affair, a loosely assembled federation of like minds and fellow travellers, an ever-evolving organism driven by solidarity and structured by democracy.
We don't know exactly what the GAA will look like in another 25 years because it hasn't been decided yet. But it will be: gradually, painstakingly, meeting by meeting, debate by debate, year after year, by its hundreds of thousands of members. When we get there, we'll know.
Cusack and his confreres, I like to think, thought the same and felt the same certainty; I picture them setting out on this momentous journey, confidently declaring: "When we get there, we'll know." Well, we got there, boys.
And, I hope, they know.
Darragh McManus is the author of 'GAA Confidential (Everything you never knew you wanted to know about Gaelic games)' and previously edited 'High Ball' GAA magazine
A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #50 on Oct 31, 2009, 11:25am »
Burnout debate is a complex issue, insists Model boss Ryan By Daragh Ó Conchúir
Saturday, October 31, 2009
WEXFORD football manager Jason Ryan accepts that the GAA is trying to address the burnout issue but reckons that there is no ‘one-size fits all’ solution.
Ryan was one of the most vocal critics of the winter training ban last season but has thawed a little on the subject in the intervening period.
The topic of burnout raised its head again this week. Or more specifically, the GAA’s implementation, if not enforcement, of a collective training ban for inter-county teams in November and December.
The ban was put in place to protect county players from suffering injuries but according to Mike McGurn, the chances are that the opposite will be the case.
"What I’ve learned in the last year is that it’s not the same for everybody," said Ryan. "I think the break is beneficial for Sigerson Cup and Fitzgibbon Cup players but it depends if you have any of them.
"Some managers have a lot. Last year, we had only two; Ciarán Lyng and Shane Roche.
"If you have 10 Sigerson players, they are doing more than enough with their college teams.
"Then you have some guys that are finished club championship in July or August and that’s a hell of a long block to January. The other side is we had someone like Adrian Morrissey involved with Kilmacud Crokes last year and that seriously interrupted his preparations with us but if we’d have made him to do that as well as what he was doing with Kilmacud, that would have caused him a lot of problems."
McGurn suggested that a player’s various managers should communicate with each other and co-operate to ensure that their charge isn’t overworked but Ryan isn’t convinced that this approach is practical.
And unlike the professional sports like rugby and soccer, there is no officially recognised hierarchy whereby one team takes priority.
"Last year I didn’t have any U21s. The previous year I had two. One of those was on a Sigerson team so I had two managers to speak to.
"But what about the guy has fellas in five or six colleges? Some of those might be on county U21 hurling and football teams as well. How do you communicate with all those and who has the higher authority? And what’s to say that they’ll all do what was agreed? It’s just not that straightforward.
"I don’t know what the solution is" Ryan admits. "This is an amateur association and I am supportive of that, and all the ideals that go with it. That makes it difficult for inter-county managers and coaches though because you don’t have the case of a certain group over-riding others, of being able to call the shots, like Declan Kidney does with the Irish rugby team."
One other point made by McGurn was that teams might have to forsake results early on to prepare for championship success. The secondary competitions would definitely fall by the wayside, while a lot of teams suffer in terms of results during the league as they engage in heavy work.
According to Ryan, it’s just about weighing up your options and deciding what your priorities are.
He is sure of one thing though, just as McGurn is.
"Training doesn’t cause burnout but the wrong type of training does. You don’t do in June what you’re doing in January. If the correct training is being done, you’re just building blocks after that, one on top of the other."
This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, October 31, 2009
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #51 on Nov 1, 2009, 11:05am »
I attended the Kerry launch of Billy Morgan's book in the Listowel Arms Hotel last evening. The book is called Rebel Rebel and is ghost written by Billy Keane.
It was gratifying to see the place packed and there was a palpable air of goodwill and respect towards Billy. Billy was a ferocious competitor and a formidable adversary for this county but, not surprisingly, this only increased the mutual admiration.
The book was launched by Sean Kelly and other speakers were Stephen Stack, Jimmy Deenihan, Paidi O'Se, Gerald McKenna and the two Billys.
Four present/past chairmen of the Kerry County Board were there-Sean Kelly, Gerald McKenna, Sean Walsh and Jerome Conway. Among the stars of yesterday were- Dinny Allen, Jimmy Kerrigan, Colman Corrigan, Eoin Liston, Ogie Moran, Johnny Mulvihill, Ger Power, Donie O'Sullivan, Liam Sammon and possibly others that I did not see/recognise.
It was clear that Billy was very moved by the sincere words expressed by yesterday's foes. I have been a long time admirer of his and, as I have said here before, he was the best goalie I have seen. His achievements as a player and coach with Cork and Nemo Rangers are truly astonishing. One fact I had forgotten, until reminded last evening, was that he was selected as footballer of the year in 1973. That was an extraordinary achievement for a goalkeeper. Has it ever been done before or since?
Cork has produced a host of sporting heroes-Christy Ring, Jack Lynch, Roy Keane, Tom Kiernan etc etc- but taking every facet of their respective contributions into consideration including longevity of service, I wonder is Billy their numero uno? Apart from his playing and coaching credentials, Billy also had that elusive commodity known as charisma. I am absolutely delighted that Kerry paid him his dues. He deserved no less. In this era of manufactured stars, it is refreshing to pay tribute to the genuine article. I wish him good health for the future.
A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #52 on Nov 1, 2009, 11:14am »
Sunday November 01 2009
Dublin County Board remain confident of finding a sponsor, even though they failed to have a new deal in place by today, their initial self-imposed deadline to find a new backer.
Superstore Arnotts announced in June that they would not be renewing their 18-year association with the Dubs when the existing deal formally expired yesterday.
Being without a sponsor at this late stage means the Dublin board is now under extra pressure to have a new jersey in time to make the lucrative Christmas market.
The Sunday Independent understands the board are still clinging to their original asking price, thought to be around €800,000 a year, despite missing its original deadline, the current economic crisis and the present lack of interest in team sponsorship.
John Costello, the board's CEO, remains confident, however, that a new backer will soon be in place.
"We have quite significant interest in it and there are a number of solid proposals that we are working on," he said. "We have gone a long way with a number of clients across a number of sectors. There will be a new sponsor on board by the time we launch our league campaign in the new year."
Costello is also confident that when a new sponsorship deal is finally put in place, it will surpass anything currently in existence in the GAA.
Laois signed a new three-year deal with MW Hire services for their teams in September, supposedly involving a six-figure sum, but county board secretary Niall Handy conceded that finding a sponsor had proved very challenging in the current economic climate.
A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #53 on Nov 1, 2009, 7:28pm »
Kingdom and the glory Kerry are the best of the decade despite the emergence of Tyrone, write Ewan MacKenna and Kieran Shannon
Forward march: while the likes of Tyrone's Brian Dooher, Armagh's Stephen McDonnell and Galway's Pádraic Joyce have impressed, the decade has been dominated by Kerry and stars such as Colm Cooper (above) Armagh's Stephen McDonnell Galway's Pádraic Joyce Tyrone's Brian Dooher 12341. Kerry They never took a year off. Ultimately that's what separated them from the rest, including Tyrone. Only one other side in the history of the sport has remained among the top three counties in the land for 10 years and they made a video of them. Speaking of which, isn't time someone got round to making the DVD Kerry: The Golden Years, 2000-2009? They've been accused of winning a few soft All Irelands but that argument holds no weight. In his latest book Mickey Harte concedes that a failing of his Tyrone side in recent years is not to drive on regardless of the challenge posed by the opposition; "If the opposition are playing like a team 10 points worse than us, bet them by 10 or more, not by five." Some commentators like our own Liam Hayes seem to believe Kerry's All Irelands of '04 and '06 would carry more weight if they'd beaten Mayo by only five. The mark of Kerry is that they didn't settle for that. No one would have lived with them on those days, including the Tyrone of '04, '06 and '07.
Top three players of the decade Colm Cooper, Darragh Ó Sé, Tomás Ó Sé
2. Tyrone That they were in contention for team of the decade until the final year of the decade says it all. Were in more All Ireland finals than the previous 115 years combined, won them all and it's little wonder with the concoction of Mickey Harte and those that played under him. May not have won the Ulster titles Armagh did but that was no harm. Instead they won 75 per cent of their championship games this decade compared to Armagh's 69 per cent and won two more All Irelands than their Ulster rivals. Top three players Brian Dooher, Seán Cavanagh, Ryan McMenamin
3. Armagh Might have only ended up with the one All Ireland but changed the way Tyrone and Kerry played football. In the first seven championships of the decade, they went all the way once and five times it took the team that went all the way to stop them. Was there ever a more committed and dedicated Gaelic football team who went to such lengths in pursuit of greatness? We reckon not. Top three players Stevie McDonnell, Kieran McGeeney, Paul McGrane
4. Galway Their great rivals out west may have been the sob story of the past 10 seasons, but at least they were a story. After that brilliant All Ireland win in 2001 for Galway, no one could have imagined the loudest noise in football suddenly going quiet. Haven't been back to even an All Ireland semi-final since which is a shocking indictment of a team that has to essentially win two games to reach the last four. Complained Peter Ford was too defensive and Liam Sammon was too attacking, but after seven barren seasons it became clear it was the players' mentality that was the problem. Their league form explains their high position here – but even then they couldn't deliver an actual league title. Top three players Pádraic Joyce, Kevin Walsh, Michael Meehan
5. Dublin In a decade when they won 74 per cent of their championship games, enough Leinster titles to put them joint second on the all-time list for titles per decade – only one behind their countymen of 1890s – and won as many provincial titles as both Armagh and Kerry, it would take some spectacular failures to leave such a bad taste. But the near misses against Mayo in 2006 and Kerry in 2007, and the lack of lessons learned thereafter ruined much of the good work. Their non-appearance in an All Ireland final on the back of some shuddering collapses will be the defining memory. Top three players Ciarán Whelan, Alan Brogan, Paddy Christie
6. Cork If the back door hadn't been built this decade, who's to say what might have been for Cork, after all they've only ever had two better decades in Munster and one of those was the 1890s. But that Kerry have only beaten them once in the last five attempts down south is little consolation. Six times this decade Kerry have finished them off for the season and in the case of 2002, 2006, 2008 and 2009, that was after they had already beaten Kerry. Good enough to get past their old rivals once, but lacked the fire power and guile to beat them twice. Top three players Graham Canty, Nicholas Murphy, Colin Corkery
7. Mayo One of only seven counties to reach an All Ireland final this decade and only Kerry were in more. Should be a source of huge pride but, like in decades past, lost finals are remembered in Mayo but all the big games they won to get to those deciders are forgotten. Exits in the second and third rounds of the qualifiers as well as the quarter-finals these past three years suggested a side with too much honesty and too many footballers. Top three players Ciarán McDonald, David Heaney, Conor Mortimer
8. Meath Kept their record alive of competing in a Leinster final every decade since the 1900s and winning a Leinster final every decade since the 1920s but such a fact is just spraying deodorant without having a wash. Only in the 1910s were they in less Leinster deciders and when you consider their average number of finals over the previous 50 years was over five per decade, the one they contested this decade around was a failure. Somewhere along the line (with the retirement of John McDermott, perhaps?) they lost that trademark Meath steel but a semi-resurgence in recent years means that no Leinster team was in more All Ireland semi-finals and they were the only side from the east to reach a final. Top three players Graham Geraghty, Anthony Moyles, Nigel Crawford
9. Derry Perhaps the most frustrating team in football this past decade. Ulster titles may have been a duopoly over the last 10 years but every other team in Ulster has been to a provincial final since they last made it back in 2000. In fact, since reaching an All Ireland semi-final in 2001, they've barely won over half of their championship games. Unacceptable. Top three players Paddy Bradley, Enda Muldoon, Seán Marty Lockhart
10. Donegal For all the indiscipline within the panel and turmoil at county board level, they still found themselves in three All Ireland quarter-finals, three Ulster finals and with a league title. How good could they have been then had they kept their heads down? We will never know. Top three players Karl Lacey, Adrian Sweeney, Kevin Cassidy
11. Laois For all the talk of wasted talent, it's too easy to forget that by the time they won the 2003 Leinster title it was their first appearance in a decider since 1991, just their eighth since their previous triumph 53 years earlier and they'd lost the lot of those by an average of nearly eight points. But success breeds expectation and, while they'd initially have given over Claire Byrne and Lisa Burke for just the one title, the losses in 2004 and 2005 and the lack of a last-four appearance gave the feeling they were left slightly short-changed. Top three players Ross Munnelly, Fergal Byron, Joe Higgins
12. Fermanagh Started off the decade playing some of the most attacking and entertaining football about and not long after were just two points shy of reaching an All Ireland final. Finished off the decade playing some of the most defensive football around but were just a point shy of winning an Ulster title. But despite this being their greatest era they leave it behind like they left all the rest – without a trophy. Top three players Barry Owens, Marty McGrath, Ryan McCluskey
13. Westmeath It's a sign of a good decade when just about everyone has forgotten how bad you used to be. Those two Division Two titles were unprecedented, never mind their Leinster victory. Only beaten by Meath and Dublin in Leinster the first five years of the decade in which they were always competitive and sometimes sublime. Fifteen years ago they could never have dreamed of ending up with the above, a Leinster minor and under-21 title, their first ever All Star and then another four. Top three players Dessie Dolan, John Keane, Rory O'Connell
14. Kildare Bookended the decade with some highs and some hope. However, having finally broken with a wretched past in 1998, much more was expected. Of the other Leinster counties, only Carlow, Westmeath and Longford failed to beat them. In fact by the time they fell to Wicklow last year, it took their five-year record to four wins from 13 games against teams that ranged from middleweight to lightweight. Top three players Dermot Earley, John Doyle, Anthony Rainbow
15. Sligo Has it ever been so good? Never before have they played in more than two Connacht finals in a decade and this decade they won only their third title too. But there's so much more. The wins against Kildare and Tyrone, the draw with Armagh and the two All Ireland quarter-finals. So significant was this period in their history they even changed their jersey colour to mark the beginning of a new and better era. Top three players Eamonn O'Hara, Dessie Sloyan, Paul Durcan
16. Roscommon At least the worst appears to be over after a decade of two halves. For the first five years they won the hardest of Connacht titles by beating Galway and Mayo, reached another final, got to two All Ireland quarter-finals and three league semi-finals. Since then there's been no provincial final and Wexford are the only side they've beaten in the qualifiers. Indiscipline played a big part in their demise but Fergal O'Donnell has begun to put that right. Top three players Francie Grehan, Karol Mannion, Frankie Dolan
17. Wexford As good as it's got since the 1950s thanks to a first Leinster final appearance since 1956 and first last-four appearance since 1945. Had the persistence to go with the attacking quality and, after constantly knocking on the door when losing provincial semi-finals between 2004 and 2007, they were finally got into that final a year later. Never had the defence to take on the really big boys though. Top three players Matty Forde, Redmond Barry, PJ Banville
18. Monaghan If Ulster and qualifier draws were punishment for an over-the-top aggressiveness on the field, then amazingly Monaghan can still feel unlucky. By the time Banty had crafted a truly formidable force in 2007, the side beat Derry, Down and Donegal only to lose out to Tyrone and Kerry. When they came back a year later with a sense of mission, they again beat Derry and Donegal only to again come up against Kerry. And by the time they entered 2009 out of energy, they put Armagh out of the championship only to come out of the hand against Derry. Some things just aren't meant to be. Top three players Tommy Freeman, Damien Freeman, Paul Finlay
19. Offaly Started on a high with a win over Meath in 2000 and gradually regressed. Lost to seven other Leinster counties including Louth and Carlow and by the later years of this decade were being humiliated by Kildare, Laois, Westmeath and Down. Even found themselves in Division Four and without a back door place in 2007. Top three players Niall McNamee, Karol Slattery, Ciaran McManus
20. Cavan Sometimes you're simply not cool enough to hang with the popular kids and there's nothing you can do about it. A side that just wasn't good enough to get past Kildare at a low ebb or Wicklow at a high ebb in the qualifiers was never going to hack it in the finest era ever for northern football. Top three players Anthony Forde, Declan McCabe, Jason Reilly
21. Down Their first decade since the '40s without an Ulster title, and worse, outperformed by the likes of Monaghan and Fermanagh who had no All Ireland underage finalists to call on. How can a team that draws with Tyrone one week lose by 15 points the next week like in 2003? How can a team that gives Donegal such a scare in Ballybofey kick just four points in losing to Sligo like in 2006? How can a team that beats Tyrone and hits 5-19 against Offaly lose to Wexford like in 2008? And how can a side that brushes Laois aside one week lose to Wicklow the next like in 2009? We never got an answer for the bizarre inconsistency that dogged them for the decade either. Top three players Benny Coulter, Dan Gordon, Mickey McVeigh
22. Limerick In 2002 they came up a point short against Mayo; in 2004 they took Kerry to a replay; in 2006 they fell to Westmeath by a point; in 2007 they fell to Louth by a point; in 2008 they conceded two goals in injury time to lose to Cork before being pipped by Kildare; in 2009 they lost the Munster final to Cork and their last-12 tie to Meath by a point. In short, there hasn't been an unluckier side this decade. Top three players John Galvin, John Quane, Muirís Gavin
23. Louth They'll want to be remembered as the side that could have beaten Tyrone in the qualifiers and should have beaten Meath in the qualifiers, but those two big days can't outweigh the four wins from 16 provincial outings. Never reached a Leinster semi-final and never looked likely to do so either. The underlying problem? Twenty-eight years without a Leinster under-21 title and 56 years without a Leinster minor title. You can't grow flowers without planting the seeds. Top player Aaron Hoey
24. Longford Beat Monaghan and Derry and should have beaten Dublin and Kerry. But while they had the mentality to scare some top teams in Pearse Park, they lacked the extra sliver of quality to overcome the more mundane. Lost their last four Leinster championship games by an average of just two points and that's where one more big name could have made a big difference. Top player Paul Barden
=25. Antrim Let's talk pre-2009 for a moment because Antrim were never as bad as they were made out to be. In fact they beat Down and Cavan and drew with Derry in Ulster and the only time they were truly outclassed in the qualifiers was by Meath in 2005, and that includes outings against Derry, Armagh and Fermanagh. But in truth the decade was all about 2009 although it could have been so much better had they finished off Kerry when they had them on the ropes. Top player Kevin Brady
=25. Wicklow Started the 2000s unable to get out of a round-robin qualifier to enter the proper Leinster championship and lost their first-round game for each of the next seven years. Then came Mick O'Dwyer, a first win in Croke Park in 2008, four wins this time around, All Star nominations and a legitimate claim to be a top-12 team for the season. That there's a case to be made for 2009 being Mick O'Dwyer's greatest achievement shows how bad they were and how far they've come. Top player Leighton Glynn
27. Clare Overshadowed by the hurlers in the '90s, they were still consistently a top-16 team back then. But this decade they fell through the floor in Munster and landed hard in the basement. In fact, after reaching a Munster final by default in 2000, they only ever beat Waterford in Munster and never strung two wins together in a summer. Top player David Russell
28. Tipperary Even if they somehow managed to draw a Munster final in 2002, it's easy to see just why John Evans gets so excited when talking about a footballing revolution led by a senior team heading for Division Two. Their win against Louth in the 2009 qualifiers was the county's first summer victory in five years and only their fourth of the decade. After being so bad for so long, things have finally started to come good. The decade also saw them produce their first ever footballing All Star and superstar, a vital step in a county dominated by the small-ball game. Top player Declan Browne
29. Carlow Yet again too much talk off the field and not enough action on it meant they could never make the most of what little they had. Liam Hayes got a spark out of the side with their 2005 win over Offaly but it wasn't enough to light a fire. Haven't won a championship game since May 2006 and losing a player to Wicklow sums up their predicament. Top player Mark Carpenter
30. Leitrim 1994 was touted as being once in a lifetime, the 2000s were always going to be tough times. Roscommon in 2000 and Sligo in 2005 were the only Irish sides they managed to beat, New York took them to extra-time in 2003 and they have the unenviable record of entering the qualifiers eight times and losing their first game each time. Were competitive in most championship games but won too few of them, and indeed too few league games. Top player John McKeon
31. Waterford One win from 18 championship games only tells a small part of the tale. Were Kilkenny to enter and win a game in the next decade, it wouldn't be a dissimilar sort of achievement. That alone should tell you just what John Kiely achieved in Dungarvan in May of 2007. Top player Eddie Rockett
32. London Nought from 14 in the championship and just four league wins across the decade but then again it's no coincidence their struggles coincided with the best decade for the Irish economy. With record numbers signing up for clubs in the English capital at present, expect better over the next decade.
33. Kilkenny If people on Noreside think football is so easy, why is it they can't field a decent team? We thought their return to the league was a positive but someone needs to tell them if you're going to do something, then do it right.
How the points were tallied
1 point for a league win in Division Four; 3 points for a league win in Division Three or the old Division Two; 10 points for a win in the old Division One or new Divisions One and Two; 15 points for a championship win against a county that didn't reach an All Ireland quarter-final this decade; 35 points for a championship win over a county that reached an All Ireland quarter-final this decade; 45 points for a championship win over a county that reached an All Ireland semi-final this decade; 5 points for the Tommy Murphy Cup; 20 points for an All Star; 70 points for winning Division One of the league; 45 points for league runners-up; 25 points for reaching Division One semi-finals or top four; 10 points for winning old Division Two or new Division Three or Four titles; 80 extra points for winning provincial championship; 100 points for beaten All Ireland quarter-finalists; 175 points for beaten All Ireland semi-finalists; 250 for All Ireland runners-up; 400 points for All Ireland champions
A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #54 on Nov 1, 2009, 7:34pm »
Back Stage, Malachy Clerkin - The fire still burns To mark today's 125th anniversary of the GAA, Michael Cusack has kindly emailed his reflections from heaven...
Tír gan anam: without Gaelic games, Ireland would have been very different as a sporting nation
12Dia dhaoibh, a chairde Ghael! Is mór an onóir dom, as I believe the saying goes, an t-alt seo a scríobh. I suppose I'd better start by admitting here and now that there are some things I don't fully remember from that afternoon in Thurles 125 years ago. A century and a quarter is a fair length of time, after all. So whether there were seven men there when the meeting convened in the billiard room of Miss Hayes's Commercial Hotel at 3pm on 1 November 1884, or nine, or even 13, I'm not quite sure. But this I do know. I called Maurice Davin to the chair before reading the circular convening the meeting. By the time night fell, the Gaelic Athletic Association had been formed.
It was a different time, a different century, a different country, a different everything. Ireland was on its knees. The Famine had ravaged the country only a generation previously. We were part of the British Empire psychologically as well as politically, a people without pride or confidence or hope. Archbishop Croke's famous letter – the charter of the GAA – may strike a curious note nowadays, with its decrying of "England's stuff and broadcloths, her masher habits and other effeminate follies", but at the time it found a willing audience.
In sporting terms too we had nothing we could call our own. Athletics meetings were held under the auspices of the AAA in London and didn't welcome the participation of croppies. Soccer and rugby were being codified while cricket was immensely popular in Irish towns and by the 1870s had spread to rural Tipperary and Galway. The upshot was that our native games were on their deathbed and within another 20 years would have died out altogether.
"The strength and energy of a race," I wrote in an article a month before the foundation of the GAA, "are largely dependent on the national pastimes for the development of a spirit of courage and endurance. The corrupting influences which, for several years, have been devastating the sporting grounds of our cities and towns are fast spreading to the rural population."
Hayes' Hotel changed everything. The new organisation swept the country like a prairie fire. The first GAA athletics meeting was held 10 days later near Macroom. Clara in Offaly affiliated in mid-December, the first GAA club outside Dublin. A hurling match under GAA rules in Galway attracted 6,000 spectators early in January 1885, with the first football match held in Callan the following month. By early March, Wallsend had became the first GAA club in Britain. I knew we had a future when The Daily Telegraph made us the subject of a snide editorial.
As the man who began it all, I suppose what pleases me most is the way the Association has survived and prospered. It endured internal dissension, the Parnellite split, the Easter Rising, the War of Independence, the Civil War, the Great Depression, two world wars, the Troubles and Ger Loughnane. Nothing against Ger, of course. As a truculent Clareman myself, I was one of his biggest fans. And yes, Ger, we were robbed in 1998!
Today there are 2,610 GAA clubs in Ireland and overseas. There are 750,000 members. Games will take place this afternoon in each of the 32 counties in every grade imaginable, and in Britain, the US, Europe, Asia and Australia too. While Croke Park is one of the finest stadia in the world, we can also take pride in the fact that even the smallest clubs own their own grounds. The GAA has given generations of Irish people, at home and abroad, an enduring sense of identity and a pride in where they came from and has shown them what can be achieved with imagination and hard work. That pleases me enormously also.
Over to Marcus de Búrca, author of The GAA – A History (we've a well-stocked library up here!), who put it better than I could. "The GAA's achievements in the past century give ground for expecting even greater ones in the future. It arrested an important aspect of the peaceful penetration of Ireland by English culture and began the cultural revival which led to the political revolution of the 1913-1922 period, in which it played a major role. It saved the principal native games from extinction. It brought Irish athletics under native and democratic control. It was responsible for the Olympic successes of Irishmen in the 1906-1924 period. It changed for the good social life in rural Ireland and helped to blur divisive class distinctions, as well as teaching useful qualities like teamwork, discipline and even democratic practice… Above all, it instilled a feeling of pride in things Irish and in native culture."
Some will ask what modern Ireland would be like had that meeting in Hayes' Hotel never taken place. Would independence have come if the GAA had not been founded? Would it have arrived much later than it did? Would it have arrived peacefully and without the legacy of bloodshed it yielded? These are questions for the historians, not for me.
But it's interesting to speculate how very different we'd be as a sporting nation. Cricket would undoubtedly have gone from strength to strength; just imagine the two Eoin Kellys opening the batting for Ireland nowadays. As for rugby, Dev tells me when we run into one another here every so often – yes, he did make it to heaven! – that nobody would ever have heard of the All Blacks had we devoted our full attentions to the game. He still blames me for that, still argues that Mick O'Connell would have made the greatest out-half ever. I reply by telling him he's only jealous because he didn't feature in Ulysses. That usually shuts him up.
The activities of the GAA are rarely out of the news. Apparently some hurler or other "came out" lately, whatever that means. O tempora! O mores! But one event many people may have missed during the week was the suspension of a club footballer in Tipperary for two years following an assault on a referee. It's still happening and it disappoints me terribly. For all the distance we've travelled we continue to behave like yahoos from time to time. If I've one wish for the next 125 years it's for the development of a greater culture of respect for match officials. That's not too much to hope for, is it?
Beir bua and up the Banner!
PS Still talking of argumentative Claremen, what are they doing to poor Mike Mac?
A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #55 on Nov 2, 2009, 10:16am »
Monday November 02 2009
You can watch a game of soccer in Croke Park; if your county loses a championship match there's always a second chance; if you don't fancy going along to that game, you can always watch it live on the telly down at your local state-of-the-art GAA clubhouse with its 50-inch plasma TV screen.
The players you watch wear logos across their chest in a competition for which sponsorship brings in millions. Those same players are represented by a union.
They are managed by a man who has the powers of a chief executive on the sideline and has most likely brought in a sports scientist who determined that they had protein shakes and fruit for breakfast that morning. The GAA yesterday added another quarter-century block to the four already stacked upon each other since November 1884.
In keeping with the world in general, the pace of change has been by far the greatest in the last 25 years. The association isn't quite unrecognisable from the one it was back in 1984, but the makeovers have been extensive. Here we look at the main areas the pace of change has affected.
Proliferation of club grounds and facilities
Since the GAA's centenary year in 1984, there has been a drive and ambition in almost every GAA club in the country to improve its facilities. Most clubs now own their own grounds, complete with clubhouse and, in many cases, community and social centres. In more recent years, some of the facilities developed have been spectacular. Nemo Rangers, who profited from a move further into the suburbs, and Donaghmore-Ashbourne, 10 miles north of Dublin, are two that spring to mind.
sPonsorship
In 1991, the GAA finally broke down the barriers attached to sponsorship when rules permitting endorsement logos on jerseys were passed. Within a year, almost every club and county had the name of a local firm, bank or pub emblazoned across the chests of its players. Four years later, sponsorship of competitions were signed into rule for the first time with Guinness on board for the All-Ireland hurling championships and Bank of Ireland the first football championship sponsors. Since the middle of the 1990s, the GAA has embraced the corporate pot much more vehemently and almost two years ago introduced partnership sponsorships for both major championships which were worth in the region of €16m over three years.
competition
structures
For large parts of the first 100 years the competition structures of the GAA remained the same. Initially, club teams represented their counties, but that gave way to representation of a county by its best. The four provincial competitions, followed by All-Ireland semi-finals and finals, stood the test of time until 2001 in football when the back-door system was introduced. Four years earlier, hurling gave a second chance to the beaten finalists in Leinster and Munster, but has since gone through several makeovers. This is one of the GAA's most significant changes in 25 years and one that is bound to evolve in the next quarter of a century.
GPA
The GPA celebrated its 10th year in existence earlier this year and in that decade sufficient pressure has been exerted to place player welfare high on the GAA's agenda. Regardless of the views held on the player welfare body, they have made a significant impact as a lobby group for their membership. The road hasn't always been easy and in the last decade the proliferation of player strikes and protests, particularly in relation to the choice of managers, has been a worry for the GAA. Right now, the GPA and the GAA continue to discuss formalisation of a relationship between the two bodies based on funding. Another seismic change in 25 years.
coaching and
sports science
Less than 15 years ago, Mike McNamara was hailed as a revolutionary, his 'sergeant major' style the perfect catalyst for Clare's dramatic dominance of hurling in the middle part of that decade. The drills were portrayed as tortuous, but the communal sacrifice involved was perceived as the way forward. Others instantly felt the need to copy. This week the Clare players want Mike Mac out because they feel, among other things, his methods and manner are dated. Nowhere is the pace of change in the GAA more evident than in the way teams are prepared and coached. Later this month, some 800 coaches from all around the country will gather in Croke Park for the annual coaching conference, hoping to pick up bits of wisdom and use to good effect in their own environment. What did in this field four and five years ago doesn't do now, it seems.
Media/live tv
Another massive growth area in the GAA. More newspapers has meant more coverage and the advent of live TV has taken the GAA to audiences it never touched before. The latest TV deal was thought to have been worth €10m over three years. Early fears that live televised matches would keep crowds at home didn't materialise.
croke park
GAA headquarters was a greying old stadium in 1984, housing 65,000 people, many of whom had to stand with not a prawn sandwich in sight. Now it is testament to the GAA's resurgence over the last quarter of a century, albeit with €110m of exchequer funding towards an overall €180m redeveleopment cost. International sport, concerts and of course the majority of major GAA games can bring up to two million people through the turnstiles in any given year.
ideological rule changes
Who would have thought it back in 1984 that, 25 years on, soccer and rugby would be played in Croke Park and members of the security forces in Northern Ireland could sign up to their local GAA club. The removal of Rule 21 and Rule 42 have taken away the hard-edged sticks to beat the GAA with. The transition on both fronts has been quite seamless. Rule 21 was first to go in 2000, Rule 42, albeit in a temporary capacity and relating only to Croke Park for the period of time that Lansdowne Road was being redeveloped, took a little more time.
ulster
Up to 1984, only two Ulster counties had won an All-Ireland senior football title and only Down from 'the six' had brought the Sam Maguire Cup across the border. The 'boot and bonnet' request was regular for GAA members. But over the next 25 years Ulster has become arguably the dominant football province, not in terms of volume of wins, but the geographical spread. In the last 25 years, Donegal, Derry, Armagh and Tyrone have all won first All-Ireland titles and Down have added two to the three they won in the 1960s. Eight of the last 19 All-Ireland titles have gone north. Any 'order of merit' would feature more Ulster teams in a top 16 than any other province right now. Ulster leads the way on many fronts, from coaching to the floodlighting of at least one ground in each county.
manager power
Twenty five years ago, a team manager was nowhere near the influential figure he is today. At inter-county level, they were merely figureheads to lengthy selection committees chosen in the political world of county committee rooms. They trained and coached, but were still at the behest of the board and their selectors, some of whom they may not have seen eye to eye with. Now inter-county team managers choose selectors, can dictate to boards on matters such as fixtures and finance and of course, in many cases, receive a healthy remuneration for their efforts. The buck stops with them of course which is why they are more dispensable than ever.
A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #56 on Nov 4, 2009, 8:59am »
By Donnchadh Boyle
Wednesday November 04 2009
GAA president Christy Cooney doesn't expect soccer and rugby to return to Croke Park after Lansdowne Road reopens next year.
Rule 42, which prevented the playing of other sports on GAA grounds, was relaxed while the southside venue was being redeveloped with Central Council having the power to make Croke Park available to both the IRFU and the FAI.
However, that rule will come back into full force in May next year and Cooney doesn't expect to see the other sports return to HQ. A motion would have to be passed at Congress were either code to seek use of the stadium.
"As it stands, the use of Croke Park is not available to soccer or rugby after the end of May," Cooney said. "There is no move to extend that because, in fairness to soccer and rugby, they will have their own stadium.
"I don't believe there will be a need or a demand for it from rugby or soccer. Let's wait and see. One of the options that was being bandied around was if a (rugby) World Cup was coming to Britain and Ireland and the possible use of Croke Park for a World Cup final, but that is off the agenda now as the World Cup isn't coming here. Genuinely, I don't believe there will be a demand for rugby or soccer."
The GAA have earned over €20m from renting Croke Park and with that revenue set to cease next year, Cooney confirmed that he will look at other ways to replace the lost income.
"We have planning permission for a number of concerts a year and we plan to continue with those. We will always be looking at alternatives but we have no plans at the moment. Let's get over the May-June period next year when rugby and soccer will be finished and we will see what we do.
"We have an excellent facility here and we may play more of our National League games here, like we did with the Tyrone-Dublin game earlier this year. Play them under lights, which would attract significant crowds. There is a lot for us to look at to promote and develop our own games."
A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #57 on Nov 4, 2009, 9:00am »
By Martin Breheny
Wednesday November 04 2009
IT'S difficult to know whether the country's pheasant population or the GAA's millions of toes should feel more threatened this week. In the case of the pheasants who, quite literally became fair game for attack from last Sunday, they at least know who the enemy is (the raised gun tends to be a giveaway) and can taken evasive action by bunkering down in the undergrowth until the shooting season ends on January 31.
Not so in the GAA where there are no demarcation lines between hunter and hunted. How could there be since everybody is supposed to be on the same side? And that's where the problem arises.
Just as nature abhors a vacuum and promptly goes about filling it, the response in the GAA to the lack of inter-county activity is to pass the time taking indiscriminate pot-shots at its own unfortunate feet.
Foot-shooting season began last Sunday when the ban on official inter-county training came into place and will last until January 1. Incidentally, the closed season decision wasn't taken by 'that crowd up in Croke Park' but rather by the mandated representatives of every county.
Acting on expert medical opinion, the proposal to declare November-December free of all formal inter-county activity was backed by the counties, even if some had reservations about banning training until January 1 and then launching pre-season competitions on the following Sunday.
It was also pointed out that the ban militated against counties with new managers as it gave them no time to get to know their players or to experiment prior to the start of the competitive season.
Evidence
Still, county boards signed up to it. And then some of them, in typical GAA fashion, promptly ignored their own decision. There was lots of anecdotal evidence of counties breaking the training curfew last winter. That was acknowledged at the highest level by Connacht Council secretary, John Prenty, who raised it in his annual report.
"It's fair to say that a coach and four has been driven through the regulations and every trick in the book has been used to camouflage what is going on. It is hard to understand how counties went to Special Congress and voted almost unanimously to bring in the closed season and then ignored what was passed," he wrote.
Actually, John, it's not hard to understand at all. In fact, it happens all the time. Disciplinary procedures, agreed by all at national level, are frequently ignored on the local scene once 'my Johnny' is in danger of missing a big game.
The start of this year's closed season has coincided with a blizzard of criticism from county managers. It will intensify over the coming weeks and, no doubt, be accompanied by breaches of the regulations amid fears that other counties are training surreptitiously and gaining an advantage for 2010.
Croke Park is threatening severe repercussions for those who ignore the ban. They have as much chance of being successful there as they have been in unearthing illegal payments to managers. Besides, isn't it bizarre that Croke Park would have to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate on regulations which the counties themselves introduced?
The training/playing relationship is too complex for outright bans. Yes, some players (especially in the 18-22 year age bracket) are over-stretched especially in the early months of the year; yes, there are too many training sessions across various grades and yes, the whole area is a mess.
However, the answer is not blanket bans. Personally, I'd go back to playing some league games pre-Christmas as was the case up to a decade ago. Now before the 'burnout' police switch on their sirens and before the 'what about the club' lobby explode in frustration, consider this.
Other than Gaelic football and hurling, what other sports in the world fail to provide their top players with guaranteed competition between mid-July and January? And please don't use the club excuse because a great many players don't see much action there either once they're out of their local championships.
By starting the leagues pre-Christmas, there would be far less pressure on the schedule in spring, which is the very time when younger players are stretched to breaking point.
I read enough provincial papers every week to see exactly what's happening and the truth is that many GAA players turn to soccer and rugby at this time of year. And why wouldn't they if their own Association isn't providing games for them while also banning them from formal training for two months.
Whatever about the pheasants, there won't be a toe left in the GAA if this trigger-happy nonsense continues.
There are bigger fish on the barbie, Ricky
CAN we please have a week without yet another bulletin from Australian agent, Ricky Nixon? He may be a very pleasant man but when he starts lecturing the GAA on how it should deal with him and his plans for young Gaelic footballers he sounds pompous, arrogant and over-bearing.
It's like this, Ricky. Some young Gaelic footballers will try life in Australia as part of an adventure and if they make it in the AFL, good for them. However, it will only ever be a trickle and is so far down the list of challenges facing the GAA that it merits little consideration.
Sorry, Ricky, you might think you're important over here -- actually you're not and you won't be, either.
A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #58 on Nov 4, 2009, 9:10am »
Reale quits Limerick in protest at player cull By Diarmuid O’Flynn
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
FORMER Limerick hurling captain Damien Reale last night confirmed his decision to quit intercounty hurling claiming he had "to stand up for what I felt was right".
Reale’s shock decision follows the decision of manager Justin McCarthy to cut 12 players from his 2010 squad including high-profile names as Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Niall Moran, Stephen Lucey, Mike O’Brien, Donie Ryan and Mark O’Riordan, all of whom played championship this season.
Reale has slammed the failure of management to address the problems which dogged their 2009 season and has also criticised the manner in which the axed players were accused of lacking commitment. The 28-year-old admitted it was "the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make".
He revealed: "Last Wednesday, there was a meeting between the 19 remaining players on the panel, Justin and his management team, and the county board, represented by chairman Liam Linehan and secretary Mike O’Riordan. Justin was talking for an hour and ten minutes, but there was no mention of the problems we’d had all year, just talk of moving forward. Everything was swept under the carpet.
"And I was sitting there thinking – ‘Surely, to move forward, you have to rectify the problems of the past?’
"I don’t want to criticise Justin, or his methods, but we got a wake-up call against Cork in a challenge match in Castletownroche and got another one shortly afterwards against a second-string Tipperary team in Lattin. After that, I thought – a lot of the lads thought – ‘we need to seriously up the intensity at training here’. It never happened. We went into the qualifiers against Wexford, and that game was going to be the be-all and end-all. The players had a meeting, unknown to management, and we said ‘this was it, we would go to Wexford and come hell or high water, get that win’. We won in terrible conditions, and I think that meeting had galvanised us. But afterwards Justin canned all player meetings, said there was too much talk, too many players talking.
"After the All-Ireland semi-final (defeat to Tipperary), reporters in the local media were asking for answers, said the Limerick public deserved that at least – I agree totally with that.
"The players aren’t exempt from criticism, we took the field on the day, but this is all supposed to be part of the package, and management have to shoulder some of the blame too but that wasn’t happening."
Reale revealed: "After Justin had finished talking the floor was thrown open for questions, and I stood up.
"‘Justin,’ I said: ‘Why didn’t the lads who were being cut get even a phonecall to explain what was happening? I think it was very unfair what happened to them, the way they were treated,’ I told him."
"And he said to me – ‘Damien, did you ever hear the phrase, you’re not your brother’s keeper?’.
"Well, if I’m not, I thought, then I’m no good to any team, nor to any management. I’ve led these fellas around the field, captained them, and I’m proud to have done that. They were my team-mates, and it was wrong to see them treated like this, it was wrong to see that old complaint about fellas acting the maggot brought up again. I can categorically state, everyone did everything that was asked of them this year – I can even quote Justin himself, he told us over and over again that we were the best team to train he had ever come across. I know the effort those lads put in, every year."
The Hospital-Herbertstown clubman recalled: "For the last six or seven years I’ve driven Mike O’Brien and Donie Ryan to training, every night, and know the sacrifices they made. They’re two farmers, Mike on his own, Donie doing a full-time job as well, and often I’d be driving into Limerick with one of them asleep in the front seat beside me, the other fella asleep in the back – and this was going to training! I know the pressure they were under, cows to be milked before they got on the road and still they’d go in and give it everything.
"Andrew O’Shaughnessy is an army officer, a professional all his life; Niall Moran would be afraid to eat a sausage in case it upset his regime. Then you have Mark and Stephen, dual players, well over 100 sessions each done this year between the footballers and hurlers – how can any of those fellas be accused of lacking commitment, of being distracted? Stephen Lucey especially gets a bad rap. He’s outspoken, but that’s his nature, he likes to have an open relationship between players and management. He gives his point of view, and management won’t always agree but he’s only saying what the rest of the team is saying in private, and he’s only saying it to better the situation.
"He’s an intelligent, educated individual, deadly serious about his training; he’s a massive character in the dressing-room, and fellas look up to him. All he wants is for Limerick to do well, all any of us wants is that, but to see them treated like this…
"The question I asked myself was could I give 100% to a management team that had treated people like this? After nine years with Limerick this is the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. I’m still only 28 and I’m so proud to have worn that jersey , but I feel I have to stand up for what I felt was right. I’m not trying to dictate anything to anyone, Justin is entitled to pick any panel he likes, and new blood is good, but I do have a problem with the fact that there has been no inquest into what went wrong – there was no decency in it."
This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Wednesday, November 04, 2009
A day spent outside of kerry is a day wasted and lost forever.
Joined: Sept 2005 Posts: 5,699
Re: Winter Talk. « Reply #59 on Nov 5, 2009, 2:54pm »
By Martin Breheny
Harte to wield axe
Thursday November 05 2009
THE Tyrone squad can expect the 2010 regime to be the toughest they have ever encountered following the extension of Mickey Harte's reign as manager for a further two years.
His latest term was due to end next year but the Tyrone County Board readily agreed to his request to continue beyond that by announcing on Tuesday night that he would be in charge until at least 2012.
The long-term arrangement will allow Harte to embark on a dramatic overhaul of the squad and, judging by comments in his autobiography, he will approach it with a ruthless attitude.
In a clear message to the current squad that they will be under severe pressure to retain their places, he has promised to give six or seven of the 2008 All-Ireland minor-winning team their chance.
"They will be put on strength and conditioning programmes for the McKenna Cup. If they make it, that means a handful of current panellists are going to lose out. That sends out its own message to everyone. We will retain a large panel for the start of the year but prune it all the way to the championship. There will be no comfort zones. No hiding places, No excuses. We all have things to prove. Success costs. We start paying now."
He also expects that players will ask questions of themselves, however uncomfortable the answers may be.
"They must prove themselves. It's about them. What are they doing. Why should they be considered serious contenders for a starting place? If that forces them to face some uncomfortable truths, they must."
Harte will demand more of himself and his backroom team too. He acknowledges that his role will have to be addressed as part of the renewal process.
connect
"It's a challenge for all of us. My own contribution will have to change. I can push myself harder. I can find new ways to inform our players. I can connect with them better.
"Our experience with Sean Cavanagh on the morning of the Cork game and the way the team failed to counter Cork's kick-out tactic despite all our work shows the need to continually improve our methods of communication with the players. Are they seeing the game as we do? Are we doing enough to understand their state of mind? The coming season is going to force us to monitor individuals more closely."
He has promised to carry out more one-on-one assessments and provide extra details for players on their own performances and development.
He met the squad for a 2009 debrief in early September, during which they were split into groups of five or six. Among the items discussed were whether Tyrone had wandered into a comfort zone this year, did they allow complacency to set in, were they fatigued from training, did they push each other enough and was there sufficient communication among all components of the camp.
At that stage, the squad wouldn't have known that Harte would definitely be in charge until 2012. However, it's now clear that he will be very much the main man for the next three seasons so there can be no escape routes.
"We can't fix what went wrong in 2009. The learning is all for the future," he wrote.
Having been handed the keys to drive Tyrone forward for the next seasons, Harte will now begin examining the engine, a process which is likely to lead to the end of some careers as he sets about rebuilding for the next coming.
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