pig.ignorant (Derry) - Posts: 655 - 20/12/2011 16:36:55    1086425

S cleary woud have been a cert but i heard he is away at the minute

doirebhoy (Derry) - Posts: 344 - 21/12/2011 11:37:12    1086661

Without doubt there is the talent in Steelstown for county selection they are just as good as other teams in south Derry. But I also noticed there are no Craigbane players on the team list either, I thought that strange as they are Ulster champions and they too got promoted to senior football. Brennan seems to be going for older players, The team seems to be more older, 'traditional' players. Great to see 8 new names though on the team sheet, Hopefully it wont be long until we see some city names.

Orlaith (Derry) - Posts: 4282 - 21/12/2011 12:59:00    1086710

pig.ignorant
County: Derry
Posts: 486

"I am surprised to see no Steelstown players given a chance to play in the McKenna Cup, especially now they are up in the senior division. Dont get me wrong, I dont think the county squad HAS to be picked from the senior ranks but this certainly seems to be the case generally. Surely some of the Steelstown boys deserve to be looked at for the McKenna Cup and maybe even the league"


So what your basically saying is the county squad doesn't have to be picked from senior clubs but they HAVE to pick Steelstown and other city players?If the players are good enough they will be on the squad. However don't get me wrong would like to see the younger players like Cleary, McKinney and Forester a chance, but just because a team gets promoted to senior football doesn't mean they deserve to be called up to the senior squad.

As for the Craigbane players presume they will be considered when their participation in the All Ireland is over.

unclederry (Derry) - Posts: 67 - 21/12/2011 13:43:32    1086746

thanks uncle derry but i didnt say that players from steelstown had to be picked for the squad. i am of the belief that if a player is good enough he should get picked. i always felt there was a bit of snobbery within the derry management over the last load of years when picking the team. i know there have been a few players from the intermediate championship on the squad, but maybe that was a few token gestures. look at tyrones all ireland winning teams, a right few of them are /were from the lower divisions in tyrone ie stephen o'neill and brian dooher, to name just 2.

pig.ignorant (Derry) - Posts: 655 - 21/12/2011 14:10:06    1086762

You might not have said it but you were certainly implying it, the name of the thread is no Steelstown players in Derry squad. I've no problem with Steelstown and like I've said I would like to see some of their younger players given a chance, but just because a team gets promoted to Senior football, doesn't necessarily mean their players deserve or should be looked at in more detail. Let's see how the Steelstown players cope in senior football....

I think this topic has came up before, Derry is a small county in terms of clubs and players, John Brennan and his management team, as well as previous management teams probably know every player in Derry inside out within club football and it has never changed these supposed "finds" down in the lower leagues never really materialise, particularly in Derry's case.

unclederry (Derry) - Posts: 67 - 21/12/2011 15:29:38    1086821

no i certainly wasnt implying it, and just so you know im not a steelstown man, and have no vested interest in steelstown. the reason why i started the thread is because of a thread that was posted on here 2 or 3 years ago when someone posted that the county team should be picked from the likes of bellaghy and ballinderry etc, "because the guys that play for those teams are used to winning". to me that post in particular was snobbery in its purest form. myself and other gaels i know believe - rightly or wrongly - that this type of attitude is prevelant within derry. if any steelstown players do get picked for the squad, then the question i would like to ask is, was/were that/those player(s) not good enough last year before they got promoted.so come down off your high horse and join the rest of us mere mortals.

pig.ignorant (Derry) - Posts: 655 - 21/12/2011 17:09:17    1086873

Fair enough, but if you aren't a Steelstown man then why did you in particular mention them?I've no problems with Steelstown my own club has came up against them many times, but I find it strange that they be brought up, even taking into consideration their promotion....

unclederry (Derry) - Posts: 67 - 21/12/2011 17:56:03    1086895

Of the Steelstown men i know a few have represented Derry at various levels.
Neil forrester
Stephen Cleary
Paul O'Hay

Paul was given his chance and never really looked up to county standard
Neil has a great engine but is very small and Derry squads usually tend to be quite big. That said he prob should have been given a chance.
Stephen Cleary - seen him play for the u21's and he looked heavy and not up to the pace, perhaps he was injured/ coming back from injury. But based on the one match i saw he didnt look a county player.

Any other possible candidates? Aidan CLeary always looked a decent footballer, but again he isnt county standard.

Senior football is not a prerequisite to be picked in the county squad although it does put your players in the "shop window" per se. On the flipside county players in a club team is not a prerequisite for a successful club team, in fact i think it is a hindrance! Clonoe won the Tyrone championship 2years ago with no county players.

My own club Coleraine suffered last year because we had 6 players on the squad. That meant 6 less bodies for training and 6 less bodies for about 6 matches through the year. We havent that big a squad and our results showed that. Losing to Glen and Greenlough when our county players were away.

bosch (Derry) - Posts: 873 - 22/12/2011 08:59:51    1086979

i am glad this is being discussed on here. the reason i started it was in the hope that people would realise that there are players good enough that dont play in the senior ranks

pig.ignorant (Derry) - Posts: 655 - 22/12/2011 11:37:56    1087043

IMO Forrester is the only one who would be up to County standard and could possibly count himself unlucky not to have been picked. Agree with other poster about both O'Hea and Cleary. O'Hea didn't look County class when he got his chance and there are quite a few players who would be better that Cleary in his position. Apart from the personal aspirations of these lads i would say that Steelstown as a club would be happier to have all their players available all year round this incoming season for their league fixtures.

kingpuck71 (Derry) - Posts: 673 - 22/12/2011 12:23:16    1087074