O'Mullan has apparently stepped down as senior manager (unless it's an April Fools'). Where to now?

link

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 01/04/2016 15:40:14    1840220

Who knows keeper and that's an honest answer!

There have been some disturbing claims on social media and newspapers emerging from the visit to London which probably contributed to this resignation today!

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 01/04/2016 15:58:35    1840230

Really??? What kind of claims?

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 01/04/2016 16:30:36    1840248

With all the issues under the surface at the minute its hard to believe anyone that takes over would be doing anything but going through the motions with the remaining players for the rest of the year.

Between match fixing allegations, rumours of players making themselves unavailable so they can attend a stag do and the usual Israel vs Palestine conflict between two north Antrim clubs we really have hit a new low.

I feel sorry for the lads that really do want to succeed at county level and to the young fellas who left the panel for America, fair play to them, who needs to be associated with that shower!

I'll have to go back on what I said earlier in the season because at that stage I didn't know how serious things had become but I would be in favour of the hurlers withdrawing from this years campaign so that we have time to sort our house out.

SaffronDon (Antrim) - Posts: 2385 - 01/04/2016 16:39:42    1840258

Christ what's going on ?
Antrim while free falling for a long time are needed , they offer hope for hurling in the North , Ive meet savage committed hurling folk from there , they'd be as passionate as anyone in the country , you always here bits and piecesm as I would know very little on ground level so wont comment , just hope things are sorted soon .

Damothedub (Dublin) - Posts: 5193 - 01/04/2016 17:12:58    1840269

As a senior hurling county Antrim is dead in the water and has been for quite a while; the League position and results confirm that. The clubs are only interested in their own wee piece of turf and there is no real interest in the county Jersey. I have been saying for a long time that the county board should withdraw the team from senior county level, in fact probably take all the county teams at all levels out of 'competition'. It's just a waste of time.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9696 - 01/04/2016 18:13:47    1840305

The GAA aren't helping anyone outside of the top 10. Westmeath, Carlow and Antrim should be in the second tier of the hurling league. The top 2 tiers should be made up of 16 teams which would roughly equate to the 14 McCarthy teams and 2 of the top Ring counties.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7818 - 01/04/2016 18:26:41    1840310

Kevin Ryan found it very difficult up in Antrim and he was a great
manager when in charge of Carlow.

We beat Antrim last year in the championship and what surprised me
was how low their confidence was with a reasonably strong team.

I would have said at the start of the season they were going to win the Christy Ring cup
but whoever takes over has a hell of a job now to achieve this.

carlovia (None) - Posts: 1517 - 01/04/2016 18:58:43    1840328

The GAA aren't helping anyone outside of the top 10. Westmeath, Carlow and Antrim should be in the second tier of the hurling league. The top 2 tiers should be made up of 16 teams which would roughly equate to the 14 McCarthy teams and 2 of the top Ring counties.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts:4607 - 01/04/2016 18:26:41   184031

If what the lads from Antrim are saying and the bits and pieces are saying I don't think the issue is either the league they are in nor what HQ are doing , problems are a nit closer to home , by the way agree with you regarding HQ and elite being favoured

Damothedub (Dublin) - Posts: 5193 - 01/04/2016 19:07:46    1840332

Do the lads blaming this on GAA HQ honestly think that throwing money at Antrim will resolve this problem, or is it just a knee jerk reaction of yours to any mention of Antrim/Carlow/Kerry to slate Croke Park?

It's pretty clear from the comments of the locals on the ground that there are severe internal issues in Antrim, whether they be club rivalries, distrust of the county board, mismanagement etc. What can the GAA do if there's managers saying lads just couldn't be arsed training for Antrim. I find it hard to imagine the pitch Antrim could give to HQ for more funding. "Our best players don't show up for the county team, our clubs refuse to cooperate, playing for Antrim means nothing to many players, our stadium project is years behind it's due date......so please give us lots of money".

It reminds me of an interview I read before about a US marine in Iraq training the local army to try and hold the state together and defend themselves. He said it was soul destroying trying to train lads who simply do not give a f**k about their country. For them it was Kurd, Shi'ite, Arab, Sunni, Turkmen etc. Rarely would you find a proud Iraqi. They refused to work together if a fellow soldier was from the west, or if the soldier was Shi'ite and his commander a Sunni. If they did put any effort in it was lazy and demoralised. The USA has poured trillions into Iraq trying to build a functional state, but at the end of the day unless the people themselves push for it, it's a waste of time.

Obviously it's on a smaller, less life threatening scale, but the basic idea is the same for Antrim, it's a cracked system and bucketfuls of money and resources won't change anything unless the internal issues are resolved.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1642 - 01/04/2016 19:53:25    1840358

Damo, I believe that Croke Park has badly failed Antrim and the hurling elite don't give a monkey's either but yes the major problems ultimately lie with Antrim. It's like depression. You can get all the outside help you want but if you don't look within and help yourself you're doomed to fail and keep on being depressed.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9696 - 01/04/2016 19:56:03    1840360

CastleBravo we can blame nobody but ourselves for this latest carry on, that's for sure. It's up to the county board to deal with the allegations and also help with relations between certain clubs. The stadium problems are completely out of our hands though as local politicians have seemed to use it as a point scoring game of their own, its called 'us versus them' childish I know but that's where we're at!

But at the same time, as bad as things are we have been the only Ulster county that have shown much interest in keeping hurling going up here and that is despite of hq neglect. The structures and funding that Dublin hurling have had over the last ten years puts Antrim's to shame. Even though Antrim beat a Dublin team coached by a former AI winning captain in the championship 6 years ago its all for nothing if you can't build from it and they have done nothing in comparison to what they did for Dublin. If the GAA want hurling to die a death in the north they probably have their wish pretty much granted at this rate.

SaffronDon (Antrim) - Posts: 2385 - 01/04/2016 21:23:33    1840398

SaffronDon, trust me, as a hurling fan in Meath I know the pain of struggling in football territory. It's probably more painful to Antrim since we know we're middling, whereas Antrim are so close to the top, yet so far at the same time.

While it's impossible to deny Dublin have gotten plenty of money. But you cannot argue against the fact that they used it prudently, that everyone rowed in behind it, and that the clubs cooperated. Dublin had one goal, one aim, that passionate coaches and players pushed for over years.

I agree that a concentrated strategy for hurling in Antrim would be great, but from the outside Antrim just don't seem to present a united front that you could give money to and it would flourish. My point isn't that Antrim is a basket case, they obviously have talent and passion to burn. It's just that the organisation needs to come first.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1642 - 01/04/2016 21:58:33    1840413

Castlebravo,

Your Iraq example is moot, in my opinion. Why would people fight for a country they don't believe in? Iraq, Sryia etc were carved up by the British & French after WWI & the defeat of the Ottomans Turks. That's why people don't see themselves as Iraqi the way we see ourselves as Irish.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 02/04/2016 09:29:43    1840426

Antrim have a lot of hurling clubs and a big pick of players in Belfast, if they got the structures right.

manfromdelmonte (UK) - Posts: 541 - 02/04/2016 09:31:46    1840427

All counties have to get their own houses in order. While the Kerry hurlers might be heading back to 2A and the Ring, their relative success shows what can be achieved.

At the same time, Antrim and a few other counties are being let down by the powers that be. We have 14 teams in the McCarthy Cup. I repeat again that this 14 and possibly the top 2 teams from the Ring should be in the top 2 tiers of the league. Antrim, Carlow and Westmeath deserve a higher level of league game. They would have gotten that in a Division 2 of eight teams including Wexford, Offaly and Laois.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7818 - 02/04/2016 12:26:37    1840471

Just read there that the Antrim going manager has resigned.

CroiGorm (Dublin) - Posts: 1547 - 02/04/2016 12:50:53    1840476

Hurling manager!*

CroiGorm (Dublin) - Posts: 1547 - 02/04/2016 12:57:59    1840481

Antrim are bit like Galway were in that their club rivalry means more than any inter county rivalry. When Clare play Tipp for instance all club rivalries are put aside for the bigger cause. Galway in Leinster are devolping rivalries with Dublin and KK which can only be good for the county cause. Antrim are missing this it would appear and the land distance between certainly doesnt help. Antrim needs another Ulster hurling force!

ZUL10 (Clare) - Posts: 693 - 02/04/2016 13:25:23    1840489

They need to be united in their hatred of someone else which shall supercede all internal hatreds???

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 02/04/2016 13:35:42    1840492