If 2001 was ultimately a disappointing year for the Louth seniors and Paddy Clarke, it was even more so for Alan Page. The young Cooley Kickhams star talks to Gerry Robinson about a championship campaign in which he was criminally under-used by the county selectors. Looking back on the year, generally speaking Louth did well enough but silverware again proved elusive. It reeks of 'Same Old Story', don't you agree? Yes, and it can be very frustrating. There are plenty of good footballers in Louth and we have the bones of a decent side there at the moment. There's a good atmosphere in the camp and all the boys get on really well. But I still think there are some guys hanging on and at least four will have to be shed. If we bring four fresh young lads in to replace them and maintain the buzz and camaraderie that's in the camp, then we'll be a lot stronger. Why do you think Louth are failing to make the breakthrough in spite of some encouraging displays over the past four seasons? Do you think the new management will make a difference? It's the same story every year: we go so far, hopes rise, and then there's a big let-down. Some of it is probably down to the players not performing on the day but a lot of it has definitely been due to bad decisions on the line. But hopefully that's all about to change. There's a new manager in and we all have to give Paddy a chance. He'll have his own ideas and it'll be interesting to see what they are and whether they work. He certainly deserves a shot at it because things had gone stale and we needed fresh blood at the helm. The change was badly needed. How disappointed were you personally not to play a bigger role in Louth's 2001 championship odyssey? I was very disappointed. I'd had a good start to the year and felt I'd done enough to prove myself when called upon, so it was disappointing not to be given more games. I thought I'd get a much better run in the championship. Tell me about your championship season: I didn't play against Longford but played the full 70 minutes against Tipperary and thought I did well. Then I only got the last ten or 15 minutes in the next game against Offaly and to be honest I couldn't understand why. I felt a little hard done by. I couldn't understand why that decision was made and Paddy [Clarke] didn't tell me. You didn't even get a run against Westmeath. It must have been frustrating watching that match from the sideline, powerless to intervene? It was and there's no point pretending I was anything other than very disappointed about the way I was treated. It was very similar to what happened in 2000 when I played all year and was then dropped off the panel the day of the championship game against Kildare. That was bad form because I'd been putting the effort in all year and prepared for the game and suddenly I wasn't even on the panel anymore. Do you expect much change in personnel on the Louth team for next year's championship? There are good players out there who either weren't approached or given the proper opportunity to prove themselves. I think a lot of that was down to poor management. There are one or two players who had been there that long that the manager seemed to think he couldn't drop them. But it's time to let them go because they're holding everyone else back. I'd like to see a lot more younger players being brought in and gradually introduced to the way of senior intercounty football. That hasn't been done. John Neary came in last year and proved the point - he had a brilliant season. He was given his chance and kept his place and deservedly so, but he was the exception to the rule and we need to bring in more new blood. Presumably you'd like to have had a go against Westmeath's now much-vaunted forward line? Absolutely. When I came on in the closing stages against Offaly the game was still up in the air and I did what was asked of me. I was disappointed not to be considered for Westmeath and I let Paddy Clarke know. Some people are saying that was a good Louth performance but there was some very poor football played that day as well and I feel I could've done better than some of the lads that played. You've been playing a lot of football recently - you captained the Louth under 21s in 2001 and Cooley got to the semi-final of the senior championship. How long have you been with the Louth seniors? This was my second year as a playing member of the panel and I trained with them for a year before that. I was there for the National League Division Two final against Offaly but was then dropped the day of the Kildare game. They brought me back in this year and I played most of the league games. In 2000, Cooley reached the latter stages of all three senior competitions, but all to no avail. This year, you were unfortunate against the Blues in the Joe Ward semi-final, where a dubiously disallowed 'goal' for an alleged square ball offence took the wind out of a storming second half revival: We were close again. We really hoped to make it through to the final, if not win the competition itself. In the first half against the Blues we didn't perform at all. In the second half when we lifted it, they only scored a point and we were all over them. When we had that goal disallowed, that was the real turning point because we were right back in it. Our first half performance had been so poor that we'd have been happy even with a draw and a replay. Where do Cooley go from here? We have a great young team coming up and the future is bright. We have some terrific young players like Ambrose Kane, Brendan O'Neill and my own brother Emmet. Next year will tell a tale or two. We've been a 'coming team' since I came into the side in 1999 and it's now time we made a breakthrough. While I've been involved, we've reached a Cardinal O'Donnell final and two championship semi-finals. We had really hoped to get some silverware at senior level this year but it wasn't to be. But it's definitely time we started to win things. You had no such problems at minor level. We had a good minor team. I was centre half back in 1997 when we won the championship and captained the team in the 1998 county final against the Gaels. I also captained the Louth minors that year. Finally, what are the plans for 2002? Clubwise, I'd like to play in a county final - that's the definite aim. With the county, I'd love to make the starting team for the championship. I feel that I deserve a chance to prove myself. It'll be interesting to see what happens because there wasn't a lot between ourselves and Westmeath. In fact, we should have beaten them. They got a lucky goal and only for that we were in with an excellent chance. It would be great if Louth could get a run in the championship. It's badly needed. There has been too much talk about it and not enough action, so hopefully this is going to be the year when something is finally done. Alan Page has the sort of determination, self-belief and talent necessary if Louth are to take the long-overdue step forward. If Paddy Carr didn't already know this, he does now. Tweet

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