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Down will win this game. They have home advantage and there is no fear factor with Offaly. Weather conditions look much better as well. I hope to see a much better defensive effort denying Offaly space and time. Down need to up their scoring rate which has been very poor. There will be goals for both sides. Looks like the relegation battle will go down to the last game against Clare. Newmitch (Down) - Posts: 97 - 12/03/2022 14:39:46 2405043 Link
Down look doomed now after that defeat. 14-11 ahead not closing the game out proved very costly. Gaa_lover (USA) - Posts: 3356 - 12/03/2022 19:47:45 2405072 Link
Replying To Newmitch: "Down will win this game. They have home advantage and there is no fear factor with Offaly. Weather conditions look much better as well. I hope to see a much better defensive effort denying Offaly space and time. Down need to up their scoring rate which has been very poor. There will be goals for both sides. Looks like the relegation battle will go down to the last game against Clare." Good shout lad. The_Fridge (Tyrone) - Posts: 2088 - 13/03/2022 07:14:44 2405095 Link
How long do we put up with the McAteer, we have gone backwards something serious and it doesn't look like its gonna be turned around anytime soon, time for a new set of eyes on it with new ideas. ciaran08 (Down) - Posts: 171 - 13/03/2022 17:37:47 2405203 Link
Replying To ciaran08: "How long do we put up with the McAteer, we have gone backwards something serious and it doesn't look like its gonna be turned around anytime soon, time for a new set of eyes on it with new ideas." Not sure what The McAteer,has to do with it, What with your eyes and your new ideas should happen germac (Down) - Posts: 535 - 14/03/2022 19:40:25 2405463 Link
At 27 minutes the score is Cork 1-5 , 0-4 Down, so it's not looking good for Down unless they are playing against a strong wind Before the game I still thought Down could beat Cork in Cork if they had any fight in them and maybe get a result in Newry against a Clare team with nothing to play for. Maybe Down will show some pride in the second half, if not with a game in the Ulster Championship against Monaghan coming up the season is over. Or maybe Down will be first winners of the Tailteann Cup, who knows. 2022 was the year Down's master plan to rejuvenate Gaelic games in Down was supposed to start showing itself on the field. After five or six years of hard work and investment in this plan we have an Ulster U-20 title to show for it and not much else it seems. Newmitch (Down) - Posts: 97 - 20/03/2022 13:51:14 2405914 Link
Replying To Newmitch: "At 27 minutes the score is Cork 1-5 , 0-4 Down, so it's not looking good for Down unless they are playing against a strong wind Before the game I still thought Down could beat Cork in Cork if they had any fight in them and maybe get a result in Newry against a Clare team with nothing to play for. Maybe Down will show some pride in the second half, if not with a game in the Ulster Championship against Monaghan coming up the season is over. Or maybe Down will be first winners of the Tailteann Cup, who knows. 2022 was the year Down's master plan to rejuvenate Gaelic games in Down was supposed to start showing itself on the field. After five or six years of hard work and investment in this plan we have an Ulster U-20 title to show for it and not much else it seems." Total shambles I said it when the management got the job , literally won nothing as minor manager ( hardly a game ) and continued the trend with seniors , time for big changes but does the so call gaels at the top in Down what change or maybe they to cushy the way things are , disgrace for a county with so much history BannGael (Down) - Posts: 51 - 20/03/2022 20:01:41 2406010 Link
Replying To BannGael: "Total shambles I said it when the management got the job , literally won nothing as minor manager ( hardly a game ) and continued the trend with seniors , time for big changes but does the so call gaels at the top in Down what change or maybe they to cushy the way things are , disgrace for a county with so much history" No doubt , very dissapointing to go to div 3, given the fact that we should be sitting on 6 points, should and could have beat Meath , Offaly, and Cork , really unlucky not to beat those teams, I do take issue, with your view on the management. Lets not forget that James took the job at the 11 th hour, IM sure you were like the rest of us , coming out of the All Ireland semi v Kildare in 2010, thinking he is the best thing since wee pete, As for the so call gaels at the top , believe me , no one in Down works harder than those men and women, YOU go and ask past managers, no matter what they asked for in terms of ,weekends away,facilites , training gear , physios, after training meals, transport, not only for our senior footballers, but EVERY county team, For you to refair that as Cushy is wide of the mark, and on reflection im sure you will agree, There is no doubt a re building job is needed, ,IMO , what that means is ,a manager in place for 5 to 7 years , whoever he maybe, And also as important ,a group of players to commit to the cause for same, not throwing the toys out because they wernt on the team, or their brother was dropped , or they were subbed 20 mins into the game ,honestly its not powder puffs we need , but men with real steel ,in it for the long haul, the sooner that penny drops the better, and cut out this blame game nonsense germac (Down) - Posts: 535 - 20/03/2022 21:43:56 2406061 Link
Replying To germac: "No doubt , very dissapointing to go to div 3, given the fact that we should be sitting on 6 points, should and could have beat Meath , Offaly, and Cork , really unlucky not to beat those teams, I do take issue, with your view on the management. Lets not forget that James took the job at the 11 th hour, IM sure you were like the rest of us , coming out of the All Ireland semi v Kildare in 2010, thinking he is the best thing since wee pete, As for the so call gaels at the top , believe me , no one in Down works harder than those men and women, YOU go and ask past managers, no matter what they asked for in terms of ,weekends away,facilites , training gear , physios, after training meals, transport, not only for our senior footballers, but EVERY county team, For you to refair that as Cushy is wide of the mark, and on reflection im sure you will agree, There is no doubt a re building job is needed, ,IMO , what that means is ,a manager in place for 5 to 7 years , whoever he maybe, And also as important ,a group of players to commit to the cause for same, not throwing the toys out because they wernt on the team, or their brother was dropped , or they were subbed 20 mins into the game ,honestly its not powder puffs we need , but men with real steel ,in it for the long haul, the sooner that penny drops the better, and cut out this blame game nonsense" Great post Germac. I haven't watched any Down matches apart from the Derry game in the league and I accept our position at the moment. Monaghan in the Ulster will be a hiding in all likelihood too. Odd to have the strongest club in the whole country while the county team looks so poor but this is the reality. It took Armagh and Derry years to become relevant again and that is what it will take for us. Suas Sios (None) - Posts: 1550 - 21/03/2022 09:14:04 2406083 Link
Newry Mitchels are seeking to recruit new players for the forthcoming season. We would like to invite anyone interested in playing senior football to an initial team meeting at the Canal Court Hotel on Wednesday 23/03/22 at 8pm. Everyone is welcome, whether you have never played before, or if you played underage and want to get back involved. Any questions please reach out to the facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=4986067314833896&id=782281518545851 NewryMitchels (Down) - Posts: 1 - 21/03/2022 21:40:47 2406344 Link
Replying To Suas Sios: "Great post Germac. I haven't watched any Down matches apart from the Derry game in the league and I accept our position at the moment. Monaghan in the Ulster will be a hiding in all likelihood too. Odd to have the strongest club in the whole country while the county team looks so poor but this is the reality. It took Armagh and Derry years to become relevant again and that is what it will take for us." Obviously you to must be on the county board , must be the only 2 people in the county backing them , the whole county is a shambles end off BannGael (Down) - Posts: 51 - 24/03/2022 19:30:14 2406934 Link
Replying To Suas Sios: "Great post Germac. I haven't watched any Down matches apart from the Derry game in the league and I accept our position at the moment. Monaghan in the Ulster will be a hiding in all likelihood too. Odd to have the strongest club in the whole country while the county team looks so poor but this is the reality. It took Armagh and Derry years to become relevant again and that is what it will take for us." Yea your right, but as i say, , tunnel vision needed, anything that gets in our way ,we flatten it and move on until we get to where we want to be , i know that might sound raw, but thats the attitude needed germac (Down) - Posts: 535 - 24/03/2022 21:56:55 2406949 Link
Replying To BannGael: "Obviously you to must be on the county board , must be the only 2 people in the county backing them , the whole county is a shambles end off" It's not that Bann, I would be useless at a job like that. I'm just happy to let those other individuals do that type of work, and they are elected from within the county are they not? It's not easy to look on as the likes of Tyrone edge nearer to our 5 Sams but you can't act entitled about it. GAA gets stronger in 1 place while it (appears to) decline in others, like our county. Blaming the county board gets you nowhere unless you draw up a better plan and get involved yourself. Are you shaking things up in your own club? Might be a place to start. Finally, the county is not a shambles. We have last years U-20 title, the Ballykinlar project and a smashing hurling team to be thankful for, and of course the best club in the land. Suas Sios (None) - Posts: 1550 - 25/03/2022 18:11:35 2407091 Link
Its just a shame a county of our stature is so poor at the moment. This has been coming for a long time. We haven't competed a underage for such a long time. Last years U20 success is just papering over the cracks. Most of our better players in the county wont play and our long awaited centre of excellence has still not been built. We are so far behind the top counties its a joke. It pains me to say that we are probably the worst county in ulster at the moment. How has it come to this???? Ronanthehammer (Down) - Posts: 48 - 28/03/2022 11:55:38 2407701 Link
Replying To Ronanthehammer: "Its just a shame a county of our stature is so poor at the moment. This has been coming for a long time. We haven't competed a underage for such a long time. Last years U20 success is just papering over the cracks. Most of our better players in the county wont play and our long awaited centre of excellence has still not been built. We are so far behind the top counties its a joke. It pains me to say that we are probably the worst county in ulster at the moment. How has it come to this????" Pity about Down, a great county. thelongridge (Offaly) - Posts: 1749 - 28/03/2022 13:21:58 2407750 Link
How has it come to this? Almost certainly Down will not take part in the All Ireland Senior Football Championship. A sad end of an era indeed. They say that triumphs have many fathers and disaster is an orphan. Nobody will admit any fault in the matter but worse for me is that beyond a hard core no one cares very much. Relegation wasn't greeted with any great sense of shock or disappointment, it was more a shrug of the shoulders and a sense that no one in Down has any answers. A fellow poster says the County board provide everything to the Down teams that they ask for resources wise. So it has nothing to do with those hard working men and women. Well that only leaves the players. Obviously the players must bear the blame for the failures on the field of play. Off the field its the fault of management, not good enough. If you believe that fairytale you'll believe anything. Does any poster on this forum seriously think Down can win an Ulster Senior football title in the next five years? In the next ten years? Newmitch (Down) - Posts: 97 - 28/03/2022 21:10:02 2407904 Link
What annoys me is the fact that when I was growing up it was the pinnacle of every down players life to play for the county. I was lucky enough to play at every underage level and was proud to do so. I went to England to work and didn't play at senior level. Whether I was good enough. Who knows?? The fact that we have a number of players who do not want to put on that red and black top is in my opinion a disgrace. (By the way this is my opinion). With regards to winning an all ireland or ulster title over the next 10 years. Forget about it. 1. We need to get our underage structures correct, which in itself will take years. 2. We need to get the best footballers in the county playing for the seniors. 3. When these above are sorted we may have a chance, as there are good footballers in Down. To think we have the all ireland club champions in our county and we will be playing B championship football, it's a disgrace. Another point is how many are going to stick around after the Monaghan match which will inevitably end in defeat. Of course I hope not!!! Ronanthehammer (Down) - Posts: 48 - 29/03/2022 09:56:06 2407954 Link
I don't see Down winning Ulster within 5 years based off this league form, no. For Me, it's not that I don't care about the county's fortunes, it's more that I just accept the facts. Do Down people actually believe we have some god-given right to compete at the top at all times? Maybe that's why so many around Ulster hate our attitude. When I was growing up counties like Monaghan and Roscommon were zero threat to winning anything. Now they are both far better than us, and good luck to them. Hard work and time got them there. If we played Fermanagh or Antrim tonight, they'd both probably beat us. Things change. Cavan are the most decorated football County in Ulster. Do you hear them crying about 25 years between their last 2 Ulster titles? We must sound like whinging Man Utd fans, unable to process the truth that other teams have overtaken us for a variety of reasons. Suas Sios (None) - Posts: 1550 - 29/03/2022 11:58:18 2408038 Link
There is a misconception that we as Down supporters expect to 'dine at the top table' all the time. This is not the case. The point is why have things changed so dramatically. If it is because of hard work by players then there is something drastically wrong. I could take your point if you said it was due to a lack of talent, but why???. Again our failure to build a centre of excellence has come back to haunt us. In 1994 after we tanked Tyrone they went ahead with there centre and guess what happened since then. We are not crying we just simply want a reason why its been 25 years since we won an Ulster, never mind an all ireland. The decline in our senior team has been monumental. Why after 10 years of this steady decline was there not a plan put in place to address this. We can use 2010 as an excuse because that is all it was. The two years after this our senior team were a overwhelming disaster. As I said our underage structure needs seriously worked on and all our best seniors need to commit. I was in killarney a couple of weeks ago and the Kerry people cannot believe how bad Down have become. They were not being judgemental but there was a sense of pity. Ronanthehammer (Down) - Posts: 48 - 29/03/2022 15:47:42 2408147 Link
Replying To Suas Sios: "I don't see Down winning Ulster within 5 years based off this league form, no. For Me, it's not that I don't care about the county's fortunes, it's more that I just accept the facts. Do Down people actually believe we have some god-given right to compete at the top at all times? Maybe that's why so many around Ulster hate our attitude. When I was growing up counties like Monaghan and Roscommon were zero threat to winning anything. Now they are both far better than us, and good luck to them. Hard work and time got them there. If we played Fermanagh or Antrim tonight, they'd both probably beat us. Things change. Cavan are the most decorated football County in Ulster. Do you hear them crying about 25 years between their last 2 Ulster titles? We must sound like whinging Man Utd fans, unable to process the truth that other teams have overtaken us for a variety of reasons." Cavan are the most decorated football County in Ulster. Do you hear them crying about 25 years between their last 2 Ulster titles? Oh my, there is a huge amount of crying (as there should be to a point) and even more so since we won in 2020. I think most fans of all counties are perhaps unreasonable to a point, and give out and cry all the time Loughduff Lad (Cavan) - Posts: 2407 - 29/03/2022 16:03:03 2408156 Link