1218807 My insults were general, calling me a tube was personal. You are obviously a young buck and don't know the old Ulster code of always following the Ulster champions in Croke Park no matter who they were. It still annoys the Dubs that they supported us in the AI Minor in '92 yet we supported Donegal in the Final. I have no time for Tyrone but still suported them in '05 and '08. I wanted Tony McEntee but it looks like he won't take it. I'd like to see Paul McGrane involved, all the talk is of Geezer but the bottom line is he has won nothing. We need someone to beat Cross, bad as it sounds if they win Armagh so we could get a free year with all their players available.
Hmm well in fairnness you went well overboard after a wee bit of ribbing, and I don't think calling someone a tube is the worst thing in the world. And it depends how old you are how you define "young buck". :-) And I know plenty of Armagh men that would (and did in 05 and 08) never want Tyrone to win anything, so it's not exclusively a Down thing! And I doubt too many Derry men were overly happy with Tyrone's success either.
It's a strange one with Cross, having such a successful club team really hampering the county team. Having O'Rourke in there probably didn't help too much either I imagine, having someone more connected to the club scene in Armagh would probably help matters. I'd stay well away from Geezer though, although I reckon he'll stay on another year with Kildare providing they don't go out before the quarters
Paddy O actually started ok, getting promoted, beating you's in the final then beating Derry in Derry but the wheels seemed to fall off after that Monaghan thrashing in Casement. I don't think we won two games in a row in any competition after that. It was the same last year, beat you's pretty well without trying to dig then stuffed by Derry. There was no direction, system/style of play, confidence in the management it seemed. This year with the Club Final going to a replay we only had Cross players for the final League game and it was unfair to ask them or unfair to those who had played League to step a side. As I have said I love to see Cross winning All Ireland's but it may do no harm if they didn't win the Co. title or Ulster title. The great period of county success from '02-'06 coincided with a lull in Cross success. I believe that may have been a factor in it. There's definitely a possibility 5/6 Cross players should be on the team certainly the panel. A frustrating thing for us is I believe we are as good as yourselves and Donegal player for player in most positions but we've lacked the manager. While McGeeney hasn't won anything with Kildare he has done very well with average players in my opinion. With us he may do better. I would prefer Tony McEntee but he is committed to Cross it seems.