Where do we sit?

How very appropriate that you should crawl out of ur hiding hole now. Ur the very troll I suspected as being the alter ego!

This conversation has nothing to do with you. You threw ur toys out've the pram a few weeks ago when you "withdrew your support for the Kildare senior team".

Getting back to the topic in hand, any word on when the county board will have their review of the season complete and how they see Kildare inc moving forward?

As I see it the county is at something of a cross roads and the decisions made now from senior management right down to funding of development squads will have huge influence on the direction of Kildare football for many years to come

BelieveToAchieve wrote:

How very appropriate that you should crawl out of ur hiding hole now. Ur the very troll I suspected as being the alter ego!

This conversation has nothing to do with you. You threw ur toys out've the pram a few weeks ago when you "withdrew your support for the Kildare senior team".

Figured as much. I'm sure admin will take you in hand for this scurrilous accusation.

Why wud admin interfere in something that has nothing to do with him?

BTA I think you will find everything on this forum has got to do with admin. You be better off not trying to start silly squabbles and debate your point rather than trying insult everyone

What I mean is - I did not call any names or insult anybody. I simply stated how I thought there is dual logins at work. I've said it before, as have a few others.

As for insulting people - Kildare08 has been very very obvious in his/her slating of management. Not a single comment on anything else. Perhaps some people would choose to take offence to that

Getting back to the topic. Just a couple of points I have noticed but only my opinion.

McGeeny certainly has done a very good job in getting Kildare competing.

The players are in good shape and maybe are a little too bulked up. Cork seemed to exposed their lack of pace at time as did Limerick and Meath. Maybe they shouldjust keep conditioned and maybe do a littte more speed/sharpness work.

WE need to get mid-field sorted and try to get back to having an established 15 with 5 or 6 lads waiting to come in to make a difference if called. I think we do have a good squad at this stage.

I think we have a good enough forward line but maybe the style of play does not suit them. Get the ball in quicker. O Connor did well for us and laid off some good scores. Our forwards seem to be hot and cold. If we can get a little more consistancy we will be closer.

Lastly we all know we could do with some new players being added to the panel with a few going the other way. Some names have been mentioned. I have a few in mind but might be a bit unfair to namethem

BTA, you obviously want McGeeny to stay on, not an opinion I share as I believe that he has brought the team as far as he can, if the management is to stay the same what do you think does need to change in order to turn Kildare from a 6-10 team to an elite outfit that has genuine prospects of winning an All-Ireland. You have slated posters for suggesting certain players should be added to the panel, however if we continue with the same management and same players we will continue to get the same results, something has to change and I was just wondering what areas you believe Kildare can improve upon to make that leap from 6th to the elite teams in the country.

topcat wrote:

what do you think does need to change in order to turn Kildare from a 6-10 team to an elite outfit that has genuine prospects of winning an All-Ireland

This to me is the problem: unrealistic expectations. Why do you think Kildare should have genuine prospects of winning All-Irelands at this point in time? I'm not saying we shouldn't aspire to go as far as we can but the implication is that a manager that doesn't bring us close to an All-Ireland will have failed. There's nothing in our underage record to suggest we should be winning All-Irelands. Nothing at all.

I we can stay in Div 1 for a while that will help us no end imo but said we need some success at underage levels or even constantly getting to finals to move to teh next level

I would like to see McGeeney stay on as manager but he has to has to do an Alex Ferguson and build a new team. There is no way we should be talking about winning Sam next year and depending on the draw we should be realistic about winning Leinster. I hope the CB and supporters give the manager time to get us competitive again. Most of our players are good enough to compete at the highest level but we really need to sort out our midfield to have any chance. In the last 2 years we had to move an all star forward and an all star fullback to shore up midfield. Kerry might get away with that but we clearly cant. We have to change to a more orthodox and phsical no 6, someone suggested Paudie and I think that could work . Most teams have copped on to the tactic of playing O'Connor at full forward and a viable alternative should be found, maybe a return to the style of 09 might be an option? Sometimes the solutions are already there and positional changes for some players like Down and Meath did to such good effect in thd 90's might be the answer. We are a lot better off than most teams imo and might just have to be patient.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out the role that a man built like Tomas O'Connor fills on a team, that doesn't negate its effectiveness. If he still wins the 50/50 ball (which he does) then why would you change it? But hoofing the ball into the square in hope is not progress. He has a major role to play in Kildare.

Look 20 years Micko Dwyer, after 4 years trying and on his second stint, recognised that we didn't have enough talent within the county. We were good but not good enough. Are we any different now?

Topcat - if you read over my recent posts. I have openly admitted that it may well be time to explore change. I have said - repeatedly - that if there is somebody better than who we have at present, available. Then by all means we could and should bring them in. Does that person exist outside or in the county at present - I dont believe he does.

I agree that players need to be added to the panel. We most definitely need an injection of pace. The young pretenders in Athy seem to have a lot of the attributes that are required, but do they have the right attitude? Commitment? Many of them are in America at the moment, another playing soccer. That tells me that they do not have the commitment for the senior panel. So how can that be the managements fault? Should they pick them and allow them play the league and some of the championship, but swan off on holidays when the Summer comes?

You also talk about winning All-Irelands. I think its time this county got real. We havent won one since the 1920's ffs. We hadn't won anything of any relevance since 2000, until we wont the league this year. Its very easy for people to dismiss us as ONLY being a 6-10 placed team. But I remind you again of the absolute joke of a setup we were under your current club manager. We couldn't even beat these so called "weaker teams2 that we are now beating regularly in the qualifiers.

Time to get with it folks. I dont believe Kildare have good enough players to win an All-Ireland. Not even with Jesus Christ managing the team.

BTA, many of the Athy players are not in America, just a handful of them who are young enough to be able to go. They are not on the Kildare panel and so have no commitment to the county to stay. Feeley choosing soccer over gaa is not down to lack of commitment but rather down to economics and showcasing his talent to English clubs. I dont think any of the Athy lads have the physique to play for McGeeney, apart from Eaton perhaps. They play a totally different style of football to Kildare and one which I find more enjoyable to watch to be honest. I think we will have to look elsewhere for new talent for the county. Hopefully its out there somewhere.

Murof and Bta thanks for the compliments, there are 3 players who have the physique to play for Kildare james eaton, Danny o Keeffe and Brian Kinahan .

"The physique to play for Kildare?"

Without wishing to sound like Pat Spillane, we can't kick a dumbbell over the bar.

If a player has the necessary skill then he should be given the chance. Strength and conditioning is clearly important in the modern game but just because a player isn't 6"2 and 14st shouldn't rule him out. Look at arguably the two best Kildare forwards of the past ten years - Doyle and Fennin. Neither particularly physically imposing but both quick on their feet, agile, and most importantly, well able to kick goals and points. Colm Cooper and Jamie Clarke would be two of the most dangerous forwards in the modern game. If they were from Kildare would we dismiss them because they lack the physique to play for McGeeney?

Kicking King

Excellent point on the physique matter. Definitely a huge issue in Kildare but particularly the underage teams. How many times have we heard ' that is some huge Kildare minor team ' and then they turn out to be useless. Somebody on the radio from Kerry suggested recently to move the Cork / Kildare Q/F game to the Aviva and you would not know any different. Bit tongue in cheek I thaught but I could half see where they were coming from.

KK and tomcruise, if you look at my post again it reads " I dont think any of the Athy lads have the physique to play for McGeeney, apart from Eaton perhaps". The key word there is McGeeney who likes to have players of a certain phsique on his teams. If you doubt that then have a look at the way certain players like O'Flaherty and Kelly have bulked up and seem to have disimproved as a result. I honestly feel that Feeley would go the same way if he were to join the county squad. If we are to continue with the mindset then we will miss out on players who have plenty to offer. Finally I would never judge a minor team on size, yet to meet any one that would do that tbh.
ps KK you really need to learn how to copy and paste, it cuts down on silly errrors.

Murof I wasn't directing my post at yourself. I was trying to make more of a general point regarding Kildare at the moment. I'd be in agreement that McGeeney would nearly always give preference to a bigger man and this is an approach that he might need to reconsider.

KK, Fair enough, we are in agreement on that.

I do not think we have the balance correct between speed agility and physicality, cork and Donegal have the correct balance. We do not seem
To have also we have not become a bad team overnight , I don't think we are good enough to win an all Ireland but we are in the top 6 teams in the country, so in that respect we have made progress unfortunately the bar is raised higher every year and we are playing catch up on the top teams.

Was at match in croke park today. Went in hoping for a Cork win to make us feel better and not a fan of Donegal's sytle of football. Came away hugely impressed with Donegal who should have won by 8 or more. What McGuinness has achieved in 2 years is incredible and I think they are certain to win Sam next month. Their speed, power, skill, teamwork and spirit is miles ahead of Kildare sadly. Once again the team that beat us has been beaten in their next game. Where we go from here I dont know but Donegal who were beaten out the gate by Cork 3 years ago have been transormed by a young manager who clearly has a vision of how to succeed. Much for McGeeney to ponder on I think in the months ahead.

Totally agree. Hugely impressed by Donegal and in particular their application. McGuiness has transformed this team from whipping boys into serious contenders in two years.
We are miles behind them after spending 5 years attemping a break through.
I honestly believe that its time for a change of management. We will be entering a winter of serious pondering and its time for the Co. Board to make a serious decision

Who do you suggest then. I read you on here bad mouthing the current management for months and you are yet to suggest a viable alternative to McGeeney who the players will accept as being up to the job. If you bother listening to J.D he says it is imperative McGeeney stays. I'll go by what the great man says all day everyday than the likes of you who have nothing but negative opinions and only bother posting when we lose.

I love your commet we are miles behind them, funny that it appears every other team is miles behind them as well. Should they all get rid of their manager now. By your logic they should.

So man up and name who you want and everyone else can then comment on your new messiah who will lead us to more than 5 straight quarter finals and a semi in five years.

I don't agree that we are miles behind Donegal. We got our tactics wrong in the second half against Cork and gave them acres of space in our 1/3 of the field, Donegal didn't. We have backs and half backs who get forward regularly and score. Only difference I can see is what McFadden & Murphy bring to the forward line. I do believe Tomas O'Connor can play one of those 2 roles.