the main target of 2011

is kildare main aim this year to win leinster or to get into division 1 of league

you need to ask?

Have to go with Ogie there.
INfact I would be of the opinion that we should aim to win every game we play this year, whether its league,champ, OB Cup or even challenge. Win all games at all costs.

I'm amazed at the question. Ask Geezer what the main target is and you think it will be a secondary competition (NFL, Leinster ?).. of course he won't say that in the press but come on guys, there is only one target this year for this team and management

The Big one, old Sam himself. No lesser goal should be considered.

The next game is always the most important.

One game at a time and don't be getting ahead of ourselves. It's the philosophy that served us well in the back-door last summer.

Sorry dara, im with the lads on this one...

Its the all ireland this year.

If you were to ask what comes next, a leinster or winning the div 2 league?? Id probably go with winning the leinster given the tough draw we have.

Hopefully KK we won't be availing of the back door route this year. Main road all the way.

Sam hasnt ben here since 1928- its about time he came!
I do agree though every game we play we should try to win at all costs.

The attitude in this thread is going to be a big problem for Kildare this year. We haven't won Sam in more than 80 years, we've 2 leinsters since 1956 and just look at the posts!

KK is right - the next game. You don't look at the end prize 9 months in advance. Crazy.

Earley is out for God knows how long and we don't know what he'll have to offer when he returns. Our talisman ( Johnny for anyone in doubt! ) is nearly 34 and at the moment its a pretty competitive championship with neither Kerry or Tyrone reaching the last 4 last year - i.e. you can be sure that won't happen again.

We kinda need to win something, I mean Meath in some ways were more sucessful than us last year as they have a trophy in their cabinet. Lets focus on the league cos if we can't get promoted realistically we're going to struggle to win the championship.

C'mon it's January, if you can't dream about September now when can you. There will be plenty of time to get serious about expectations come March or April and by then I'll be one of the biggest worriers . For now I'm just going to dream a little.

Oracle, we dont have to specify what silverare we prefer if any. But we can aim to win every single game we play, competitive or otherwise.
Winning is infectious and is a habit that we must get into.
It's not true to say if we dont get promoted to Div.1 we cant win the championship, infact thats rediculous.
Div 1 is an unforgiving league, there is no room to build a team or blend young players. Its high octane stuff played at high intensity. All this is fine when you have a solid team and are honing your skills for the Summer, certainly not for Kildare who are still looking to find some players for our championship side.
I would be very interested to hear what Smith and Whyte were being diciplined for this time. I hope some of these young guys (who have achieved nothing yet) don't lose the heads.

Newbridgefan wrote:

Oracle, we dont have to specify what silverare we prefer if any. But we can aim to win every single game we play, competitive or otherwise.
Winning is infectious and is a habit that we must get into.
It's not true to say if we dont get promoted to Div.1 we cant win the championship, infact thats rediculous.
Div 1 is an unforgiving league, there is no room to build a team or blend young players. Its high octane stuff played at high intensity. All this is fine when you have a solid team and are honing your skills for the Summer, certainly not for Kildare who are still looking to find some players for our championship side.
I would be very interested to hear what Smith and Whyte were being diciplined for this time. I hope some of these young guys (who have achieved nothing yet) don't lose the heads.

Whats the story with Smith and Whyte???

clean sweep of everything!!

we will have our work cut out to win leinster this year, tough side of draw and few lads injured. we need to start the league strongly, get a settled team for championship and hope for a bit luck along the way.

If we don't get promotion in the league, win the O Byrne cup or a leinster I would be happy enough with just winning the all Ireland this year,, we have the players,, support is the best in the country , all we need is a bit of luck..

stanley wrote:

If we don't get promotion in the league, win the O Byrne cup or a leinster I would be happy enough with just winning the all Ireland this year,, we have the players,, support is the best in the country , all we need is a bit of luck..

Yeah I'd agree, although it's still very early in the year I'd be willing to sacrifice the O'Byrne Cup and the league if it meant winning Sam.

Can see where people are coming from by saying we should be taking each game at a time and that we should only be focusing on the next game, but... realistically we were very unlucky not to be playing in an All Ireland final last season, the worst part is I feel we could have beaten that Cork team too. We have been building year on year, have a very dedicated and strong panel.

Fair enough Kerry and Tyrone will be back next year, but will Down get just as much luck as they did this year? Will Cork meet a weak Connacht champion in Roscommon (no disrespect to the Rossies) at the quarter final stage again? Will the Dubs be able to rely as much on Bernard Brogan as they did last year? And look at what we did, beat 3 Ulster teams and the Leinster Champions. Just because it's a new year and we haven't exactly won much recently is no reason to fear any team or to be downbeat about any chances this Kildare team has.

Yeah fair enough take each game as it comes, but I'll be giving us a big chance of winning each game, regardless of what team we'll be playing, for that reason I think it's late July and August we should be looking to at least. Get the summer holidays booked out of the way early lads, nobody will want to miss us in the latter stages of the championship.

The main aim would be Sam or at least a Leinster title this year I'd imagine.
I don't think many people are bothered about the O'Byrne Cup really are they?
If we could just use it to sort out the midfield situation and find few more players before the league that would be the main thing.
As for the league obviously we want to do well in it but championship is what it comes down to.
If we won Leinster or got to the All Ireland final this year I don't think many would mind about how the league went.

I'd also be interested to know why Smith and Whyte were being disciplined?
Smith's still one of the best forwards in the county and I'd consider Whyte to be one of the main options for midfield at the moment.

Tough draw for Leinster and I wouldn't like to see us peaking just to win it, so I'm all for Sam. I'd be happy beating Wickla and Meath and then a serious push for Sam either front door or back.

being very competitive in Division 2 and a serious push for silverware in the championship.

Some people here are saying we should aim for Sam, and i agree we should.

But let us not forget Leinster either. We last won Leinster in 2000, 11 years ago now.
And we've only ever 13 Leinster titles, 2 in the last 50 years. its doesnt make for good reading.
That in my opinion should be our main aim this year.
Winning Leinster. Its Geezers 4th year in charge and he has made great progress, but has no silverware to show for it.

We dont want to be ending up like Monaghan and Banty where they had some great fairy tale years with not an ounce of silverware to show for it.

Leinster and the All Irealand should be treated as 2 seperate competitions.
Whilst were in Leinster we should be completely committed to winning it.
Whenever we lose in the Leinster series, or if we lose, then we should be looking towards Sam.

If we're aiming for Sam we should be capable of a Leinster.

We're not far off the mark and if anything look stronger this year with Donnelly, Earley and Conway looking good at this stage. Rob Kelly is also a plus.

I'd love to win Leinster, my best memories are of those two great days, but with the players we have at the moment we also have a well earned chance at the big one.
When the predictions come out in the papers in the next few weeks Kildare will be one of the teams tipped to go all the way.
How many times does this County get put on the top table.
That's why I think that this year is important the Players get reward for the work they have put in over the last three years. So Leinster would be a very welcome prize.
We have the Management and the players all we need is a turn in luck and since this county has been on the no luck highway for many years it must surely be time for a little to come our way.

yeh i agree with other posts, leinster should be our main focus and see where that brings us. hopefully we'll be in all ireland quarter final after winning leinster and looking forward a date in late september for the big prize...... just on another topic mentioned, heard that chalky is withdrawing his services from kildare panel for the coming year due too army exams in the next 6 months. not sure what the problem with smithy was.

Ah I know its early and people are entitled to dream, but just trying to keep the feet on the ground. Looking back at last year it was an ideal year to win both Leinster and Sam and we failed on both counts. If we win either of them this year it'll be harder won and questions remain over Dermot - who is the player IMO most vital to the cause.
Neither am I saying that the league should be our aim, at the end of the day its about the championship, I'm saying we should focus now on the league and not worry about the 3rd week of September just yet!

Newbridgefan - I didn't say if we can't get promoted we can't in the championship. I said realistically we will STRUGGLE to win the championship if we can't get promotion. Its more of an idicator of where we're at, of course its still possible to win the championship without a good league.

Yep Oracle, all the problems Geezer and co will have over the next nine months (hopefully), the biggest is the attitude of this forum!!!

To be fair, Kildare supporters have had unrealistic expectations, long before the internet existed..... having said that, you are entitled to dream of Sam and for once, Kildare is one of a number of teams that at this stage of the year, would be considered to be in the reckoning.

For me though, if Kildare won a Leinster that would be a step forward again because Kildare have won two in 65 years... it'd be massive.

The league would be nice but it's not important to win or lose... you'd like to avoid relegation but even that wouldn't be the end of the world. Has done no harm to a host of counties in the championship in recent years.