[ad_1]
Kieran McGeeney and I go back a long way. All the way back to the start and a minor Ulster Championship game at Omagh in 1989.
I do not remember much of the game except that I was in the center and that it was in the center. We ruled over the Ulster champions in this match and we thought we were fit. & # 39; Geezer & # 39; and his friends end our reign this afternoon
We did not know it then but we bounced on the same road for most of our careers. We played against each other in the Sigerson Cup (he was with Queen's and me with St Mary's) and then again at the senior inter-county level. We sold out together for Ulster in the Railroad Cup, traveled on All-Star trips and even captained our counties to revolutionary All-Ireland titles within a year of each other, at a time when our teams were launched a fierce rivalry
the years we got used to the sight of one another. & # 39; Geezer & # 39; Savored a battle and loved nothing more than tackling it hard. Throughout all of our games, I like to believe that I have curbed his penchant for big hits. He never liked guys who knew how to win freedoms.
Now, I can not say that we are best friends. We would not be in regular contact or anything like that, but I got to know him in the 30 years that have pbaded since we fought at Healy Park and I know another face than the one he's presenting to the media.
Do not get me wrong, he takes his football very seriously. Its standards are demanding. I would go so far as to say that he is the type of guy who stays up at night thinking about the game and how they can win. But I think that he likes the picture portrayed of him as a man not to be baded with. A Stoic and Serious Individual
Banter
But there is also a different side. Kieran's father, Pat, has won the Bard of Armagh title in the past. And there is also this side in Kieran. He too is able to tell a good story and enjoys banter as much as any other man. But I think it's only for people who have gained its trust and this can only happen at a time when this can not affect football.
Football is first and last for him.
That's why I think this summer There was no locker room as sorry as Armagh after their defeat at Fermanagh in the Ulster Championship.
They had beaten them in the league final and drawn with them to the league but that day – the most important day – they were beaten in every way. Physically, Fermanagh has surpbaded them. Tactically, they have been outfoxed. Fermanagh played more football than them too. They must have felt like Fermanagh had been set up for this fall since the draw was done. I've been on this end of things and it's disgusting.
It was the fourth year of McGeeney's tenure and they had not won a single Ulster match yet. In some ways, it seemed like they were running to a halt. They had reached the quarterfinals of the Irish team last year but have since lost two of their most important players, Jamie Clarke and Stefan Campbell, as well as a few others.
They did not seem to have much rallying The guys from Crossmaglen either (no club person started against Erne's men.) It seemed that whenever they seemed ready to to make some progress, they were shaking on their heels.
I know that there is a difference of opinion in the county about his reign. There are those in Armagh who are pragmatic and aware that the talent at his disposal is far from the quality that was there when McGeeney was playing himself.
Even some of the best players in Armagh are not in this locker room. I know that it would require a total dedication to the cause, but you would get the best of everything in return. Kieran trains these guys as they are in Dublin or Kerry. Is not that what you want as a player?
So if you look from this point of view, where they can not hire their best men, it's not surprising that they failed in Ulster. Not only did they not release a Tyrone or Donegal, but they did not beat anyone like Down or Fermanagh. This reflects where they are – they simply do not have the quality of player they were used to. Using this as a starting point, there is only a few things that a manager can do.
On the other hand, there are others who ask how well they can do through the back door and the last eight again, but can not do it in Ulster? It's hard to understand. And I would say many times over the last few years that it would have been easier for McGeeney to say, "Things are not here, we are not doing well" and he could have thrown in the towel. But it's not his way.
After the Fermanagh match, he took it to the chin, absorbed the blame himself and began rebuilding through the qualifiers.
His record at the back door is remarkable (25 wins from 29 outings) and the Armagh Road this time was far from simple.
Westmeath was a 50-50 game to me. I think Sligo would have imagined himself under a new home direction and against Clare they dug it with an extraordinary push in the last minutes, reproducing the attitude of never telling their manager
. just minutes away from the Super 8, something that must have seemed so far away when they were sitting in the Brewster Park locker room after the defeat against Fermanagh.
Roscommon will, in a way, be the best team they have faced. year. The question mark that hangs over them is how they handled the three-week break since Connacht's final defeat at Galway because the pressure is now on them to play.
I think they have more elegant players but sometimes with Roscommon or cold. There is no difference between the two and I think the way Kevin McStay likes to set himself up will suit the style of Armagh.
So it's a free kick for the Orchard men. They can play without pressure. Roscommon should know a little more about them, but if they leave the door open even a little, there is nothing better than a Kieran McGeeney side to fight his way.
Revue d'Indo
[ad_2]
Source link
