Thursday 22 May 2008

Questions on St Gall's pull-out

Like everyone else in the county I'm just wondering why the four St Gall's players have all opted out of the Antrim panel for the Tommy Murphy Cup.
Now I want to make it clear from the start I wouldn't get up out of bed to watch a Tommy Murphy Cup match.
I think it is meaningless in its current format.
After all it is the very worst teams in the country who we have just watched playing each other in the National League Division 4 earlier in the year and it doesn't really turn me on wondering who has improved on the poor league form.
Now if the second tier competition maybe included the bottom 16 sides where there is a chance for your team to improve there might be some merit, even then I don't really know if I could be bothered.
However, I'm just wondering is the St Gall's pull-out is connected with the club championship where St Gall's have shown a lot of ambition in recent seasons or have these players just been playing too much football?
Or are they headed to America for a summer's football?
There was some speculation after Sunday's game that some players were so confident of as championship exit that they booked their holidays in advance.
Bit surprised though at CJ and Terry O'Neill, the first because he is still learning his trade at inter-county level and the second because he is finding it difficult to break into the team and hold down a regular spot.
Suppose we would all like some answers about why the players have pulled out although it won't have me rushing out to buy tickets for the Tommy Murphy anyway.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Deja Vu? - (not again!)yet again Antrim football is exposed by the chasm that exists in the county.. No man is bigger than the Saffron jersey? - unless you are a member of the county champions.. The fact is that by 18.05.08 - it's a case of adios to the Saffrons from the Ulster / all-Ireland Championship ... Tommy Murphy? Sorry, but I have interesting things to do this summer. I despair for Antrim.... and those good Saffron Gaels who paid good money to watch the capitulation last week.. where was the passion, the hunger.. deja vu? (yet again) .. saddened Gael..

Sean Mag Uidhir said...

I can understand the disappointment felt throughout the county at the pull-out of the players.
I have since read Sean Kelly's comments and thought he was very honest and straightforward in that he felt that he couldn't lift himself for the game after the championship and the failure to clinch promotion.
Kelly has put it in over the years, I find CJ's comments about learning the bad habits in poor games a bit harder to take.
Good habits shouldn't come from the quality of the opposition, you have to set your own standards and it's not like we were killing these sides in the league.
If you are being serious you should continue to do the right things against poor sides, if you don't take the extra step or extra second against a bad side you won't do it when that time and space is denied you.
Our lads need to get real, it's only when we beat the bad sides regularly that we'll improve but some of our lads seem to think we are the superstars of the bottom basement.
We're not, we're in Division 4 because we're also a poor side and it does look like we are not determined enough to get out of it.