To return to the whole point of this thread, 'Is it time to consider new management,' and to give Kieran full appreciation for his efforts this past season and with respect for his massive contribution as a player, I am still of the opinion that there needs to be a new fresh input into the management (backroom team)! I think we have the makings of a very good team, however, the window of opportunity is very short and we need to make the most of it next season. Important decisions are now crucial! I am not saying that Kieran should go, however, if he is to stay, there needs to be a a massive change in personnel to bring us/the team to a place where they are able to compete with the likes of Kerry,Tyrone,Donegal, Mayo and Dublin next year. I believe that we have the talent in the current squad. Leave personalities/egos to one side. Sink your differences for the good of this Armagh team and for Armagh supporters. Armagh abu
I feel we already have competed with these teams this Season.
We played Tyrone in the McKenna Cup final & gave them a bit of a scare. Obviously the argument will be this was a weakened team, not their Championship team but we all know how seriously St. Mickey treats this competition & he's always trying to find a couple of new players so I maintain it was a good test for us.
We played Donegal both in the McKenna Cup & the league, we beat them in the McKenna Cup (a brilliant display by our boys) & if the referee hadn't "fallen for" (putting it in the most polite way possible) the play acting, sorry numerous serious head injuries
during the league we could have beaten them again or at the least got a draw. Michael Murphy was the difference for them when he was introduced that night but he's just a special player & can do this against most teams including Tyrone & Kerry as has already been witnessed during the Championship.
As for Mayo, we played them in the Qualifiers & they beat us by a single point after what can only be described as an extremely poor refereeing performance & dubious time keeping by a certain Maurice Deegan.
Back to my point, I believe we are already competing with these teams, for me our next step will hopefully be us developing the ability to beat them on a regular basis. I do think at times our players are too "honest" despite what supporters from other counties think. We don't seem to win the easy frees as regularly as other teams & rarely do we get the 50/50 decisions. Having watched all the matches so far in the Super 8s to date I don't believe our tackling is as bad as implied. The perception that other teams are "superb in executing the tackle" is just that, perception, some of the tackling has been as poor as I've ever seen. However we fail in the fact that we are not as "cute" as other teams in getting decisions to go our way. I am not for 1 minute suggesting that I want to see our players cheating & diving, but they maybe need to develop a way to play to the referee on the day.
Sorry, this post is much longer than originally anticipated.