John Crofton

EARMUFFS

John Crofton resigns as Kildare manager
25/07/2007 14:58
Kildare senior football manager John Crofton has resigned his position with immediate effect citing family commitments as his reason.

Crofton has been in charge of the Kildare senior football team since 2005 when he took over from Padraig Nolan.

In a statement today, chairman Syl Merrins said "Kildare Countyboard would like to thank John, not only for the last 2 years, but indeed a lifetime of service where he played with distinction for many years. We wish him well in all future endeavours."

blackbelt

Ah well,it was sort of impending anyway.Doesn't look like Kildare were really getting anywhere anytime fast.Could we see a manager like Paidi O Se take over the reigns and shake things up in Kildare like he did with Westmeath?

EARMUFFS

I can't see anyone wanting to take the job at the minute. Any candidate will want longer than a 2 year stint and i can't see the Co. Board agreeing to that.

baztard

He took a very much in decline and aging Kildare team, and freshened things up a bit by bringing in new players. The team is still in a very bad state, but at least now I think the only way is up. Theres a young team in place with a lot of potential given the correct person in charge to make it happen. They'd want to hurry up though or face being left behind in the long term by Dublin, Laois and Meath.

baztard

blackbelt wrote:

Ah well,it was sort of impending anyway.Doesn't look like Kildare were really getting anywhere anytime fast.Could we see a manager like Paidi O Se take over the reigns and shake things up in Kildare like he did with Westmeath?

What would you reckon the chances of getting Joe Kernan are? He'd definitely bring a passion to the game that Kildare are lacking.

blackbelt

I actually didn't think of that,good man.

Joe Kernan would be a better candidate in my opinion.It seems Paidi couldn't get the best out of his players all the time although 2004 was his best year since he lost his job with Kerry.Kildare would be in a similar position as Clare but the only difference being Kildare are ahead of Clare.

Kildare have the players but if you rely so much in midfield on Anthony Rainbow,you know you are done for.In all fairness,he is way past his prime.Kildare need to do what Meath are doing and have done from 2005-2007 and thats rebuild,re-group,comeback and focus on a particular season.Kildare need to freshen things up.They are like Down,over-reliance on the one player.

John Doyle is seen as the Benny Coulter of Down.

blackbelt

Sorry,just to correct myself.John Doyle is key man for Kildare like Coulter is for Down.I phrased that all wrong before.

squire1

And Anthony Rainbow never has or never will play midfield for Kildare.

squire1

blackbelt wrote:

Could we see a manager like Paidi O Se take over the reigns and shake things up in Kildare like he did with Westmeath?

Please God, no. The last thing Kildare need now is a mercenary.

I can't imagine Big Joe managing any other county or club.

blackbelt

Sorry Squire1,I hadn't had my morning caffeine fix when I wrote that.:o

Joe Kernan will be back.He's way younger than Micko,Paidi and Walsh and some of the other managers knocking about.I know I'm guilty of it myself but it seems that when a county loses its manager,people will look to other county managers that left to fill that position.

If I were Pat Roe,I'd pack it in with Offaly after one year and put my name forward to manage Kildare.Look at how much they've declined in one year.Last years Leinster Final runners up to Dublin in front of 83,000 have gone down to getting knocked out of the Tommy Murphy cup against Wicklow in front of 8,000 - 10,000 in Aughrim with the players drinking behind the managements back.

baztard

squire1 wrote:

Please God, no. The last thing Kildare need now is a mercenary.

Yeah exactly, he'd be more like a manging consultant than a manager. The new manager needs to be someone who has no past connections to Kildare. The aul rumour mill has it that theres a bit of internal politics going on in the camp. Thats why an outsider replacement manager should be brought in.

hawker

Larry Tompkins could be the man to bring Kildare forward!!

EARMUFFS

Internal politics in the GAA!!! Never!!!;)

Inside or outside the county don't mean diddly squat. Whoever is appointed must be willing to be cannon fodder for a year or two. Meath rebuilded pretty quickly and Eamonn Barry was the unfortunate link man between the old and new.

blackbelt

Yeah you'd have to feel sorry for Barry,taking over a team in transition is a difficult task but what did he expect when it was Meath.:D

Sean Boylans style of management was outdated and only got Meath so far.Kildare were only a team you could worry about back in 2000-2001 when they played with real flair but now they are so unpredictable that they could fight to the end and win or completely roll over from the word go such was the case against Meath after 15 minutes.

squire1

blackbelt wrote:

Kildare were only a team you could worry about back in 2000-2001 when they played with real flair

Huh? You point is a good one but what about 1997-2000 and 2001-2003. Kildare were no pushovers. 4 Leinster Finals of which they won two, One AI final and that great three game saga against Meath, game two of which many consider to be one of the best games of all time?

Kildare are in a bit of a slump at the moment and with greatest respect to John Crofton and the previous incumbant Padraig Nolan, they have not been able to reproduce the form that the team produced in the previous six or seven seasons. Quiet the opposite actually.

Some great players during that period, Glen Ryan, Martin Lynch, Declan Kerrigan, Niall Buckley, SOS Dowling, Ken Doyle, John Finn, Brian Lacey (held both Jason Sherlock and Maurice Fitzgerald scoreless from play in 1998). We dont have that abundance of quality at the moment but loosing your two first choice midfielders and three or four second choice midfieldrs to injury in one season makes any kind of progress difficult.

There are quiet a bunch of talented young fellas coming through but like any other county it remains to be seen if they make it at senior level.

Time will tell.

premierstone

squire1 wrote:

Some great players during that period, Glen Ryan, Martin Lynch, Declan Kerrigan, Niall Buckley, SOS Dowling, Ken Doyle, John Finn, Brian Lacey (held both Jason Sherlock and Maurice Fitzgerald scoreless from play in 1998).

What part of Kildare was Brian Lacey from?????

dcr22B

premierstone wrote:

What part of Kildare was Brian Lacey from?????

Tipperary, Co. Kildare!

squire1

Kildare town. Previously Tipperary I believe. Thanks for lending him to us

Great player. Couldn't really kick a ball but there were very few forwards that got the better of him and he played against some of the best. Not too many have two Leinster medals and a Tommy Murphy medal in their back pocket.

premierstone

ah we didnt mind lending him to ye he couldnt hurl so he was no great use to us here!

squire1

Nah, your hurlers are playing in the Christy Ring final for us next week.:D

premierstone

thats right ye got three of them off us - does this exchange programme work the other way at all

blackbelt

2003 was not a good year for Kildare.They were knocked out by Roscommon in the qualifiers in a match they were expected to win but in 2001 they were a team who were more consistent.They ran Dublin close in 2002 but from 2003-2007 they have been the most inconsistent team in Leinster.

When they beat the current Leinster champions at the time Westmeath in 2005,there was a lot of hype around the clubs that Kildare could lift the Delaney Cup after they did what Dublin and Laois failed to do the previous year.I remember thinking to myself that it could be another Dublin-Kildare final but after their heroics against Westmeath and all the talk,they were well beaten by Laois by 9 points in a game that only showcased Laois hand passing skills.

Then last year they were beaten by Offaly and only to come back this year and peak in the League and get to the semi-final and trouble Donegal when the game was pretty much over.They lost to a strong Meath side but beat a Roscommon team and then lost to Louth in a match I thought they'd win if Doyle turned up and had his shooting boots on.I thought their strongest period in recent years was 1998-2001.

I think Kildare need some passion injected into their game.They seem to give up too easily when the opposition score a vital point or goal.The amount of support in Croker against Meath was not enviable.Club teams like Round Towers,Robertstown,Allenwood should be clubs where to scout new and young talent.

bigman7

things surely cant be that bad in kildare. look at the moore field, a countys club scene should be a good insight, so its clearly the manager. again take meath for eg. over the past few years the county team was poor but both skyrne and dunshauglin done very well in leinster, aswell as pats in navan, and st peters in dunboyne, whos both won schools leinster title, in the vec and tech sections. kilcock won a leinster title a while ago, but alot of those lads were from meath. i know from playing against kildare clubs they arent bad. just from looking outside it looks like a man like o se,who wont take any messing is the man for the job. barry took over a good young team in duleek this year they are now awful, when he was at dunshauglin he had great players

squire1

blackbelt wrote:

2003 was not a good year for Kildare.

Wtf? Beaten in Leinster final by a kick of a ball in a game that they should have won after having a player sent off after 4 minutes when the "great" Tom Kelly took a dive that would have scored a 10 maximum in the Olympics. Came from six points down to level the match in injury time only for Beano McDonald to inspire three late points to win the game for first timers Laois.

Six days later they played Roscommon in Portlaoise in a titanic battle that went to extra time with Frankie Dolan kicking points from the corner flag. I think he ended up with something like 12 points that day. Fantastic game.

Not a good year results wise but you obviously didn't see the performances.

You only mention three Kildare clubs, shouldn't we look at the other ones or do you have particular undiscovered players in mind from these clubs that you'd like to share with us?

squire1

blackbelt wrote:

When they beat the current Leinster champions at the time Westmeath in 2005,there was a lot of hype around the clubs that Kildare could lift the Delaney Cup after they did what Dublin and Laois failed to do the previous year.I remember thinking to myself that it could be another Dublin-Kildare final

That's tripe with the greatest respect. Any one could see that when Kildare struggled badly to beat Wicklow earlier that they were going nowhere. My granny would have beaten Westmeath that day in fairness, they were rubbish with Kildare only slightly better. One of the poorest games of football that year.

Don't remind me of that day against Laois but again it was worse than you make out, they beat us by 12. Still we always hold 1997 dear to our hearts when we beat them with 13 players

lillywhite7

blackbelt wrote:

I actually didn't think of that,good man.

Joe Kernan would be a better candidate in my opinion.It seems Paidi couldn't get the best out of his players all the time although 2004 was his best year since he lost his job with Kerry.Kildare would be in a similar position as Clare but the only difference being Kildare are ahead of Clare.

Kildare have the players but if you rely so much in midfield on Anthony Rainbow,you know you are done for.In all fairness,he is way past his prime.Kildare need to do what Meath are doing and have done from 2005-2007 and thats rebuild,re-group,comeback and focus on a particular season.Kildare need to freshen things up.They are like Down,over-reliance on the one player.

John Doyle is seen as the Benny Coulter of Down.

Lay off Anthony Rainbow. He'll know when to quit. He's a loyal and true servant to Kildare.

patmac

John Maughan with his army credentials ideal for Kildare although there would be a lot of opposition to his departure from Roscommon fans:D
Páidí although being from Westmeath i wasn't overly impressed with him the following year he didn't seem to care when we were knocked out by Clare in the qualifiers and a lot of the success for Leinster 2004 is down to O'Flattera and Dempsey, also his record with Clare is very poor, the jury's out on him.
Actually Dempsey would be a good man for the job as he lives in Mullingar, and hasn't too far to tavel.