Carr must re-apply for Down job

Down football manager Ross Carr will have to re-apply for the job if he wants to remain on in charge.
The Down county board announced on Friday that it had set up a five-person panel "to consider" the county's managements positions.
With Carr's three-year term over, clubs will be invited to nominate candidates although the outgoing boss has indicated that he wants to remain on.
After earning NFL promotion, Down had a disappointing championship campaign.
The Mournemen lost against Fermanagh in the Ulster SFC and were then edged out by Wicklow in the third round of the qualifiers after earlier wins over London and Laois.
While there is a body of opinion in the county which feels that Carr's reign should come to an end, the Clonduff club-man believes that continuity would be in Down's interest.
In the days after Down's unlucky one-point defeat by Wicklow, Carr insisted that Division 2 of the NFL would not be a place for a new manager's "trial and error".
Carr added that the players feel that the squad is on the "right path".
Friday's Down County Board statement did not outline the composition of the five-man selection panel although county chairman Kevin Bell, secretary Sean Og McAteer and treasurer Seamus Ryan are expected to be involved.

What would you do if you were in Carr's shoes, is the a polite way of telling him he isnt wanted and that they fancy a change. There is no doubt he has his detractors within his own county but give him his dues he has taken all the criticism and kept going - a lesser man may have walked away long ago. He also wants to keep the job despite his lack of progress - again others may have decided enough was enough after several years in the job. I suppose the big question is, with the same players and the same management in tow next year are they really going to be that much better, has Ross taken them as far as he can or has the werewithall to turn things round and deliver an Ulster title to one of the great GAA counties.

I have to say i expected better from them this year especially with the highly rated Paddy Tally being appointed a team coach, but the reality is they were worse this year than last defeat to Fermanagh in the preliminary round meant their season was all but over before it had even began- all their old problems were still there the big one being a really poor defence. They are also very dependent on Benny Coulter and when opposing teams put the shackles on him well they have no plan B to revert to to get themselves out a tight spot.

I expect a fresh face to be at the helm next year possibly Pete Mc Grath back were he belongs - the question is are the players good enough to rise to the challenge?

Frank Sinatra for Ross.

"And now, the end is near......."

Well you can hardly blame them eh Boc? He has served his tenure and was rubbish with it!

I think the Down County Board has a lot to answer for here, they forced out Pete McGrath, who acted with great dignity in stepping aside and refusing to bite to any bad press he got. He just got on with it and applied for the Under 21 job and almost got them an All Ireland for their troubles while Carr took a side with potential to nothing!

He should never have been forced out and Down have paid for that with a series of bad seasons and one decent one since!

Same thing happened to Ritchy Bennis at Limerick. Having guided the Limerick hurlers to an all Ireland final throwing in some epic performances along the way(Limerick v Tipp x3, Limerick v Waterford sf) and putting in what with hindsight, turned out to be a relativly respectable performance against the cats in the final, he lasted another year before the Limerick Co board (joke of a board btw) told him he had to re-apply and was subject to interviews if he wanted to remain in the job. In other words 'Fook off Mr Bennis'
Ritchy being Ritchy re-applied for the job of course and subsequently lost out to Justin McCarthy. In fairness to Ritchy he'd achieved a lot more than Ross Carr
The famous Ritchy Bennis, gone but not forgotten

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bald eagle wrote:Well you can hardly blame them eh Boc? He has served his tenure and was rubbish with it!

BE thats my view exactly but what i am saying is should they not have doen the decent thing and said thanks Ross you've done your best but its time for a change - surely Carr can see that and will have enough self respect to go quietly and not bother applying for the job.

It just seems a lousy thing for the county board to do - it is a polite way of telling him to feck off but no one has the balls to do it.

bocerty wrote:

bald eagle wrote:Well you can hardly blame them eh Boc? He has served his tenure and was rubbish with it!

BE thats my view exactly but what i am saying is should they not have doen the decent thing and said thanks Ross you've done your best but its time for a change - surely Carr can see that and will have enough self respect to go quietly and not bother applying for the job.

It just seems a lousy thing for the county board to do - it is a polite way of telling him to feck off but no one has the balls to do it.

It's not even that Boc. What they are really doing is saying ... "well we don't really want you involded but can you hang around anyway just in case we don't get anyone else". They want to tell him to get lost but still want to be able to fall back on his. Shameful stuff!