With the resources at his disposal, Alan should have gotten more out of it. That's a very good panel of players and I know ya can't take too much from the bookies at u21 level but they were 13/8 to win Leinster before last night's game. Very disappointing especially after Meath had knocked Dublin out.

was at the game myself. had a nephew on the kildare squad. thought there was good intensity to the game an i always enjoy watchin u21 sides that give it there all without fear. i must say des holton reminds of a lad set in the ways of his former club mate conor swan somethin his team member sean hurley im sure knows all about. he is good sturdy an solid defender. cant say anythin against sean either. congrats to wexford and all the best to them

Carlow, Westmeath, Longford and Wexford, great to see in under 21 semi final, and with Meath and Louth (senior final last year) and Offaly and Longford (Minor) Dublin All Ireland UU21 champions 2010. Who is missing, yeah Kildare. The performance of the U21's and minor teams in remain very poor, many of these lads have played county underage football for the past few years, all nice footballers in their own right, however they have won nothing. Yet they have a reputation based on ???? I have watched these lads develop for the past 8-9 years since they were under 11' and 12's. Barry must go, picking young lads is fine, if they are exceptional, these guys are not exception players, where are the good club players of 20 and 21 years of age. Time for a review of how managers are appointed to county teams, it cannot be on the basis of recent playing career, dedicated guys with no (no, NO, No, No) experience of managing a team.

Lads no point in blaming Alan Barry and management we were simply beaten by a better side on the day its about time we gave wex. the credit they deserve and move on we were priced at 11/8 if we are that good we should have them out of sight at half time wex are a good side end of.

Its not about blame, its time to get managers of county teams who can manage, not recently retired footballers. They are two different things, Barry should go, he is not to blame, he did not appoint himself, the county board must shoulder its responsibility and carefully appoint people who are competent managers. Each position when it comes available should be advertised and let people put themselves forward for selection. It should not be done on a nod and a wink, we have an excellent coaching structure but poor managers. Read other county threads (Esp division 1 teams), it is easy to find out what is going on there in particualr how they assist players make the transition to the senior team, in both football and hurling. We can learn and improve our structures and become successful, we need minor and 21 success is the county is to be successful at senior level. Its not about next year thats a load of ..... It is about now, only the present matters as this sets the framework for the future!

Like I say I was dissapointed my self then I say we were beaten by a better team on the day so that eased the pain although I'm from the hurling end of things I keep in touch with the football, the point was made "its time to get managers of county teams who can manage, not recently retired footballers" on that subject Glenn Ryan retired from football and went on to manage longford with some success "pro-rata" Jason Ryan took over wex when he was still young enough to play the geezer took over Kildare and he was slated for the first year or two but last year he took us to an all ireland semi final and it could easily have been a final but for you know what, this is a young side now if we had to draw or win by a point wed night would we still be looking for a change of management

You can't say recently retired footballers don't make good managers, plenty of examples as outlined above, our senior manager being the most obvious! However I do think the team selection was a bit dubious. Athy won the county championship and only had one player on the team! Cian Reynolds was on the team last year yet wasn't this year. Surely he would have got better in the year not worse. Unless he was carrying a knock or something.
I would give credit to Wexford for winning the game. fair play to them and I don't want to belittle them but at the end of the day they are a 50/50 hurling/football county if not predominantly hurling, and we are a Much larger county with an overwhelming football majority. We should be winning!

There aer a few things I agree with the last post, certainly Athy have achieve much recently at minor and under 21 level and their representation on the team was pee poor. I don't agree with your point re the current senior manager, if you mean mcgeeney, what have they won, 1 o byrne cup. At the end of the day it is the players who kick the ball, the manager is responsible for the preparation of the team physically and mentally. This is not evident with the displays from the u21's for the past three years. Since we got to the under 21 all ireland final, others have improved, face it lads Kildare has gone backwards. Stop appointing managers because they have finished county football, advertise the position, like many of the top clubs in the county, seek out suitable candidates and go through a process to pick the best most qualified person for the role. Give others the opportunity to apply for the role. I believe the players are there at every level to achieve success. Some of the foundations are there, i.e. the training facilities, the county coaches, players, fans and support, lets get the final bit right....get a good manager. If Barry is the best person for the role, advertise the position, let him apply for the job and see if he gets appointed.

Re the seniors: We have got to two all ireland quarter finals and a semi final in McGeeneys three years. Granted we have been poor in Leinster but we have made great progression towards that all ireland title that has escaped us for so long, and I for one wouldn't care about getting knocked out in first round in Leinster if we won the all ireland in September. No Kildare man would.
Re the u21s: You seem to be forgetting who managed the team when we got to that AI final a few years ago - A recently retired footballer with no management experience!! I agree there should be advertisments and the correct processes followed in order to appoint a new manager. But to say that recently retired footballers don't make good managers is nonsense. You don't know until they've done it. There's a risk there that you are taking when appointing a manager with no experience. It worked out with Glenn Ryan and McGeeney and it didn't work with Alan Barr,. in my humble opinion.

As usual with Kildare teams, midfield was a huge problem. I wouldnt be too hard on Alan Barry the simple fact is the players werent there this year, and even if they did get by Wexford, there would be no beating that Westmeath U21 team, who have largely the same team as last year who should have beaten Dublin in the Leinster final.

thegaels, you've stated McGeeney doesn't deserve credit because it's the players that have done it but then you have no prolem turning around and blaming Barry for the Under 21's loss.

All these appointments are ratified at county board level. To suggest they are done on a nod and a wink is completely disingenuous. They met a very good Wexford side and lost narrowly, people like Barry and Rainbow who have given so much to Kildare GAA deserve a lot better than you coming on here and suggesting anonymously that there is something sinister to how they were appointed.

You have put seven posts on this forum and all of them have been critical of management in some way. Somehow I'd imagine you'd be a lot less vocal if you met them in person.

very dissapointing season for the kildare u21 this year, i thought u lads had an outstanding chance!! the team that started against wexford was not the best 15 within the county!! Politics again has overruled with the likes of tom julian among others not getting a look in...!! i think next years team will be strong though, but hopefully meaths will be better

surely we must feel we left it behind now with wexford winning the leinster.. was a great chance for us to go somewhere at this age, maybe like royal09 stated tom julian was the man for the job