john clarke is a very good player and is always good for 4 r 5 points, ithe people that sit on these discussion boards and slabber about players is a joke! These players train hard 3 times a week for their county and people who sit on these things and slabber are forcing them to quit!! i wish john clarke all the best as he has done so much for his county over the years! had a great season last year and think he will be a big loss to the county panel in the qualifiers!

smyth10 (Down) - Posts: 23 - 09/06/2011 14:25:17    951515

Nobody forced him to quit.
What sort of men are we rearing in this country at all.

Coylers Elbow (Meath) - Posts: 1075 - 09/06/2011 14:43:48    951542

John Clarke has made a valuable contribution to Down GAA both as a minor and senior player over the course of the last 10 years, he has the respect and gratitude of every Down gaelic football fan for the immense sacrifices he has had to make during the course of his county career. However John needs to grow up to a certain extent regarding this issue, paying supporters are perfectly entitled to air their opinions, the HS exists for this very reason.

John has received criticism from many Down supporters, myself included - nothing personal, nothing dishonest, just an opinion shared among some Down fans that he is not a starting 15 player and that we have better players available. John was not the only one criticised after the Armagh game, there was a lot of discussion in Down about the performance of our men on the sidelines - the mainstream media have simply ignored this criticisim for fear of annoying or getting on the wrong side of our management.

So with that in mind, I believe this forum and others are important to allow fans to voice opinions that are not discussed or highlighted elsewhere, I obviously don't speak for all Down fans, I can only give my opinion based on my discussions with fellow supporters, other fans may hold different views.

artisan (Down) - Posts: 1795 - 09/06/2011 18:10:05    951808

John Clarke scored 4 points against Kerry in the quarter final last year...... Players don't become bad overnight and it sounds like John is suffering from a form of burnout with atypical symptoms such as disillusionment, lack of enjoyment from the game and increased sensitivity to criticism. He is right to give himself a break and so should the rest of us.

kerrykerry (Kerry) - Posts: 1779 - 09/06/2011 19:30:02    951893

kerrykerry
County: Kerry
Posts: 1539

John only scored 1 point at Croke Park in the championship last season, and that came in the final against Cork.

MourneArmy (Down) - Posts: 1787 - 09/06/2011 19:34:53    951897

kerrykerry

The points you've made are refreshing compared to some of the 'opinions' expressed on this site.

I hope John gets the hunger back and returns to the Red and Blacks soon. When he's ready...

ajdoyle78 (Down) - Posts: 520 - 09/06/2011 19:39:14    951902

I agree with everything artisan has said. Best wishes to John in his retirement but there is nothing being said on here that isn't being said at club games all around Down over the last 12 months.

bel68 (Down) - Posts: 55 - 09/06/2011 21:19:41    951992

All the best John, great having you play for us, through the years.. You'll be successful in whatever you put your time to now.

humpty (Down) - Posts: 9 - 10/06/2011 08:04:00    952043