DOWN All-Ireland finalist John Clarke has called for the Mourne county’s former players and supporters to rally round new manager Éamonn Burns.
Clarke - who played at full-forward in the 2010 Sam Maguire decider - has backed Burns to bring the good times back to Ulster's most successful county.
“There’s a lot of negativity around Down and some people aren’t that excited,” he said.
“It’s easy to get sucked into that way of thinking, but I think we need to be positive and look forward to the new season. It’s important that ex-players and supporters get behind Éamonn because, at the end of the day, he is a legend from ’91 and ’94 and he’s Down through-and-through. He just wants the best for Down football.”
Burns was manager of intermediate outfit Tullylish last season and joined the club for their annual dinner last weekend. Clarke says the Bryansford clubman’s extensive knowledge of the Down leagues means he is well placed to add new blood to the panel.
“He’s been down the leagues and he has seen players that maybe other managers haven’t seen at club level,” he said.
“They started back training last week and there will be players given chances - he might unearth a couple of players he has seen throughout his years in club football who could make a difference to Down next year.
“There wasn’t people jumping over the top of each other to get the job and he was the man who wanted it, so he deserves a chance. He proved himself as a player and there’s no reason the players can’t feed off that and try and push on next season.
“Expectations won’t be very high and that’s something in his favour and, if we can survive in Division One and possibly reach the last 12 in the Championship, that would be progress and he could build on that.”
Division One survival will be no mean feat. As Burns put it himself, all Down’s home games - against Donegal, Kerry and Dublin - are “top drawer”. There are also trips to Monaghan and Roscommon and, perhaps crucially, Down finish off with visits to Cork and Mayo.
“There will be big teams coming to Newry like Dublin and Kerry and they will draw big crowds, which can only be good for Down football,” said Clarke.
“Yes, they’re going to be tough games but, if Down can pick up a win from them and a point or two on the road, five or six points could see them safe. If they could survive playing at that higher level, it would give them a huge boost going into the Ulster Championship against Monaghan.
“We got a bit carried away by getting promotion last year and then the Championship was a bit flat and I think this year might be the opposite.”
Key to the season will be whether Burns can consistently get the county’s best 15 players on the pitch and Clarke feels some of the stars who sat out last season - including his younger brother Marty who was ruled out with Addison’s Disease - could be tempted back.
“I think Éamonn is the type of manager who would work with the older players - the likes of Benny [Coulter] or Dan [Gordon] or Marty [Clarke], who weren’t involved last year,” he said.
“If those boys want to play, he’ll maybe be more flexible than Jim McCorry was with them and try and get them on board, be it early spring or whatever. I think he’ll work with the players because we’ll need our experienced players to be there.
“He [Marty] is playing for Queen’s and he’s happy, but his Addison’s takes a lot out of him. He had a decent-enough club season ,but he’s making no commitment at the minute, he’s going to play for Queen’s in the McKenna Cup.
"The Sigerson Cup would be a good test for him, I don’t know if he’s been talking to Éamonn or not but, if the opportunity arose [to play for Down], I’m sure he’d definitely consider it at some stage.”
