GEEZER: WE NEED MORE FROM SOME

KIERAN Mcgeeney says all of his Armagh players need to commit to the cause if they’re to win big again.

The 2002 All-ireland winning skipper said his team aren’t as bad as Saturday’s 18-point defeat suggested.

But he admitted that not everyone is as committed as they should be and said that’s what will make or break the group in the coming seasons.

Mcgeeney (above) said: “It’s not the big things that will make the difference to this squad.

“I think it’s the small things, I really do, their ability to put the jersey first for those seven or eight months leading up to it, buying into the whole philosophy of how you play the game, the work ethic that’s needed, the team ethos that’s needed and that there’s no one or two players can stand above it, that everybody puts it in.

“The top teams have it. Whether it’s the Dublins and you see the Paul Flynns and the Ciaran Kilkennys working for 45 or 50 minutes and other fellas coming on to do it, or the Kerrys, or the Tyrones, you know, the top teams have it, there’s a huge focus and commitment there.

“Even the likes of Mayo, they’re getting so near every time. that’s what we are going to have to do, and it will take time.”

Mcgeeney, who guided his side through all four rounds of the qualifiers, said that some of his players are putting it in – but others aren’t.

He said: “We have a small group that are willing to do that. That small group needs to get bigger.”

And the former Kildare boss also suggested that they may need to get cuter to live with the top sides.

He said: “I think they’re a good bunch of fellas. But they’re young, they’ve a lot to learn in terms of how games are won.

“There’s games within games out there and we’re poor at that part of it. But I do think that there’s football in them.”