John McIntyre
Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 5:42 pm
John McIntyre
Rumour has it he'll be taking over the Offaly manager's job. Personally I'd be happy to see him get another go. He was unlucky in 1997 the way fate conspired against him.
The knives were sharpened within the county board for a couple of reasons.
He was heavily criticised for picking a weakened team for a League match against Limerick. This was the year when the league and championship ran concurrently and this match was in the middle of the championship campaign.
Most other counties rightly showed similar contempt for the league and protected their players for upcoming championship games.
Ironically if McIntyre hadn't delivered league wins over Galway (who had hammered us by 21 points the year before) and Tipperary (who to date we've only beaten 5 times in the league) Offaly would never have been in a position to qualify for the knockout stages.
The success of Offaly footballers didn't help McIntyre's standing either.
By winning Leinster under Tommy Lyons, for the first time in 15 years the footballers outperformed the hurlers in the championship.
Against Wexford that year, Fitzhenry's last minute save aside, two giveaway goals from David Hughes buried us. McIntyre acknowledged that he might have put too much emphasis on the league. Also had he been more established, he probably would have picked Stephen Byrne in goal, since Hughes had already demonstrated his critical flaw under the high ball in 1995.
Like so many Offaly managers, he never got to chance to learn and improve from experience. I hope he belatedly gets a second crack at it.
Rumour has it he'll be taking over the Offaly manager's job. Personally I'd be happy to see him get another go. He was unlucky in 1997 the way fate conspired against him.
The knives were sharpened within the county board for a couple of reasons.
He was heavily criticised for picking a weakened team for a League match against Limerick. This was the year when the league and championship ran concurrently and this match was in the middle of the championship campaign.
Most other counties rightly showed similar contempt for the league and protected their players for upcoming championship games.
Ironically if McIntyre hadn't delivered league wins over Galway (who had hammered us by 21 points the year before) and Tipperary (who to date we've only beaten 5 times in the league) Offaly would never have been in a position to qualify for the knockout stages.
The success of Offaly footballers didn't help McIntyre's standing either.
By winning Leinster under Tommy Lyons, for the first time in 15 years the footballers outperformed the hurlers in the championship.
Against Wexford that year, Fitzhenry's last minute save aside, two giveaway goals from David Hughes buried us. McIntyre acknowledged that he might have put too much emphasis on the league. Also had he been more established, he probably would have picked Stephen Byrne in goal, since Hughes had already demonstrated his critical flaw under the high ball in 1995.
Like so many Offaly managers, he never got to chance to learn and improve from experience. I hope he belatedly gets a second crack at it.