Offaly Minor Management A Complete Joke

[Offalys Future]

gggggggggg

[Ylaffo]

i am absolutely disgusted and shocked

There's a novelty!!


Who did you nominate for the job yourself?

[Over The Black Spot]

I only heard about this the weekend and i am absolutely disgusted and shocked that Johnny Pilkington has been chosen as manager of the minors.

Another year wasted in the development of good minor hurlers.

You're obviously just a wind-up looking for a reaction but even given that your comments are miles off. Johnny won the all the honours he possibly could have bar an u-21 all-ireland & there's only 3 or 4 more in the county who can claim this.

He also ranked right up there with Brian Whelahan & Johnny Dooley in terms of being an absolute must have on the starting 15.

He has also has made a bright start to his coaching career with Mullagh in Galway & reports are very positive from the first few training sessions with the minors.

While you're obviously just hanging aroung here to stir things up, i think it's sad that some somebody who has the security of internet anonymity can have a pop at him

[Sydthebeat]

I only heard about this the weekend and i am absolutely disgusted and shocked that Johnny Pilkington has been chosen as manager of the minors.

Another year wasted in the development of good minor hurlers.

why make such a statement without backing up your opinion?? 'disgust' is a very very strong word to use... why does this appointment form this emotion in you?

[Offalys Future]

gggggggggggggg

[OY_]

After months of all things negative the only conclusion I can come to is that OF is a total WUM (and very good you are at it too K), because surely to high heaven, nobody could possibly be this negative, condescending and patronising ALL of the time and be for real!

[Over The Black Spot]

First of all when you are appointing a manager of any team you have to look at the following.
- Experience...has done it all on the field and already has a few years experience coaching a senior club.- Ability...improved Mullagh no end bringing them from nowhere to knock-out contenders.- Leadership Qualities...turn on the video of the 94 AI Final some time and come back and tell us the one man that put his shoulder to the wheel with 15 minutes to go when everyone else was giving up and come back and talk about leadership.- Motivation...I presume you mean ability to motivate players, this we'll see when we go to see them, I presume you go to the matches you know so much??- Enthusiasm...he has them up and running already, says enough for me about enthusiasm.- Role Model...won almost everything going, the kind of guy I'd look up to.

Now while I sure many of you have Johnny Pilkington up on a pedestal, I certainly don’t.

Here you have a man that never showed any respect for the Offaly jersey for which he got the chance to represent time and time again. A man that had so much talent it was incredible but who wasted it...he represented Offaly from 1986 up to about 2000, hats off to anyone who gave that kind of service...He has one allstar to his name which he should have 5...Ask any of the present Waterford or Limerick hurlers or Cork or Mayo or Dublin footballers how many Allstars equate to an AI medal...He showed no loyalty to Offaly down the years...????????????? He is made out to be this iconic figure but he's not, to me he is an embarrasment when it comes to hurling. On a few occasions when he retired he also slated the current Offay panel when he had no right to...I'm sure you have the articles or accounts to back up this idiotic claim. A man that did not give a shite about Offaly hurling.
And with Birr he was the same and anyone that knows Offaly hurling will know what I am talking about.

When he comes to training teams, he trained Mullagh yes and I have been told that some of the drinking sessions over there are now legendary. What did Mullagh win? A team that were struggling to survive at senior and he brought them to the knockout stages twice, you do know you can only get the best out of a team. What other teams did he train?

At 17/18 years of age the future hurlers of Offaly hurling are looking for a good manager but more importantly a manager that they can look up to, a role model. Johnny Pilkington does not and will never fit that bill and that is why his time in charge will be farcical.

Look at Birr now and the attitude of some of their players Simon Whelehan/Stephen Brown/Dylan Hayden, while I cant say he is at fault for this I have no doubt that his attitude contributed to it. What will happen over the course of 7/8 months wih our minor hurlers.

I know some of you will say sher isnt he trying to help out and where are all the other lads that are interested?
The fact is that plenty of guys are interested the county board arent willing to get a proper trainer and pay the money for. Instead good aul johnny will give us a dig out and we will waste Mr Foleys money on Johnny Flaherty and the lads!

This appointed just furhter adds to the massive problems that are involved in Offaly hurling at present. Problems that many of you refuse to accept. But problems that i assure you wont go away.

...Your last few lines are pure tripe, sorry I went to the bother of reading them. And as for your signature, I once heard a team-mate say it in a hurling dressing room and thought to myself, go home you sad wannabe and form your opinions and stop copying crap you heard somewhere.

[TheManFromFerbane]

After months of all things negative the only conclusion I can come to is that OF is a total WUM (and very good you are at it too K), because surely to high heaven, nobody could possibly be this negative, condescending and patronising ALL of the time and be for real!

WUM?

[OY_]

[quote="TheManFromFerbane
WUM?[/quote]

Wind up merchant. Get with the lingo dude

[Bord na Mona man]

While I have gone head to head with OF plenty of times, you can't say his opinion isn't without foundation here.
We probably all had great time for Johnny Pilkington, but lets be frank here, he pushed the envelope out a long way with his "relaxed" approach to the game. While Johnny still could do the business on the field, there might be other lads around now who think they can do the same but can't.

The hurling culture in Offaly is not demanding enough to make our players live a monastic existence. We don't expect success, so it has a novelty factor, we certainly would be less questioning of the players who deliver any morsel of success to us!
In Cork or Kilkenny most lads would be scared shitless to get involved in a bit of carousing. Cha Fitzpatrick spent a bit of time celebrating last Winter but was whipped into line very sharply by Angry Cody.

I think most of us would be just glad we had a player like Johnny to help us win All Irelands. To start wondering what extra he might have achieved with a different approach to the game would seem like pushing our luck.

[Dingle]

I don't know how he can be vewed as a WUM. Offaly hurling is a joke. The vast majority of people on here become ultra defense when this point is driven home. The medium term outlook for the senior side is dismal. If there is more slippage in the coming years, not competeing for the Liam McCarthy is a possibility. Look at the dire performances of the Offaly minors. The best the mniors can possibly hope for in the coming years is to keep Kilkenny/Dublin/Wexford to within 10-12 points. Offaly are probably joint 5th at mnior level with Laois. Its only a matter of years before this flters through to senior level. Where is the outrage/anger in Offaly that this has been allowed happen. More importantly, whats being done to bring us back to where we were. I welcomeOF views, if only because they are at odds at the cosy consenses on here

wrt Johnny Pilkington. Great hurler but his attitude to training was a disgrace. How can he have any credibilty as a manager given his views given on training matters in numberous interviews? Ultimately, Offaly are so disorganised compared to Kilkenny,Dublin and Wexford at underage does it matter who trains the minor side?

[Dingle]

The hurling culture in Offaly is not demanding enough to make our players live a monastic existence. We don't expect success, so it has a novelty factor, we certainly would be less questioning of the players who deliver any morsel of success to us!
In Cork or Kilkenny most lads would be scared shitless to get involved in a bit of carousing. Cha Fitzpatrick spent a bit of time celebrating last Winter but was whipped into line very sharply by Angry Cody.

.

IN Cork or Kk plAyers would be savaged if they went on the sauce whilst training. In Offaly they'd be slaped on the back and told they're great men. Until this culture changes Offaly won't compete.

[Lone Shark]

As someone who never met JP, I'm loathe to contribute anything about him as a man or how hard he trained, since I couldn't honestly claim any real knowledge. I will admit to having met a couple of those who knew the man well (other local scribes) all of whom maintained the same line - Johnny was tarred as this legendary carouser at a young age due to a wedding he attended the day before a Fitzgibbon Cup Final, and he always kept the reputation up by way of giving a few memorable lines to the media, while in actual fact he was as committed as most intercounty men of the time.

My own personal impression of him (again no real foundation) was that he was a "bigger picture" kind of guy. He understood how important hurling was in the greater scheme of things (i.e. a little, but not very) and never turned into one of these maniacally driven characters.


To deal in the facts as well for a minute - I''d utterly disagree that he ever shirked while wearing the Offaly jersey. When Offaly were deep in the muck, JP was often the man hanging in there and playing some of his best hurling. His performance on Seán Óg in 2000, hitherto a man seen as untouchable, was nothing short of mercurial. He may have only got one all star, but he was not the force of nature that Colin Lynch, Ollie Baker or Larry Murphy was around that time. He was a subtle player whose touches often got missed by the public, but all in all I don't think it'll trouble him.

Now as for the management - I have a few points to make:

(1) For the love of God, not winning a Galway title with Mullagh does not a failure make. Be realistic - Mullagh have been transformed under JP, losing to Kinvara (finalists) by two points under him this year. They ae delighted with him down there. Taking on an Offaly underage side is a logical next step.

(2) OF, after we lost to Wexford in this year's minor, you remarked on how Wexford and Tipp both had recent heroes on the line, guys the kids could identify, while we had a hurler from the early eighties. I'm not saying I agreed with that, but now we have a modern era guy and you're still not happy - what gives?

Dingle, I agree completely that dropping to Christy Ring level in the coming years is plausible. However to look at it another way, what right have we to expect to be top flight? You say it like our current set up is a joke, but right now the only counties that are better than us in hurling have bigger populations and are hurling counties first - we are where we should be, more or less. (Not including Galway or Cork who are big enough to sustain two high level sports) I'm not saying we should concede on these grounds or anything, but let's have realistic expectations here. Secondly, Wexford are no better than us at minor level. They beat us this year after a replay, but the record of both counties in recent years is abysmal. KK and the Dubs are way ahead, granted, but after that we're as good as anyone else.

Since you agree with OF's views, how about you take the extra step he never does - what would you do? OF tends to use grandiose statements about how everything is rotten to the core, and that we should spend fortunes we don't have on big name managers and several full time coaches, while also denigrating the existing coaches we have. With the personnel and budget that currently exists, what would you do? (This is not meant to be facetious, but endless complaints about the status quo without a plausible altenative are nothing but wind in my view)

[Ylaffo]

I don't know how he can be vewed as a WUM. Offaly hurling is a joke.

While he may not be a winder, any valid points he might occasionally raise tend to get lost in the mire of doom and gloom and his general everybody's clueless except me approach

Much of what's believed about JP is nonsense (some of it perpetuated tongue firmly in cheek by the man himself), and it's rubbish to suggest he was ever found wanting in an Offaly jersey. We've heard it over and over again how intercounty players should be giving something back - a view I don't subscribe to as I believe they've given plenty during their playing careers - yet here we have one who is willing to get involved, but it's not welcome either.

[Offalys Future]

ggggggg