Im still numb. Could hardly close an eye last night thinking about the decisions made by Killmurray and co.
What on earth were they thinking?
I left Croke Park embarrased.
I'd say there is only one man outside laois laughing after yesterday and that has to be Gerry Fahy.
At least WH deserved to loose!!
Let the onslaught begin!
Gutted
God I don't remember being soo gutted after a game in a long time. To Lead the game the whole way and then to see it taken away like that.
To kick so many wides you would have to say that Offaly lost it more than Laois won it. J Coughlan and N McNamee didn't play as well as we wouldv'e expected and we couldn't afford both players playing badly.
Credit to Conor Evans on a great game and to Mark Daly (who's selection was called into question on this site by some).
What now? The qualifers? Will they be up for it?
To kick so many wides you would have to say that Offaly lost it more than Laois won it. J Coughlan and N McNamee didn't play as well as we wouldv'e expected and we couldn't afford both players playing badly.
Credit to Conor Evans on a great game and to Mark Daly (who's selection was called into question on this site by some).
What now? The qualifers? Will they be up for it?
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Bord na Mona man
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To be fair, Kilmurray can't kick the ball over the bar for the players.
I think the problems lie deeper than just how things are run from the sideline.
The lack of belief, and inability to close out a game from a winning position have dogged us for the last 5 years.
Unfortunately that can't be easily coached.
Half a dozen players wilted when the pressure was on yesterday.
We lead for most of the game, not because of an all round quality performance, but because Leix were terrible for half the game.
I think the problems lie deeper than just how things are run from the sideline.
The lack of belief, and inability to close out a game from a winning position have dogged us for the last 5 years.
Unfortunately that can't be easily coached.
Half a dozen players wilted when the pressure was on yesterday.
We lead for most of the game, not because of an all round quality performance, but because Leix were terrible for half the game.
F*ck
Sorry I couldn't be there yesterday lads.
On to the game.
F*ck. F*ck. F*ck.
It's becoming a depressing trend whereby we at least break even in the amount of ball we win in our defence and between the 40's, only to morph into headless chickens when in sight of the opposition goals. It's cringeworthy on several levels. The unnatural wides, running up lads ar*es with the ball, largely as a result of the confidence sapping wides, Ciaran Mac trying to prove himself over and over again, instead of just saying, OK, today the shooting boots are in the other bag, I'll not try and score every time I get the ball.
It's shocking.
I can't blame the management for this madness, as BnM says , Kilmurray can't kick the ball over the bar himself for them, but I do blame him for the lack of movement and indecisiveness of the forwards. He needs to get them looking for the ball all the time, breaking away etc. It was the same story against Louth, in fact from a forwards point of view, it was a carbon copy.
I also blame the management for not drilling into the players that you do NOT NOT NOT shoot from under pressure, 35 yards out, wrong foot, with a man loose beside you. It's a joke, and would be an embarrassment for an intermediate club team, not to mind one with the tools elsewhere to win a Leinster.
Another factor from the Louth game which came back to haunt us was Kilmurray's reluctance to bring on a young lad back then. As we said, if he didn't try a young fella against Louth, he's not going to try one against Laois. And so it came to pass. When a forward was needed, the man he turned to was John Kenny. A sound fella, a great trier, and a good half back in his day. He never was, and never will be an inter county forward. But, at a time we needed a couple of points to kill Laois, that is who we got.
I don't blame Kilmurray for the last free, in fairness it was unlucky that Quinny had just gone off, and to be brutally honest even a right footed free taker should have been able to tap that over. The angle was not that severe and Niall Mac needs to shoulder a bit of blame for that.
I feel gutted for the players. Obviously noone goes out to hit 19 wides, and the effort and skill level out the field was great. They made Laois look very bad for most of the game. However we knew that we could compete, but we also knew we would have to up our attacking from the Louth game.
We came, we saw, we gave it away.
Very disappointing.
On to the game.
F*ck. F*ck. F*ck.
It's becoming a depressing trend whereby we at least break even in the amount of ball we win in our defence and between the 40's, only to morph into headless chickens when in sight of the opposition goals. It's cringeworthy on several levels. The unnatural wides, running up lads ar*es with the ball, largely as a result of the confidence sapping wides, Ciaran Mac trying to prove himself over and over again, instead of just saying, OK, today the shooting boots are in the other bag, I'll not try and score every time I get the ball.
It's shocking.
I can't blame the management for this madness, as BnM says , Kilmurray can't kick the ball over the bar himself for them, but I do blame him for the lack of movement and indecisiveness of the forwards. He needs to get them looking for the ball all the time, breaking away etc. It was the same story against Louth, in fact from a forwards point of view, it was a carbon copy.
I also blame the management for not drilling into the players that you do NOT NOT NOT shoot from under pressure, 35 yards out, wrong foot, with a man loose beside you. It's a joke, and would be an embarrassment for an intermediate club team, not to mind one with the tools elsewhere to win a Leinster.
Another factor from the Louth game which came back to haunt us was Kilmurray's reluctance to bring on a young lad back then. As we said, if he didn't try a young fella against Louth, he's not going to try one against Laois. And so it came to pass. When a forward was needed, the man he turned to was John Kenny. A sound fella, a great trier, and a good half back in his day. He never was, and never will be an inter county forward. But, at a time we needed a couple of points to kill Laois, that is who we got.
I don't blame Kilmurray for the last free, in fairness it was unlucky that Quinny had just gone off, and to be brutally honest even a right footed free taker should have been able to tap that over. The angle was not that severe and Niall Mac needs to shoulder a bit of blame for that.
I feel gutted for the players. Obviously noone goes out to hit 19 wides, and the effort and skill level out the field was great. They made Laois look very bad for most of the game. However we knew that we could compete, but we also knew we would have to up our attacking from the Louth game.
We came, we saw, we gave it away.
Very disappointing.
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Lone Shark
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Where to begin?
Seriously, where do you start?
First things first, it's amazing how in these derbies you can never feel confident. Six points up at the break, and you still knew that Laois were going to be within one or two at some point.
Regarding the individual points of the game:
(1) I can actually see what he was thinking with John Kenny at the time. We'd love to have a ball winning forward who can take scores to come off the bench, but truth be told we barely have one of them to begin with. It was either a scorer or a ball winner, and in the circumstances the ball winner was the right call. To be honest it should have been Roy Malone coming on, and the lack of that option yesterday was costly.
(2) I have great time for McManus for all he has done for us, but his status as untouchable has to end. He has his good days and his bad days, and never has the discipline to play his way out of a slump. He has to start, but the idea that he cannot be withdrawn is a fallacy and might wake him up a bit.
(3) Ditto Niall Mac. Yesterday was a bad day - he needed to go off too. Whether Hunt, Jimmy Grennan or David Egan was the replacement, he wasn't having a good day and should have been replaced. Still our most talented player, but leaving him out there getting roasted does no-one any good.
(4) Mark Daly started very well, and justified his selection. He also faded badly, and was nowhere to be seen by the end when his cool head was needed. I wouldn't get carried away about him to be honest.
(5) As has already been mentioned, the management can't kick the ball over the bar or make lads do the right thing when on the ball. What they can do is slow the game down, run on and have a word in lads' ears, and try to take the heat out of the game. None of this went on yesterday. Players were left to figure it out for themselves.
It hurts though. It really hurts.
First things first, it's amazing how in these derbies you can never feel confident. Six points up at the break, and you still knew that Laois were going to be within one or two at some point.
Regarding the individual points of the game:
(1) I can actually see what he was thinking with John Kenny at the time. We'd love to have a ball winning forward who can take scores to come off the bench, but truth be told we barely have one of them to begin with. It was either a scorer or a ball winner, and in the circumstances the ball winner was the right call. To be honest it should have been Roy Malone coming on, and the lack of that option yesterday was costly.
(2) I have great time for McManus for all he has done for us, but his status as untouchable has to end. He has his good days and his bad days, and never has the discipline to play his way out of a slump. He has to start, but the idea that he cannot be withdrawn is a fallacy and might wake him up a bit.
(3) Ditto Niall Mac. Yesterday was a bad day - he needed to go off too. Whether Hunt, Jimmy Grennan or David Egan was the replacement, he wasn't having a good day and should have been replaced. Still our most talented player, but leaving him out there getting roasted does no-one any good.
(4) Mark Daly started very well, and justified his selection. He also faded badly, and was nowhere to be seen by the end when his cool head was needed. I wouldn't get carried away about him to be honest.
(5) As has already been mentioned, the management can't kick the ball over the bar or make lads do the right thing when on the ball. What they can do is slow the game down, run on and have a word in lads' ears, and try to take the heat out of the game. None of this went on yesterday. Players were left to figure it out for themselves.
It hurts though. It really hurts.
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Bord na Mona man
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Too many of our wides were shots taken from outside the Leix cover.
It wasn't so much inaccurate shooting that was the problem. No inter-county team would expect to score those shots!
Why we were trying them in the first place...
Impatience and rashness near (well 45 metres) goal.
We rarely tried to play the ball in to the full forward line quickly, or hit any space inside.
Though in mitigation, the movement of the inside forwards looked poor. Often there was no-one in a good position to receive a pass.
I might be wrong, but I think we only scored one free that was earned from a foul.
With all the possession we had, the least we could have done was work the ball in near the goal and play for close in frees. As Lone Shark said, maybe Roy Malone would have been a good option here as an outlet and a free-winner.
At this stage, I've lost the appetite for post mortems.
I think the problem resides much deeper than any flawed game plan, or poor decision making on the line.
We are very like the Kildare team of the early 90s.
Dominant in possession, huge work rate, let down by our shooting and always getting hit by late winners.
We just need something to happen to start believing in ourselves!
It wasn't so much inaccurate shooting that was the problem. No inter-county team would expect to score those shots!
Why we were trying them in the first place...
Impatience and rashness near (well 45 metres) goal.
We rarely tried to play the ball in to the full forward line quickly, or hit any space inside.
Though in mitigation, the movement of the inside forwards looked poor. Often there was no-one in a good position to receive a pass.
I might be wrong, but I think we only scored one free that was earned from a foul.
With all the possession we had, the least we could have done was work the ball in near the goal and play for close in frees. As Lone Shark said, maybe Roy Malone would have been a good option here as an outlet and a free-winner.
At this stage, I've lost the appetite for post mortems.
I think the problem resides much deeper than any flawed game plan, or poor decision making on the line.
We are very like the Kildare team of the early 90s.
Dominant in possession, huge work rate, let down by our shooting and always getting hit by late winners.
We just need something to happen to start believing in ourselves!
A few points
1 - Our Full forward line as a whole never showed for any ball (apart from Pascal on occasions). How many times did Slatts and Sullivan come out of defence only to see no movement from the inside forwad line. I aggree with Lone Shark . I would have pulled ashore Niall.
2- Its a long time since I've seen Offaly win so much possesion around the middle and still manage to lose. I thought the time to bring on Grennan was with about 20 minutes to go when we should have been trying to consolidate our position.
3-Conor Evan gave a master class in the first half yesterday , wasn't as dominant in the 2nd where the Leix boys tried to bring out the field more...
2- Its a long time since I've seen Offaly win so much possesion around the middle and still manage to lose. I thought the time to bring on Grennan was with about 20 minutes to go when we should have been trying to consolidate our position.
3-Conor Evan gave a master class in the first half yesterday , wasn't as dominant in the 2nd where the Leix boys tried to bring out the field more...
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Lone Shark
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Evans
To be honest I'm thrilled with the idea of a full back who just minds the square. If there were problems further out the field then they weren't his problem.
Regarding the full forward line showing, I think a big part of the problem is that the two lads are used to having acres of space because there's only the two of them. The third man inside restricted space and didn't suit them. It has been their way all year long to be fair.
Regarding the full forward line showing, I think a big part of the problem is that the two lads are used to having acres of space because there's only the two of them. The third man inside restricted space and didn't suit them. It has been their way all year long to be fair.
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Bord na Mona man
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Re: A few points
I know it's hard to judge from the Hill, when you're looking up the field, so I might be off the mark.HairyHole wrote:1 - Our Full forward line as a whole never showed for any ball (apart from Pascal on occasions). How many times did Slatts and Sullivan come out of defence only to see no movement from the inside forwad line. I aggree with Lone Shark . I would have pulled ashore Niall.
What amazed me, was the inside line and the runs they were making when Offaly were breaking up the field towards them.
Often there were space to run into - the perfect place for the ball to be delivered into, but the corner forwards were runing away from it and back towards the congested centre.
Crossing each other and cutting down on the delivery options.
I'm just wondering if reverting to the 3 man inside line, upset the balance of the team?
I presume the instruction was to play the ball towards Pascal and let the corner forwards feed off any breaks.
Having played the whole league campaign with a 2 man inside line, it was always going to be a challenge to change tactics.
Hey Lone Shark, when do we expect to see your player analysis?
Im interested in seeing how you score the management team!!
I agree with alot of the above. I'm still pointing the finger at the management team.
The introduction of John Kenny to the FF line nearly turned my stomach.
Why Paschal was even on the panel to begin with confuses me. Anyone who sulks all year and decides to walk away in the end should never be let wear the jersey again. Certain players tried to cover up for him saying that his wife had a baby and all and he had to take time out for that.....BullSh1t is what i say!! Is he the only player out there with a family??? He comes back and kicks 5 points against a Roscommon team that should have lost to London and all of a sudden gets the FF jersey. You can expect to see other players next year 'taking a break' for a month or two when the going gets tough.
Mark Daly had a fine 1st half and fair play to him. He worked his sox off. He would be the first to admit that he was'nt at the races in the second and Tom Kelly ran riot. He set up all attacks from CHB.
Super was in a similar position.....but yet Quinny was withdrawn to make way for James Grennan.
We ended the game with Roy, Thomas Deehan and Hunt on the bench. Why? Fresh legs, fast, can win AND kick a free....but yet unused.
What did Hunt do to deserve the treatment he got yesterday?
Another thing......this is a 3 year plan by Kilmurray....Right?
Then why was John Kenny, James Grennan and Mark Daly (not so much) even on the pitch in the end? Should we not be blooding a few new players? See what the likes of hunt and Deehan and co are like on the big stage?
It is a fair assumption that the 3 older members above will not be around next year.
Im interested in seeing how you score the management team!!
I agree with alot of the above. I'm still pointing the finger at the management team.
The introduction of John Kenny to the FF line nearly turned my stomach.
Why Paschal was even on the panel to begin with confuses me. Anyone who sulks all year and decides to walk away in the end should never be let wear the jersey again. Certain players tried to cover up for him saying that his wife had a baby and all and he had to take time out for that.....BullSh1t is what i say!! Is he the only player out there with a family??? He comes back and kicks 5 points against a Roscommon team that should have lost to London and all of a sudden gets the FF jersey. You can expect to see other players next year 'taking a break' for a month or two when the going gets tough.
Mark Daly had a fine 1st half and fair play to him. He worked his sox off. He would be the first to admit that he was'nt at the races in the second and Tom Kelly ran riot. He set up all attacks from CHB.
Super was in a similar position.....but yet Quinny was withdrawn to make way for James Grennan.
We ended the game with Roy, Thomas Deehan and Hunt on the bench. Why? Fresh legs, fast, can win AND kick a free....but yet unused.
What did Hunt do to deserve the treatment he got yesterday?
Another thing......this is a 3 year plan by Kilmurray....Right?
Then why was John Kenny, James Grennan and Mark Daly (not so much) even on the pitch in the end? Should we not be blooding a few new players? See what the likes of hunt and Deehan and co are like on the big stage?
It is a fair assumption that the 3 older members above will not be around next year.
I think BNM Man has a point there, the forwards were very congested in the second half in particular. It was they way Laois pulled men back behind the ball, as soon as Laois lost the ball in the forward they shut up shop and pulled everyone back into their own half except their full forward line, even allowing Offaly to run through midfield uncontested! Offaly are just not able to move the ball quickly enough up the field! This is something Offaly find vey hard to play against, Louth did it for a while in the first game, Tyrone did it in Omagh in the league.
The first round of the qualifiers are on June 18th (hurling/football qualifer double header??), will the players be out to show that the strike was worth it?
Its such a pity that yet again we have been deprived the opportunity of seeing how this team might develop if they got a good run in Leinster
The first round of the qualifiers are on June 18th (hurling/football qualifer double header??), will the players be out to show that the strike was worth it?
Its such a pity that yet again we have been deprived the opportunity of seeing how this team might develop if they got a good run in Leinster
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Lone Shark
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Player by player.
Well, here it goes……
Padraig Kelly: One great save in the first half, and couldn’t be faulted for the goal. Directed his kickouts quite well as a rule, with the exception of that one scary one straight to Beano at the end.
Cathal Daly: Had Donie Brennan well wrapped up for most of the day, although Brennan did turn him once for one good score that could easily have caused a goal. Not quite in his mid-nineties form, but very good all the same.
Conor Evans: No words are praiseworthy enough. Utterly utterly fantastic. The man must be thinking today what more can he do.
Scott Brady: Was in control for most of the day, and never really looked like he was going to be beat to a ball, although didn’t really burst out of defence himself at all as we’re used to – but that’s no bad thing for a corner back. The dropping of the ball at the end will haunt him, and was completely uncharacteristic.
Barry Mooney: Good wing back, very solid – we could use more from him in terms of captaincy though. The lack of real leadership at the end was glaringly obvious.
Shane Sullivan: Unlike a lot of people, I thought he was poor. Fitzgerald was at nothing in the first half, and the Bull could have used that as a chance to assert himself and play a big part in the game, and he didn’t. Conway moved to centre forward at the start of the second half and was the fulcrum for Laois, and a big part in their comback. He also lost Sully completely for his goal chance that flashed wide.
Karol Slattery: Bottled up Munnelly for most of the day – any scores the wee Laois lad took were under pressure. My only criticism was that going forward he found it difficult to get his head around the fact that Munnelly tracking him was actually as quick as he was, and as a result he needed to lay the ball off rather than just run. However a lot of this could be down to the poor running by the inside forwards.
Mad Mac: Unfortunately when things are going badly, all he knows how to do is try harder. This rarely ends well. Hopefully a tour of some provincial venues where he is invariably more at home will restore his confidence. I don’t blame him for missing the frees, I blame management/other senior players for not coming up and taking them off him.
Alan McNamee: Great performance again yesterday – has really grown into the role. I was worried about this position not so long agao – not now.
Colm Quinn: A few sublime passes, but a worrying amount of ball given away. He’s not the best forager in the world, so to be honest if he’s not there to pass the ball he shouldn’t be there. I don’t accept the view that he shouldn’t have been taken off – it was just unlucky that the one scorable free we got was not one whole minute after the change. Some of his poor form though could be attributed to poor running from the inside players.
Mark Daly: Justified selection, but I felt he could have done a lot more. Played well in the first half, and his contribution of 1-1 was crucial, but he was the kind of player who needed to step up in the second half, and he just fell away. As I feared, Kelly came into the game, and Daly struggled to keep up. Will probably hold on, but at his age he should be leading the forward line. If he’s not doing it then you have to look at other options.
Neville Coughlan: Another from the school of “What more can I do?” Was all over the field, ran his man all over the shop, and scored two points, although granted his first could have been a goal. Completely absolved from blame, and can be proud of his efforts.
Niall McNamee: Never at the races all day. I understand he brings with him the threat of what he might do, but at the same time time will run out if you keep waiting for him to do it. Should have been subbed early on. Bad miss from the free as well, wrong side or not.
Paschal Kelleghan: Not knowing the ins and outs of why he did/didn’t leave the panel I’ll leave that for others to judge. However he had the beating of his man yesterday for the first half, and then faded badly. I don’t think he should have been the guy to go off when he did, but he’s old enough to be doing more to settle down those around him.
Jimmy Coughlan: Will really struggle to hold his place after this. His shooting was off, he was invariably around the fringes and struggled to get on the ball, and all round was dominated by Fennelly. Needs to toughen up mentally and get back to playing for Offaly like he does for Doon. As things stand if Offaly revert to a two man inside line he’ll be the one to miss out the next day. Saturday night against Brigid’s will be a good chance for him to get his confidence back.
John Reynolds: The amount of high ball that seems to find it’s way in on top of Shaper is not funny any more. Some one has to take responsibility for the awful delivery into him. Tried hard, and took his chance well, but we needed a more robust front man at the time – he wasn’t it.
John Kenny: I can see why, but at the same time – no. Just no. He is not, and never will be a forward. If you want to go re-inventing, take somebody with a bit more by way of the raw materials needed – Slattery perhaps. I assume he won’t feature again.
James Grennan: Talk about late in the day to be bringing him on. Had no real impact, and never got a chance to.
Management: Sorry lads, but not good enough at all. Took Jimmy off early – good call. After that it all went pear shaped. Laois dominated the entire half, and we made no changes between the 40th and 65th (??) minute. Micko was up and down the line exhorting instructing and encouraging his players. Our boys were nowhere to be seen. To change from a two man inside line to a three man for today reeks of avoiding a hard call. Someone somewhere decided Paschal had to play – and thus we change the whole system to suit him. If he’s good enough to be picked over Niall or Jimmy, then so be it. If not, he should sit and wait his turn. A lot will be determined by what they learn from this. The quarters are still very feasible.
Padraig Kelly: One great save in the first half, and couldn’t be faulted for the goal. Directed his kickouts quite well as a rule, with the exception of that one scary one straight to Beano at the end.
Cathal Daly: Had Donie Brennan well wrapped up for most of the day, although Brennan did turn him once for one good score that could easily have caused a goal. Not quite in his mid-nineties form, but very good all the same.
Conor Evans: No words are praiseworthy enough. Utterly utterly fantastic. The man must be thinking today what more can he do.
Scott Brady: Was in control for most of the day, and never really looked like he was going to be beat to a ball, although didn’t really burst out of defence himself at all as we’re used to – but that’s no bad thing for a corner back. The dropping of the ball at the end will haunt him, and was completely uncharacteristic.
Barry Mooney: Good wing back, very solid – we could use more from him in terms of captaincy though. The lack of real leadership at the end was glaringly obvious.
Shane Sullivan: Unlike a lot of people, I thought he was poor. Fitzgerald was at nothing in the first half, and the Bull could have used that as a chance to assert himself and play a big part in the game, and he didn’t. Conway moved to centre forward at the start of the second half and was the fulcrum for Laois, and a big part in their comback. He also lost Sully completely for his goal chance that flashed wide.
Karol Slattery: Bottled up Munnelly for most of the day – any scores the wee Laois lad took were under pressure. My only criticism was that going forward he found it difficult to get his head around the fact that Munnelly tracking him was actually as quick as he was, and as a result he needed to lay the ball off rather than just run. However a lot of this could be down to the poor running by the inside forwards.
Mad Mac: Unfortunately when things are going badly, all he knows how to do is try harder. This rarely ends well. Hopefully a tour of some provincial venues where he is invariably more at home will restore his confidence. I don’t blame him for missing the frees, I blame management/other senior players for not coming up and taking them off him.
Alan McNamee: Great performance again yesterday – has really grown into the role. I was worried about this position not so long agao – not now.
Colm Quinn: A few sublime passes, but a worrying amount of ball given away. He’s not the best forager in the world, so to be honest if he’s not there to pass the ball he shouldn’t be there. I don’t accept the view that he shouldn’t have been taken off – it was just unlucky that the one scorable free we got was not one whole minute after the change. Some of his poor form though could be attributed to poor running from the inside players.
Mark Daly: Justified selection, but I felt he could have done a lot more. Played well in the first half, and his contribution of 1-1 was crucial, but he was the kind of player who needed to step up in the second half, and he just fell away. As I feared, Kelly came into the game, and Daly struggled to keep up. Will probably hold on, but at his age he should be leading the forward line. If he’s not doing it then you have to look at other options.
Neville Coughlan: Another from the school of “What more can I do?” Was all over the field, ran his man all over the shop, and scored two points, although granted his first could have been a goal. Completely absolved from blame, and can be proud of his efforts.
Niall McNamee: Never at the races all day. I understand he brings with him the threat of what he might do, but at the same time time will run out if you keep waiting for him to do it. Should have been subbed early on. Bad miss from the free as well, wrong side or not.
Paschal Kelleghan: Not knowing the ins and outs of why he did/didn’t leave the panel I’ll leave that for others to judge. However he had the beating of his man yesterday for the first half, and then faded badly. I don’t think he should have been the guy to go off when he did, but he’s old enough to be doing more to settle down those around him.
Jimmy Coughlan: Will really struggle to hold his place after this. His shooting was off, he was invariably around the fringes and struggled to get on the ball, and all round was dominated by Fennelly. Needs to toughen up mentally and get back to playing for Offaly like he does for Doon. As things stand if Offaly revert to a two man inside line he’ll be the one to miss out the next day. Saturday night against Brigid’s will be a good chance for him to get his confidence back.
John Reynolds: The amount of high ball that seems to find it’s way in on top of Shaper is not funny any more. Some one has to take responsibility for the awful delivery into him. Tried hard, and took his chance well, but we needed a more robust front man at the time – he wasn’t it.
John Kenny: I can see why, but at the same time – no. Just no. He is not, and never will be a forward. If you want to go re-inventing, take somebody with a bit more by way of the raw materials needed – Slattery perhaps. I assume he won’t feature again.
James Grennan: Talk about late in the day to be bringing him on. Had no real impact, and never got a chance to.
Management: Sorry lads, but not good enough at all. Took Jimmy off early – good call. After that it all went pear shaped. Laois dominated the entire half, and we made no changes between the 40th and 65th (??) minute. Micko was up and down the line exhorting instructing and encouraging his players. Our boys were nowhere to be seen. To change from a two man inside line to a three man for today reeks of avoiding a hard call. Someone somewhere decided Paschal had to play – and thus we change the whole system to suit him. If he’s good enough to be picked over Niall or Jimmy, then so be it. If not, he should sit and wait his turn. A lot will be determined by what they learn from this. The quarters are still very feasible.
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Muck Savage
- All Star
- Posts: 307
- Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2005 10:07 pm
- Location: CA USA
Changes
Lads
I'm butted but there are a number of questions I have about the changes
Jimmy Paw being taken off I think was a poor decision - He was showing for the ball, granted he kicked some wides, but was in the game. At the time I don't think Niall Mac had got two balls.
Why Was Hunt not brought on after about 10 mins of the second half? Daly was starting to struggle and Hunt would track Kell all day as well as provide a danger when on the ball.
John Kenny is not a forward. Quinny was doing fine, winning ball and linking backs to forwasds. He made some poor passes but you can't take off two left footer freetakers. It's great knowing now that we had a 21 yard free on the rightbut even at the time it was a strange one even more so as we were kicking so many wides from play.
When there are that many wides being kicked at half time the lads should have been told to carry the ball in and work for frees, that's where you need a freetaker and quinny and Jimmy could have done the job
It really bugs me when a sub is brought on with anything less than 5 mins to play. What can they be expected to do, the game is already at full pace and it's very hard to get into it. Bringing Jimmy Grennan on like that is unfair to him and the man coming off. Unless someone is injuried this is a stupid thing to do.
I'm butted but there are a number of questions I have about the changes
Jimmy Paw being taken off I think was a poor decision - He was showing for the ball, granted he kicked some wides, but was in the game. At the time I don't think Niall Mac had got two balls.
Why Was Hunt not brought on after about 10 mins of the second half? Daly was starting to struggle and Hunt would track Kell all day as well as provide a danger when on the ball.
John Kenny is not a forward. Quinny was doing fine, winning ball and linking backs to forwasds. He made some poor passes but you can't take off two left footer freetakers. It's great knowing now that we had a 21 yard free on the rightbut even at the time it was a strange one even more so as we were kicking so many wides from play.
When there are that many wides being kicked at half time the lads should have been told to carry the ball in and work for frees, that's where you need a freetaker and quinny and Jimmy could have done the job
It really bugs me when a sub is brought on with anything less than 5 mins to play. What can they be expected to do, the game is already at full pace and it's very hard to get into it. Bringing Jimmy Grennan on like that is unfair to him and the man coming off. Unless someone is injuried this is a stupid thing to do.
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mykneehurts
- County player
- Posts: 95
- Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2005 9:16 pm
- Location: Kilkenny
Apart from Evans and Neville Coughlan I don't think any of the team can be happy with their performance. As TheManFromFerbane said to me Offaly looked like a team who haven't had any shooting practice in training for a long time.
The management has to reserve the majotity of the blame for yesterday for themselves. Someone is going to have to stand up eventually and realise that if a player is playing badly that he has to be taken off even if he is the "media star" of the team.
Personally I thought Jimmy being taken off was harsh. At least he was showing for the ball. Niall Mc didn't look at all interested after the first twenty minutes.
As for the lines of running they were employing I think the goal was to make space for the wing forwards to run into rather than for the two lads inside to get the ball.
All in all I think the substitutions yesterday were poor. With the amount of high ball going into the full forward line it might have made more sense to put Grennan on for McManus and pushed him into the full forward position with Daly moving out to midfield and Paschal moving to centre forward.
Also Hunt has a right to feel aggrieved at the management's treatment of him. I think Deehan could have been given a run yesterday and to say that the game would have suited Roy Malone down to the ground is an understatement.
But enough of this negative stuff. On the plus side the Shark and his followers got a few moments of fame on the telly. That is about the only positive I can think of from yesterday's match.
The management has to reserve the majotity of the blame for yesterday for themselves. Someone is going to have to stand up eventually and realise that if a player is playing badly that he has to be taken off even if he is the "media star" of the team.
Personally I thought Jimmy being taken off was harsh. At least he was showing for the ball. Niall Mc didn't look at all interested after the first twenty minutes.
As for the lines of running they were employing I think the goal was to make space for the wing forwards to run into rather than for the two lads inside to get the ball.
All in all I think the substitutions yesterday were poor. With the amount of high ball going into the full forward line it might have made more sense to put Grennan on for McManus and pushed him into the full forward position with Daly moving out to midfield and Paschal moving to centre forward.
Also Hunt has a right to feel aggrieved at the management's treatment of him. I think Deehan could have been given a run yesterday and to say that the game would have suited Roy Malone down to the ground is an understatement.
But enough of this negative stuff. On the plus side the Shark and his followers got a few moments of fame on the telly. That is about the only positive I can think of from yesterday's match.