new football manager

[Truth as i see it]

I know its way too early to be talking about this since we've just been knocked out of the championship and i'm not trying to pre-empt the departure of Tom Cribben (he has not officially left yet but it does look likley) but i was wondering who would be you're first choice to take the hotseat next year.

I think the next few years are going to be important for Offaly Football as despite the fact that the Minors were knocked out early i believe they have the right attitude and good skills so i believe that the type of guy to go for would be someone with a good club track record who has a habit of winning county championships which would help these young lads to pick up this winning habit.

My own personal choice would be St Brigids manager Noel O' Brian in Roscommon.

Apologies to LS if i am repeating myself here but i have seen this guy in action quiet a bit and i believe both tacticly and from a man managment point of view he has all the qualities needed to raise both the mental and physical attitudes of the players

He has won three county championships in Roscommon so far and considering the Improvment of the County team over the past number of years i think it is a decent if not totally reliable way of measuring club football in a county plus he has brought the club all the way to an All ireland club final this year only to lose out to a strong Crossmaglen side

That being said i know that club football is vastly different to county football in much the same way as the premiership is different to international football and a lot of people will want to see a native coach appointed rather than someone outside the county but i think this guy is worth a punt

The question is (A) will the county board be brave enough or even forward thinking enough to go for him and (B) will he take the job on

Thats just my view

What does Everyone else think?????

[My Left Foot]

The truth as i see it..... is that we need to take a two pronged approach, firstly yes we need a new manager if Tom Cribben goes, and one who can work with the players we have got, but I think more importantly, as many people have said over the last couple of years, we have to also look at underage in depth and start reviewing why we're not competitive enough and start setting some serious targets.

We have won eff all in mens sport in years ( in either grade) and while i commend highly our ladies camogie teams of the last 2 years, its time for some men to appear on the uibhfhaili website holding trophies ( and not because I'm sexist !!)

The county board as is need to answer to the county through the club delegates as to what has happened to us at underage, and either they or new appointees need to plan what strategies and targets are being put in place to address the current imbalance, inform their members, and then be judged on it in the next couple of years.

Developing underage is the long term answer. As a man once said, failure to prepare , prepare to fail, and I believe we need to plan NOW and prepare an underage strategy that will deliver players to make our county successful again.

However success is wanted asap - and theres the catch for any prospective manager.


Keep the faith ( and your eighties / nineties highlights videos /DVD's !)

p.s. also applies to the hurlers

[Truth as i see it]

Developing underage is the long term answer. As a man once said, failure to prepare , prepare to fail, and I believe we need to plan NOW and prepare an underage strategy that will deliver players to make our county successful again.

However success is wanted asap - and theres the catch for any prospective manager.


Keep the faith ( and your eighties / nineties highlights videos /DVD's !)

p.s. also applies to the hurlers

Totally agree with you on the point of underage development, more needs to be done however in fairness to the board and the player development board as well they are doing good work in the schools at the moment with a lot of time and effort being put into national and secondary schools so the board does deserve some credit for that

Getting back to the point of the manager who would you like to see in the Hot seat next year??

[llkj]

Darby of rhode, flanaghan of Clara, Reilly of The Downs, Dwyer of wickla, alerdice of limerick, caffrey of Dublin... All good men in their own right

[Truth as i see it]

Darby of rhode, flanaghan of Clara, Reilly of The Downs, Dwyer of wickla, alerdice of limerick, caffrey of Dublin... All good men in their own right

didn't know big Sam fell that far from grace , no honestly i wannna know who you'd have in the hotseat like i said in the first post i think the next manager in is gonna shape how compeditive the team will be over the next ten years and i think its important that the board expand their horizons and look beyond the obvious instead of taking the cheap and easy option

If your going for the local aspect Tom Coffey could possibly be one but given how poor the Offaly championship has been over the last ten years can you honestly say that stacks up to much?

I know he got Rhode to two Leinster Finals but again the only compeditive clubs in Leinster to get near the club championship knockout stages on a consistant basis were Dublin clubs having won the Leinster six times since 2000 with Meath, Laois, Carlow and Kildare making up the rest

At the same time St Brigids have gotten to the Connacht final twice and won them both and to point out yet again that they got to the All Ireland club final this year

[Offaly2010]

Cribbin wants time
15 July 2011

Offaly manager Tom Cribbin feels he needs time to ponder his future in the role.

The chances are that regardless of what decision the Kildare native makes, he will not be there next year after a poor league and championship campaign.

The Offaly County board have yet to discuss the matter, but speculation is that they will want a fresh start for next year starting with a new manager.

However, Cribbin feels he deserves the time to think over his future. "I don't want to make a rash decision. I will talk to the county board and probably get the feedback from the public and from the players and then make a rational decision," Cribbin admitted to the Midland Tribune.

http://www.hoganstand.com/offaly/Articl ... ?ID=151770

[jimbob17]

i think that when Cribbin does come to a rational decision, he will realise that it is time to move on. He has had his time. No major progress has been made really with OY still in the same place as when he took charge unlike pat roe who brought them from div 1 to div 4 in 2 years. he took over a team with some potential and left them in pretty much the same place while blooding a few younger players along the way, some of whom were not fully ready at the time in my opinion. however, OY were at pretty much the same level as kildare 3 years ago and look at their progress since by appointing someone with some know how....

I think it is time for a new voice but the key is that it isnt change for change sake. the new man must have a good track record in improving teams with a good tactical knowledge. if not from the county, he must surround himself with people from the county who are knowledgable football people and a professional backroom team, who know the demands at the top level. this will cost a few quid but the co board need to make the investment in the right people to deliver this time round as failure to do so will mean that all that minor potential of the last few years was a waste of time. Mickos term is up in WW. Any chance of him being approached with maybe the likes of Steven Darby and Tony mc tighe or someone younger like vinny claffey as selectors. there will also be sway for the likes of Tom Coffee rhode and Phil Reilly tullamore for selectors jobs. james stewart has done a fine job with tubber and would also be a candidate for selector or part of a backroom team. Noel O Brien of Brigids could be in the shake up as well as Pat Flanagan if he decides to quit the westies.

personally, i would go for micko with any of the above bar Noel O' Brien as selector as he would be either managerial material or not involved. Dont rule out Paul O Kelly either for another term or Gerry Cooney (a former selector) who is known to be well respected by the players and very nearly got the meath job this year. Laz Molloy of brigids Croghan might also throw his hat in the ring. Cant see it going to anyone else outside those mentioned unless the county board decide all of a sudden that they are very ambitious and want to spend big money.....

[Truth as i see it]

I take your point JB but i think if the board should be looking for someone a little bit different than the blueprint they have being working off over the past few years.

I hate to sound like one of those oul lads saying back in my day but there is a point to this.

Back in the day when Eugene Magee was being touted for the Offaly job he was making UCD into one of the best college sides in the country.

He was one of the first to get into food nutrition and weight training and he set his sides up with a more tactical edge to them where if one plan wasn't working they would have two or three or four others to tap into when most managers only had one

He was something of an underground hero to coaches on the way up and those outside of the top tier of manager for his innovative thinking and he had the man management qualities as well with the ability to get all 30 guys in at 7AM in the morning in winter to slog it out

My point is this is what we should be looking at, someone who is coming up with a fresh approach to the game and can keep the players interested in (A) the approach to training (B) having a different mindset and (C) making the players feel like they owe it to the players on the team to bring their best effort onto the pitch each and every time (something that all great managers can do which would cut out the binge drinking in the squad)

Eh... this view might be a bit out there for some people

[Lone Shark]

The first thing is of course to establish if Tom Cribbin wants to stay on, and if he does, establish what he plans to do to ensure that 2012 is more successful than the two seasons that have preceded it. I agree with the assessment that we haven't regressed in the past couple of years, but we haven't progressed too much either. We were a shambles when Pat Roe left the scene and while there are some positive aspects, a seven point defeat to a Limerick side missing five or six key players is a very poor result too.

The old adage here that the definition of stupidity is continuing to do the same thing and yet expecting different results, very much applies.


Much like the hurlers, I would say that there is nothing to be gained from speculating about big name managers that are simply out of reach from a budgetary perspective, though there actually aren't too many of them around at the moment. Kieran McGeeney is unlikely to go anywhere, while John O'Mahoney struggled with Mayo once he started having to balance being a TD with being a manager. (Note Louth's struggles this year too with Peter Fitzpatrick now in the same boat). Joe Kernan never got going in Galway, while it's remarkable now that out of the eight provincial finalists this year, seven of the eight counties were managed by a home grown manager. Only Wexford, managed by a near neighbour who was unproven when he took the job, are an exception to that rule.

I agree completely that it would be great to see whoever manages the team in 2012 come in with some innovation, some fresh approach and something that will hopefully capture the imagination of the players. Whatever disciplinary and lifestyle issues may or may not exist within the Offaly football panel, so far the method of dealing with it has been all stick and no carrot. If there was a real sense of something happening, you'd imagine that players would be a lot quicker to take that extra step themselves. It's easy compare everyone to Ciarán McManus, who dedicates his life to being the best footballer he can be, but he's not the norm, either in Offaly or elsewhere. Players need to believe that there is a realistic chance of success, and right now I don't know that they have that feeling.

[Real Rob]

Too many people in Offaly have a negative opinion and pure want to criticize for a Offaly Man to get a fair go at Managing the Senior Football Team and if an outside Man comes in the same people will Question his passion and knowledge for Offaly Football, so maybe we're Lucky that at the end of the Day that if Tom Criibin who over the last three Years has not cost the County board a penny and infact has put his own money into Team affairs decide's to leave or is pushed he'll be replaced by the cheapest possible option the County Board can find no matter what selection Committee they draw up and this time next Year we'll be back giving out again

[DAF]

Surely Pat Flanagan should be the next manager of Offaly.We need to have a manager their for the long run and seeing as their are no top notch outside managers available we should go for an Offaly man and give him at least 3 years.He has had great success as a club manager and has done a pretty decent job with Westmeath when you consider they went 2 years without winning a match.Also he would know the Offaly club scene well and also even though Westmeath are not brilliant the one thing I noticed about them in their match against Offaly in the league was how much fitter they were than Offaly (in my opinion the poor fitness levels of Offaly is the greatest indictment of Cribbens management as that is the most basic thing a manager should do).

[townblue]

pat flanagan ????? is he the height of our ambition now .................for jesus sake ! surely if we are gonna appoint a man who no,s offaly club scene thats tom coffey ,not my choice but who else would want it ............. we would all love to see a big name appointment but lets face it cribbin prob got job cos he was free !! before that fahy and o kelly wer shafted !

[Truth as i see it]

The first thing is of course to establish if Tom Cribbin wants to stay on, and if he does, establish what he plans to do to ensure that 2012 is more successful than the two seasons that have preceded it. I agree with the assessment that we haven't regressed in the past couple of years, but we haven't progressed too much either. We were a shambles when Pat Roe left the scene and while there are some positive aspects, a seven point defeat to a Limerick side missing five or six key players is a very poor result too.

The old adage here that the definition of stupidity is continuing to do the same thing and yet expecting different results, very much applies.


Much like the hurlers, I would say that there is nothing to be gained from speculating about big name managers that are simply out of reach from a budgetary perspective, though there actually aren't too many of them around at the moment. Kieran McGeeney is unlikely to go anywhere, while John O'Mahoney struggled with Mayo once he started having to balance being a TD with being a manager. (Note Louth's struggles this year too with Peter Fitzpatrick now in the same boat). Joe Kernan never got going in Galway, while it's remarkable now that out of the eight provincial finalists this year, seven of the eight counties were managed by a home grown manager. Only Wexford, managed by a near neighbour who was unproven when he took the job, are an exception to that rule.

I agree completely that it would be great to see whoever manages the team in 2012 come in with some innovation, some fresh approach and something that will hopefully capture the imagination of the players. Whatever disciplinary and lifestyle issues may or may not exist within the Offaly football panel, so far the method of dealing with it has been all stick and no carrot. If there was a real sense of something happening, you'd imagine that players would be a lot quicker to take that extra step themselves. It's easy compare everyone to Ciarán McManus, who dedicates his life to being the best footballer he can be, but he's not the norm, either in Offaly or elsewhere. Players need to believe that there is a realistic chance of success, and right now I don't know that they have that feeling.

I agree with everything you say Sharky but i would disagree with your point on the players believing that they should wait for something to happen before they get going on the county scene.

Unless their is self motivation there to make something happen we will never get anywhere, not to shove it down peoples throat or anything i'm sure you're all sick of me saying this by now but O' Brian is the perfect man to get the ball rolling in terms of instilling motivation and determination into a squad.

You'll just have to trust me on that one.

[Lone Shark]

Unless their is self motivation there to make something happen we will never get anywhere, not to shove it down peoples throat or anything i'm sure you're all sick of me saying this by now but O' Brian is the perfect man to get the ball rolling in terms of instilling motivation and determination into a squad.

You'll just have to trust me on that one.

No disagreement on the qualities of O'Brien by the way. I'm marrying into the St. Brigids club next year, well aware of what the lads think of him and the esteem in which they hold him.

[Truth as i see it]

Unless their is self motivation there to make something happen we will never get anywhere, not to shove it down peoples throat or anything i'm sure you're all sick of me saying this by now but O' Brian is the perfect man to get the ball rolling in terms of instilling motivation and determination into a squad.

You'll just have to trust me on that one.

No disagreement on the qualities of O'Brien by the way. I'm marrying into the St. Brigids club next year, well aware of what the lads think of him and the esteem in which they hold him.

Sorry i have have habit of beating people over the head with a point i make, its a personal flaw what can i say