Gerry Cooney steps down as Offaly Manager

[clubman]

just heard gerry cooney stepped down tonite,he made the right decision. hope county board gets it right this time with new manager.new man with support of they players will restore some confidence in offaly

[jimbob17]

very surprised to hear this, given the timing. shocked in fact. Just wonder if this is actually true or is it just more speculation like before when he was considering his position...However if it is true, I reckon itll be a hard job for anyone to fill and i dont think too many will be putting up their hand with the lillies just around the corner in the first round, who are the front runners to take on the role in the interim???

[Plain of the Herbs]

It's true alright . . .
http://offaly.gaa.ie/offaly-news/gerryc ... alymanager

[Bord na Mona man]

Once Cooney considered his position after the Wexford game I felt he had undermined himself and was on borrowed time.
When the players sense a manager is not around for the long haul they also switch off.

Most of the problems were there before he came along but he hardly helped himself.
The idea of a clear out is fine theory but you have to be sure what you're clearing out and that you're replacing them is better.
Cutting Scott Brady was a huge mistake. Their are plenty of bar stool merchants who'll tell you what he can't do as a player, but his role as a leader, enforcer and someone who never takes a backward step is pure gold to a county that so badly lacks this sort of player.
By then bringing back Alan McNamee it showed there was little consistency in panel selection.

Also the new blanket defensive system requires a massive work rate and team ethic to be effective. In Offaly's case it simply allowed some of the usual suspects the opportunity to work even less by just bunching up and hiding amongst the pack of players. At least in a man-to-man set up, you'll instantly spot the slacker when his opposite number has a field day.

In terms of where the county goes from here. We're just staggering like a drunk from one crisis to another at this stage.

The next long term manager will need to be someone in his early to mid 30s, in the Jason Ryan or Pachal Kellaghan mould who will connect better with a group of players who are clearly difficult to motivate.

[summerindublin]

I hope that the 5 man committee set up to pick Gerry Cooney are f**ked out of the County aswell, they were some gobshites. The county board also have alot to answer for, they must be laughting their heads off in Kildare and the rest of Ireland, Kildare could afford to put out their junior team against us. RTE were right in pulling the plug on showing this match live.

[the bare biffo]

I cant remember if its the definition of insanity or stupidity............but doing the same thing time after time and expecting different results seems to be a loop the Offaly County Board are stuck in.
They are not helped by a bunch of players, who appear to the outsider looking in, to wnat always to blame someone else. I don tagree with the ageism of BNM man, it doesnt matter what age you are its about having a vision, and the ability to communicate it to the players and then motivate them to buy into it. That isnt the preserve of 30 somethings.

Tommy Lyons came in as a good communicator and motivator with a gimmick and brought Offaly from the abyss to a Leinster and League title. But he had arguably better players and the memory of the late 70's early 80's was still fresh enough to inspire people. That memory is now older than most players so it is not something thatcan be traded on so easily. The longer you live in poverty the more accepting you become of it. And Offaly footballers seem to have come to accept that they belong in the gutter of gaelic football.

So I think it really doesnt matter who is appointed senior manager. Offaly need a longer term plan and the county boards focus should be on the underage development structures starting with coaching programmes and U14 development squads. Maybe Roscommen are not leading lights but I have seen first hand the benefits for good u14 player in small weak clubs from taking part in regional development squads where they are competing at a higher level and in a more disciplined and structured setup. Maybe this is already going on in Offaly, I dont know, but it is the only way to regain any degree of the countys former standing in gaelic football.

I just hope the patient is not too far gone for recovery.

[townman]

what about Micko lads well he did win leinsters for kildare and laois who had won fcuk all untill he came in
wicklow done well and had a good championship run there a few seasons ago.

i think he would know whats wrong in offaly football and where to fix it, plus theres something about him a winner which the last few mangers were not
i know we will go back to Stephen Darby,Tom Coffey, even Pascal Kellaghan might get a call but it is someone who knows the ropes is what offaly needs.

the county board have took the blame on the last few mangers maybe rightly so but i think its time that the county players stood up and be counted
some of the blame lays with them on this shambles that is a county football team

[fatlad]

I know this was asked on this site already - But are the Offaly senior Football panel unmanageable????

[bracknaghboy]

what about Micko lads

Townman do you have €200,000 to spare?

[townman]

what about Micko lads

Townman do you have €200,000 to spare?

he is not on that now times are hard everywhere is he still living in portlaoise , Micko is just a name that pop into my head
but offaly need a big name, i'd like to see maybe Dublins Brian Mullins he might bring the old offaly back, what about Sean Boylan
he didn't get the Meath gig the other night.

if they are going to get someone as someone said here already get someone who has been there done that, no more sh.t mangers we have had
enough of them the last 6 years, the last good one we had was Kevin Kilmurray look what happen there

[jimbob17]

I think that an awful lot has gone on in the past few months and in the end, Cooney's job became unteneble. He was probably right to step away but it is certainly a poor reflection on the players also. while some of them are fairly clued in and know what is expected of a county player, there is a large group of individuals who are more interested in parading around the pubs as "county stars" when they have never achieved anything of note in their football lives. These ones are in effect unmanageable and very immature and remind me of Roscommon in the mid nineties with their cavalier attitude. Too many of them think they are something when they are in actual fact very little. A lot of them dont like to train and some dont even turn up half the time from what i have heard recently from a current player who would be very committed. One poster on this site has already has likened them to a bunch of teenagers that will do the opposite of what you want, as soon as you turn your back and i think this describes many of them very well. They just do the minimum. Many are like spoilt little children throwing the toys out of the pram, leaving and rejoining the squad when things don't go their way. It sickens me and all of the genuine offaly football people who want to see some honesty and integrity in the Offaly Football jersey.

Regarding a new manager, i cant see them going back for Coffey or Darby or any of the candidates last time around as the county board would be going with egg on their face and they wouldnt do that too easily even if its the right option. Whoever steps into the breach needs to know the players, the scene and what is required. Kellaghan could be a candidate though i am not sure that he would have the necessary experience yet even if he did a good job with 21 team this year in the 1st two games. I wouldnt be surprised if it was someone from the 97 leinster winning team or a group of them to try and sort out the mess as they might have the right type of profile and know the scene fairly well.

I can think of a few such as Peter Brady, Vinny Claffey, Phil Reilly, Mark Plunkett, Ken Kelleghan etc who have been involved at club senior level and underage Offaly teams. More importantly however, the players need to really reflect on their attitudes, and behaviour on and off the pitch and sort it out very fast if they are going to come out of this with any credit.

[kingscounty]

the county board is looking to appoint an interim manager for the championship , i bet laz is the front runner already !!! give the job to darby on a 3 year basis and give him whatever he wants, he should have got it anyway but im sure he wouldnt be to bothered after the way he was treated before. the county board will have to beg someone to take this job , playing in divison 4 next year, kildare waiting to kick the shit outa us, a county board thats a disgrace and if you take the job after that you will get the sack within 6 mths. An interim manager is a waste of time they should appoint a good man now in my mind ,there is plenty of time before the kildare game to even give them some sort of a game and who knows maybe pull off a shock ( praying already). maybe the players have not being easy to manage i dont know but the county board appointed managers that wouldnt exactly set the world on fire with their skills, roe,cribbin,cooney etc. As a team and supporters we need the county board to appoint a manager who has good history in winning and it will need to be someone who will get the players and supporters excited about football again in offaly because its nothing but misery at the moment and it wont get better until the county board sort it out.

[summerindublin]

i bet laz is the front runner already !!!

If he gets near this job i'll never follow an Offaly team again, its his fault that Darby or Coffey did'nt get it before Cooney, does'nt like Rhode of course and but where did he get his footballing from,

[DAF]

This needs to be the start of a revolution in Offaly football on both the playing side of things and adminstration.Even though Offalys poor performances have not been solely down top Cooney it should be said the lack of fitness and the type of football we play (pass the parcel football) is appaling and reflects badly on the manger.We played 12 men in defence against Wexford and conceded 1-21.the lack of commitment and desire shown by players in recent eyars has been appaling for intercounty players.

We have been decent at underage level and are always competitive in Leinster yet we are probably only ahead of Kilkenny based on performances this year.The u-21s had a good run this year and we ahve had success at schools level over the last few years aswell.This appointment is crucial for Offaly as wee need a good maanger who can motivate the players and bring some pride bvack in to the jersey.Seeing as a high profile outsider wouldnt be intersted in the job then Stephen Darby would seem to be the ony choice (Pascal Kelleghan is too young now).

Will Karol Slattery,Scott Brady and Niall Smith be tempted to come back.Will McManaus possibly return .We need a few experienced heads to help the yopung players too much experience have left the dressing room recently and the team look rudderless as a result.

[townman]

i bet laz is the front runner already !!!

If he gets near this job i'll never follow an Offaly team again, its his fault that Darby or Coffey did'nt get it before Cooney, does'nt like Rhode of course and but where did he get his footballing from,

even to listen to him on the radio is enough he would put you to sleep, if he does get it if there was a division 5 he would have us in it.