Offaly county team managements 2014

[jimbob17]

So what is going on at all with regard to managerial teams for 2014. There has been little or no soundings from the county board which i consider unusual given time of year. If there are changes to be made, now is the time so plans can be put in place to view players and set programmes for the year ahead.....

I would assume that Emmet McDonnell will remain in place for next year given the reasonable improvement made in 2013. While there are a few knockers out there that will use the Tyrone game as an example, i for one think that there was significant progress made and that can be built on this year by consolidating in div 3 and maybe even pushing for 2nd spot.

The senior hurling position is very much unclear. Ollie Baker's 2 year stint is up but given the level of performance it may be likely he will get another term While there are no real challengers perhaps to the position it is very unclear what the picture is...... Ok, Offaly didnt hit the heights in the league but looking back now it gives some perspective. We lost to dubs by a point in encouraging display and gave limerick loads of it for half a match before succumbing but look what both of them teams achieved this year. We were competitive with both Waterford and Kilkenny and in my opinion should have taken Waterford..... If Baker were not to stay, the move needs to be made quickly to appoint someone and if he is to stay, it should be confirmed that he is so that he can start planning ahead.....

The U21 positions are also a little unclear. Coughlan with hurlers did reasonably well this year and McDonnells 21's were perhaps a little neglected with the emphasis on the seniors. Maybe a change at helm of 21 football would allow the McDonnells concentrate on the senior job and get someone they can work with take the 21's.

John Leahy has put in a few years with co minor hurlers albeit with little success to date.... a loss to Laoise and Dublin doesnt augur well for future but Leahy would be a very good coach in my opinion and would be known to do things right so maybe the talent isnt there.....

The minor footballers had a super and surprise win v Meath under Padraig Farrell only to go down tamely in the aftermath. This was Farrells 1st year with minors so maybe the Tubber man will be given another year with them.......

There is an obvious lack on co boards part for me in that there is no Junior team. Other counties take this seriously (Kildare and Cavan and Cork among others) and use it for players between 21 & 24 as a stepping stone to senior for those that have left the 21 bracket. Not all lads are ready for senior at 22 and this has filled that gap in these counties to obvious good effect.... It can also facilitate a higher level of playing for the many players we have playing at junior and inter level that are capable of a lot more!!!

Any thoughts???

[summerindublin]

Emmet McDonald seems to be involved with Johnstownbridge in the intermediate championship in Kildare.

[Toxicity234]

John Leahy has had a few years at minor and we had little or no progress so time for a change at that level.

Ollie Baker has being shocking at senior, he should have being given the boot earlier this year. they is no way he should be let go on. if the county board re-appoint Baker it will kill an progress the club have made over the last 2 years. Kilcormac/Killoughey, Coolderry, Birr and Rynagh have brought hurling back up to a better level over the last few years.
Baker and the management team around him have had enough time to put a game plan together but never managed to do it. Danny Owens and Ken Hogan both have do great jobs with club in the county and its so late in the year now that a new manager has to appointed from within the county.
a change it senior level should have happen within 2 weeks of going out of the championship, it would have given the county board time to approach a new manager and give manager time to see player at club level.
But the true is i would take almost anyone over the Ollie Baker management team.
If Baker is re-appoint you would have to wonder is the County board has any interest in hurling in Offaly.
Over the last 2 years i watched Cork and Limerick appoint new manager. two years later both limerick and cork are in division 1b with us but they have installed a game plan, Teamwork and a winning mentality. under Baker we have gone no-where, a game plan is the start point for any manager and Baker after two years in change though it was a good idea to put Brian Carroll on Brick Walsh.
4 goals against Kilkenny cover the rubbish that came before. Carlow, Limerick, Dublin for half the game. were all poor this year. last year galway letting in 5 goals, the Clare game game of 27 players in Clare half for the whole game,

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

How has this not been addressed yet?
We are gone out of the championship since June and not a word!

[puzzled]

Cannot help but think the silence from the county board,in particular about the senior hurlers,says it all. It looks like we will be sticking with Baker for at least another year. As bad as Joe Dooley was in charge I think he was better than Baker and that says it all because Dooley was far from a great manager!

[Toxicity234]

Cannot help but think the silence from the county board,in particular about the senior hurlers,says it all. It looks like we will be sticking with Baker for at least another year. As bad as Joe Dooley was in charge I think he was better than Baker and that says it all because Dooley was far from a great manager!

God, I hope your wrong and that the county board are not even considering re-appointing Baker. i wasn't the biggest fan of joe dooley but after 2 years of Baker. Dooley look like Alex Ferguson now.
Anyone within Offaly that knows anything about hurling know's Baker management has be a bad joke. And Question would have to ask about the County Board if they do re-appoint the Clareman.

[Abercrombie Fitch]

Ollie Baker stepped down tonight according to Midlands 103.

[Kevin]

Thanks AF, From RTE regarding Baker:

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/hurling/201 ... t-company/

Ollie Baker and Offaly part company
Updated: Thursday, 29 Aug 2013 23:09 | 1 Comments
1 Comments

Ollie Baker's first spell as an inter-county manager has come to an end
Ollie Baker has ended his tenure as Offaly hurling manager, opting not to seek a third year at the helm.
The highlight of the former Clare star’s spell in charge came when Offaly saw off Wexford in the quarter-finals of the Leinster SHC in Tullamore in 2012.
The Faithful County went down fighting to Kilkenny in the quarter-finals of this season’s Leinster SHC, before succumbing to Waterford in the qualifiers.
Offaly chairman Padraig Boland paid tribute to Baker, saying: "Ollie Baker is a man of the highest integrity and, while an extremely formidable negotiator on behalf of his players, it was always in an environment of openness and honesty.
“He displayed tremendous respect for the needs of clubs and was a keen proponent of county players being available to their clubs throughout the year.
“He gave youth its chance with numerous championship and league debuts a feature of his tenure, while also offering others a second chance at an inter-county career.
"Both championship matches this year illustrated the pride that remains at the core of Offaly hurling, both on and off the field.”

[Bord na Mona man]

Not surprising.
There wasn't significant progress made during his tenure, though perhaps there wasn't huge potential for improvement either.

I’d say Limerick, Clare and Dublin making it to the last 4 didn't help. Teams that we at usually within touching distance of, but have now kicked onwards.
The stock excuse for Offaly is that we’re rotting away in Division 1B and need some sort of leg up. It now turns out that this has little bearing.

As for Baker. I remember him as the chief enforcer in Loughnane's evil empire that torched the playing fields of Ireland in the 90s. And I wouldn't have been particularly fond of him.
In the Offaly role, he came across as a decent sort. He seemed straight up and affable.
For example, he didn't bother with the usual Offaly pre-match ritual of pretending half the team are on life support in Tullamore General.

Best of luck to him wherever he goes to next.

[durra1]

Firstly, I hope I’ve quoted Padraig Boland correctly below..

His comments on Bakers departure are certainly more descriptive than your usual trot-out-the-party-line, trained ape stuff you’ve come to expect from County Board Chairmen nationwide over the years and I think on that note he need to be commended. I’ve no idea if he’s a personal friend of Baker or whether Baker was his nominee but I think it comes across as very genuine and honest.

Interesting to see that he addresses the players making themselves unavailable for selection, and the difficulty in sourcing ‘personnel’ for the team.

On field , he addresses the elephant in the room - the ‘lack of individual inner belief’ which I think we’d all agree is a glaring issue for years now and none more evident than in the second half v WD.

Lads rightfully question how Baker dealt with Brick Walsh and the switches he made during the WD game but for me the lack of belief was the loosing of it, as it has been for many a game ..


"Ollie Baker is a man of the highest integrity and while an extremely formidable negotiator on behalf of his players it was always in an environment of openness and honesty. He displayed tremendous respect for the needs of clubs and was a keen proponent of county players being available to their clubs throughout the year.

He gave youth it's chance with numerous championship and league debuts a feature of his tenure, while also offering others a second chance at an inter-county career."
Under Ollie Baker this county has retained it's position at the top end of Division 1B despite players from our county champions being unavailable - for very good reason - to him for both league campaigns he managed. While an overdue victory over Wexford was possibly the highlight of Offaly's two championship campaigns, the performances against both Kilkenny and Waterford in 2013 were viewed by many Faithful followers as "missed opportunities"

"Both championship matches this year illustrated the pride that remains at the core of Offaly hurling, both on and off the field. Failure to close the deal, having done so well to create the opportunity, is possibly more about lack of individual inner belief than any lack of ability or capacity."

"at a time when many potential Offaly players were unavailable for selection and the engagement of personnel to support the efforts of players wasn't always easy I sincerely thank all those who gave such commitment to Offaly over the past two years.

The sacrifices required of our players and management are the same as for this year's All Ireland finalists, both of whom we've pushed to their limits over the past two years.

I sincerely thank each player and management team member for that sacrifice and their immense contribution to Offaly hurling.

In particular I want to thank Ollie Baker and to wish him, Michelle and their young family all the very best for the future."

[Lone Shark]

I would have spoken to both Padraig and Ollie at various stages for interviews and the like over the past few years and there's no doubt that there was mutual respect there. Ollie understood that he wasn't working with a county board that had deep pockets, and that the clubs had to be accommodated too, while Padraig would have understood that Ollie wasn't always working with the best hurlers in the county, that certain players were unavailable for various reasons - some of them great reasons (i.e. Coolderry and K-K hurling in the spring in the All Ireland series).

I'd be pretty confident that what Padraig has said in the statement is a genuine and sincere expression of thanks, rather than just a man going through the motions.

[kingscounty]

Bit of cop on needed now , lets get a good man in asap and lets get down to some hard work over the winter months. In my opinion Baker should not have got the job in the first place but he did and did what he could with the team and we should thank him and move on to a decent manager. Limerick, Cork , Clare all over the past few years have got the right men in who have developed young teams and came with experience and it has paid off for all these teams. The first part of creating a good team is to have the right man in charge, so once again its over to the county board and they need to deliver a good manager or else we will continue to slip down the pecking order. Let the hunt begin!!!

[Lone Shark]

Bit of cop on needed now , lets get a good man in asap and lets get down to some hard work over the winter months. In my opinion Baker should not have got the job in the first place but he did and did what he could with the team and we should thank him and move on to a decent manager. Limerick, Cork , Clare all over the past few years have got the right men in who have developed young teams and came with experience and it has paid off for all these teams. The first part of creating a good team is to have the right man in charge, so once again its over to the county board and they need to deliver a good manager or else we will continue to slip down the pecking order. Let the hunt begin!!!

While the sentiment is difficult to disagree with, here's the thing - "The right man" is not unlike the concept of "common sense" that we hear so much about in terms of hurling refereeing at the moment. It means completely different things to different people. Common sense would tell you that you don't give hurlers licence to play fast and loose with wild pulls around the head, yet common sense also tells others that there are too many red cards for the wrong reasons. Yet these two different interpretations of common sense would give you a different answer when it came to things like Pat Horgan getting sent off in the Munster final.

Equally when it comes to the manager, the "Right man" to one person is somebody who is young, who knows the modern game, who has played at the highest level and who understands what it takes to succeed - i.e. someone like Davie Fitz. Others would say that the right man is a traditionalist, who understands his native county, who was a gifted player, and who has extensive managerial experience. That would be someone like JBM.

These two men are completely different in almost every possible way - JBM plays a traditional Cork style, with plenty of pace, avoiding contact, and he relies heavily on man management and keeping a cool head. Davie Fitz plays a handpassing style, his teams tend to enjoy more physical games, he manages through intense study of tactics and statistics, and he's passionate and emotionally involved on the sideline.

Both these men were "the right man" for their county - but in Offaly we don't seem to have a clue what type of individual we're looking for? Do we want a local, who might be cheap and unproven, or a really expensive outsider? Do we want somebody who relies heavy on tactics, analysis and setting up your team in the best possible way to suit the players at your disposal, or somebody who likes to play the way they believe in and fit their players into that system?

It's not an easy conundrum for the county board to resolve.

[turk]

I was getting diesel earlier and a lad came out of gussies and told me ken hogan is top of the county board's shortlist.

[joe bloggs]

Ken would tick quite a few boxes in the "right man" category.

Inter county experience as a player
Inter county management, senior and u21
Renowned as an excellent coach on the pitch
A good knowledge of offaly hurling past and present
Wouldn't cost the cb an arm and a leg to hire as he almost lives in birr.
He's an outside manager without club loyalties.

So that's a lot of boxes ticked. Now the only problem is to find the "right men" for his selectors.... has anyone got a number paudge mulhare?