OFFALY UNDER 21 HURLING

[Sharp Eye]

Did the Offaly County Board even bother to appoint a Management Team for our County Under 21 Team yet. The development of younger players has been vital for Clare. How will our younger players reach the standard of fitness etc required for senior inter county hurling when our County Board have no Under 21 Hurling Management in place by February. I do not think the Offaly Co Board would fail to appoint an Under 21 Football manager at the proper time. Has the time come for a seperate "Hurling Committee".

[joe bloggs]

Id say if no one is appointed yet they should ask the senior management team to do it now

[Sharp Eye]

Id say if no one is appointed yet they should ask the senior management team to do it now

In the month of February it is not fair to ask anybody to manage the team.

[Observant 7]

Would not be a bad plan, call all last years U21 panel to train with the Seniors until a Manager is appointed.
At lease the U21 lads will be keeping in touch with their skills and fittness.

[Sharp Eye]

Has the Offaly Under 21 Hurling Manager & Selectors been appointed yet. It was great to see Paschal Kellaghan appointed as Offaly Minor Football manager in good time. He has clearly done great work. Great victory over Cork. "Hurling" appears to be second class with our current Co Board. Offalys underage hurlers are entitled to same development support as has been given this year to our under age footballers.

[Observant 7]

Has the Offaly Under 21 Hurling Manager & Selectors been appointed yet. It was great to see Paschal Kellaghan appointed as Offaly Minor Football manager in good time. He has clearly done great work. Great victory over Cork. "Hurling" appears to be second class with our current Co Board. Offalys underage hurlers are entitled to same development support as has been given this year to our under age footballers.

Our U21 will be unfit like the Seniors if the Co Borad don't act soon. Some great Offaly U21 Hurlers are doing very little hurling at the moment and thats a pity since they were in with a good chance of winning outright last year only for management's decisions - pity to loose these hurlers we badly need them for future Offaly Hurling judging over the last two weeks games, no disrespect to some of our current good hurlers.

[Killeighman]

The county board are dealing with this at the march county board meeting. There were enquiries at the last meeting about it and it sounds like from endlessly trying to find somebody that nobody will actually take the job

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

This is a real shame and highlights the plight of the county board. Everyone os giving out about no manager in place but seems like no one wants it.

I think there was a row over the amount of players that was being carried as part of the Senior hurling panel, (led by Emmet McDonnell), but I think that there are a good number of u21 players as part of this training panel. If the county board are having difficulty getting someone , then maybe the Senior mgt should take it on and would give them a chance to integrate the young players into their gameplan and regime given that they might be in charge for 3 years at least.

On the other hand, taking on the 2 squads is a big undertaking for an inexperienced manager, but if he was given an additional coaching resource, then this could be the way forward?

[townman]

has McDonnell not enough to worry about than how many is on the hurling panel. or is it to do
with Dooley,Currams,Ryan,Mahon,Egan, sticking with the hurling, i think both mangers have plenty to do after both playing two games and no wins plus poor displays from both codes.

[Sharp Eye]

This is a real shame and highlights the plight of the county board. Everyone os giving out about no manager in place but seems like no one wants it.

I am sure that there are many suitably qualified managers who would love to manage our Co Under 21 Team. It appears that potential managers are not happy that will receive the full support of the County Board with regard to: Payment of their expenses, payment of panel member expenses, panel numbers, access to players that are currently on Senior Hurling/senior Football County Panels, access to training pitches/training facilities, strenght & conditioning coaching, training gear & playing gear for panel members. No Manager with real potential will want to manage any team with their hands tied behind their backs. Unless Offaly attracts the best possible managers, Offaly will become a Division 2 Team.

[Toxicity234]

Offaly Play Wexford or Kilkenny on the 25.6.2014.
That 119 days and counting.
Kilkenny U21 played a challenge match in the start of December against The Dublin u21 panel. that 77 days ago they have being in training for a month. around 100 days.
So Offaly U21 are 100 days behind both of these teams.
Haven't hear anything about the Wexford U21 but they were Lenister Champion last year.
And Offaly No Manager, No Training, No Team and A county boards that are more interested in the Bottom line than in the game itself.

In 119 days we could be hammered. People on Here will be saying that the players are not good enough. Which is rubbish. the players are not being given a chance. The club are production players but they being mismanaged at county level.

You can't blame the players for not want to play for the county if this kind of rubbish is going on. Last year u21 were more than capable of going all the way but players that have being mismanaged at u16 and minor level know what going on and don't want to be treated like crap again so they stay away. The county Board see no success and won't invest and it a vicious circle.

Offaly Become a Division 2 team is a little unfair. Division 2 teams treat there players better than this.
Division 2 team are smart enough to know that the players are the biggest asset they have. Not some stadium that they can't fill.
If this happen to U21 hurlers in Westhmeath, Meath, Carlow or Kerry they would be war in the county.

[Observant 7]

Offaly Play Wexford or Kilkenny on the 25.6.2014.
That 119 days and counting.
Kilkenny U21 played a challenge match in the start of December against The Dublin u21 panel. that 77 days ago they have being in training for a month. around 100 days.
So Offaly U21 are 100 days behind both of these teams.
Haven't hear anything about the Wexford U21 but they were Lenister Champion last year.
And Offaly No Manager, No Training, No Team and A county boards that are more interested in the Bottom line than in the game itself.

In 119 days we could be hammered. People on Here will be saying that the players are not good enough. Which is rubbish. the players are not being given a chance. The club are production players but they being mismanaged at county level.

You can blame the players for not want to play for the county if this kind of rubbish is going on. Last year u21 were more than capable of going all the way but players that have being mismanaged at u16 and minor level know what going on and don't want to be treated like crap again so they stay away. The county Board see no success and won't invest and it a vicious circle.

Offaly Become a Division 2 team is a little unfair. Division 2 teams treat there players better than this.
Division 2 team are smart enough to know that the players are the biggest asset they have. Not some stadium that they can't fill.
If this happen to U21 hurlers in Westhmeath, Meath, Carlow or Kerry they would be war in the county.

Toxicity

I could not agree with you more and I also recalled and took a quote from one of your posts following the Offaly 21 defeat to Kilkenny last year, another one I would agree with you on this was it "if you added Murphy, Mulrooney, Mullins and Con Mahon to the Offaly U-21 Panel this year we could had have being Lenister Champions this year"

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

The truth lies somewhere in between Townman. Mcdonnell queried why Offaly senior hurlers had a panel of 45 or so training when he was asked to cut his panel (i'm not sure to what, i assume 28 players). Thus I am surmising that Brian Whelehan has a lot of under 21s training currently with the senior panel?

The Offaly U21 footballers would probably have 16 or so players training who are not part of the Senior panel (both panels train together) so 16 plus 28 = 44 Footballers training, so unless McDonnell wants 44 + 16 which is 60 county players then I dont see what his point is.

Sharp Eye, Training pitches, access to senior players etc are all convenient challenges which some coaches hide behind. You also make comments about payment of expenses. I dont think our county board are any different than any other county. We are not blessed with a pot of money that covers everything so we have to work within the constraints of financing hurling and football who are aiming for a high level of performance.
Sometimes I see comments on this site and wonder how close are any of you to the real cost of running Offaly Gaa and how we can provide this Utopia that you speak about. Yes we would like to see a more progressive approach to raising finance, developing training facilities, paying decent expenses(which I think is done as best can be, there can be skullduggery on mileage from time to time). But...its a hell of a job trying to run a budget of 500000 and bring in that sort of finance also for part time volunteers.
Also Sharp Eye, I guarantee that there are guys who you would class as top class coaches who have turned down the u21 job as its a hell of a lot of hassle, without the financial perks of training a club team!??

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

"In the month of February it is not fair to ask anybody to manage the team."


And what did you mean by this point Sharp eye? February is too early to start training for the u21 championship?

By the way not picking at you, but yes we would love to have a Utopian world, and its easy from the safety of a key board. But being involved at club level, I also know that the reality of the best people being involved in running the GAA, (admin and coaching) is a pipedream. I am sick listening to lads giving out about various coaches or selectors in charge of different teams when several "hero's" have turned it down, (especially at club level and underage)!!

[Plain of the Herbs]

Ballinamere Gaels play Tullamore in Ballinamere on Friday night.
Cúchullainn Gaels play St Brendan's in Lusmagh at noon on Sunday.

When and where do Coolderry and Rahan play?