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In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 10:24 pm
by Plain of the Herbs
I’ve had enough.

Enough of the constant abuse of the young men who form the 2016 Offaly hurling and football panels. Enough of the abuse from those who have only their own self-serving interests in mind (whatever they are) and only give this site a bad name.

These young hurlers and footballers are to be commended for their time, effort and commitment to the games they love, in pursuit of their sporting dreams and targets. They opt to do so, they do so voluntarily. They do so at the expense of attention to their families, their studies and their careers.

Consider. How many of us have hobbies which are publicly scrutinised, never mind the scrutiny of the obtuse and the moronic?

With the leagues over and championship approaching, I’d like to publicly affirm my support for Offaly’s hurlers and footballers and wish them every success in search of their dreams and targets.

I’ll see ye in Mullingar on May day. And on May 15th in Tullamore.

Good Luck to all.

Re: In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 10:35 pm
by old yellar
No personal abuse from me in relation to hurlers. I made a few comments on the warm up etc but nothing personal. I admire their (all intercounty players) commitment, dedication etc. I fight the same battle with posters on our own page on another gaa site. These lads in all counties are giving up huge amounts of their lives so fairplay to them. Sometimes a bit of realism is required where we as counties really are in terms of finances etc. I admire my own county and yours for its promotion of both codes with a relatively small population. Keep it going.

Re: In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 10:41 pm
by Plain of the Herbs
I didn't have you in mind, OY. At all. I read your analysis of yesterday's match and I agreed with much of it.
old yellar wrote:No personal abuse from me in relation to hurlers. I made a few comments on the warm up etc but nothing personal. I admire their (all intercounty players) commitment, dedication etc. I fight the same battle with posters on our own page on another gaa site. These lads in all counties are giving up huge amounts of their lives so fairplay to them. Sometimes a bit of realism is required where we as counties really are in terms of finances etc. I admire my own county and yours for its promotion of both codes with a relatively small population. Keep it going.

Re: In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 8:11 am
by theoutsider
Agree with you hear Plain.

Footballers have come a long way from a few years ago. Since Pat took over they are starting to grind out results. Nearly promoted to Division 2 only for scoring difference. Give these boys time - a Leinster final is not out of the question this year if they put the head down now

Hurlers - lets be honest. Forget about the glory days, we are where we are now. We pick from a small pool of players so can only play with the cards we are dealt. This forum has posters that talk about who should be on the panel and who shouldnt be on the panel etc. The panel now is whats there so support the lads that give their time and dedication to the cause. So what if some of the best hurlers in the county arent on the panel? Focus on the panel we have now.

Imagine a young county Hurler/Footballer putting in the 5+ nights a week, busting his gut, missing out on social events etc. and then coming on here to hear that the panel is no good, this player should be on it, this player shouldnt be on it. It would break any players confidence. Time to support all county teams and less of the criticism.

Re: In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 9:32 am
by KeshaWantsTimber
I believe the players are doing as much as they can but the county as a whole is not working anywhere near it's potential. Yes, Offaly is a small county but it is also a disorganised county and this is where the real problems lie. There doesn't seem to be any overall plan and if there is I would love to be made aware of it. The county lacks cohesion, focus and doesn't have a target especially in hurling.
(The footballers in fairness have been making incremental progress in the league and at underage)

The overall atmosphere in Offaly is either 'ah it will be alright on the day' or 'we haven't a hope of winning the All-Ireland so what's the point?'.

Both of these are dangerous and regressive attitudes. Instead of looking at counties like Kilkenny etc who have realistic ambitions of winning All-Irelands, Offaly need to take example from Kerry, Westmeath and others who understand that incremental progress is still progress and vaulting ambition will leave you disappointed and dejected.

Re: In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 10:48 am
by SearingDrive
Plain of the Herbs wrote:I’ve had enough.

Enough of the constant abuse of the young men who form the 2016 Offaly hurling and football panels. Enough of the abuse from those who have only their own self-serving interests in mind (whatever they are) and only give this site a bad name.

These young hurlers and footballers are to be commended for their time, effort and commitment to the games they love, in pursuit of their sporting dreams and targets. They opt to do so, they do so voluntarily. They do so at the expense of attention to their families, their studies and their careers.

Consider. How many of us have hobbies which are publicly scrutinised, never mind the scrutiny of the obtuse and the moronic?

With the leagues over and championship approaching, I’d like to publicly affirm my support for Offaly’s hurlers and footballers and wish them every success in search of their dreams and targets.

I’ll see ye in Mullingar on May day. And on May 15th in Tullamore.

Good Luck to all.
I hope I am not in the babies class, bit too old for that! My problem is that our hurlers just seem to freeze with Kilkenny, I realise the big commitment they give as amateurs, as with our footballers. We have hurlers and footballers as good as those from the more successful counties, just not enough at present.
I will be out for the teams in both codes this year.

Re: In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 11:11 am
by Anfearban
There are signs of progress with both teams this year. Good luck to Pat, Eamon and the both squads of players for the championships.

Re: In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 12:45 pm
by greenairfield
I am a firm believer once criticism is constructive there is noting wrong with it. I haven't seen much " abuse" on this website.

People are been realistic Offaly hurling is in a shocking bad way, is it the players who's in there's fault no of course not but people are entitled to give there opinion as they do in other counties.

Regarding the footballers they have had a pretty decent year so I don't know where ya seen the abuse throwing at them?

I think they could reach a leinster final in the next few years myself.

Re: In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 5:42 pm
by ah lethimoutwithit
I think POTH is doing his end of league rally the troops routine!!

I agree about the constant shite being written about lads being there who would make a difference...some may be valid but 60% of them have no interest in being there.

My problem with some of the hurlers and the hurling fraternity in Offaly is that they believe strongly that things need to be done like they were 25 years ago.
How many times in a club match in Offaly do you see guys under no pressure hitting the ball aimlessly or as far as they can?

Now, you can give out about coaches all you like,but you would have to have the head stuck firmly in the sand not to have read something/heard something/told something about playing with the head rather than the heart at this stage?
Simple handpass in certain situations also is often disgarded as an option instead of lumping it forward.

I believe that Kelly will try to address these flaws, but players are going to have to start using the noodle also on the pitch, and our brittle mentality on the hurling field is also something that needs to be addressed.
When the game is a battle with 20 mins to go and a score goes against us, we fold like a tent....that is vital that it changes.
We have many good players, but our systems, our innovation, our reaction to adversity tends to go against us.

Coasting against Kerry, 7 points up v Waterford last year in Tullamore, KK on Sunday, Laois last Summer, Clare last Summer, Clare in the league.

These things that are missing take time to fix, and they also need a joined up approach from the clubs. Many of our clubs talk a good game.

Example...Co Board Workshops, couple of hours invested in educating yourself as a coach, Nursery program to establish u6's, 2 or 3 turned up, various other ones held for different aspects of the game, only a handful attending...Fuck it sure if you took in an Attacking and Defending , 2 evenings , you could have your sessions for the summer planned out!!

Ranting here I suppose..but the bottom line is that the players have come through the system, the least we can do as former players/current supporters is help to fix the system and support the current players, (90% of whom are doing the best that they can)

Best of luck to all our teams over the Summer, starting with the minor hurlers this weekend, (someone care to start a thread for them?)

Re: In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 10:29 pm
by Plain of the Herbs
Aw, Jayziz!
ah lethimoutwithit wrote:Example...Co Board Workshops, couple of hours invested in educating yourself as a coach, Nursery program to establish u6's, 2 or 3 turned up, various other ones held for different aspects of the game, only a handful attending...Fuck it sure if you took in an Attacking and Defending , 2 evenings , you could have your sessions for the summer planned out!!

Re: In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2016 12:47 pm
by ah lethimoutwithit
I don't mean a couple of workshops and you're qualified as a coach!!

I mean that by having your basic courses done and a good notebook out, these workshops are a great source of knowledge to help solve some of the issues you may have with your teams attacking and defensive play, and enable you to add some fresh ideas to your skill set.

My point is that they are a few hours well invested..but poorly attended.
I am also making the point that by not attending or properly educating ourselves as coaches..we are not properly supporting "future" Offaly Footballers & Hurlers!

Re: In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2016 8:46 pm
by Plain of the Herbs
Just to clarify - my exclamation was on seeing that only two or three attended courses such as these.
ah lethimoutwithit wrote:I don't mean a couple of workshops and you're qualified as a coach!!

I mean that by having your basic courses done and a good notebook out, these workshops are a great source of knowledge to help solve some of the issues you may have with your teams attacking and defensive play, and enable you to add some fresh ideas to your skill set.

My point is that they are a few hours well invested..but poorly attended.
I am also making the point that by not attending or properly educating ourselves as coaches..we are not properly supporting "future" Offaly Footballers & Hurlers!

Re: In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 2:16 pm
by The Biff
I hear you POTH but I think you need to let your "experience" evaluate how to view Discussion Boards like this.

It's easy to get annoyed at some posters who seem to lash out abuse and criticism from behind anonymous nicknames. But if we were all being nicey nicey, then wouldn't it all get very boring. Answering back to the nonsensical posts can be a lot more fun and informative than loads of "I agree with Johnie ..." posts.

We're here because we're fans of Offaly. The fact that we've bothered to register Logins probably means that most of those reading here WILL be at the county games in May, shouting and cheering and getting frustrated in various measures. 'Tis the beauty of Sport. Don't take it all too seriously. Embrace the arguments with the lads you disagree with.

And if there happen to be any County players/panellists reading this, I hope you have either Thick Skins, or you're well experienced with Internet Discussion Boards to know that its all just a bit of craic. Nothing Personal. The truth is probably that most of us are jealous as hell of ye.

The only thing I would really like to see changed on this DB is the picture/avatar used by Bord na Mona man. Jayz, that picture makes me nearly retch whenever I see it. :roll:

Re: In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 2:45 pm
by Bord na Mona man
The Biff wrote: The only thing I would really like to see changed on this DB is the picture/avatar used by Bord na Mona man. Jayz, that picture makes me nearly retch whenever I see it. :roll:
Which different one should I change it to?

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Re: In support of Offaly hurlers and footballers

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 3:47 pm
by The Biff
Bord na Mona man wrote:
The Biff wrote: The only thing I would really like to see changed on this DB is the picture/avatar used by Bord na Mona man. Jayz, that picture makes me nearly retch whenever I see it. :roll:
Which different one should I change it to?
I think this would sum you up nicely.
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