Offaly vs. Clare Football Qualifier Round 1 26/06/2010

[Truth as i see it]

Magpie i understand what your saying and your right it is a young squad and maybe cribben had stumbled onto a winning formula by accident by maybe i shouldn't be expecting too much but i just think that the building should start with first of all getting the mentality of the team right.

I should point out at this point that i was not at the match so maybe i'm not actually, sort off you know best place to comment on the match but the fact that they (A) won their first match in two years which gets that monkey off their back (B) came back from behind when they usually would have folded and (played good football in parts is encoraging to me.

I am eternally optimistic when it comes to sports

The thing i like about Cribbin is that he's not just interested in the playing side of things but also having the right personel in the team.

I think he's trying to develop a competitive and positive attitude much like Trappatoni has done for the football side by bringing in players who are not afraid to give it a go.

If you look at what he done for his first few games in charge, he dropped some of the established stars who you would have thought were bankers to start and changed it up.

This brought about a positive response from the team where the only lost out to Wexford in the qualifiers last year.

Yes it was a loss but the improvment was there.

i feel that slowly but surley this team as it matures will start to get used to the habit of winning and players will be less inclined to take their position in the team for granted.

In the meantime the tactical side will i feel be experimented with to see what works and what doesn't work and again it should be viewd as a work in progress.

BABYSTEPS

On the upside as well i hear we have a decent minor side and u-16s are meant to be very good (might have jinxed them now ) so mabye the future's brighter than many people think.

Ehh.... don't have time to correct spelling, Sorry

[Long John]

O'Cinneide was just calling a spade a spade. I dont think it had anything to do with a deep hatred of Offaly. Whoever said it was right about Cribbens "taking it to another level comments" were laughable.

They won thankfully, but it was yet another embarrasing display. one point in 35 minutes of football against a team not far above London in the pecking order.

Lucky to have Waterford in the next round because if it was anubody else you could only see an outrageous hammering on the cards.

Maybe they can bring it to another level against the mighty Waterford.

[Bord na Mona man]

I hope I didn't come across as paranoid - I mean as a panel of lads they should be HIGHLY motivated by comments like that.

They should be HIGHLY motivated all the time.
They should be playing to the best of their ability for the right reasons, rather than just to prove an analyst on the Sunday Game to be wrong.

Surely during games Offaly players aren't thinking like:
Should I bother trying to beat my marker to the ball?...Feck it, I will actually, just to prove that Kerry lad wrong.

[black and red exile]

Lads, be very careful of Waterford, there will be no pressure on the Deise coming to Tullamore on Saturday week, they have secured promotion to div 3, should have beaten Limerick in the div 4 final, have already beaten Clare in the Munster championship before going down to Limerick in the semi final [ I think they had a sending off against Limerick]. Waterford have been improving year after year thanks to the work of John Kiley and now John Owens, they have won promotion, won a championship game and anything else for them this year is a bonus which means they will be more relaxed than our lads who will be under pressure to perform for a decent attendance with the hurlers in action afterwards. Don't forget Waterford were very unlucky not to beat Offaly in the League a couple of years ago and they are a better more confident team now and don't forget they are better than Clare who nearly turned Offaly over last Saturday.
This is the draw that Tom Cribben would have wanted if given the choice, let's hope the lads don't blow this chance of getting another outing this summer. Put it this way, I would much rather be getting Waterford in O Connor PK than the Fraher field.

[My Left Foot]

I hope I didn't come across as paranoid - I mean as a panel of lads they should be HIGHLY motivated by comments like that.

They should be HIGHLY motivated all the time.
They should be playing to the best of their ability for the right reasons, rather than just to prove an analyst on the Sunday Game to be wrong.

Surely during games Offaly players aren't thinking like:
Should I bother trying to beat my marker to the ball?...Feck it, I will actually, just to prove that Kerry lad wrong.

In an ideal world I agree - it ain't ideal though.

Managers often need something to gel a team/panel - us against the world kinda thing - Mourinho and Ferguson were good at that.

some people need more motivation than others , some need none - but the final 5% of being right going onto a pitch is to get your head sorted and be focused on your role and being ready from the off so that you win that first ball.

Personally those comments from O'Cinneide would insult me if I was on the intercounty panel irrespective of him being right or wrong and I would definitely be more focused for the next while - would I think about them on the pitch next day as I beat my marker get the ball and stick it over the bar, NO - will his comments be mentioned as part of teamtalks after training sessions and before they go out against Waterford,YOU CAN BET YOUR SWEET ASS THEY WILL BE.

Win for your team and your self and your county - and then win to show that effer he was wrong !

C'mon Offaly !

[Daingean Exile]

O'Cinneide was just calling a spade a spade. I dont think it had anything to do with a deep hatred of Offaly. Whoever said it was right about Cribbens "taking it to another level comments" were laughable.

They won thankfully, but it was yet another embarrasing display. one point in 35 minutes of football against a team not far above London in the pecking order.

Lucky to have Waterford in the next round because if it was anubody else you could only see an outrageous hammering on the cards.

Maybe they can bring it to another level against the mighty Waterford.

It doesn't matter all that much if its cos O'Cinneide has a deep grudge against Offaly or not. They can still use what he said as a motivating factor to prove him wrong and improve from what they normally do in the qualifiers.

[Georgio1]

They can pin up the views of anybody in the ground after the first half! Look we hopefully have reached the bottom? I feel sorry for the lads in the sense that many of them are young and only starting out, but let me never have to watch rubbish like that again!