O'Byrne Cup 2011

[jimbob17]

Alan mcnamee looked more of a county player than most to my mind. he has the size and physique and age that he didnt have a few years ago. he was one of the reasons that rhode were so good in the first half, his distribution was excellent and he was mopping up in the half back line and distributing well. his relationship with niall is telepathic and most of the good play involved him. fair enough he went out of it a little in the last 15 mins but that is a very good crokes midfield and i would certainly feel that he has something to offer and is certainly better than john coughlan or others that have played there in the last two years. if he trained with offaly he is easily good enough to start given what is there.

as for brian darby, he was constantly foulling his man the last day, it was brought to my attention by a crokes supporter. i watched him for fifteen mins and he was right. to my mind he is not near fast enough for county football. why people go on about him so much is beyond me. yes he is a fantastic club footballer, skillful, tenacious, game for a tussle and all that. he gets the most out of himself and is totally dedicated and i admire that but put him in croke park or any pitch on a championship day against a half decent forward with any bit of pace at all and it is a disaster waiting to happen. you need pace above everything else as a corner back at the top level and he simply does not have it. sean pender is a much better option with a bit of experience as are many more. scott brady is as quick as him and you would not put scott corner back with the greatest respect. what did his man score off him the last day?? he doesnt have the size for full back either so that isnt an option.

niall is only good with a good supply and alan mac can offer that if he was willing to give the committment required. Shane sullivan is THE best centre back in the county bar none and likewise if he was willing to give the necessary committment would be a huge boost for offaly. Anton is a development project and at this point in time is not a massive addition to the county team but he will be in the future.

[Lone Shark]

Jimbob you're clearly a good reader and follower of the game generally and trust me, for reasons that I don't want to go into, I've no wish to get involved in another Alan McNamee row on this board. However in the first half I counted five instances of handy short balls that Alan McNamee gave away, three of which led directly to Kilmacud scores. I'm not talking about sixty yard long balls that didn't quite find the target, I'm talking about lost in possession and passes over twenty yards or less. If you look at the game on TG4's online player when it goes up you'll see this. I wasn't keeping on stats on the game but I also have no recollection of him winning a kickout or turning over a Kilmacud player - though I am open to correction on that one.

No team, club or county, can carry a player with such a bad turnover ratio. John Coughlan might not have the same natural footballing ability that Alan does, indeed I'd say with certainty that he doesn't, but he wins a lot more ball than he gives away and that's what you need in a county midfielder.

[Long John]

Have to agree with loneshark here. Alan McNamee was terrible the last day. He kicked two free kicks short ten yard straight to a kilmacud player. In a leinster championship game against that standard of opposition that is disastrous.

Wouldnt be as hard on Darby either. He does get away a little with fouling in every game he plays, I know that for a fact because I have watched him aswell. The last day I thought he was let down alot by midfield who allowed nice ball be kicked into the full forward line and also as LS pointed out previously he had done very well to bottle up Kavanagh a good number of times only for one of his team mates to come in and leave a hand in resulting in a free. Wouldnt question his speed much either. He is small and that is what comes against him. Theres not a thing he can work on that will make him any taller. I think he has something to offer the county team if tactically Cribben should match his defence up to the opposition attackers.

Shane Sullivan clearly twisted his ankle early in the game. I remember him cleaning up a ball out on the sideline and seeming in alot of discomfort just after it. As anybody who has suffered this knows, thats a bad knock to get escpecially against such quality opposition.

[jimbob17]

point taken and accepted lads, he isnt there on present form but i really feel that if himself and sullivan and a few more got their asses in gear for the county, offaly would be quite competitive again instead of pissin around with lads that everyone knows are very average club footballers. when are they out in the league and who and where are they playing

[offalyguy]

I heard Deehan was at training last night for the first night. It'll be great to have him back

[kingscounty]

deehan is to small for offaly footballers.look at cork,kerry,dublin,kidare etc all big teams,thats what happened rhode.darbys,hope,sullivans,all to small and not strong enough when it comes to playing outside of a poor offaly club championship.