offaly 2013

[timber]

Forget bringing in players that have family from Offaly. They have tried it and what has come in was not up to much. Forget these players outside the county.

There is a lack of talent, and it is both worrying and frustrating. But I think it is the genuine footballers, the lads that give it there all for their clubs first and foremost that will drag Offaly out of where it is. I always said it, if a lad is not passionate about his home club first and foremost then they lack something.
If lads are able to play for Offaly while living outside the county but cant be bothered with their club then 9 times out of 10 they wont give you what is needed when its needed.

McDonnell needs to find the best quality players in the county obviously but finding lads that are passionate about their clubs will also tell him alot about what he is working with. Not these lads who want to wear a county jersey for purely ego reasons.

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

tis a fair point about a lad willing to travel from Dublin (for example) to play with the county and not willing to do the same for his club. A county footballer would not train with the club until a week or 2 before the championship in general. And many county lads would only play a handful of league games with their club. Would it have anything to do with the reletively decent mileage expenses?

However it would be unfair too, to rule out a guy cause he has transferred from his home club to a club where he is working. What about the McPaddens then? Could it be applied within the county Timber?

[ryot]

OY should stick with the "home-grown".

Living in another county I witnessed the problems "bringing in" can cause and the "Sons of" did not do much for us.

Of course there is the odd genuine transfer but its a long way back to such as Mick Ashe and Mickser Casey !!!

Just hope McDonnell's can bring some order and ambition.

[clubman]

i think everyone who really wants to play for offaly inside or outside should be considered.we havnt that many players to choose from an if someone playing for a club outside offaly and he will committ then he should be given a trial. heard there were open trials a while ago ,wonder how many went and who is in training that wasnt there last year,bet there will still be some people saying (this lad and that lad should be on the panel) even though he probably didnt bother his arse going to the trials.

[timber]

tis a fair point about a lad willing to travel from Dublin (for example) to play with the county and not willing to do the same for his club. A county footballer would not train with the club until a week or 2 before the championship in general. And many county lads would only play a handful of league games with their club. Would it have anything to do with the reletively decent mileage expenses?

However it would be unfair too, to rule out a guy cause he has transferred from his home club to a club where he is working. What about the McPaddens then? Could it be applied within the county Timber?

Yes, you have point looking at it from that angle but their situation is very different in that as far as I know they never lined out for Clonmore and only ever playerd with Rhode og. I could be wrong on that but its also an issue that has caused alot of conflict and I wouldnt like to comment on it not knowing the facts of them lads.

I'll put it this way. I was chatting with a friend of mine who plays with Pat's in Louth and we were discussing transfers etc. He made the point that a number of lads from his county transferred to Dublin clubs as he put it "chasing medals elsewhere" when they were struggling with their own clubs. But they had no problem coming back to train with the county. That would annoy me also.

I dont buy into the mileage expenses thing either. Lads living away from home can train with a club wherever they are and come home on weekends. Its not a major or overly expensive undertaking considering they come home anyway. The clubs in general will provide some reimbursement anyway. It is an excuse in my opinion to try get in with a bigger team and get more exposure for themselves.

Lukily in Offaly we dont really have any player I can think of that is realistically good enough for the county team playing outside the county. But what I would say is that we should not start trying to find these players outside Offaly either.

[Abercrombie Fitch]

I brought up this whole issue and its being misconstrued. I am talking about lads who are playing club football for their home clubs but aren't being selected for their counties, and have Offaly connections. We have a Coughlan lad who can't make his club team in Dublin. That's not what we want. Obviously. But my example was David Henry. He prob has no interest in playing with Offaly but he should be asked. He has numerous Leinsters for Dublin but isn't being selected now. Would he get on the Offaly team? Yes! He can continue to play centre field with Raheny alongside Ciaran Whelan. It's hypothetical, but that's where we are.

That was my example. All clubs have diaspora in Dublin, Kildare etc. I don't think we are above recruiting like Jack Charlton did. Div 4 remember.

[Jolly Roger]

I'm sure there are numerous cases where OY could exploit the 'Granny Rule' and bring in a few footballers/hurlers.

The issue is the past success or lack of it when these transfers have taken place.
Now, I don't doubt the players commitment to the cause, indeed they sacrifice a lot more it could be argued than players based in Offaly in terms of time, travelling etc. I admire them for the huge effort they put in and no doubt about it, they get huge pride in pulling on the Jersey.

However are we seriously going to get a player of inter-county standard from another county just because their Grandparents lived here once?
No Way!!! Dublin and most other counties would not let a potential county player slip through the nets like that. Remember they have only won two All - Irelands in 30 years.

I still call on people to keep their ears to the ground but we could be waiting a while to get one who can make a serious difference.

[jimbob17]

Wouldve liked to see that Hanamy chap worked on. While he looked raw at times, he is young with a massive frame, well able to field the ball and couldve offered something in time. The problem with Offaly, is that there is no coherent follow through on things to ensure that he is kept in the loop. A junior team should be entered to keep fellas not on senior in the loop so that they train at a serious level. Kildare have used this to great effect in last few years to help senior team.

Hear that the seniors are training jard and that they are playing Louth next weekend in challenge tournament game...Any truth in this or where is it on? wouldnt mind having a look to see what new bodies are in....

[Abercrombie Fitch]

There's no 'granny rule' in the example I used. Henry was a Dublin regular for 10 years. Both his parents are born and bred Clara people. His father Gene represented Offaly and his uncle Vincent started the '81 all Ireland.

People like him should he asked would they like the chance to play for Offaly.

Granny Rule my arse!

[GOOFY]

Jimbob 17 said "Hear that the seniors are training jard "

Yeah jimbob i heard that as well, some things never change

[Bord na Mona man]

Clara left the door open, shall we say, for Henry down through the years.
At this stage, I'm sure he is planning on winding down things though.
If you spend the best part of a decade training every night of the week, I'm sure the appetite to keep it going runs out when you enter your 30s.

He was also a top hurler as well. He had the misfortune to emerge onto the scene when Dublin were also rans. Therefore, it was much easier to coerce the likes of Henry and Shane Ryan to pick football over hurling. I'm sure he would have been better accommodated as a dual player in Offaly.

[townman]

why would Henry leave Dublin who were winning leinsters to come to play in the lower divisions of football
and only two games in the championship, Coughlan only came cause he couldn't get a game in Dublin.

its like Billy Sheehan of laois if he could get a game with kerry would he be at laois, another way is if he was any good
he would be with kerry.

[summerindublin]

The one player i would go for is Thomas O'Connor because he has been shafted by McGeeney all year in Kildare, always taken off regardless of how he is playing, if I was McDonnell I would approach O'Connor and have a chat, nothing to lose???

[weary traveller]

Anyone have any idea of who was called into the offaly hurlers and footballers?? any new additions??

[Lone Shark]

If a lad has to be chased to come play for you, whether at senior county level or even at club junior, chances are he's not going to make a significant difference to your chances of winning something. However if a lad approached the Offaly management and said that his mother/father was from Offaly and he'd like to be considered for selection, I'd be happy to select him.

To take the example of John Coughlan, you're right that he didn't get picked to play for Dublin - however there are over 30 senior teams in Dublin, and plenty of good intermediate and junior ones as well. When you have so many players to choose from, it's easy for certain guys to slip through the net. There were plenty of people in Dublin who would have liked to have seen him called into their panel and while his red card against Meath in the championship was a bit bone-headed, he had a better attitude and more respect for the county jersey than a lot of guys that were born somewhere between Shannonbridge and Portarlington.

Truthfully, I'd still have him on a panel, although there are others within the county that I'd possibly have on a team in front of him.

Brian Hanamy looked very raw when he came in but again he seemed to have a good attitude - but I'd be worried about the fact that he didn't even feature for Kilmacud all this year. It's hard to make a case for a guy who's not making his club team, even if that team is Kilmacud Crokes.


Finally, as for those taking shots at lads transferring to clubs in Dublin but trying to stay on playing with the county - quite a lot of clubs in Dublin have the means to offer guys jobs if they transfer up. In this climate, that's absolutely massive. I'd never criticize any guy for making a decision like that.