U 21's v Longford

Hyper · Post by **Hyper** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 10:55 am

The team is as follows;

Bracken,Lynam,Casey,Darby,McConway,Kiely,Keenaghan,Lowry,Rafferty,Ryan,Connor,Coughlin,Casey,McNamee,Phelan

any views?

Lone Shark · Post by **Lone Shark** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 12:57 pm

In theory that is supposed to be a good Longford team, with a good chunk of last year's side that got to the Leinster final coming back, and while we have a lot of guys there that have got senior experience so far this year, only McNamee is really nailed on to be a starter for our championship team, though Sean Casey is probably not far off.

The half back line is a bit shaky looking. McConway has been carrying an injury, I haven't seen Kiely play well since 2004, and it's an interesting place to play Aidan Keenaghan - I've only ever known him as a forward. If we had James Keane available he'd probably go into midfield and allow Rafferty to drop back, which I'd feel a bit better about. Even Eoin Byrne might have been a more solid call there, but as far as I'm aware he's left the panel altogether.

A lot of pace up front though - they might struggle to act as a first line of defence, but they could do damage if the pitch is good.

naasmanxrhode · Post by **naasmanxrhode** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:56 pm

Unfortunately Eoin Byrne has left the u/21 squad. I thought that he was a cert for this team and will be missed.

far from croghan hill · Fri Feb 17, 2006 3:24 pm

eogahn byrne a cert, he will be missed? are you serious naas man? he was taken off against ferbane last year after about ten minutes and was ineffective for most of rhodes campaign. average club player in my opinion.donaghue from ballycumber is corner back not darby

naasmanxrhode · Post by **naasmanxrhode** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 4:17 pm

FAR FROM CROGHAN HILL - How many matches were you at during Rhode's long championship campaign????. Yes young Byrne was taken off in Rhodes first championship match against ferbane (after 20 minutes) and harshly so. Ask anybody who was at the match. In all remaining matches he was in the running for man of the match. Were you at the county final, the match against Rathnew, the match against Sradbally and the 2 Kilmacud matches. What did his markers do in these games? Most were taken off or moved. Get a grip. average player my ass.

Lone Shark · Post by **Lone Shark** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 4:25 pm

I mightn't have seen much of 2006, but if you were picking a "team of the championship" in 2005 across the county Byrne wouldn't have been far off - he was very consistent.

A lot of Rhode players misfired that first day against Ferbane. It was April, a lot of key players on either side were either missing or half injured, and Rhode played poorly while keeping an honest but unispired Ferbane team at arms' length. A lot more serious championship football went on from then on.

Anyone know why he left this panel? I certainly would have given him a slot somewhere on the half back line.

far from croghan hill · Fri Feb 17, 2006 4:29 pm

ohhh! have i touched a nerve there naas man?look i was just giving my opinion, yes i was at all those matches, but in fairness he didnt stand out. in terms of rhode backs he would be behind kilmuuray, sullivan x2, darby and david bannon. thats what i meant a bit part player, he might develop into a major player with years on his head. as the saying goes if you cant stand the heat get.......nass man

naasmanxrhode · Post by **naasmanxrhode** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:02 pm

Croghan man, if you were at all the matches stated then thank god that you are from Croghan and not Rhode and hopefully that you are not in charge of any teams that wish to win something. Oh I've just realised its your opinion. Your opinion does'nt count for much in my book. What do you mean if you can't stand the heat

far from croghan hill · Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:17 pm

naas man at the end of the day, this is a forum for debate, everybody is entitled to their opinion, i just offered mine. if everybody was right all the time what sort of place would it be. you need to relax and just because you are from rhode, or birr or tullamore doesnt mean your always right. what i meant by the heat remark is that once rhode was brought up in an unfavourable light you couldnt handle it. i would be interested to see lone sharks "teamof 2005", if time is on his side maybe he could through a few names together...better still perhaps the expert from naas aswell!

TheManFromFerbane · Post by **TheManFromFerbane** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:35 pm

Bit harsh on Keenie LS. He has always been near the county team but has been dogged by injury. He's finally fit and now he's showing what he can do. He was always a ball winning forward, rarely a scoring one, perfect for scrapping and getting the breaks. Loads of fitness and pace and a strong tackler too.

I'm willing to accept that some of my views may be influenced by loyalty but even if I didn't know him I would still say he is county standard.

Lone Shark · Post by **Lone Shark** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 6:09 pm

I wouldn't say I was harsh - I just said I hadn't seen him play there, which I haven't. I would say that if those knees are actually okay, then he's certainly county standard - but I would have swapped himself and Coughlan position wise.

The reason I say the half back line is shaky looking is like I said - we have one player who has not been in good form for a while, at least in championship matches at any grade, one player who is carrying a knock and one player who I've never seen anywhere but in the forwards. Last year we had Kiely after he had just had a glorious summer with Gracefield, Keane at centre back and Paul Buckley, another proven defender - with Sean Casey and Shane Sullivan in behind. It just worries me is all.

TheManFromFerbane · Post by **TheManFromFerbane** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:16 pm

Fair enough, picked you up wrong, thought you were saying that Keenie was the cause of the weakness at the back. Apologies

Hyper · Post by **Hyper** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:58 am

Well the KK has done it again, one f.....g subsitute, does the man really think that he is God. LS I wish you wre there to give your analysis...but I can tell you tht any ex or current county senior players that were there were disgusted, plus the supporters. Last year against Meath was bad but this was worse. KK get your act together and (don't take all the blame yourself, Mssrs C & S have to take their share) accept the coments that were made in the dressing room in Dr Cullen Park and for the good of Offaly football just leave - you just havn´t got the respect........

Lone Shark · Post by **Lone Shark** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:48 am

I only got one report after this game, which was to the effect that we competed well for the first half and faded poorly in the second, giving away ball and struggling to make an impact up front. This aspect of the game wasn't mentioned, but if it was the case, then he has a lot to answer for. These are under 21 players - by definition the team won't have had a lot of time to gel and players may or may not fit. One substitution would never be appropriate.

All that said, this is reputed to be a decent Longford team, but from this report it appears the game was there to be won.

Last year was certainly lost on the sideline, when Meath's cuteness in using the wind showed up our utter naivety in trying to do the same. If that is the case two years in a row, then I would assume Mr. Kilmurray is on borrowed time. Truth is he probably only still has the job because we need to shake the notion of our county as a managerial graveyard anyway.

seamroga · Post by **seamroga** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 12:17 pm

It's one thing going home from an Offaly match disappointed or dejected, it's another thing altogether to go home angry and that was the unanimous feeling of fans in Longford on Saturday.
This was as bad as it gets. I haven't been around Offaly since Saturday but I'm fairly sure the mood is extremely gloomy.
I wonder how the management can justify introducing only one substitute as the match slipped away from us in the second half. Oh sorry, maybe I'm wrong - Padraig Sullivan was asked to warm up with about a minute to go and may have got on for all of ten seconds, I didn't notice.
Then again, it was hard to know how many subs Offaly had considering they weren't listed on the programme. Is this another sign of a poorly prepared management?
I didn't recognise one or two of the faces who were consigned to warm the dug-out for the full hour. Surely they must have got the feeling they weren't wanted. I'm aware Derek Molloy didn't commit himself to the minors last year, but he had been with the under 21 panel over the winter and was then dropped last week. Last week also, Molloy gave a complete and total exhibition for Shamrocks against Erin Rovers in the league. If the management had a doubt about him, why didn't they attend that game.
Kevin Kilmurray surprised me in Castlebar when he took off John Reynolds after about 20 minutes because he's usually ten to 15 minutes too slow in making switches. I thought that might have been a turning point but how wrong I was.
The Offaly under 21 team had one of the fastest forward lines in the country with Coughlan, Ryan, Casey and Phelan. Those four and McNamee at full forward offered huge potential. But it seemed they had never played together before. And when Connor and Rafferty won possession at midfield, they held it up far too long. What about playing to our strengths?
Sorry if I'm rambling on but compare the Offaly under 21s to the minors. If if the minors are beaten in the first round this year, I will stand up for them because of the effort put in by the management and players. They won't get everything right, but at least they're giving 100% together. It was thanks to that effort that we reached an All-Ireland semi-final last year.
It was a sad sight on Saturday to see supporters roaring at the Offaly management to make switches. Or do something. Luke Dempsey, in fairness to him, altered Longford suffiently to turn the tide in their favour.
So who's to blame for this horror show. Is it the players, the management or the County Board officials who decided to get rid of Gerry Fahy. Fahy made a mistake, in my opinion, by trying to remove Brendan Clarke who I felt did a good job with the under 21s in 2004, even though they lost heavily to Meath at O'Connor Park. That being said, a senior manager should be entitled to be over the under 21s as well, as is sadly the case now. I'll retract my statement if Offaly achieve better results than I expect for the rest of the season, but as far as I'm concerned we're left with a magagement who...ah, I won't even bother.