So next year what will be thrown about. We will hardly see Cathal or Mark Daly again. Colm Quinn? Will he retire?
Who can be drafted in to shake things up or even just change them.
Ross Connor into midfield? Any of the minors or u-21s in the reckoning? When is Barry Mooney back? Are either of the malones Roy or Barry making an effort to get back on the team?
One question I have is if we are to play 2 inside forward line then why not play 3 midfielders instead of 2 midfielders and a makeshift forward/midfielder. Could we have McManus, McNamee/ Ross connor all play in the middle of the park nexk year with a 2 man inside forward line?
Lone Shark, if you were to pick a team now with all players available and willing to play for you , no injuries, and players came out of retirement etc What would it be?
Championship Team Next year
I know you didn't ask me but this is the 'championship' team I'd like to see in the League
1) Kevin Meehan
2) Ger Rafferty
3) Conor Evans
4) Nigel Grennan
5) Paul McConway
6) Shane Sullivan
7) Karol Slattery
Alan McNamee
9) James Keane
10) Neville Coughlan
11) Ciaran McManus
12) Paschal Kellaghan
13) Thomas Deehan
14) Niall McNamee
15) (playing out the middle) Barry Mooney
1) Kevin Meehan
2) Ger Rafferty
3) Conor Evans
4) Nigel Grennan
5) Paul McConway
6) Shane Sullivan
7) Karol Slattery
Alan McNamee9) James Keane
10) Neville Coughlan
11) Ciaran McManus
12) Paschal Kellaghan
13) Thomas Deehan
14) Niall McNamee
15) (playing out the middle) Barry Mooney
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Lone Shark
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I think all too often we've made the mistake previously of picking the best fifteen and then fitting them into a team, rather than looking at what we have that needs to play a certain role, and then plugging the gaps around that. To my mind, assuming everyone available, the following is the team sheet that I would see as inviolable for next year, with the gaps to be filled in around it.
1
2
3 Evans
4 Grennan
5
6
7 Slattery
8
9 McNamee
10
11 McManus
12
13 Deehan
14
15 McNamee
Barring a serious loss in form, injury etc., those players should not be moved in any circumstances. As for the gaps....
1 We don't have one of those Ulster style 6'6" goalies, so when it comes to pure shot stopping, I'd still be a fan of Kelly. His kickouts weren't good this year, but the problem was everyone knew we were looking for a runner since we had no fielding option. Work on it over the winter, plus get some sense into his head with regard to rushing off his line, and I'd stick with him.
2 Ger Rafferty clearly the front runner. I certainly don't want to see Shane Sullivan in this line again, however Sean Casey has every chance of making this slot his own yet.
6 Sullivan did well here last day out, and I refuse to accept he belongs in any line other than this. However I'd be open to other options. Brady might not suit every player, but I like defenders who defend first and foremost. Ditto Barry Mooney might not be suited to pushing forward any more, so this could be the slot for him either yet. Sullivan is the man in possession for now though.
5 If Sullivan plays at six, then this slot is open - if he doesn't, then he's nailed on for the five shirt. McConway is among a few different contenders for the role other than him, probably 50/50 between himself and Mooney depending on how well Barry returns from injury.
8 Don't mention the war. McNamee plays the role of fielding midfielder for us, despite being better suited to the second midfielder position. So we need a pure raw animal here who just lives for high ball and shrugging off lads when he lands. I don't know if Keane is that man yet, but he might be - hopefully. My gut feeling is Bracken is not up to the standard, so we need to find a huge guy with a real feral cut about him. I have no idea who that guy is. Keane leads.
10 Quinn is a 15 minute player at most anymore. However his playmaking is something we've got used to - which leads me back to the problem I first identified three years ago - we built our game around Quinn's passing, despite having no alternative for when he wasn't available. Damien Hunt is the best option for me if you want that player, since he certainly is a good distributor of the ball - though I thought he played with a lot of fear this year, he needs to lose that. Neville Coughlan is probably the safe pair of hands, though he needs to get his confidence back. Hopefully the club season will do that for him.
12 Your ideal is a good link player who can take a score if the chance arises, can move the ball along, does his tracking and has a good eye for a breaking ball. The Leonard Mooney experiment ended too quickly for my liking - I'd like to see him get a shot here. In a similar vein, I'd be watching David Egan's form carefully over the coming weeks and months. (If I get to come home!!
) Paschal is without doubt one of our most talented players, but until he stops the red card offences (for all the red cards we were shown this year, the worst offence was what Paschal got away with against Kildare) and starts trying to tackle properly instead of limply throwing an arm out, I wouldn't start him. Partially down to his positioning, his scoring has dried up completely recently (did he even get a score at all this year?) Mooney is my wild card starter for now.
14 My ace in the hole - Phelan. Dropping back around midfield if he wants, basically playing as if he has no position. He could even go so far as to make himself a kickout option if necessary. If he did get on the ball in the right place, his pace and the uncertainty over who's picking him up could cause real chaos. It's an experiment, but I'd like to see it tried once or twice to see how it would work. Connor is always there if we do need a third midfielder, but seeing as how we'd have a very hard working half forward line and hopefully some pure fielding midfielder beside McNamee, you'd hope it didn't come to that.
I'll no doubt have a completely different lineup in my mind come February, but that's my guess for now anyway.
1
2
3 Evans
4 Grennan
5
6
7 Slattery
8
9 McNamee
10
11 McManus
12
13 Deehan
14
15 McNamee
Barring a serious loss in form, injury etc., those players should not be moved in any circumstances. As for the gaps....
1 We don't have one of those Ulster style 6'6" goalies, so when it comes to pure shot stopping, I'd still be a fan of Kelly. His kickouts weren't good this year, but the problem was everyone knew we were looking for a runner since we had no fielding option. Work on it over the winter, plus get some sense into his head with regard to rushing off his line, and I'd stick with him.
2 Ger Rafferty clearly the front runner. I certainly don't want to see Shane Sullivan in this line again, however Sean Casey has every chance of making this slot his own yet.
6 Sullivan did well here last day out, and I refuse to accept he belongs in any line other than this. However I'd be open to other options. Brady might not suit every player, but I like defenders who defend first and foremost. Ditto Barry Mooney might not be suited to pushing forward any more, so this could be the slot for him either yet. Sullivan is the man in possession for now though.
5 If Sullivan plays at six, then this slot is open - if he doesn't, then he's nailed on for the five shirt. McConway is among a few different contenders for the role other than him, probably 50/50 between himself and Mooney depending on how well Barry returns from injury.
8 Don't mention the war. McNamee plays the role of fielding midfielder for us, despite being better suited to the second midfielder position. So we need a pure raw animal here who just lives for high ball and shrugging off lads when he lands. I don't know if Keane is that man yet, but he might be - hopefully. My gut feeling is Bracken is not up to the standard, so we need to find a huge guy with a real feral cut about him. I have no idea who that guy is. Keane leads.
10 Quinn is a 15 minute player at most anymore. However his playmaking is something we've got used to - which leads me back to the problem I first identified three years ago - we built our game around Quinn's passing, despite having no alternative for when he wasn't available. Damien Hunt is the best option for me if you want that player, since he certainly is a good distributor of the ball - though I thought he played with a lot of fear this year, he needs to lose that. Neville Coughlan is probably the safe pair of hands, though he needs to get his confidence back. Hopefully the club season will do that for him.
12 Your ideal is a good link player who can take a score if the chance arises, can move the ball along, does his tracking and has a good eye for a breaking ball. The Leonard Mooney experiment ended too quickly for my liking - I'd like to see him get a shot here. In a similar vein, I'd be watching David Egan's form carefully over the coming weeks and months. (If I get to come home!!
) Paschal is without doubt one of our most talented players, but until he stops the red card offences (for all the red cards we were shown this year, the worst offence was what Paschal got away with against Kildare) and starts trying to tackle properly instead of limply throwing an arm out, I wouldn't start him. Partially down to his positioning, his scoring has dried up completely recently (did he even get a score at all this year?) Mooney is my wild card starter for now.14 My ace in the hole - Phelan. Dropping back around midfield if he wants, basically playing as if he has no position. He could even go so far as to make himself a kickout option if necessary. If he did get on the ball in the right place, his pace and the uncertainty over who's picking him up could cause real chaos. It's an experiment, but I'd like to see it tried once or twice to see how it would work. Connor is always there if we do need a third midfielder, but seeing as how we'd have a very hard working half forward line and hopefully some pure fielding midfielder beside McNamee, you'd hope it didn't come to that.
I'll no doubt have a completely different lineup in my mind come February, but that's my guess for now anyway.
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the bare biffo
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Lone Shark
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Bord na Mona man
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I wonder do players get sick county football/hurling more quickly when they get pushed onto the intercounty scene very early?
- Barry Malone was playing senior for Offaly the year he did his leaving aged 17, back in 1997. By 2002 he was gone from the scene.
- Ronan Mooney was also doing his Leaving back in 1992 when he first played for Offaly. Again he was more or less gone by the end of 2000.
- John Ryan was 18 when he made his debut for Offaly footballers in 1995. He was finished with Offaly hurling and football by the year 2000.
Interesting to note that both Malone and Mooney went abroad on sabbatical - a sure sign of wanting a break form the scene.
- Barry Malone was playing senior for Offaly the year he did his leaving aged 17, back in 1997. By 2002 he was gone from the scene.
- Ronan Mooney was also doing his Leaving back in 1992 when he first played for Offaly. Again he was more or less gone by the end of 2000.
- John Ryan was 18 when he made his debut for Offaly footballers in 1995. He was finished with Offaly hurling and football by the year 2000.
Interesting to note that both Malone and Mooney went abroad on sabbatical - a sure sign of wanting a break form the scene.
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Muck Savage
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Lone Shark
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Still a long way to go from being a senior player. It'd be different if he was a 6'4" midfielder - then there'd be pressure on to push him forward. You still couldn't pick him over any one of Niall/Deehan/Shaper/Coughlan for an inside forward slot, so he'll be at the back of the queue for a while I'd say.