Offaly Senior Footballers 2024

[JimBwobb]

[Anonymous1]

Cian Farrell dropped and has left the panel arguably the best forward in the county
NIGEL Dunne dropped for tonight’s game too as I said earlier this team was known the last few days.
All is not well in the camp
It will come out in the wash what’s going on there the last few months

So sounds like lads put in great effort and gave Down a good game. Kodos to them as I am sure it was a tough week for everyone after Clare defeat.

Tried to listen on Midlands but to my disappointment, there wasnt even over and back coverage on Midlands radion which I think was shocking. Was similar for Antrim game.

Some of the changes were a surprise, particular Nigel Dunne one given he has been best inside forward we have had this year. I dont know the stats but his scores per minute ratio is way ahead of all others.

I can see Kelly's reason too - and well done to young Bryant who appeared to do well on score sheet acc to reports at least. Not sure how many were frees. If Kelly wants to know how good Bryant really is, this is a game to throw him in. He may have seen it as chance to nothing. On plus side, he gets high quality minutes against tough team and gets to see if he is up to it. He may have seen it as game likely to lose and spring lads in with view to reverting to Dunne in the upcoming must win games. If he is not testing panelists in this game, when does he get to test them. I wouldnt be doing much testing v Wicklow, Limerick or Sligo. If it goes well, great, if not, nothing lost and Dunne et al return for next game.

As it turned out, Bryant puts himself in shake up now for Wicklow game.

Re the subbing of Hyland, no idea if injury applied. If not, like someone else said, Cathal Donoghue and Nigel Dunne were whipped off just before HT v Westmeath - so no sentiment with Kelly. Some might see this as making calls as he sees them and good management. Others might say it is bad man management. Anton coming in appeared to do well so maybe the call was merited. I wasnt there so I dont know.

As for the rumours around Farrell, I just dont know tbh. Sometimes lads need to accept when they are left off and work hard to get back in. Sometimes, managers need to be clever about how they engage with players when dropping them. Im not sure which category his non participation in the panel comes under as I dont know the facts, but either way, Offaly needs Cian Farrell going forward. So if there is an issue, it is hopefully resolved amicably. Having Farrell leave (if true), along with absence of Bernard Allen and Shane Tierney, makes for a much weaker inside forward squad group than what we might have if they were there.

Interested in your last two lines about all not being well in the camp as I have not been hearing much really only that they trained exceptionally hard through the winter. What is it that'll come out in the wash.

Yeah hard to be too critical about a 4 point defeat to a team who are on the march to division 2.

2-11 is a decent tally but on the other hand 4-12 is a lot to ship.

Today’s game doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things but it’s crunch time from here. 3 games and 2 wins are required.

On the Midlands 103 coverage, our usual commentator is out of action due to a surgery according to Will O’Callaghan on twitter.

Bryant scored 1-5 with all 5 from frees.

On the Dunne point I think it’s pretty clear by now he hasn’t got 70 minutes in the tank so is better off being sprung with 20 to go than starting and coming off early.

According to a journalist from Down, Hyland didn’t appear injured and his reaction after would seem to confirm that. Yes he’d been carded but had kicked 2 of our 3 points at that stage so it was a bizarre decision but Kelly has form in this regard.

Donoghue and Dunne were hauled off in the first half against Westmeath. Farrell was hauled off in the first half against Clare and now Hyland.

No matter how poorly a player is playing, you should always give them until at least halftime if for nothing more than to keep them happy and ensure a situation like the one with Farrell doesn’t develop.

In a small county like Offaly we can’t afford to be losing our best talent over petty power plays by management.

Anton should always start every game, no ifs ands or buts. Forget the scores he gets, his work rate alone merits a starting place.

My understanding re Farrell is he was dropped from the 26 without any explanation so rightly in my opinion has walked.

I’ve also heard rumblings of an unhappy camp.

[Superhans75]

The players put in effort in fair play
The management must have been
Bingo subs system.
Something is seriously wrong I know confidence is low but some of the misses were bad .
What next .?
Will players stay on the panel or will America
Come calling early?
Thanks Down gaa for being good host .

[pigeon house biffo]

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/gaa/1 ... kelly.html

Wouldn’t say it’s great reading that he doesn’t know if he’s left the panel or not

[private joker]

I think some players on the offaly panel are a bit on the immature side?

[ah lethimoutwithit]

I think some players on the offaly panel are a bit on the immature side?

I think that about sums it up. Some egos massaged for years it appears. The perception that they are giving 100%.
Bottom line is that Cian Farrell is an good club forward that has been woeful in the last few games, that is a fact. And he can't accept that there are otheres on the panel that deserve a chance. Serious lack of awareness that his performances would have consequences. Anton seemingly reacted badly too, and wasn't hectoc when he was brought on v Clare, but has kept at it and the true sign of a player is when he's dropped that he says "i'll provethat bollox wrong" and knuckles down and there is also the message that itcan send out to the squad. Anyone at the Clare game knows that Hyland was on thin ice after he got the yellow card and the fact that he picked up another yellow in the first 20mins last night again shows he has an issue with discipline. I can understand his frustration, but he missed two opening league games through his own fault. Kelly would know that going down to 14 players would have been a disaster against a confidence team like Down. And despite what some here were hoping for, the team are fighting away on the field to achieve results for themselves and the management. If you are being honest we should have 3 points on the board, thats a fair analysis surely?
Bottom line in Offaly, there is a real issue at club level and even underage county squad level with atitude and making hard calls, many young players are being told they are legends by parents and relations and there is a real difficulty with taking their medicine. Its hard being a coach and that why its so hard to get people into it and get good coaches.
From some of the comments here yesterday it would appear many of ye would be happy to see so called big name players playing regardless of performance. I would hoppe that Farrell would be back in but the ball is in his court it would appear.
it's been a tough start to the league but many would have feared the first 4 games and as I said last week, last 3 will dictate our fate. If we get at least 2 from 3 we will have a good chance, and Kelly will have laid down markers. On the flip side, there is pressure on and coming out the wrong side will have a real impact on the management and the squad. We have been relegated before but we should be capable of staying up and these are critical games.

[Anonymous1]

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/gaa/1 ... kelly.html

Wouldn’t say it’s great reading that he doesn’t know if he’s left the panel or not

Yeah a bad look, you’d think he’d have already checked with him to see if he’s still willing to play or if not he could’ve said something like “I’ll speak with him tomorrow” but to just leave it hanging sounds like he probably knows he’s left.

If the rumours weren’t true he could’ve said “He’ll be in training on Tuesday night” but he didn’t.

[Anonymous1]

I think some players on the offaly panel are a bit on the immature side?

I think that about sums it up. Some egos massaged for years it appears. The perception that they are giving 100%.
Bottom line is that Cian Farrell is an good club forward that has been woeful in the last few games, that is a fact. And he can't accept that there are otheres on the panel that deserve a chance. Serious lack of awareness that his performances would have consequences. Anton seemingly reacted badly too, and wasn't hectoc when he was brought on v Clare, but has kept at it and the true sign of a player is when he's dropped that he says "i'll provethat bollox wrong" and knuckles down and there is also the message that itcan send out to the squad. Anyone at the Clare game knows that Hyland was on thin ice after he got the yellow card and the fact that he picked up another yellow in the first 20mins last night again shows he has an issue with discipline. I can understand his frustration, but he missed two opening league games through his own fault. Kelly would know that going down to 14 players would have been a disaster against a confidence team like Down. And despite what some here were hoping for, the team are fighting away on the field to achieve results for themselves and the management. If you are being honest we should have 3 points on the board, thats a fair analysis surely?
Bottom line in Offaly, there is a real issue at club level and even underage county squad level with atitude and making hard calls, many young players are being told they are legends by parents and relations and there is a real difficulty with taking their medicine. Its hard being a coach and that why its so hard to get people into it and get good coaches.
From some of the comments here yesterday it would appear many of ye would be happy to see so called big name players playing regardless of performance. I would hoppe that Farrell would be back in but the ball is in his court it would appear.
it's been a tough start to the league but many would have feared the first 4 games and as I said last week, last 3 will dictate our fate. If we get at least 2 from 3 we will have a good chance, and Kelly will have laid down markers. On the flip side, there is pressure on and coming out the wrong side will have a real impact on the management and the squad. We have been relegated before but we should be capable of staying up and these are critical games.

Farrell was one of if not our best player against Dublin in the O’Byrne Cup and against Westmeath in round 1 so I think “woeful” is a bit unfair and regardless of how poor he might have been against Clare, Kelly could’ve left him on the pitch for the sake of another 5 minutes to avoid this problem.

[ah lethimoutwithit]

[/quote]

Farrell was one of if not our best player against Dublin in the O’Byrne Cup and against Westmeath in round 1 so I think “woeful” is a bit unfair and regardless of how poor he might have been against Clare, Kelly could’ve left him on the pitch for the sake of another 5 minutes to avoid this problem.
[/quote]

I wasnt' at the O'Byrne cup game, and "another 5 mins would have avoided this problem" seems to sum up the thinking.
Avoiding the problem or Challenge the issue, which sound better?
Kelly was making a point to him, Cian's choice. Bottom line is that I don't want to see him walk away but what does it say about the lad. He would have played U20 for a couple of years under Declan Kelly and he knows that there is pressure on at the moment. Its immature at the very least is my view as it puts out a view that there is "trouble in the camp", and shows scant regard for his team mates. So hopefully he decides to knuckle down and theres nothing to see here.

Anyway best of luck to the group over the next few weeks and hopefullythey stick together and get over the line, and they'll have all learned a lot from the league.

[Superhans75]

The problem is the defence?

[Tmacmahon]

4 games in and no points so the pressure is on and we are playing our rivals who we should account for but there is no formalities.
Conflicting reports in relation to Cian Farrell
Farrell is probably having a poor enough year so far but he's a good enough forward

[Superhans75]

Never mind the forwards silly goals are an issue
No Darby's anymore to cover the gaps

[Faithful follower]

The boys did well enough on Saturday night it was a lot closer than most people expected. However there are still some concerns as regards defending,, we gave up 4 goals and this gas been a feature in all our recent games . This has to be addressed. Cormac Egan did very well again . I would have to say some of our backs are not big enough to handle some of the opposition running at us . On the other hand our backs are very good with the ball in hand going forward but we have a weakness in defence that needs to be sorted. In the first half we allow Down a free kick out and this putt on the back foot. I the second half we pushed up and we did much better and we could have won this game easily if we adopted the push up from the start. There was much more urgency with our attack and the occasional long ball served us well, our forwards showed well but we needed to put away more . Good to see jack Brian back in action, in general this was a good day at the office . We should not take Wicklow for granted and we need to try a change in personnel in defence

[Anonymous1]

Just looking at the table and noticed that if we lose on Sunday to Wicklow and they then beat Limerick in their next game, we would be relegated before the last round regardless of whether we win our last two games as both Wicklow and Antrim would be on 4 points and they meet in the final round so one would finish on at least 5 points and as they both hold the tiebreaker over us, we couldn’t jump above either.

So in other words, in case anybody didn’t know already this weekends game is essentially a relegation playoff for Offaly and be in no doubt there’s much more pressure on Offaly than Wicklow give they’ve just been promoted and we’re at home.

I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say this could be a defining week for the management.

[ah lethimoutwithit]

Just looking at the table and noticed that if we lose on Sunday to Wicklow and they then beat Limerick in their next game, we would be relegated before the last round regardless of whether we win our last two games as both Wicklow and Antrim would be on 4 points and they meet in the final round so one would finish on at least 5 points and as they both hold the tiebreaker over us, we couldn’t jump above either.

So in other words, in case anybody didn’t know already this weekends game is essentially a relegation playoff for Offaly and be in no doubt there’s much more pressure on Offaly than Wicklow give they’ve just been promoted and we’re at home.

I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say this could be a defining week for the management.

I think whatever happens you have the knives out, but talk about the bleedin obvious!! As soon as the fixtures were announced it was a must win game along with Limerick!!