Offaly Senior Footballers 2024

[joey1001]

I think it’s time the MGT go whether there is not enough experience in the coaching set up but there is something seriously wrong . If this was any other manager the local press would be calling for his head .This is worse than when Stephen Wallace was there and he got the chop mid season . Time for the chairman to step in and do whats right for Offaly football and cut ties with this MGT enough damage has been done . The buck stops with the manager and in turn with the chairman

So just throw him out because we don't perform in one game?

[del]

In short yes but this has been brewing for a while and anybody with a close enough interest around the football scene knows this . When I heard of the training they were doing in cappincur I knew we were in trouble. No science behind any of the training S&c coaches pushed to the side. Tactically we are all over the shop . How can a mgt team go out and concede every kick out to London in the first half . Rhode Ferbane Edenderry Tullamore are set up better than this Offaly team . Whether people are willing to accept this is another question . But that is the worst result in Offaly Football for as long as I can remember

[private joker]

I think it’s time the MGT go whether there is not enough experience in the coaching set up but there is something seriously wrong . If this was any other manager the local press would be calling for his head .This is worse than when Stephen Wallace was there and he got the chop mid season . Time for the chairman to step in and do whats right for Offaly football and cut ties with this MGT enough damage has been done . The buck stops with the manager and in turn with the chairman

So just throw him out because we don't perform in one game?

It's not just one game. It was vs London who haven't won a game in 11 years who travelled to offaly and bet them by 14 points. It's also the under current of discontent that has been present all year.

[joey1001]

I think it’s time the MGT go whether there is not enough experience in the coaching set up but there is something seriously wrong . If this was any other manager the local press would be calling for his head .This is worse than when Stephen Wallace was there and he got the chop mid season . Time for the chairman to step in and do whats right for Offaly football and cut ties with this MGT enough damage has been done . The buck stops with the manager and in turn with the chairman

So just throw him out because we don't perform in one game?

It's not just one game. It was vs London who haven't won a game in 11 years who travelled to offaly and bet them by 14 points. It's also the under current of discontent that has been present all year.

So they played 2 games at the weekend... its still one game!! And the under current of discontent is coming from people who want to stir and haven't a clue what's going on!

[Superhans75]

Is everything right in Offaly football no
Should the management go?. No
Pointless now .
We keep looking for this long term picture
Of a perfect set up but it's like Devs maiden's
Dancing at the crossroads.
It doesn't exist.
The powers that be have made mistakes
The trick is not to repeat them again
Hopefully with a change of chairman might
Bring in new ideas or people with better ones
One point managers of underage teams have a bad record when at the senior levels
And a weird fact a lot of PE teachers ( which is a form of underage management)
Become Referrees ( soccer stats I can't find any Gaa figures ).

[joey1001]

In the likely event that offaly limerick and London finish on 2 points each, is it score difference among themselves that decides placings or does results against down count also?

[ruletheroost]

In the likely event that offaly limerick and London finish on 2 points each, is it score difference among themselves that decides placings or does results against down count also?

As far as I am aware, all mathes count for scoring difference.

[Lone Shark]

I know that in my younger years I would have been baying for blood after a result like this, and there's still something deep down within me that's telling me that you can do all the nuanced analysis that you like, but you can't lose to London by 14 points and think that things are okay, clearly there are big, bright red flags waving.

Now it's rarely the right thing to act out of an emotional, visceral response, but I don't think it's over-reacting to say that there is a case to answer here, and what should be happening right now - and I assume is happening - is that questions are being asked as to how it has come to this, and what is happening to make sure that this kind of public humiliation doesn't happen again.

Just to be clear here, that's not meant as a dig at London because of who they are - I know Michael Maher (their manager) from playing ball with him in London, he's a passionate, genuine guy with an incredible coaching ability when it comes to skills, and he's working with decent players, albeit in a gig where there are logistical challenges that most managers would be unable to handle. I would say the same about this result if it happened against any team that has been in Division Four for a decent amount of time.

The stock in trade answers here are that this was a bump in the road, a setback, but the long term plan is still in place, yada yada yada. And to be honest, if I was to put a microphone in front of Declan Kelly and ask him the question for public consumption, then more than likely he's going to give some variant on that as an answer, and he'd be right to do so. This is not the time for Offaly senior football to start airing grievances and issues in public.

HOWEVER - if he was to offer a similar type of answer to Michael Duignan, Colm Cummins and company in a closed meeting at the Faithful Fields, then that would not be acceptable. If there isn't a very clear understanding of what combination of circumstances and events led to this result, then it's impossible to have confidence in DK as the right man to make sure it never happens again, and that it is just a blip. If the answer is that the players have downed tools - why? If they have lost faith in management and the systems and tactics in place, then what's going to change that?

There are a lot of reasons why DK is likely to hold onto the job into 2025. That there are questions over some of his choices with regards to Offaly's development squads is beyond doubt, and it'll be for the clubs to hold him to account there. But We're looking at a situation where there will be a new chairman in place for next year, and even if Offaly win the Joe McDonagh Cup, I imagine that Johnny Kelly's tenure is not certain to continue. If Offaly don't win that competition, I'd be stunned if he ends up staying on. So you'll probably have a vacancy there.

If there is a strong, concerted push from the players to remove him, it'll be very hard to go against that, but I don't know if I see that in the water. Firstly, this is a very young group, with a lot of inexperience. (Yes, that's in no small part because of Kelly's selection choices, but it's true all the same). For a group like that to put their weight behind a heave against an All-Ireland winning manager would leave them as hostages to fortune, since nationally, it would be seen as passing the buck.

It would be far easier for a handful of the more disgruntled players to just walk away, and while that doesn't suit Offaly in the sense that we need our best players on the training pitch, I think it's the more likely outcome than a coup.

That leaves the clubs, and nothing that I've seen from Offaly's clubs suggests to me that there are more than a handful on the football side that are sufficiently together and with their eyes on the bigger picture to take a strong view on this. What happened with this year's club championships - which look set to be an unmitigated disaster - is clear evidence of how we've gone back to the days of too many clubs sending the local ould lad who likes a chat into OCP as their club delegate, because the more energetic, driven people are needed back home looking after things like underage development, facilities and infrastructure, fundraising etc..


So what have I said there? Not much really, except that something is wrong, and I really hope that behind the scenes, they're able to figure out exactly what it is - because if the defence is a bombastic "I'm the gaffer", then we're in bigger trouble than we thought.

[ruletheroost]

I know that in my younger years I would have been baying for blood after a result like this, and there's still something deep down within me that's telling me that you can do all the nuanced analysis that you like, but you can't lose to London by 14 points and think that things are okay, clearly there are big, bright red flags waving.

Now it's rarely the right thing to act out of an emotional, visceral response, but I don't think it's over-reacting to say that there is a case to answer here, and what should be happening right now - and I assume is happening - is that questions are being asked as to how it has come to this, and what is happening to make sure that this kind of public humiliation doesn't happen again.

Just to be clear here, that's not meant as a dig at London because of who they are - I know Michael Maher (their manager) from playing ball with him in London, he's a passionate, genuine guy with an incredible coaching ability when it comes to skills, and he's working with decent players, albeit in a gig where there are logistical challenges that most managers would be unable to handle. I would say the same about this result if it happened against any team that has been in Division Four for a decent amount of time.

The stock in trade answers here are that this was a bump in the road, a setback, but the long term plan is still in place, yada yada yada. And to be honest, if I was to put a microphone in front of Declan Kelly and ask him the question for public consumption, then more than likely he's going to give some variant on that as an answer, and he'd be right to do so. This is not the time for Offaly senior football to start airing grievances and issues in public.

HOWEVER - if he was to offer a similar type of answer to Michael Duignan, Colm Cummins and company in a closed meeting at the Faithful Fields, then that would not be acceptable. If there isn't a very clear understanding of what combination of circumstances and events led to this result, then it's impossible to have confidence in DK as the right man to make sure it never happens again, and that it is just a blip. If the answer is that the players have downed tools - why? If they have lost faith in management and the systems and tactics in place, then what's going to change that?

There are a lot of reasons why DK is likely to hold onto the job into 2025. That there are questions over some of his choices with regards to Offaly's development squads is beyond doubt, and it'll be for the clubs to hold him to account there. But We're looking at a situation where there will be a new chairman in place for next year, and even if Offaly win the Joe McDonagh Cup, I imagine that Johnny Kelly's tenure is not certain to continue. If Offaly don't win that competition, I'd be stunned if he ends up staying on. So you'll probably have a vacancy there.

If there is a strong, concerted push from the players to remove him, it'll be very hard to go against that, but I don't know if I see that in the water. Firstly, this is a very young group, with a lot of inexperience. (Yes, that's in no small part because of Kelly's selection choices, but it's true all the same). For a group like that to put their weight behind a heave against an All-Ireland winning manager would leave them as hostages to fortune, since nationally, it would be seen as passing the buck.

It would be far easier for a handful of the more disgruntled players to just walk away, and while that doesn't suit Offaly in the sense that we need our best players on the training pitch, I think it's the more likely outcome than a coup.

That leaves the clubs, and nothing that I've seen from Offaly's clubs suggests to me that there are more than a handful on the football side that are sufficiently together and with their eyes on the bigger picture to take a strong view on this. What happened with this year's club championships - which look set to be an unmitigated disaster - is clear evidence of how we've gone back to the days of too many clubs sending the local ould lad who likes a chat into OCP as their club delegate, because the more energetic, driven people are needed back home looking after things like underage development, facilities and infrastructure, fundraising etc..


So what have I said there? Not much really, except that something is wrong, and I really hope that behind the scenes, they're able to figure out exactly what it is - because if the defence is a bombastic "I'm the gaffer", then we're in bigger trouble than we thought.

I have read some reports here and elsewhere about this being a successful season for Offaly. So I thought we should break it down.

A pretty poor display in both O Byrne Cup games. Stumbled over the line against Laois in the first one and then a dismal display against a Dublin development side.

4 loses a draw and 2 wins in the league. Positive displays against Down and Sligo. The 2 wins came agaist the 2 weekest teams in the group and both ended up relegated.

A win against a 14 man Laois team and then the expected drubbing against Dublin.

An embarrassing result against London in the Tailteann cup.

Can we pick it up? I'm not sure. Are the best 25/30 players available in there at the moment, probably not. At the end of the day the manager picked the players in the squad and has them playing the way they are. The S&C advice was ignored and the old fashioned run them into the ground was adopted. There is obviously something not right and DK is involved in every team from the ground up. The buck stops with him. If this is seen by some, or any as a successful season then @loneshark we are in way bigger trouble than we think.

[Lone Shark]

I think that barring something very strange happens from here on in, this will in no way be seen as a successful season. Offaly would have to at the very least reach a Tailteann final before that would even be discussed, and to be honest would probably have to win it for it to be an unequivocal verdict.

That being said, saying that it wasn't a good season is not the same as saying the management needs to be replaced. We wouldn't suddenly drop any member of the starting full back line from the panel if they had a bad day and their direct marker took then for 2-4 from play. Instead you'd go back, analyse what happened, go through the video and identify the problem, and then take whatever action would address the problem. The same applies here.

That's why I say so much hinges on what happens now - both on the pitch, and off it, in terms of ownership of where we are. And I don't mean ownership in the sense of a declaration that DK is the man in charge, and the buck stops with him so he's going to do things his own way, to the bitter end. I mean in terms of acknowledging that while there might be some good stuff happening, clearly not everything is working, and some change in approach is warranted in some aspects. What those changes might be is a matter for the senior team management and the key figures on the executive, but there needs to be a clear and united vision as to what those changes are, and how they're going to come about.


As for the point about the best 25-30 players being on the senior panel, with all due respect, that will never happen in a county like Offaly. Okay, there were certain players that DK chose not to select, as is his prerogative, but there were others who, for one reason and another, weren't available for selection. And there will be players who won't be in a position to play in 2025 as well, regardless of who wears the Bainisteoir bib.

[joey1001]

I think that barring something very strange happens from here on in, this will in no way be seen as a successful season. Offaly would have to at the very least reach a Tailteann final before that would even be discussed, and to be honest would probably have to win it for it to be an unequivocal verdict.

That being said, saying that it wasn't a good season is not the same as saying the management needs to be replaced. We wouldn't suddenly drop any member of the starting full back line from the panel if they had a bad day and their direct marker took then for 2-4 from play. Instead you'd go back, analyse what happened, go through the video and identify the problem, and then take whatever action would address the problem. The same applies here.

That's why I say so much hinges on what happens now - both on the pitch, and off it, in terms of ownership of where we are. And I don't mean ownership in the sense of a declaration that DK is the man in charge, and the buck stops with him so he's going to do things his own way, to the bitter end. I mean in terms of acknowledging that while there might be some good stuff happening, clearly not everything is working, and some change in approach is warranted in some aspects. What those changes might be is a matter for the senior team management and the key figures on the executive, but there needs to be a clear and united vision as to what those changes are, and how they're going to come about.


As for the point about the best 25-30 players being on the senior panel, with all due respect, that will never happen in a county like Offaly. Okay, there were certain players that DK chose not to select, as is his prerogative, but there were others who, for one reason and another, weren't available for selection. And there will be players who won't be in a position to play in 2025 as well, regardless of who wears the Bainisteoir bib.

To say that our year would only be considered a success if we win the tailteann Cup shows how unrealistic supporters can be and how far in the past they live and ya know what the kind of attitude is why offaly have never succeeded in secondary competitions. The competition contains Down who will do well in division 2 next year and were recently beaten by armagh by one point, Sligo recently threw away the game to connaught champions Galway, kildare who have pushed dublin in recent years and while are struggling are still kildare and a good division 2 side on their day and are now finding form and Fermanagh who had some good performances in division 2 better than we had when we were up there.. even at our absolute best, it wouldn't guarantee a win in the tailteann cup! I think the players and offaly as a whole might believe the hype and expectation.. the Performance the last day stank of "we're out now and in the second competitions, we'll give it a lash and half turn up because it doesn't really matter" it's almost like they just turn up for a challenge match and play for the craic because it doesn't matter. If you want to break it down , we played westmeath first competitive game, new manager new players, injuries, Westmeath mixed it with Galway Armagh and Tyrone last year - are lads telling me we expected to beat them??
Antrim in Antrim a 1 point defeat hardly crushing
Clare put ourselves 9 points up something Kerry didn't manage and played them off the field for most of the game, freak collapse ans missed a penalty to win it at the end
Down in down beaten by 4 points - Down lost to armagh by a point, were lads expecting us to beat them?
Wicklow since our annihilation of them have gone on to beat westmeath and should have beaten kildare
Sligo a draw in Sligo who bar a mistake and lack of composure could have beaten connaught champions Galway.
We dug it out in a shitty game at the end of the league against a limerick team who will not be able to engage the same tactics time around
It was hardly a disastrous league campaign unless you ignore all the above. The win against Laois was a good win ans they wouldn't have beaten us wit 16 men, we were miles better on the day. I've no interest in analysing the Dublin game. As I said above, we didn't turn up or go at it at all against London and got what we deserve.. its an easy fix, use the fall out to get motivated and go again I think that's probably better than publicly flogging all players and management on the streets of tullamore and sacking the entire management team and county board. Let's see what they have on Saturday and what they are made of and we'll analyse when the year is over. Hon offaly!!

[del]

I’m hearing they aren’t training till Thursday so one proper training session since one of the worst results in our football history to try right the wrongs and try set up the team to beat limerick
on the surface that looks like the MGT have thrown in the towel A Junior club team would do more in more prep for a game.

[pigeon house biffo]

I’m hearing they aren’t training till Thursday so one proper training session since one of the worst results in our football history to try right the wrongs and try set up the team to beat limerick
on the surface that looks like the MGT have thrown in the towel A Junior club team would do more in more prep for a game.

Declan Kelly said Sunday they were back together as a group on monday. The clip is on the midlands 103 website.

[del]

A recovery session took place not a training session . Meeting up in a pool for recovery is not gonna help us.

[pigeon house biffo]

A recovery session took place not a training session . Meeting up in a pool for recovery is not gonna help us.

I’d be as pissed off as anyone about that london result. But realistically, regardless of the result, they were probably only ever going to get to train once this week with there being a game next weekend. For what its worth, I think the tone for this campaign has been set and no amount of running the sh1te out of lads in kilcormac is going to make a difference at this stage.