I think it's fair to say that there would have been widespread tuning out after the Tipp match - not forgiveable, but understandable.
All I'll say with regard to some of those events pre-match is that obviously that is anything but ideal, but let's not close our minds to the possibility that perhaps the pursestrings were tightened after the Tipp match as opposed to it being an issue of management deciding that burgers and chips were possessed of the requisite proteins, carbohydrates and nutrients. Again, in an ideal world for a game like that the team would have travelled down the night before, stayed overnight and got up for an early morning puckaround and then had a carb-intensive meal at around 11.30/Noon. We all know this, but it's possibly jumping the gun to say that it's all management's fault since I would imagine that if McIntyre was to go looking for the funds for this it might be a little bit less simple than the signing of a blank cheque.
I'm going to just come back on a few points here.....
Bord na Mona Man wrote:With the handpassing, you need to be very good at it for starters.
I'd say you'd need to spend months of practicing your passses and catches in training, while under severe pressure, before you'd be confident to use it as your default way of clearing ball.
The Offaly way has been the clearance on the back foot. The 50/50 ball that might make it to midfield. While not satisfactory and behind the times, there's no use trying to change on a given day.
For handpassing to work, your colleagues need to expect it and start getting free to support you.
Offaly defenders were trying to pass across the danger zone to players who were still minding their markers. Hacking it away would have the better option on Saturday.
We can start devising systems for working the ball out of defence over the Winter.
In an ideal world, of course this is all true. My only point with this is that with our track record of winning dirty ball, perhaps the backs felt that if you have a 50% chance of getting away a good clearance that gives the forward an 80% chance of securing possession, that's a 40% chance of the ball ending up in the hand of an Offaly player in a double digit shirt. If you are guaranteed to make the clearance but the opposition will win 80% of poor misdirected high clearances as has been the case, the percentages favour the handpass, particularly if the opposition is as likely to score from 70 metres as they are from 50. It's a gross simplification with many holes, but if handpassing is the future of hurling, then we have to learn it. Obviously winter is the time, granted.
Offalyhurling07 wrote:Pace and first touch was desperate. Where is the sense of playing a guy centre forward who has not trained all year. crazy.
Complete agreement. Cordial drifts all over the place and is invariably standing on his own when the opposition have an extra man and an overlap. He reminds me of Matt le Tissier for Southampton vs playing for England - at club level his talent is special and his complete lack of any kind of defensive play is forgiveable - once you step up in grade that bread and butter deficiency kills you. He's capable of those spectacular points like he got in the second half against Kilkenny, but for every one of those his opposite number makes ten unchallenges deliveries into his forwards.
Offalyhurling07 wrote:]R. Hanniffy, J Bergin, B Carroll, D. murray are our biggest assets, why have the management not got the best out of them.
I suspect we got the best out of Rory last year when he was in the half back line - that's the place to have him in my eyes. Joe is just on bad form, for club, county and underage. Hopefully he'll emerge from this slump soon enough, but I suspect it's just a degree of second season syndrome - it can happen. I don't see anyone blaming Brian Cody for Aidan Fogarty suffering from something similar in Kilkenny.
I raised my eyebrows a little bit at your other two nominations - Damien Murray has been very good with the frees this year, but I've never known him to be a good scorer from play, or good at winning ball, or closing down corner backs clearances, or any of the things corner forwards should do. We need a freetaker, he gets picked - that's all there is to it.
As for Carroll, I remain to be convinced. The cupboard is fairly bare in terms of big championship performances. Unlike a lot of others I'd never question his fight or spirit (I consider it a testament to the man that his best performance in an Offaly shirt in the championship was possibly on meltdown day against Kilkenny) but I don't know why you would rate this guy a bigger asset than players like Murphy, or Franks who have had some great days playing for the county, even if they've had bad days too.
OffalyHurling07 wrote:I don't agree that it will take 5 years for Offaly to contend with the greats. I think all they need is a good hurling trainer, separate physical trainer, outside selectors (not from Offaly), support from the county board and Offaly could contend within 2 years. If the same group of lads and maybe a few others stay together this could happen.
I hope you're right, but I don't see it. I think we have maybe a dozen players that are decent intercounty standard if on form, and two (Bergin and Rory H) that if on top of their game would get onto a Cork or Kilkenny team. We have a few more that have potential to improve, but that's it. On a good day we have the beating of Clare, Wexford, Galway, and maybe Tipp or Limerick in a championship setting, but we'd need a lot to go right for that to happen. In terms of "contention" we'd need to be able to beat one of the big three, even on an offday for them. I don't see it.
Again, I hope I'm wrong in that assessment.
OffalyHurling07 wrote:Point to remember lads and correct me if i am wrong but Offaly lost by 1 (unlucky) point in the Leinster Final against Wexford the year before McIntyre took over and they were unlucky because of the set up to be relegated and now we are a hell of a distance from a Leinster Final, back in division 2 and unless we beat Dublin Saturday heading for the Christy Ring next year.
We lost by four, but the point stands. However don't forget we reached that Leinster final by beating Laois and then Dublin. Dublin have improved since then by a long way, but even now if we got that draw again we certainly could reach a Leinster final. You can say we were unlucky to be relegated but we still lost a must win game to Laois in our own back yard, arguably a result as catastrophic as anything in the McIntyre era.
I'm not saying things are good now, but let's not suddenly get all misty eyed about how good things were under Mike Mac or Fr. Tom. They were feck all better if at all.
Offaly's Future wrote:The tactics by the management for the game was to get the ball into Brian Carroll and for him to run at Diarmuid O' Sullivan.
(Even though the only times O'Sullivan has been exposed was when Dan Shanahan caused him trouble with High ball and Martin Comeford brought him to the wings)
Two things there. Yes, playing Carroll on O'Sullivan was utter lunacy. Straight up, that was a dumb tactic that was doomed to failure from the outset, I'm not disagreeing with that. However it's not as if we have a Martin Comerford or Dan Shanahan in our team. Right now those two players are around 90% likely each to win All stars - we just don't have those kind of weapons. It's not like Hanniffy or Bergin did anything on him when they went in either.
Offaly's Future wrote:The hurling management from the start this year has been a complete shambles. I have stressed this on so many occasions. They havent a clue how to run a junior team never mind an intercounty team.
This is the kind of gross overstatement that ruins your point. If you had said that this Offaly team took the field unprepared, badly selected and with poor tactics no-one could disagree with you. That kind of "not fit to run a junior team" stuff is only designed to put people's backs up. That was like people on KKcats suggesting that Wexford would be better off in the Christy Ring after the Leinster championship - look what Antrim did to everyone in the Christy Ring last year - what would Wexford do? Likewise McIntyre has won enough to prove that he is well capable at club level, however while I am sympathetic to him last weekend was an abomination.
Offaly's Future wrote:And lets get something straight, peoples perception is that we are doing great things at underage and thats rubbish.
The underage structure is a complete shambles also.
We beat a poor kilkenny u-21 team in the pissing rain in Nowlan Park and people think everything is perfect. Far from it.
I'll challenge you to find anyone on this site who thinks we are doing even half well at underage in general. We have one good vintage at under 21 hurling who may or may not win a Leinster - that's not exactly stellar. There are steps being taken, and the likes of Rynagh's performance in the féile losing narrowly to Castleknock is encouraging, but there is a long way to go, we all know this.
Offaly's Future wrote:And just one thing Lone Shark if you think that David Kenny had a good game on Saturady - well then all i can say is that you must have been watching a complete different game than me.
He gave away a few handpasses and he struggled to live with Ben O'Connor's pace when he ran at him with a head of steam. However he also won some fine aerial ball and got a lot of clearances away, as well as spending half his time covering across for Kevin Brady who was getting eaten alive by Pa Cronin. I honestly can't see who on the Offaly team you think had a better game than him. Seán Ryan maybe, but even he messed up a good few deliveries forward.