Offaly vs Down Football Qualifier

[Lone Shark]

Okay, let's get this discussion going......

I am not confident. All the feedback from the few players I'd be connected with is not good, and I stuck my head into Croghan there on Monday night on my way back from our league match with Rhode and nothing I saw was encouraging. Apparently they had done a few drills earlier and played a game and were now running laps - however the players were in very different shape. Front of the pile were McManus and Jason Kelly who were cruising around the place, while others like Shaper, Raff, Stephen Lonergan and a few others were tootling along behind, not quite as comfortable but still fine. However it got very ugly towards the tail end. I'm not really comfortable naming individuals since I don't know who could have been recovering from flu, or taken a knock in the game, but suffice it to say that a good chunk of players were tailed off at the back with a couple of them being lapped. Now to my mind one of two things is happening here. Either (a) we have a horrendously unfit squad and lads are happy to let themselves go at this stage, or else (b) we have a trainer running the bejeesus out of a championship team at the end of June, way too late to make any difference to their overall fitness. Neither of these options are good.

I believe Pat Roe also declined to attend a management committee meeting of the county board, an understandable but still not encouraging gesture. I have no idea of what team is going to be picked for the Down match or anything, but nothing I have seen or heard suggests that these guys have seen the error of their ways, or that fresh lads will be given a crack at the whip for this.

Having said that, here's a selection of the quotes from the Down lads on gaaboard.com:

“The draw could have been much worse, we should be happy enough with Offaly”

“It’s the best draw we could have hoped for”

“Offaly is not the easiest place to go to, though I would be confident of a win”

“I did breathe a slight sigh of relief whilst stuck in traffic in Clones when I heard we are up against Offaly”

“Once past Offaly we will be ready for anyone, confidence and drive restored”

If any of the footballers/management are reading this, I hope this gives ye some indication of where that performance against Westmeath has left us in the eyes of the country. In a draw containing teams like Tipperary, Louth, Kildare and even a Roscommon team that has lost it’s last four meaningful encounters by a combined total of 64 points, it is Offaly that were considered to be “the best draw that we could have hoped for” in the eyes of one Down supporter.

Sad thing is they might be right. We'll see soon enough.

[bula bula]

I am not in the slightest bit confident for this game and agree that most of the teams had us down with Tipp and Roscommon as the teams they wanted. I find this really embarassing to be honest and hope that the team feel something too. This might just spur them on but I wont be holding my breath. Regarding the fitness levels, I would say most could name a few of the stragglers and probably the reasons why, but lets not go there. A strong and much improved performance is badly needed so lets hope they can get it together to give us at least that.

[black and red exile]

I must say LS it is very worrying reading you're report on what you witnessed on Monday night. It sounds the lads were meeting for the first time for training this year with the usual first night crack of a few leading the way and more than a few lagging behind puffing and panting like they are about to have a heart attack from being so out of shape. I honestly believe we have a great chance of pulling off a famous win here if the guys go out and give 100 per cent, work like trojans for the next few weeks and of course if the right tactics come into play from management[and not the circus we saw back on the 7th june]. A good friend of mine who lives very close to me is a Down fanatic who like many gaels on this site travel to watch his County all over the country all year round,he has his finger close to the pulse with the set up back home and told me that the general mood with players and supporters alike is dread of the long journey, the late throw in, in his own words '' Down's filthy record in the qualifers'' and a general concern over the fitness of Benny Coulter and Liam Doyle who at the moment are serious doubts to make the game. I was informed that the difference with Down winning or losing this game will very much depend on these two guys taking the field on July 19th. This Down side performed quite poorly in div 3 this year, their record in the qualifers is dire, much like our own over the years and to be quite honest we certainly could have got a far tougher draw than what we ended up with so if our footballers have any pride in the jersey they are wearing then surely they will give us a performance in which everybody can be proud of, or am I just living in cloud cuckoo land.

[faithful till I die]

. I honestly believe we have a great chance of pulling off a famous win here if the guys go out and give 100 per cent, work like trojans for the next few weeks and of course if the right tactics come into play from management

so if our footballers have any pride in the jersey they are wearing then surely they will give us a performance in which everybody can be proud of

Unfortunately there are a lot of ifs there and the only people that can answer those uncertainties are the players and the management. They owe the county a big performance but whether they will deliver or not only time will tell.

[Square Cab]

Just wondering LS, did ye beat Rhode? Were they flying? (Sizing up the opposition is never a good idea but I cant help it!)
As for the Down match, if we play with 1 goalkeeper, 6 backs, 2 midfielders and 6 forwards we have a chance. Such a revolutionary formation, I hope Roe is brave enough to try it!

[swiftpost]

Is there any stand out players that deserve a go against Down, Hocker is adament Jason Kelly should play seems a classy footballer, any other players that could add something to Offaly such as a scoring threat!? You can leave out guys who are not on the panel.

[corner back]

[quote="faithful till I die] They owe the county a big performance but whether they will deliver or not only time will tell.[/quote]

I don't agree. they don't owe the county anything. They are amateur players.
They owe themselves a big performance after all those months training

[Sydthebeat]

i agree with CB.
Most of the players against the wasties gave 100%.. a very small number (possible 2) lets themselves down. The biggest let down in the westmeath game was the tactics, the team was selected to play those tactics, and it failed miserably.

Against Down it will be very similar to the westmeath game. At least Roe will know what to expect. Down play sterotypical ulster football.. every thing is handpass and overlap.... blanket game.

[faithful till I die]

they don't owe the county anything

Do they not ? I totally disagree. What about all the people who spent their hard earned money to watch them disgrace themselves against Westmeath. What about all those people who spend money buying Offaly jerseys for their children and try and bring up the next generation of Offaly supporters. Nobody is saying that the majority of them dont train their hearts out and give everything they have but whether they are amatuers or whether the management is poor that cant explain the various players being seen all over the county on the lash recently. So yes they do owe the county a lot. They owe the county a big performance to show they actually care enough and are privileged to wear our fine colours.

Most of the players against the wasties gave 100%.. a very small number (possible 2) lets themselves down.

I dont know what match you were watching because as far as im concerned only about 4 players performed any where near the required standard. Iaccept that the tactics strangled the players but still they massively under performed.

[Kemo Sabe]

i agree with faithful till i die it should be an honour to play for offaly and everything we represent i know for a fact that players are still drinking even as early as lastnite i seen a player in the bridge where is the so called commitment there

[azoffaly]

I don't think the players 'didn't try' against Westmeath, we just simply hadn't got a clue as to how to play them, and their new system. That's not a lack of effort, it's a lack of tactics from the dugout, and a lack of quality on the pitch, or leadership to change the way the game was going.

To be honest, leaving Tullamore that night I was almost non-plussed. I couldn't honestly tell you what I thought about Offaly as a 'team' other than the fact that we hadn't a clue how to break down Westmeath. That's it. I thought we fought fairly hard for a long time, kicked stupid wides and did well around the midfield. Other than that it told me very little, unless we play against a similar system again (in which case we are f*cked without a serious re-think),

As for the Down game, this is the sort of team that Offaly should play well against. They don't have any real unconventional tactics that will stump us, they are not physically huge like Armagh, Dublin, Monaghan or even Meath etc.

Our record over the years in the Qualifiers is abject, and LS's report above, plus other rumblings I've heard wouldn't inspire confidence, and it would be a huge let down (again) were we to turn in another shiftless performance.

If we go out, play decent football, try our best and still lose, I'd be happy with that.

If we go out and are very cautious or, worse, uncommitted, then I'll be disgusted.

My opinion is that Down are pretty fecking far from being unbeatable for this Offaly side, and we should be well able to rattle the shite out of them if we just go and play football. Whether we will or not is up to the management and players. I have always had faith in the innate honesty and heart of Offaly, and have made allowances for the qualifier defeats up to now based on a sickening defeat very soon beforehand, or whatever, but this time there's no excuse like that. We are not too 'good' to bother about the Qualifiers, so lets f*cking make a go of it.

[azoffaly]

Duplicate Post. Sorry about that.

[naasmanxrhode]

Lads, Down are not a good side, If the present Offaly set up have any bit of pride, even a small bit, then they should beat Down.

[azoffaly]

Lads, Down are not a good side, If the present Offaly set up have any bit of pride, even a small bit, then they should beat Down.

I wouldn't go that far. But I'd agree they are certainly not a side I'd be afraid of, under normal circumstances. I honestly feel the outcome of this game is in our own hands.

[black and red exile]

Liam Doyle will be out for the rest of the season and will be a massive loss for the Mourne men. This Down team are no Armagh or Derry and don't forget it was only 2 years ago that most of the side that will take the field in Tullamore only scored 4 points in the qualifers up in Sligo[ 1 from play plus 3 frees in seventy mins]. A few people on this site have a tendency to overhype some of the opposition that we are up against, okay we were crap against Westmeath mainly due to our management not having a clue and to a lesser extent a few, and I stress a few, players just going through the motions in trying to get to the final whistle but there is now an opportunity for the lads to kickstart their year by beating an average middle of the road team from Ulster whose attitude to the qualifers is as questionable as our own.