Offaly footballers' missed opportunity

[Lone Shark]

Last night's qualifier draw has highlighted the golden opportunity that was passed up by our footballers when they chose to phone it in rather than putting in the necessary hard yards and diligence in the run up and indeed during the Down game. Had we managed to beat a fellow division 3 team at home, we would then have played a Laois side that was in complete disarray and was fighting each other during training. Down led by nine points at half time and only a rake of changes and a red card for Dan Gordon made the final score look respectable. Now Down's next challenge is a demoralised Wexford team who has had to recover from an unmerciful hammering by the Dubs.

Basically the Down game would have been far and away the biggest obstacle before reaching an All Ireland quarter final. Very disappointing stuff.

[Rynaghs Biffo]

Same could nearly be said for the hurlers too.

Beaten by two very soft goals and frees against Waterford could of set us up with a appetising Quarter Final against Wexford. Thought Waterford could of been better yesterday and anyone could of taken Wexford. Avoiding Kilkenny then for an All Ireland semi final and who knows...........

[Muck Savage]

I'm a bit embarrassed about the whole football thing. I've tied to forget about it over the last week but its sad. To think we took away the opportunity for a team like Wicklow, Antrim or Sligo to play in the qualifiers, teams that would have given it a shot is sad. It's almost at a point that I think we should have been fined! If we were in their position we would beup in arms about the carry on for the past number of years and how we address the qualifiers. It's almost saying that the Leinster is more important than and AI. OK, we have a better chance of winning a Leinster but we're showing no respect to anyone the way we've carried on. I'm not pissed at loosing, just pissed at the attitude.

[Sydthebeat]

We wouldnt have beaten laois if we had met them. This kills me to say because im a port man, but thats the way id see it. Our team simply has 4-5 players who are intercounty standard, the rest are journeymen playing based on club reputation.

[gutless08]

Same could nearly be said for the hurlers too.

Beaten by two very soft goals and frees against Waterford could of set us up with a appetising Quarter Final against Wexford. Thought Waterford could of been better yesterday and anyone could of taken Wexford. Avoiding Kilkenny then for an All Ireland semi final and who knows...........

I can see where your coming from Ryanaghs Biffo, however the major difference here and i think LONE SHARK alluded to it was the footballers phoned in sick against down, the hurlers however gave a mighty effort to beat limerick and 100% against waterford.On the day the 2 soft goals didnt help and the game the previous week took alot out of them in the last ten mins v Waterford. But the senior hurlers can look themselves in the mirror and say they didnt throw in the towel in the qualifiers.THey have restored pride inside and outside the county.

[Lone Shark]

That's what I was going for, though I can see why there would have been ambiguity. The hurlers put every ounce of energy into beating Waterford and can rest easy knowing that they did they best and it just fell two scores short on the day. Individual players might look back at a missed catch here or a fumbled lift there, but largely speaking the collective unit hurled their hearts out and can hold their heads up high.

Equally, I'm not saying that Down would have been easily beaten even if we were going well - anything but, that's a very talented Down team and one who might be on the way to bigger and better things, but my point is that unlike the hurlers, they didn't even try. Thye fulfilled the fixture and did no more than that,. and now we are realising that they passed up what turned out to be a great shot at a quarter final.

As for the Laois game, again if we were tuned in I think we would have given them plenty of it. We might have a few players who aren't top class but so do they - they would have been eminently beatable, particularly in their current frame of mind, as was proved by Down.

[swiftpost]

D'ont think they missed an oppurtunity, I wouldn't think they would be close to Laois at all. I know it would have been a derby game....but so was westmeath.

[Lone Shark]

D'ont think they missed an oppurtunity, I wouldn't think they would be close to Laois at all. I know it would have been a derby game....but so was westmeath.

Yes but Westmeath were going well - Laois were dishevelled. Not as bad as us, but bad enough that if we were on our game we would have taken them I think.

[suckindiesel]

i cannot believe how many offaly football fans continue to be have visions of grandeur for your current compliment of footballers.
the laois squad may not have been a harmonious one in 2008 but they would have spanked offaly. poor managerial selections cost laois against down.

now laois were not going to impact on the championship in 2008, and privately i was happy we lost the semi because another mauling at the hands of dublin would have left more mental scars. all as limited that laois are i can guarantee you offaly fans, that at a push only 2 or 3 offaly senior footballers would make the laois 15, and no more than 1 or 2 would make the dublin 15. that is the state of play in 2008. roe presided over a poor squad of players, and hopefully that will be the end of his county managerialship(we dont want him in laois, or dempsey for that matter). maybe offaly has some talent coming through at under 21/minor level, because the majority of your current senior squad are genuine div 4 material, and need to be turfed out quick. whoever replaces roe will need a 3 or 4 year timeframe, and fans cannot expect results until maybe year 3 at best.

[Lone Shark]

I wouldn't claim to have any delusions of grandeur, but I would have a belief of adequacy. I don't think it's unrealistic to think that an Offaly team that was well trained, well prepared and with something remotely close to our best fifteen footballers starting, would be a good division three team and possibly even a poor division two side. To say that such a team would not beat a Laois team that was fighting with each other, not playing for their manager and not interested in the qualifiers is no stretch whatsoever. You say poor selections cost Laois against Down - we could argue something similar, yet Laois only mustered up any kind of comeback, no different to ourselves, because of a ridiculous red card decision which reflects very poorly on a player that I once had a lot of respect for.

Sadly, I would tend to agree with you regarding how many of our players would get on the Dublin team - they are strong All Ireland contenders after all, and should be favourites in my book. However to say only two or three Offaly players would get on the Laois team is a farce to say the least. Player for player, there is very little between those two panels. There is no player on the Laois panel that I would swap for Niall McNamee. That we are so far behind them in terms of our recent record is one of the biggest indictments of football in the county, and I include the players in that, not just managers.

[Kemo Sabe]

suckindiesl would you ever do us a favour and keep your comments to yourself .we have only just got rid of one laois disaster and we dont want to listen to crap off you .

[the bare biffo]

Not that I would want to defend any Laois poster, but I dont think there was anything too inflamatory in the post by s...diesel. I think we have been guilty of over rating our potential a little, but what county doesnt do that. What puzzles me most is that 2 years ago the same pool of players beat all they met bar Dublin in Leinster and looked to be on a fairly level ground with Monaghan.

In the 2 years since, Monaghan seem to have kicked on and improved while we have gone back dramatically. I've no idea whats been going on inside the camp so I really cant speculate about solutions.

But what T Lyons could do once I am sure can be done again with the right management and the right attitude from the players.

But if it doesnt happen soon, I fear that the inheritance left by teams of the 60's 70's and 80's will be squandered and lost for ever.