Offaly 0-13 Carlow 2-11

[bracknaghboy]

Was listening to the insightful Gerry Russell this afternoon. By all accounts its getting worse for Richie and co.

[black and red exile]

We could excuse last week with it being the first game and even though it was a mickey mouse Dublin team it was still Dublin but today was truely brutal. I couldn't be bothered going through player by player[LS will no doubt give his usual accurate account of the starting 15] but apart from Mac[who despite being like a lost sheep at full back], Paul McConway, Jason Kelly, Rory Allen, Brian Connor and Ken Casey who all gave 100 per cent, the rest of them have to ask serious questions about themselves if they actually want to play for the County because the body language of some fellas wearing the tri-colour today was very concerning with 3 weeks to go until the start of the League. I know its only the second game and players are way off being fit but that does not excuse guys just togging out, going through the motions and just getting it over with to try and get to the pub on time for the start of Man Utd v Chelsea.
Mac at full back and Conor Evans in the corner has just not worked, a fair amount of Carlow scores came off these two and while we can excuse Mac for not taking to the full back berth,Conor Evans is way too slow and loose at this level, he stands at least 3 yards off his man every time and fouls way too much for my liking which of course gives the opposition easy scores. Matt Mitchell taken off , although he wasn't the worst of them, Quinn and Flannery way off the pace, Smith and Carroll out of it at midfield[ I never thought I would say it but come back Super all is forgiven]McConway was alright, Guinan shocking, his freetaking was dreadful to say the least, no confidence whatsoever but I would still stick with him and leave him to use his height and strenght as a target man at full forward. Jason Kelly played very well which is encourageing to see this early in the year, Rory Allen, Brian Connor and Ken Casey all played well with Tommo Deehan replacing the injured Casey early in the second half and speaking of Deehan he has an awful long way to go get his 2006 form back. Bottom line is no matter what kind of a team we had out today we should be beating Carlow comfortably with no excuses. Richie has an almighty job on his hands and we are going to have to be patient with him and even though it hurts like hell to lose a game giving your all its unforgiveable losing with two thirds of the team not giving a toss.

[Let the lady speak!]

So you reckon we're not on to win the All-Ireland this year ..........................

[biffo_king]

Things are going from bad to worse....No passion any more///

[Lone Shark]

Much like last week, I'm trying not to be too negative after what was essentially a challenge match, however it's not like we're dealing with a team of proven winners here - Offaly footballers collectively need to rediscover the lost art of winning matches, and I'm quite disappointed that we didn't make a better fist of getting some positive momentum under our belts with a win here. (With UCD next, a win in this game has probably guaranteed Carlow two more games, while we have to scour for challenge matches)

Seeing as Black and red Exile has hinted at it, i suppose I have to do my player by player bit now ....

Alan Mulhall Was neither good nor bad last week, but this week definitely didn't do him any favours. His drop for the first goal was very poor, while his tackle for the penalty probably should have been a straight red - it was a wild flail that you might see in the WWE. (I'm not saying he meant to do harm, but I've no idea what he thought he was doing.) His kickouts appeared to be thoughtless and all told I'm thinking he won't be ahead of either Meehan or Kelly by the summer.

Conor Evans As with last week, he needs a lot of football to get back up to speed - can stand way off his man, and is still a little prone to fouling - indeed by times he gives the air of a guy who's just waiting for the chance to get a dig in. I still think that he'll be in much better shape by the summer, but his lack of pace is worrying - he may yet be asked to play full back I'd say.

Ciarán Mac I think it's time to end this experiment now. He passed the ball well out of defence, he's still a powerful and fit man, but he's just not a full back. He's not quick enough to mark, he's too easily turned and his instinct is a tackle - which should be a last resort for a full back since most FF's are just itching for a chance to hit the deck. Was delighted for him with the penalty save, but I think we need to get him into the centre back position soon, or possibly even a sweeping seventh defender.

Kevin Lynam To my mind, somebody needs to tell this guy that if he wants to play county football, he has to step up - it's not that he's incapable, but he always strikes me as a guy who would be happy to concede a bucket of scores as long as it wasn't his fault. He's playing like a guy who just wants to look after his own corner and not make any mistakes. The perfect example was towards the end of the first half - Carlow hit a free that dropped short, and Lynam fielded it perfectly well and had an acre of space in front of him. Any guy who wants to tell management that he should have a shirt for the summer would have burst into the gap, drew a man, laid it off and started a move, or generally got an attack going. Once Lynam had the ball in his hands, he just stopped and looked around for McManus to give the handy short ball to. Mac was much more closely marked, but being Mac, he wanted the ball and he wanted to start an attack. But because he was under pressure, he had to hit it long and Carlow ended up winning the ball and popping it back over the bar. If he gets another chance, he really needs to grab it by the scruff of the neck.

Kieran Flannery He's not the most comfortable in possession, but his pace was useful again today. I don't think there's enough football in him so to speak, but he should come on for this experience and with a little bit more strength, could have a real future - just not this year I'd say.

Joe Quinn Funnily enough, I'd actually absolve Quinn of blame for this one. He got a black card for two perfectly fair tackles and thus had to walk on eggshells all day, while he also strikes me as a player who actually uses his brain. I think he'll be a summer starter yet, in any one of a number of positions.

Matt Mitchell Utterly anonymous, but so was his man - so I've no idea why he was taken off. Was neither the problem nor the solution while he was on the field.

Niall Smith Very poor I thought - I really hope that it's just the winter and we're not seeing a degree of sophomore slump from him. He got forward well enough but I was really disappointed with the way that he didn't mark his man (Byrne) on the Carlow kickout. Byrne would stand behind him, drift out towards one side and have the advantage for when Hennessy targetted his kickout, as he did all day. We needed more from him.

Conor Carroll After a mildly promising debut, this was poor - he just wasn't in the game at all. Everything just seemed to pass him by.

Paul McConway I'd love to see him get more of his aggression back and his insistence on kicking with the outside of the boot will probably get frustrating, but I got the feeling that he was actually coming back a little bit closer to form. He's going from being ice cold to being lukewarm, but it's a start. His tracking was suspect though and he hasn't rediscovered that visceral edge. Long way to go, but maybe he might come back into consideration yet.

Rory Guinan I've been agitating for his inclusion for years now and then he goes and does this to me. He was awful altogether - gave the ball away time and again, a series of bad wides and no real attacking contribution. I'd say he'll be off the panel sooner rather than later at this rate.

Jason Kelly Did a few good things and I got the impression he at least wanted to compete, but he needs to get a lot more involved in the game and to work himself into scoring positions. He'll need to do a lot more to get any kind of sustained run in the league.

Ruairí Allen Doffed cap young man. He's lacking strength and isn't lightning quick for his age, but he showed well and took his scores very nicely. I wouldn't have considered him as a likely Under 21 starter before this, but he is now.

Brian Connor Another young lad who came out of this with his reputation enhanced. He never stopped trying to compete, he wanted to show for the ball, he often had to fight with two lads and he gave every ounce of energy he had. His inclusion surprised a lot and may have led to accusations of favouritism, but he proved that (a) he was worth the start, and that (b) he's worth getting another few as well.

Ken Casey I remain to be convinced that he has improved at all in the last few years, but he had a good outing here. After last week when we had three inside forwards who just wanted to run sideways, it was refreshing to see a corner forward itching to get past his man for a change. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't but it contrasted sharply with Deehan when he came on. He's looking like a starter as things stand.

I'm not going to bother with the subs, except to say that Rory Connor had the chance to make a support run and didn't before his stupid yellow card, Ger Rafferty did okay but needed to be minding the house at the back rather than pushing up, while Tommo still goes in strange directions instead of forwawrd.

Long way to go yet basically.

[bracknaghboy]

Thanks to LS for an insightful look at yesturdays game. Its worrying because form is very difficult to switch on. Losing games can become a habit....(Bracknagh people are aware of this). I know its only a shield match but its better to win these games than lose. If all else fails and a team has played terrible and won then at least a manager can say "well done we got the win". However Richie will have very little positive to say to the lads after yesturday. Luke Dempsey can be a very annoying man at times BUT he has the ability to get the best out of teams no matter how poor they are. He is what Offaly football needed......see i'm still unsure what exactly Richie Connor brings to the table as manager of Offaly. Dempsey knows the importance of trying to win all matches. Think back to Lyons in '97 he sent out Offaly with the intention of winning every single match (even challenge games) and they got momentum going and look where it took them.

[redser]

Bracknaghboy made a very good point. It is very important for a team to try and build momentum, and the attitude of the squad in the Tommy Lyons era was exactly that, go out and win.

i left yesterdays game totally pissed off at what was total and utter garbage. Management dont seem to have any real knowledge of the players. Yes they are trying things and thats good but common sense would tell you, Conor Evans is not a corner back, nor Mac a full back and Flannery not a county standard footballer. The list goes on. As for the players well regardless of the GAA rules about collective training they should have themselves some way conditioned to beat a rubbish Carlow side. Are they happy to just pull on the jersey or do they actually want to win something......

Theres bad and then there is pathetic.

[king of kings]

I don’t think we can read too much into these games, county teams havnt been training and offaly are obviously in the worst shape but 3 weeks training b4 the league starts and we’ll see a sharper fitter team. We’re making an awful lot of mistakes in terms of passing and shooting and kicking balls away but this can all be solved. There has been alot of good things to come out of these 2 games as well as bad things. Heres my team that i would play against ross in the first leage match

1. Padraigh Kelly- think he’s still the best keeper and his kick out is a big advantage

2. Conner evans-just needs some training get his sharpness back up we don’t have many other options

3. Ciaran macmanus- i still think this can work showed some signs yesterday that he can mark and read the game well. His determination makes up for other things he may lack

4. Ger raffery- i cant understand why he was taken out of here he still the best corner back in offaly and cant play anywhere else a really good man marker and must be put back in the corner

5. Paul mcconway- played well yesterday hopefully he can get back to his best, think wing back will be his best position. Just needs to up the work rate

6. Joe Quinn-there isn’t many options for this position he hasn’t started off well but again i think a bit more training and he can make this position. Hes strong and can play football but was very loose in both matches

7. Matt Mitchell-still aint seen the best from him hes a fine footballer and definitely will come good.

8. Niall smith- off form at the moment but so is everyone else so i expect him to pick it up come the league.

9. Conner carroll- good against Dublin poor yesterday but we don’t have another midfielder till macnamee comes back. But i think this guy can improve a lot

10. Kieran flannery- dont think hes defensive enough for half back so id put him here has plenty of speed and i think we need that. Must get back to 100% fitness and then we can see the best off him definitely has something to offer

11. Jason Kelly-centre is his best position and hopefully he can bring his best football to county level. Probably the best club footballer in offaly and needs to bring that here. A good run of games and hoprfully we’ll see the best of him

12. Neville coughlan- showed signs against Dublin that he can make a huge impact he’s our most physicly strong player and he needs to use that, strong runner with the ball but needs to improve his general play hopefully we’ll see him have a good year cause he definitely has the ability.

13. Ken casey- he maybe he a little light for this level but he has the speed and he can kick scores. He’s good at making space so he must get first time ball will improve over the year

14. Thomas deehan-we really need macnamee back for a target man but i think deehan is the best option for the moment must sharpen his speed b4 the league

15. James coughlan-this guy needs to get a run of games has so much potential we need to get it out of him some how probably lacks speed so he must work on that but he can definitely kick scores.

[TheManFromFerbane]

Two points that need to be made I think. The first one is that just because an expiriment doesn't work right straight away doesn't mean you stop. You give it it's fair shot and then if it still hasn't worked out then you leave it. It actually heartens me to see that he is calm enough and sure enough to give these expirments a fair shot. The trick is to know when they're not going to work and stop using them. I'd give it another go myself.

Secondly if the players are putting in the effort that's different. No excuse for that. When you pull on the jersey you have to go out and put in the best that you are able that day. It's still early so we'll forgive fitness, skills etc... but we can't forgive lack of interest.

[Lone Shark]

I know that the McNamees and Shane Sullivan will still be out in Australia, but I presume most of the other usual suspects will be available by then? I'm thinking Slattery, Keane, Ryan, the Darbys etc., and that's not including a few others who might be playing with colleges and so on.

Obviously it won't be as simple as just plugging all these lads straight in, but I'd expect that if they were available, they'd certainly feel hard done by not to get a run after so few players put their hands up in the O'Byrne games.

I'd disagree with the idea of continuing the McManus at full back experiment as well. He's patently not suited to it from what I can see, and Tommy Carr is no eejit - if Mac is selected there, he'll find himself lining up againsty Cathal Cregg or someone who will just run out in front all day and draw frees. I'd say either Evans or Joe Quinn are the likely candidates to fill the full back slot right now, possibly with Mac playing a deeper role but not with any direct marking responsibility.

I can see him continuing with McConway in the forwards though. In fact I hope he does just till we see if there is anything to it.

[Kemo Sabe]

first a 3rd string dublin team beat us and then carlow both of these games at home is simply embarrising.its plain to see even at this early stage that the current management are out of there debth .imo its only going to go from bad to worse .i think that the players know this and we are in for another disaster of a year . i know it wont happen but id love to see them gone and get in stephen darby who i thought should have got it in the first place .its not to late to stop us falling any further .

[black and red exile]

Ah will ya keep your hair on Kemo sabe. For god sake give the management a chance before ya start calling for heads. At least Richie has the guts to try out experiments in these type of games unlike the genius we had for the last 2 years. The truth is he has taken on a huge mess left behind from the last disasterous management and even though the last two Sundays were not pretty reading, no doubt he will have learned some valuable lessons. With lads still to come back into the panel and a few more weeks of training hopefully things will start to take shape and we can make a serious assault on this league but let's give the man a chance before we start to stick the knife in.I get the impression a few people on this site want Richie to fail so as they can say they told us so, in my opinion they are not real Offaly people.

[Johnno81]

Agree with black and red exile completely, this is when we should give Richie a chance to get his plan into motion. Ok, the Dublin match was not very pretty to watch (especially when you had a hangover like I had that morning!!) but the lads have two and a bit weeks to get themselves sorted for the Roscommon match and we will take it from there!! Richie didnt create this mess, he inherited it and and it aint goin to be fixed overnight and its not goin to be easy by any stretch of the imagination but I am still goin to support them this year like I do every year (getting harder I know but sure thats why I love my county!!!). We have got to work with what we have got and with the few players to still come back, we can give the league a good stab.

[Kemo Sabe]

I hear what you are saying lads ! But these are not under normal circumstances. Inter county management takes a major commitment and with everything that Richie has going on at the moment in his private life it would be impossible to give the required commitment. As for people on this site hoping to see him fail I doubt that very much. All we ask as supporters is that we get a fair crack of the whip. Its plain for everyone to see that he was the wrong appointment. For example even taking into account all the players missing there can be no excuse for picking the same old faces that we know dont really have the commitment and clearly lack the quality for county level.

[RhodeRunner]

I know that the McNamees and Shane Sullivan will still be out in Australia,

Shane wasn't in Oz.. He and a couple more were told that no need to turn up for training till feb 09

Good job he wasn't in Oz or he wouldn't have been able to land that plane on the Hudson river yesterday

Super Sully: how crash landing hero pulled off the incredible
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/01/ ... 49558.html

Is there anything he cant do