Offaly Football Panel

[Barracuda]

Usually I would be messing but not today, I appreciate Hurst wouldn't be everyone's first choice player to have on the panel....but I think he's worth his place on my panel!!!

To be fair he's okay, but too weak and easily taken on and passed and pushed off the ball- for inter county standard. He was there already for nearly 2 years and anytime he got a chance he was not strong enough.

[redser]

I disagree with some of what untouchable and LS have said
Rosney- no way.
Mahon- not in defence anyway.
McManus- NOT a defender.
Foy- Miles away from county standard.

Surely some players from the last 4 teams.

Rhode: Cassidy, Kilmurray, Hope.
Shamrocks: Coughlan, Leonard Mooney a must, Brian Monaghan.
Tullamore: McConway, Heffernan, Hoey.
Ballycumber: Rory Guinan, Ciaran Grennan.

Anybody else?

[Hocker]

David Lowry - No Way
Rory guinan - No way.
Francis Bannon - should be brought in at full back.
Jason kelly - Half or full forward line
Niall slattery - cover for corner back
Trevor Phelan - Cover for corner forward
Karol 'Hogget' Kelly - Only back from america should be given a try-out.

[Barracuda]

David Lowry - No Way
Rory guinan - No way.
Francis Bannon - should be brought in at full back.
Jason kelly - Half or full forward line
Niall slattery - cover for corner back
Trevor Phelan - Cover for corner forward
Karol 'Hogget' Kelly - Only back from america should be given a try-out.

A bit hard on Lowry- he does have potential- even as the next goalie.
Rory Guinan- agreed- id like to see more of him- he was on the U21 panel last year and was to say the least- very poor.

Bannon- maybe- age ?
Jason Kelly- a loose cannon, not a good team player - again he was on the U21 panel for a while last year and lost out to what appeared to be a lack of team work ability.
Slats- Yep, but should get a run as a half forward.
Phelan -again a bit short (no pun intended) of the real thing as yet.
Kelly- did very little or nothing in the junior final- how old is he now ?

[Hocker]

Bannon- age: 23/24? Definitely worth a try.

Jason Kelly- a loose cannon - yes, ability - Definitely. Team work - If managed properly can become important part of senior panel.

Slats- Yep, definitely must be given a chance.

Phelan - a bit short of the real thing alright.

Hogget Kelly- did very little or nothing in the junior final alright, will be 26 next february.

Any other suggestions for potential senior panelists???

[Barracuda]

Bracken P- should be looked at again- has a very good engine and needs coaching but has potential for the midfield area to work alongside Alan.

[the Untouchable]

I don't think slattery is worth a call up because he's too small, especially since he's a corner back, not exactly the best man marker either!!

What about Niall Stack? I thought he was excellent all year for Tullamore at wing back,

Can't say I know much about this Bracken guy but I think a few of these lads from the so call weaker clubs need to be given a chance to show what they can do at county level...otherwise we may as well put out the Rhode starting 15 for Offaly.

I think Rory Guinan has flattered to decieve of late & hasn't fulfilled the huge potential he showed a few years ago under Paul O'Kelly, I know he suffered a bad injury but he still looks way off county standard, I think Ciaran Grennan is probably too old to be starting to become a county footballer, plus I don't think he's got much interest in it .

Frank Bannon isn't good enough, he played reasonably well this year for them but hasn't got the pace for county football & is too frequently caught ball watching .

Hocker your in dream land if you think the Hogget or Jason Kelly would be up to it....Hogget has never even played well for the Shannonbridge Seniors & is still living off what he did back in Underage for ye, as for Jason Kelly...he's got great talent, but is a bit of a sunshine footballer !!!

In reality it doesn't matter who gets the call in as goalkeeper because they'll be playing second fiddle to Paudge anyway!!!

I don't think Leonard Mooney or Brian Monaghan will make it, Lenny is good but he's nearly 27 now & probably should have being in there long before now....definately he's one that slipped through the net, because he's being consistently playing well for Shamrocks down through the years, Brian Monaghan is too much of a hit & miss, he's either great....or he's rubbish & he has a tendency to take the wrong option with the ball alot of the time

Mark Cassidy is an alright corner back but not next nor near county standard.

Joe Kilmurray has being there done that with the county & never really got the chance....I know Jack well & I don't think he's got a whole lot of interest in going back to train for Offaly, but he's very similar to Anthony Foy the way he plays....any player whose ever had the pleasure of being marked by Anthony or Joe will know what I mean!!!

David Hope....not good enough to push for a starting place but probably worth a place on the panel!!!

Now Bord Na Mona man's point about Mac & Ronan Mooney never playing well together at Midfield is one that I've always known but I don't think Mac's place is at midfield anymore....I'd prefer to see Alan McNamee & Ronan Mooney together at midfield because I think you'd have two good men at midfield to contest kickouts....mac is too incline to catch 1 wonderful kickout then get nowhere near the next 25!!!

If I had to pick my Offaly starting 15 for next year it would be 1)Paudge, 2)Froggy, 3)Sean Casey, 4)Barry Malone 5)Barry Mooney, 6)Scott Brady, 7)Shane Guinan, 8)Alan McNamee, 9)Ronan Mooney, 10)Colm Quinn, 11)Pascal Kelleghan, 12)Karol Slattery, 13)Niall McNamee, 14)Neville Coughlan, 15)James Coughlan/Derek Molloy/John Reynolds.

Slan!!!

[Lone Shark]

There's about forty threads contained within this one, so it has a danger of going off on some serious tangents - however:

We'll try and keep the ridiculous club bias stuff out of it. Some might accuse me of that with regard to Lowry, but the truth is he has played very well there on a few occasions, including in two challenge matches for the county last year, he's good under a high ball and his kick is a weapon. We're only talking understudy to Podge here, but I wouldn't rule him out.

Of some of the more bizarre comments:

Jason Kelly is not "difficult to manage" - he is downright contrary. If he was far and away one of the best forwards in the club championship then we'd have a debate on our hands - on form he's a squad player at best. It's not worth risking serious disruption for that.

Niall Stack was reasonable for Tullamore, no more. County half backs should dominate club games - like Keane, Mooney, Slattery and Brady do. Stack is not in that parish.

Rory Guinan was in or around man of the match three games in a row for Ballycumber, against Edenderry twice and against Brigid's. He is seriously fast, physically capable and ten times better than the ineffective player that played for the under 21's this year. Kilmurray was at at least two of those games because I saw him there, and I'll take any money he will be on the panel for the first league game.

Karl Kelly was a hugely talented 16 year old. He's 25 now, not fit and wasn't seen as good enough to start for Shannonbridge juniors. Please refrain from posting such tat.

Trevor Phelan will do well to start for the county under 21's next year, and wasn't even good enough to get on this years team, meaning that management saw all six of those forwards as better options. He didn't have a blinder for Doon this summer either - long way off. He did play underage by the way - he was wing forward in Ardee against Louth two years ago.

Francis Bannon is very awkward with the ball in his hands, and barely looks like a footballer at the best of times. He's quite effective at club level, but he'd get destroyed at county level.

Mickey Hoey will struggle to hold his place in the Tullamore team - was eaten alive in the semi final.



The main contentious one seems to be Shane Guinan - who I think only played well in the first game against Tullamore which was like a winter match, and against Ferbane and Clara, when he wasn't marking much to say the least. Maybe he was injured, but until he keeps a good county panellist standard full forward quiet, he has proved nothing to me.

[turk]

class stuff untouchable! no place for mad mac there?

[redser]

Quinn should only be a panelist.

Kelleghan not a centre forward. Has to be in at full. Everybody saw that last weekend. Too quiet at centre.

Karl Slattery should be corner back.

[minor]

whoever was talkin bout putting derek molloy on a football team was having a laugh i wouldn'y bring to the bog, such a clown it was one of the best things that happened to the minors this year that he left the panel and i can honestly say nobody was sorry to see him go?


stand back and look at the players who stood out in the championship. they are the best and they should be the ones on the panel.......... now did ken casey not stand out as a class act in this years championship??

[the bare biffo]

Since I am not in the county and dont see club games I cant contribute in terms of players merits or otherwise. But I think it is interesting to see the degree of difference in oppinion between people who presumably see these players a lot. We are very quick to slate managers and selectors about their panel and team slections but yet you see from this thread how oppinions can differ on the same player.

LS made some statement at the start about the cream rising or something like that. I think the selections given so far would bear that out. Even Untouchable has arrived at a selection with very little difference from the last year. An by the way, whatever his faults are, there is absolutely no way you could leave off Ciaran Mac. If he has a stinker in a particular game yes he should be subbed, but thats a different argument. Purely on ability he has to be in the first 15.

Mise le meas.

[Bogman]

At the moment I'd have the panel as follows (using Lone Shark's selection as a basis) ;

Goalkeepers:

Padraig Kelly (1)
David Lowry (has got size, scope and kickout)
Colin McNamara (has been unlucky to be dropped on Kelly's return)

Backs:

Cathal Daly (if available) (2)
Shane Sullivan (maybe better in the half backs for county)
Mark Cassidy
Barry Mooney (5) or (4)
Scott Brady (4) or (6)
Karol Slattery (7) - great going forward from half back but so far not as effective in the forwards with his back to goal. Might be worth one more go up front.
Paul McConway
Sean Casey (3)
James Keane (6) or (5)
Foy or Kilmurray from Rhode

Midfielders:

Alan McNamee (8)
Ronan Mooney 9 (if available - physically strong and fine fielder)
James Carroll
Padraig Bracken


Forwards:

Ciaran McManus 12
Niall McNamee 15 What a talent, especially close to goal!
Neville Coughlan 14 - A great goalscorer
John Reynolds - first sub in the half forwards.
Colm Quinn - if he stays on, only as third midfielder, not close to goal.
Paschal Kelleghan 11 - plays well at centre forward for county
David "Daithi" Hope
Thomas Deehan 13 - blazing pace and talent to burn if recovered
Mark "Chino" Cole
Derek Molloy
Leonard Mooney
James Coughlan
Damien Hunt
Rory Guinan 12 - Accurate and can shoot from distance
Chop Grennan

Decent set of forwards. 33 man squad but there you go

[Skippy]

Molloy is a class act, had problems last yr, but has resolved them over the past few weeks, he roasted Rory o conor in the minor match on saturday last and almost single handly won the game for shamrocks, class act, will shine this year, guaranteed.

[The Biff]

Bogman, you're a confident man when you are happy to pick just 14 on your team, or do you think there is nobody fit to don the no. 10 jersey? From your comments, I take it you'd hand that to Quinn, if available, or would that give us effectively 4 in midfield, assuming Ciaran Mc cant resist the urge to drop back too.

Feel free to lambaste me for nitpicking seeing as I dont know enough about our fringe players to pick my own team.