Offaly haven't "done it" in any true sense of the word since 2000 and beating Meath, and I would maintain that Mac has stepped up and delivered on more big days than any other player. Maybe he has had very bad days against Westmeath and Laois, but he's also had good days, and it's not like any other player in that time stepped up and kept us in a game singlehandedly. Evans last year maybe.the Untouchable wrote:Now I have raised a few eyebrows in the past by picking teams & leaving him off....but the reality is this...Mac hasn't done it for Offaly when we've needed him, he's not someone who you could ever take off....
Seriously - there are better midfielders?the Untouchable wrote:I'm certain that there are better midfielders in Offaly than him....you wouldn't have to look to hard to find better half forwards than him & we have already a strong half back line with Mooney, Brady & Slattery.
McNamee had a better year, and looks to be improving. To say he's a better midfielder is still a big jump from that, and not one I'd make. As for who else you'd put in front of Mac, I can't imagine. I know I'd disagree.
You say we have better half forwards - again, perhaps the likes of Coughlan and Quinn might be better specialists at the role they play, but anything Neville can do Mac can do - the difference is that Mac takes on shots and passes that Neville wouldn't try. One way or another, I know I'd rather do without any half forward in Offaly than McManus.
As for the backs, he hasn't even been tried there yet. You say Brady is a good centre back, but he's been playing - and needed - in the corner, and will probably stay there. Centre back is certainly up for grabs, as is number seven if Slattery gets moved to the forwards, or five if Mooney gets moved back to the corner - all of which are possibilities. To rule him out of there already seems dismissive.
He doesn't have a God-given right. He has a self given right because he has trained himself to the point where he is one of the fittest and most capable footballers in Ireland.the Untouchable wrote:So why should he have a god given right to be on the team?
Is this attitude not likely to cost a better player than Mac a place on the team....a player that like Mac would have trained hard all year?
That hardly seems to be the way to deal with players, because Managers are there to make strong decisions & drop players & take off players who aren't performing....& all too often other players have being sacrificed while Mac is left on!!!
The attitude will not cost a better player a place on the team, because we don't have fifteen better players. It's a matter for debate whether we even have one.
As for him being taken off, I've always maintained that that's the main problem - he's seen as untouchable.
He should be treated the same as any player - i.e. taken off if it's for the benefit of the team. I agree that that never happens, and it should. I wouldn't. McNamee has to get one of the slots, and James Keane has really looked for the world like a county midfielder all summer. I'd put the house on Mac starting, barring injury - but as for the shirt on his back, I'd lay the following......the Untouchable wrote: If I was a betting man I'd put the house on Mac being midfield for Offaly this year....I don't even think the bookies would give me odds on that one!!!
1/1 8 or 9
11/8 10, 11 or 12
7/1 5, 6 or 7
20/1 14
20/1 13 or 15
