Duignan's outburst

[Long John]

Whats the general feeling regarding Mick Duignan's comments about the county footballers?

It may not have any place in the O' Connor Park debate but in fairness I think he is bang on and its about time somebody said it. Even more so after last nights comments where he mentioned the likes of Niall Mac, the Darby's, Scott Brady, and Ciaran Mac as players that are committed. Maybe there is one or two more that can be thrown in there also but that would be the most. He was right to clear up his initial comments and certainly correct to stand by his views towards the majority of the panel.

The current squad of players just dont have the level of commitment that is necessary to compete on the intercounty stage. Theres's no denying these lads enjoy the social scene too much. Thats only my opinion but it will be interesting to hear what other supporters think.

[Abercrombie Fitch]

There may have been a shred or two of merit to what Duignan said, i wont argue there. But what on earth did he bring it up for? It had no bearing whatsoever on the debate he was being quizzed on, none at all. If Dunphy or George Hook pulled a stunt like that it would be condemned as publicity seeking. And i'm definitely a Duignan fan, always was, always will be so i'm not criticising him lightly.To go and name footballers makes it worse then. Is he saying that he is throwing a blanket over everyone he didnt name as big drinkers who couldnt give a f#*k??? Sean Ryan, Joe Quinn, etc. By the way I'd agree with all calls for hurling in Birr and the condemnation of the county board wholeheartedly.

[uibhfaillian]

http://www.rte.ie/sport/

Here's the follow up interview from Michael Duignan. I think he does have a point even though it came out originally as an aside when discussing the hurlers issues.

I've been watching Offaly footballers over recent years and they never appear to be as fit as most of the teams they're up against. In Leinster, counties like Laois, Westmeath, and Wexford have all passed Offaly in recent years and Offaly's general level of fitness is the reason they are no longer competitive even against these 2nd tier Leinster teams.

With the way the draw panned out this year - with Dublin, Kildare and Meath on the other side of the draw - even in the recent past it would've been seen as an opportunity for Offaly to qualify for the Leinster Final at least. However the lack of commitment levels among much of the panel made that impossible. They're making up the numbers now, are are seen as cannon fodder by other counties that used to fear them in the past.

[Truth as i see it]

I don't live in Tullamore anymore so i can't comment on who or where the players are seen after match's but i you go by the way they have performed over the past ten years it's not hard to believe that this could be the reason for the atrocious performances, for me the performance against down two years ago when they lost by nineteen points was when they hit rock bottom.

I've been reading a lot of stories too like for instance on the Edenderry website their is a interview with Offaly Legend Willie Bryant where he talks about a friend of his who is a taxi driver who was ferrying an Offaly player around town and they got to talking about the qualifiers and why they have a poor record in them.

The Players excuse???

"Sure Offaly arn't a back door team"

They're not even a front door team these days

Pathetic.

In the same interview he also talks about seeing players strut around town in their Offaly gear after a heavy defeat as if the match did not even happen
and it was the same player who was rude to him by not even returning a hello and just grunted at him.

Now i know that this is all coming from one mans perspective and if you read the interview there is a back in my day vibe to it that you do get with the older generation when they are interviewed but to see this man, an all Ireland medal winner and someone to which it meant the world to play for the county being disrespected like that by someone (the player was un-named by the way) who is not an all Ireland winner and who has no doubt disgraced himself in the way he has performed for the team show's you just why we have fallen so.

Somewhere along the way this attitude or trend was taken as the norm and along with other problems were allowed to manifest itself in a way that have conspired to erode away the prestige and pride that it once meant to play for the county team.

Without wishing to be too dramatic about it i see this as a cancer that must be rooted out of the team and i cant help but think to What Michael Duignan said yesterday about Tom Cribben putting his head in the sand on the Issue

Now i'm not here to pick on Tom Cribben, in some ways i think he has done a good job and in other way's i don't but unless we get someone in who is willing to crack the whip and make it clear that this attitude is no longer acceptable and get rid of the guys who see the county side as merely an excuse to go drinking and get free gear then we are not going to progress, its as simple as that

Just my view