Offaly Senior Hurling Management 2012

[Bord na Mona man]

As for the hurling, for me the main players are
1 Ken Hogan 3-1
2 Dinny Cahill 4-1
3 Kevin Martin & Damien Fox 5-1
4 Vincent Teehan 6-1
5 Francis Forde 10-1
6 Padraig Horan 10-1
7 Eugene Coughlan 14-1
8 Johnny Dooley 16-1
9 Damien Martin 20-1
10 Ollie Baker 20-1
11 Tommie Dunne 20-1
12 Nicholas English 25-1
13 Hubert Rigney 50-1
14 John Leahy KK 50-1
15 Carlow Boss 50-1

50-1 bar is it?
Liam Hogan who manages Ballyboden wouldn't be far off it, assuming he is interested. Unlike a lot of the names mentioned he actually has a track record of winning things (if that is one of the criteria).

[townman]

As for the hurling, for me the main players are
1 Ken Hogan 3-1
2 Dinny Cahill 4-1
3 Kevin Martin & Damien Fox 5-1
4 Vincent Teehan 6-1
5 Francis Forde 10-1
6 Padraig Horan 10-1
7 Eugene Coughlan 14-1
8 Johnny Dooley 16-1
9 Damien Martin 20-1
10 Ollie Baker 20-1
11 Tommie Dunne 20-1
12 Nicholas English 25-1
13 Hubert Rigney 50-1
14 John Leahy KK 50-1
15 Carlow Boss 50-1

50-1 bar is it?
Liam Hogan who manages Ballyboden wouldn't be far off it, assuming he is interested. Unlike a lot of the names mentioned he actually has a track record of winning things (if that is one of the criteria).

wouldn't mind tommy dunne has a good record with tipp in the minors but i don't think he would leave Declan Ryans set up with tipp so strong at senior to come to offaly.
maybe Dinny Cahill he has been doing a good job with Antrim. there is also Micheal Walsh from kilkenny who is finish with kilkenny under 21s who is not bad either.

[kinnittyman]

I see on the "New Football Manager" thread there is a lot of talk about the new hurling manager. How about we try and keep that discusssion to this thread just so we dont go thread hijacking.

And also it seems that the majority of people are in favour of Ken Hogan in charge in 2012- Must be remembered he didn't exactly set the world alight in his spell with Tipperary and we also have a terrible track record with managers from Tipperary.....Babs and Fr.Tom spring to mind!! He would know the club scene alright but winning an Offaly title with the best panel of players in the county isn't the sole reason that he should get the gig. I'd be sceptical of his appointment.

[2bFrank]

Lads.. would Kevin Martin not be a sound choice??
He trained Tullamore to County final and Leinster final , 1st time in 50yrs.. ( with a mediocre team, has to be said..) turned in 2 brill performances 2 yrs ago against Birr and KK in semi s..and final.. and again in Leinster club final against Ballyhale shamrocks, only beaten 1goal and 6/8pints that game.. and if Im not mistaken Ballyhale beat Portumna by alot more than that in the club all Ireland final...
He then went on to manage Westmeath 2010 who played Wicklow in a relegation battle match to stay in Christy ring the year previous.. also looking at results Mayo had beaten WM the same year, but Martin turned it all around winning Keogh Cup, and Christy Ring cup to get WM promoted to Leinster championship. Like Joe Dooley with OY, word on the street in WM was between injuries and 2 best players opted to play football, he hadnt strenght in numbers to keep division 2 status 2011... signs were on it, these players came back for championship and WM had couple of decent displays since, but still won no gamesunder different manager, maybe thats as far as that team is able to go..
I think Martin has the Offaly passion having played on the OY team for years, winning All Irelands and all stars.. as a young manager his credentials are very good in my books and should not be over looked...
Looking at few of other names suggested...
Maybe Ken Hogan may not be a bad option, can anyone tell me what inter county teams has he trained?? was he with Tipp seniors at some stage?
J. Kelly; "camoige." ..come on lads please.. he trained his own club Lusmagh 20 odd years ago to win a championship, had a stent with wexford and WM, winning nothing... was a great hurler in his day, no doubt has great passion fo OY hurling but dont think he is the man...
Francie Forde: might have a good relationship with the players but has no credentials of training teams that Im aware of..
Liam Hogan; dont know much about him, think he trained Ballybodan to championships .. again NO inter county experience...
think we need someone with the credentials of winning and intercounty experience.. just my views..

[plain the maggot]

can anyone tell me is there any truth of ken hogan and joachim kelly in for it together.
if they dont get it heard francis forde could get it but he wont know for a few weeks?
offaly needs a outsider and not a local to ruin things once again!!!
what has kevin martin ever won with a county at a high standard. teams like mayo and wicklow hold hurls like there going to beat sheep down from the mountain.
he is a good man and everything and has done a lot for the county but there is a different calibre in championship level when comming up against teams like kilkenny and tipp. would he even be able to train the team to that high of intensity which i couldnt see.

[GreatDayForTheParish]

Talked to a few more players there recently the result being that for me Francis Forde seems to be the outstanding choice. A great coach along and good communicator both in the dressing room and on the sideline, the feeling among some is that he alone improved them more this year than the last three years of the management combined. If he wants it he should get it.

[GreatDayForTheParish]

This has gone a bit quiet. Has anybody heard anything concrete?

[townman]

This has gone a bit quiet. Has anybody heard anything concrete?

Paddy Kirwin

[GreatDayForTheParish]

This has gone a bit quiet. Has anybody heard anything concrete?

Paddy Kirwin

Townman, there are certain things you just don't joke about and that's one of them.

[townman]

with our county board anything is possible

[kinnittyman]

Rumours abound at the moment of management team drawn from 80's hurlers. That won't go down to well around here!! Heard Aidan Fogarty is seriously in the mix. Must be because of that hugely succesful 2 years he had in charge of Ryanghs in 2009 and 2010!!

[kingscounty]

i would like to see an outsider take charge,someone who would come in and shake things up a bit.the appointment should be made sooner rather than later.i know games are a long way off,but it surely would make sense to have someone in now so they can get a look at the club championship and have a look for some new talent aswell as seeing if you keep some of the lads that have been there for the last number of years.we dont need someone brought in and then told by selectors from within who should be on the panel, the manager if hes interested at all should be able to pick and scout out most of his own players.

[GreatDayForTheParish]

Rumours abound at the moment of management team drawn from 80's hurlers. That won't go down to well around here!! Heard Aidan Fogarty is seriously in the mix. Must be because of that hugely succesful 2 years he had in charge of Ryanghs in 2009 and 2010!!

If I'm not mistaken, he was over them for three very poor years - 2008, 2009 and 2010. It would be a disastrous appointment.

What is it with our county board and their (by now) morbid obsession with managers having to be former players from successful teams? Why is a an All-Ireland medal and nothing else a pre-requisite to be seriously considered for the minor, U-21 and senior jobs?
It's approaching 30 years since the 80's team came of age and, as talented as they were, what was achieved then bears no relevance to what is needed to be successful in the modern game. A great player does not a great manager make.


It's hard to overstate how important this next managerial appointment is. Despite a complete dearth of underage success we actually have the making of a very decent 15 - provided they have the right management. Get the appointment right and this team could find the success it deserves. Get it wrong and this team, now entering its prime, will slip away unnoticed with the consequences being disastrous for Offaly hurling. The stakes are that big.

Thinking about some of the potential 'candidates' and the mindset of the those in charge - t'would make a man sick with nerves.

[Bord na Mona man]

While the squad is shallow and there isn't a conveyor belt of talent coming through, Offaly have the potential to make it to the All Ireland semis with the players that are there.

The biggest weaknesses are collective rather than individual ones. - Tactics, playing style, gameplans, physical preparation and failing to either embrace (or counteract) the vagaries of the modern game

It is crucial that the next manager has the smarts to address these issues. The evidence so far suggests that this sort of individual won't come from the 80s generation. Great men to hurl - but not many managerial success stories to report though.

[GreatDayForTheParish]

Thinking about it, the Offaly County Board ' any former player = manager' mindset is typical small county ultra conservative nonsense where the few with All-Ireland medals are treated with an inordinate amount of respect due to their rarity. The same inanity doesn't prevail in Tipp, Cork or KK where those with All-Irelands are a dime a dozen. Other, more relevant, criteria are use to select managers in those domains.

Our County Board seems to be the masters of ignorance.
They ignore the fact that Offaly underage hurling is dying a death by a thousand cuts. That no title has been won since 2000. That, at these grades, Kilkenny, Dublin and Wexford are currently well ahead of us with the gap widening. That Wetsmeath are now at the same level as us. That asides from collective non competitiveness, the underage hurlers we produce individually aren't instilled with the skills necessary for senior inter-county hurling. That there will be an inquiry this winter in Kilkenny over the non progression of their last two U-21 teams while we sit, apparently indifferent, on a decade of disaster.

They ignore the fact that the 2000's was the worst decade for Offaly Senior Hurling results wise since the 1960's with numerous heavy defeats suffered. That Dublin have now surpassed us and more importantly how they did it. That a quarter final hasn't been reached since 2003 (Laois, Carlow and Westmeath are the only other Liam McCarthy counties with this distinction). That, by his own admission in the Irish Independent, Rory Hanniffy in his term as a senior inter-county player player has never played hurling for Offaly in August. That our county team travel the county week on week looking for somewhere to train.

The solution to the problems are there for all to see in other counties. Nothing is a secret - its not the Manhattan Project. An examination of the Dublin, Kilkenny, Clare and Waterford underage systems would quickly reveal how to do it. By extension, analysis of the Tipperary and Kilkenny senior set ups (everything from their management, backroom staff, training and style of play) would point us in the right direction on that front.

Do our County Board do any of that? Hell no, sounds too progressive, too much like work.
No, the easy option is more preferable. They'll instill another former hurler with an All-Ireland as Senior Managaer because surely he'll know what to do. How could he not, doesn't he have a medal?