Allianz FL Division 4 2013

[Plain of the Herbs]

By my calculation, Mick O'Dwyer as a manager has lost to Offaly just four times. The obvious (1982, 1999 in championship), a NFL match in his first year as Kerry manager (might even have been his first match in charge - will check), and Wicklow in Aughrim in 2008.

With Kerry there were 8 League matches and 3 in the Championship; with Kildare there was just one League match (1991/92) and 6 Championship (two of which were drawn with Kildare winning both replays), with Laois there were 4 in the Championship, none in the League, while Offaly played Wicklow just once during O'Dwyer's term there. That's P 23, W 16 D 3, L 4 for O'Dwyer against Offaly.

[Bord na Mona man]

Promotion from Div 4 now extremely unlikely given the 2 home losses and they general direction the team seem to be heading.
I'm not sure there is the mental fortitude or footballing ability to rev it up and put in a couple of big displays to get back on track.

Looking at the team that started today. You can almost predict beforehand who will be subbed off at some stage. That in itself is hardly a good thing?

[SearingDrive]

Promotion from Div 4 now extremely unlikely given the 2 home losses and they general direction the team seem to be heading.
I'm not sure there is the mental fortitude or footballing ability to rev it up and put in a couple of big displays to get back on track.

Looking at the team that started today. You can almost predict beforehand who will be subbed off at some stage. That in itself is hardly a good thing?

Promotion won't happen after today. There won't be many faithful fans travelling to Carrick on Shannon next Sunday, after today's loss.
Tactically Offaly seem to be going nowhere,with this obsession with hand passing.
Can we find a reliable free taker?

[Alloutbarthekeeper]

Very poor today. This is the end of gaelic football in Offaly. All the hype was for nowt. Not one player showed any pride in the jersey or any respect for the few fans that did turn up. I for one am finished as a supporter of our county footballers.

[joe bloggs]

Terrible performace from Offaly.Sadly it looks like we are getting worse as each league match passes.The good results in the O'Byrne cup look to be more due to the oppositions incompetence rather than our good play.

We have no midfield and to top it off we have no kickout strategy and our kickouts take far too long to be taken.

2 frees from 20 yards out at a slight angle were missed today.Clare marched through the middle loads of times and only for their lack of accuracy in front of goal the defeat would have been much worse.We are making far too many simple mistake Graham Guilfoyle kicked 2 frees from our half back line direct to Clare men 10 yards away from him, this is bad enough but the fact that both frees were taken withing about 5 minutes of each other is annoying and the players are contiually making individual errors and they don't seem to be learning from their mistakes.

At half time they had a score on the scoreboard as Offaly 1-2.I am almost certain we scored 3 points ion the first half.One from an Alan Mulhall free and 2 from play from Niall McNamee.

It is not that we are getting worse, rather the other teams are passing us by. Our lads had way more work done than the other counties when we were playing in the O'Byrne cup, but now the opposition is up to speed and passing us out

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

This was desperate! Yes, we could have gotten something from this game, when amazingly we led by a point with 15 mins to go after Darbys well taken goal.

There is absolutley no game plan, and I would think now is the time for Emmet McDonnell to have a look at what he is trying to do, and where he is trying to take this team, and i would also like to see what our CB are going to ask him after this diabolical display.

This year started off so well, but these last 2 performances have been as rudderless as anything we have seen in recent times.

Crisis time, and Club FAithful has a real issue in trying to raise the spirits after u21 and these last 2 defeats.

[first_touch]

Very poor performance today. Far too many basic errors, with the ball being given way on countless occasions. This meant we could not get any momentum going and confidence suffered as the game went on. Mickey Brazil was the only one who could be happy with his display. The continuing inability to win ball around the middle of the field is worrying. Like DAF I thought we scored 1-3 in the first half.

I'd agree that it's unlikely there will be a recovery in this season's league. It looks like this will be a longer term project than we thought a couple of weeks back. However it's a young team and it's important that supporters stick with them.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Edit - I've checked Kingdom Come and though it describes that October 1974 match as "the start of a new era in Kerry football" O'Dwyer wasn't appointed Kerry trainer until the Kerry Convention in February 1975. Incidentally, Dick Spring came on late in that game against Offaly in 1974.

By my calculation, Mick O'Dwyer as a manager has lost to Offaly just four times. The obvious (1982, 1999 in championship), a NFL match in his first year as Kerry manager (might even have been his first match in charge - will check), and Wicklow in Aughrim in 2008.

With Kerry there were 8 League matches and 3 in the Championship; with Kildare there was just one League match (1991/92) and 6 Championship (two of which were drawn with Kildare winning both replays), with Laois there were 4 in the Championship, none in the League, while Offaly played Wicklow just once during O'Dwyer's term there. That's P 23, W 16 D 3, L 4 for O'Dwyer against Offaly.

[High School Musical]

I also thought we had scored 1-3 in the 1st half.
The phantom score in question was the 1st Niall McNamee effort, from way out on the right near the corner of the stand.
I was in the stand (opposite end) and as far as I was concerned it was a point and was greeted with great applause & cheer by all Offaly supporters in my vicinity. However, having spoken to some people on the terrace they informed me that this had not in fact been given. I'm not sure but i think it may have registered on the scoreboard briefly. The next time I looked at the scoreboard was shortly after Muller kicked a score from the ground, and I was confused as to why we only had 2 points on the board. I kept checking, assuming that it would rectified shortly, but it was not to be. I saw no dispute or anything at the time of the incident and judging by the crowd around me, they all seemed to think it was a score too.

[DAF]

The decision to take Peter Cunnigham off was mystifying. He was one of the few Offaly players who played well while he was on.

[jimbob17]

Lads, i too thought it was a very poor performance and most disappointing for a few reasons. Only Alan Mulhall and Michael Brazil looked the part while Pender and McConway did well enough in the full back line.

some observations that I noticed during the game
1 Our midfield were absolutely hammered today and nobody in there came even close to breaking even. How Dalton was left on Gary Brennan is beyond me. Granted Brennan is a good player, probably the best midfielder in the division and an exceptional player but management should have known that and seen what Clares strong points were. In the second half alone when Dalton was on him, he caught loads of ball, walked through to score at least one point, set up at least 3 points and hit the cross bar and Dalton was nowhere near him for any of it. It was unreal how this wasn't rectified.

2 Our half forward line was non existent. Numerous times in the second half when we had it there was nobody between our own 65 and the opposition 21 and so we had to run the ball out with laboured handpassing allowing Clare to get back. It was horrible to watch as a long kick went straight to one of 2 spare defenders Clare had back.

3 Substitution policy. Id be all for making changes when things are not working but hell, give them a chance to work....4 changes made by half time, we were all out of options when we needed them in last 20 mins. Cunningham has been excellent when introduced in last 20 with fresh legs and plays best as half forward when running at people so why then start him at corner forward??

4 Free taker. It has been an issue a while now. Ross Brady is not a free taker, wouldnt even take them with club. There were lads like Bernard Allen and Michael Brazil and Joe Maher, let alone Niall Mc on the pitch and Brady is chosen to take frees. I Dont blame Brady at all, he did his best but management shouldnt be asking him to take them.

5 Anton Sullivan. You could see today why he is such a loss as he links the play so well from midfield to 1/2 forward line.

6 Breaks around midfield. Clare must have won at least 70%. If they didnt catch it clean, then they won it on the floor and we were nowhere to be seen. they moved the ball quickly and created overlaps all over the place and these led to scoring chances.

7 position of players. Ross Brady as an Inter county wing forward, Eoin Rigney has not got inter county senior pace for corner back. Cunningham at corner forward?? Graham Guilfoyle at wing back. Midfield pairing?? Derek Kelly moved from 6 to 11 having not played there in how long????? Need I go on. That said, i am glad to see John Maloney back as i thought he was excellent last year and id be hoping that he'd build on that this year.

7 Skills. Offaly's skill levels were just not good enough today. Rarely did we move the ball efficiently down the pitch. and the kicking of the ball was almost non existent only for 50 yard hail mary's on top of Niall Mc. Guilfoyle is not a good kicker of the ball and proved it today with two bad ones in second half. Not entirely his fault i may add as there was nobody to kick it to. He wasnt the only one though and the amount of unforced errors today was absolutely chronic.

8 Fitness. For some reason our lads today were totally flat with no bit of spark about them. I am told they are training savage hard but today our middle third just did not function and were ran off the park especially in last 20 mins. Brian Connor and Ross Brady looked to be carrying weight. I know they are big men and probably bulked up but there has got to be balance. Strength, bulk and muscle are no good if you cant keep pace with the game. This is a Clare team who we'd expect to beat and they ran us off the park.

Really and truly we were hammered today. We might say about the missed frees but Clare missed 3 or 4 frees too in second half. They however looked way more potent, attacked at will and should have had at least two goals from 3 good chances with Mulhall saving our blushes after a major cock up in full back-line and Brennan hitting cross bar as stated already. They moved the ball much better and showed better fitness and skill levels. It was 13 scores to 7 but really and truly, it could and should have been so much worse unfortunately.....

someone did ask who might be better than some squad members in an earlier post...in my opinion, Declan Hogan Tullamore and Aidan Keenaghan Ferbane would be two lads who i think would offer something better than is already on offer. Alan Lynam Pullough would do a very good link job in half forward line with Anton gone. James Gallagher has been tried before but he too could offer something and has a lot more pace than Rigney at corner back. Obviously Deehan and Reynolds would be two if with the right attitude but thats a whole other conversation and probably not worth going over as its been done before. Id still see a place for McManus ahead of Dalton, Brady and Alan McNamee in midfield as he has the abrasiveness and bottle that some are missing. He is over 35 all ireland champion over 800m and this suggests he is still in serious shape. What age is Tony Browne?? If you are fit enough you are young enough....Scott Brady was sitting in the stand watching his brother play. He is easily good enough to play div 4 at full or centre back and young enough too. He has been outstanding at club level and would have the leadership qualities that these young fellas are missing just now.....

Must sign off.....
A very disappointed Jimbob tonight.....

[timber]

Yes a terrible result and an embarassing day for Offaly football.

Problem is three quarters of the team are just about average club standard footballers. That is the reality of it. I am sure there is plenty of club players on here who have played against these lads and know that they are very average.

Jimbob is right, theres a few lads carrying too much flab that they might try to say is muscle.

Our midfield would struggle in junior club games in other counties it is that bad. Brady, Alan McNamee, and Dalton all have a huge amount of work to do to get up to the fitness required and need to start working harder and thinking on their feet.

[townman]

Timber we have been looking at Dalton,Brady, McNamee the last few years and they won't get any better. Dalton is an average club footballer, McNamee was gone years ago but yet was brought back in.

[Square Cab]

I just thought I'd let everyone know the reason why Offaly are performing so poorly at the moment......It might come as a shock to some but to anyone who really follows football in the county, it's merely stating the obvious.........we don't have the players. Simple as that. We can spend hours discussing tactics, player selection, training methods and the colour of the jerseies but at the end of the day, if the players aren't there, there's not much Emmett Mac can do except work with what he has and get the best performance out of them. Look at it this way, when is the last time you walked away from a senior champ match in Offaly and said that was an excellent game with high skill levels on show and top players on view? The fact is, there are no Finbar Cullens, Vinny Claffeys, Jimmy Grennans or Peter Bradys playing senior football in Offaly at the moment. Niall Mac at the height of his powers would have been the only one good enough to mention in the same breath as those legends. Yesterday was a reality check because we were well beaten by a VERY average Clare team. Granted they had an excellent midfield and one top forward but still...
P.S: The body language of many of the players was the most worrying aspect of yesterdays performance. Heads were hanging everywhere and that bit of fire that was evident in the first few games has disappeared
P.P.S: That Niall Mac 'point' in the first half was wide in my opinion. Close call but I really dont think it curled in enough at the end

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

The reality is based on a couple of facts,
1) Because of the requirements of inter county football, lot of lads can't/won't commit, (and work committments in some cases)
-(Niall Smith, Brickland, Deehan, Reynolds, James Coughlan, Alan Lynam, Aidan Keenaghan, Joe Quinn, Scott Brady)
-Hurling, Sean Ryan, Con Mahon, Dan Currams
-McManus served the county well, and the lack of free taker to take over from him was always going to cost us after he left, (but little did we know how badly).

Feel free to add to the list.

And I know, some of these guys have been tried and failed before, (but albeit at a higher Division). Throw in a few of these guys with the right prep and things may not be as bad.

Plenty of the weaker counties have gone through this, Carlow/Wicklow were blighted by many of their better players not playing for them. This seems to have changed in these counties as players are better looked after and have better facilities. Longford/Tipp have progressed their structures too.

There is a malaise in the county around the GAA, and also the recession has hit Offaly harder. Clubs have lost young guys who would be the next lifeblood of rural areas and in my opinion has sucked the life out of some area's.
Clubs are not producing players with the hunger and desire to play county football, Shamrocks/Doon/Ballycumber/Clonbullogue/Daingean/Gracefield/Ferbane over recent years/ST Rynagh's to name but a few. This needs to change and come from within. And if there are players there they need to be identified and mentored to get them ready for county.
Trying to get quality people involved in coaching underage teams is a challenge, and this is feeding through also.

Finally, and its a worry for me since this mgt was appointed, (and its not too late to address), Emmet McDonnell has his brother on board, plus Paul Mollin from Ferbane. I have asked and this seems to be the full quota.
Paul is decent fella, but I would not have seen him too involved in teams, (a bit with Doon) or at matches. Now , I know that lads were asked but I think that this is not a strong group, and thus we seem to have a panel made up from a couple of clubs. But I think that we should have a couple of guys supporting Emmet McDonnell across the county.

However, I think its important to try and keep supporting the team. The last 2 games have been harrowing experiences, especially where the players are concerned as they are working hard and a lot of good work has been done, both on and off the field. It has not come through yet, but keep at it.

County Board need to sit down with McDonnell and his team, and see how they can help them, McDonnell may need to look at bringing in some additional support if he wishes, (not sure what that would look like), but its important that the man is not left floundering either. CB needs to support him in this difficult patch and there might be the possibility of progress.