Daithi Regan feature in the 'Daily Cork'

[Plain of the Herbs]

This deserves a thread of its own, as it’s not really related in any way to yesterday’s feature on Offaly.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/ ... 26931.html

I don’t know Daithi Regan but I found Ewan MacKenna’ feature quite moving. I don’t want to use the phrase ‘honest’ (this is an oft-misused phrase whenever someone pours out their woes) as I don’t know Regan and can’t tell quite how honest he is being. Certainly my own recollection of DR as a hurler is that his dedication was generally not up to scratch. Being overweight in 1996 springs to mind.

Which or whether, I do enjoy his analysis on Newstalk. That is, his analysis of other counties – I have never heard him analyse Offaly’s style and its advantages and disadvantages, until he noted Offaly’s mis-use of a ‘roving midfielder’ last Sunday.

The 1998 episode is finally put in the public domain. Hmmm! His description of his relationship with Pat Joe is interesting. Was it because of this he attempted to transfer to Crinkill in 2000 or 2001, was turned down and never hurled again? DR claims he WAS fit in February 1998 - that's not my recollection.

Interested to see he can recall how many times DR got sent off. Am I right in thinking DR was sent off in the Colleges All-Ireland win over North Mon., and that the Cork fella involved in that incident was the same chap that got sent off in that year's Minor All-Ireland. Townman might know – was that match from May 1987 against Clareen, and was it in Kilcormac? I ask because Lusmagh played Rynagh’s there that Saturday evening (possibly on the same bill), losing by two points after Tom Kelly got split early on and had to go off. As an aside, it was possibly Pádraig Horan’s last game for ’Rynagh’s before departing for the US for three years.

Claims Johnny Pilkington couldn't drink!

[jimbob17]

It is not surprising given his previous form but really from an Offaly hurling man who should know the real problems at play, it is just so undisputedly stupid and naive. If anyone took that squad in the morning, then there would be a serious job on their hands. To me the hurlers this year were going fine until the last day. Having watched the Dublin game on TV and attended the Wexford game, i'd have said we were in an OK place. OK the Carlow result wasnt great but a win is a win and both Wexford and LK really struggled to beat them too......

Limerick beat the Dubs well by 6 points and have a very experienced and professional backroom team funded by JP McManus. They beat Clare well in championship last year and would be one of the teams to watch for 2013 with some serious young talent as we saw against OY. If we win tmro and its a big IF, then we finish on 6 pts probably ahead of Wexford and have only lost to Limerick and Dublin by a combined total of 5 pts. Is that more or less what we would have expected... Now if we had lost to Wx at home then it would be a different story.

Now bear this in mind, the Offaly 21 hurlers have been hammered by Dublin by more than 18 points regularly in the last few years!! Our underage teams are so far off the mark that nobody wants to play for them. This is happening while the likes of Dublin Wexford, Laoise, Carlow and westmeath, our main rivals at underage have really started getting their house in order and showing this with results, regularly beating Offaly......The nepotism and club bias in Offaly hurling underage circles is rotten and is promoting this malaise and this is a system and to my knowledge is being run by our very own legends who want to see their own family members reach the top at the expense of young lads who are better.

North Offaly is largely ignored and if you are from north of Kilcormac, you are often from the wrong place to get a chance unless you are exceptional.....

The problem is really only starting and we wont see the real repercussions of this mismanagement until another 4 or 5 years when the likes of Shane Dooley, David Kenny, Rory Hannify, Joe Bergin et al are reaching the end of their careers and there is nobody to replace them. We will be behind Westmeath in 5 years if nothing is done about this and we will be way behind Dublin as we are already. This is a slide that has happened in ten years from neglect of underage in which the honour and desire to play hurling for Offaly has been largely lost through needless mismanagement and penny pinching on the county board part.

So maybe Daithi Regan would do things differently and play a different system and maybe he has a point in this regard but overall, I wouldnt lay blame at Ollie Baker's door as that is often the easy "Blame the manager" option!!! I'd say that Daithi's generation are even more at fault due to their negativity, lack of input to put things right and general mismanagement when they do get involved......

So is Ollie Baker the one at fault Daithi??? I think not........

Time to wake up and smell the coffee......

[townman]

This deserves a thread of its own, as it’s not really related in any way to yesterday’s feature on Offaly.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/ ... 26931.html

I don’t know Daithi Regan but I found Ewan MacKenna’ feature quite moving. I don’t want to use the phrase ‘honest’ (this is an oft-misused phrase whenever someone pours out their woes) as I don’t know Regan and can’t tell quite how honest he is being. Certainly my own recollection of DR as a hurler is that his dedication was generally not up to scratch. Being overweight in 1996 springs to mind.

Which or whether, I do enjoy his analysis on Newstalk. That is, his analysis of other counties – I have never heard him analyse Offaly’s style and its advantages and disadvantages, until he noted Offaly’s mis-use of a ‘roving midfielder’ last Sunday.

The 1998 episode is finally put in the public domain. Hmmm! His description of his relationship with Pat Joe is interesting. Was it because of this he attempted to transfer to Crinkill in 2000 or 2001, was turned down and never hurled again? DR claims he WAS fit in February 1998 - that's not my recollection.

Interested to see he can recall how many times DR got sent off. Am I right in thinking DR was sent off in the Colleges All-Ireland win over North Mon., and that the Cork fella involved in that incident was the same chap that got sent off in that year's Minor All-Ireland. Townman might know – was that match from May 1987 against Clareen, and was it in Kilcormac? I ask because Lusmagh played Rynagh’s there that Saturday evening (possibly on the same bill), losing by two points after Tom Kelly got split early on and had to go off. As an aside, it was possibly Pádraig Horan’s last game for ’Rynagh’s before departing for the US for three years.

Claims Johnny Pilkington couldn't drink!

Pat Kenneally of cork is the man your thinking of POTH there was alot of history between the two alright, Kenneally also hurl in the minor final of 1985 for corks win over wexford.

Duignan wrote in his book that they also clash in the USA a few years later, it came to ahead when
Daithi was hurling for tipp with Duignan, and hit Kenneally a haymaker who was strechered off.

Daithi maybe better off if he did not talk so much on the Baker and offaly hurling, but like everyone else he is entitle to his opinion like we do when we write here every week.

as for DR days with Birr i think he could have gave more than he did alright POTH, but he also had some good days in the the Birr jersey, with the clubs first club title in 95, to the famous point he scored to beat Clarecastle in thurles in 98 as he knew as he came on that day that the great Tommy Eritty was taking bad in the stand and later passed away.

he hurl in two all irelands at midfield so he wasn't to simple, as we said he won the minor for us in 1986, and i remember him having a great game in that years semil-final again Galway scoring 1-3 in thurles that day.

he might talk a bit much, but i am not saying this because i am a Birrman but the bold Daithi could
walk the walk alright and he can look back at his hurling days and say i did it all, not many who hurl can say that.

[Bord na Mona man]

Very revealing. I wouldn't have had Regan down as being as emotionally brittle as the interview portrays him, but then again the lads who appear booming and extroverted are often putting on a front.

Looking back on his career, 1995 was his swansong when he was 27 years of age. He was in and out after that, but never a significant starter, which was a pity. He had the hurling and the physique to be real enforcer, but seemed to struggle with speed and stamina for a lot of his career. While he may dismiss the talk of Offaly hurlers being the laid back revellers, he himself didn't do much to dispel that notion.

A bit early for him to start canvassing for the Offaly job though. He needs to bulk up his CV a bit. I'd like to hear more detailed thoughts from him on where Offaly are going wrong. Something for the local papers perhaps, as the nationals won't typically delve into details.

[townman]

he was a selector with offaly under Mike Mac a few years ago, plus he was with Birr also
he has as much of a CV as Ollie Baker has and he had no problem getting the offaly job

[King Kev]

Daithi was a selector with John Mcintyre not Mike Mac.

[durra1]

Of relevance to this topic as posted in the league thread …

If he took issue with the good-time-Charlie perception around the 90s side back in the day certainly that’s the first I’ve heard of it. On an off the Ball Roadshow night from Brian Whelahans in Birr a few years back, when he and JP were the interviewee’s he was the one dragging the tall tales out of JP not the other way around.

To me, Dathis like a lad who wants to be liked … like a lad who’s shaping up for a run in politics …

He’d be populist enough for his chosen party anyway ..

http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling ... 66206.html

Offaly 0-21 Antrim 0-19 nhl division 1b – 01 April 2013

Despite the recent criticism thrown at Offaly hurling, the Faithful secured a respectable third place in the table courtesy of the third win of their campaign at Casement Park.

The Offaly management had incurred the wrath of former player Daithi Regan in particular in recent weeks, and in his post-match comments Faithful boss Ollie Baker defended his squad, who now have 10 weeks until their Leinster championship clash against Kilkenny.

"The lads have given up the last five months of their lives. The amount of sacrifice and commitment is huge.

"They are doing their best and trying their hardest and are doing it in an air of negativity that is being promoted by a lot of commentators," said Baker.

"They don't choose to look at the positive side of what's happening. The hurlers are there, the hurling is there (in Offaly).

"To speak with that air of negativity is disingenuous to what is going on in every club. It is putting undue pressure on players.

"It seems to be something in Offaly. The truth is that the harder you work, the better chance you have of succeeding, and we are working very hard.

"It's a populist thing to talk negatively and the papers are going to print it. If you talk positively, no one is going to print it. It doesn't sell."