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Heard today from a lad who would be "well informed" that Paschal Kellaghan is not returning as minor football manager for 2015........was surprised to hear it..... obviously not from horses mouth but seems it is fairly reliable...........

That is a shame.....he was very good and thorough by all accounts.....is seems that this county board is doing everything it can to drive all the good guys with a bit of enthusiasm away. Hope its not true

Chris wrote:That is a shame.....he was very good and thorough by all accounts.....is seems that this county board is doing everything it can to drive all the good guys with a bit of enthusiasm away. Hope its not true

I'd have great time for Paschal as a manager and he did a very good job last year without question, however what we have here is an unsubstantiated rumour - and there is no mention of the county board anywhere. If it's true that he's choosing not to come back, then it could be for personal reasons, work reasons, because of other GAA commitments, any one of a hundred or more options.

Not everything that happens is the county board's fault, surprisingly.

I would love to know Pascal's reasons for leaving. Offaly need lads like Pascal in place if we are going to improve in any shape or form.

Disappointed that Pascal won't be staying on as I really felt that this group could have done with some continuity. They had made some progress last year even though they were very poor in the semi-final against Dublin and there was good foundations for a further push this coming year. Anyone know the process here for getting someone in. The minor semi-finals took place last night and a Leinster U17 tournament I believe is taking place over the next few weeks and Offaly have a team entered. This would have been an ideal time for the new man to have a look at things but depending on when the appointment is made it could be an opportunity lost. Am I right in thinking that this will be the 4th manager in 4 years...far too much change for my liking. The Manning Cup teams have done well the last number of years. Is there anyone on that management set up might get a look in, at least they would know that lads and have had some success with them.

Lone shark

I admire your journalistic tendencies to view everything that is unconfirmed by the county board as "unsubstantiated rumour".....however, just because some posters on here have it before it is officially released, and I had heard it from a reliable source also, should not mean the discussion is not warranted.

There would have been a good bunch of people involved with next years minors up to U16 where they went pretty much unbeaten for 3 years from U14 through to U16...... had a family member involved and they were well coached and drilled in everything from diets to strength and conditioning and football from U14 level and handed out a few trimmings to the likes of Meath, westmeath, Dublin and Louth among other counties in the process....Saw them in action a few times and they were impressive to watch....... It was their success in winning the Manning cup that gave rise to the expectations for minor this year under Paschal but that went a little pear shaped V the Dubs............ and with another decent bunch in U16 this year who reached the Manning cup final there are people there capable.......

It is more a case of if they would be a fit for the county board....... The group that won the Fr Manning cup (next yrs minors) had coaches with strong pedigrees in coaching young players at schools level and some had strong background in fitness training. One of them has been involved in shamrocks Leinster minor success while another was a fitness trainer / coach with the seniors under Kevin Kilmurray and more have done work at club adult and schools level. This years 16's team had two former county players in the set-up............ Whoever gets it, it should be done quick and fast and have someone with a bit of know how to get up and moving like other counties as the talent is there to do very well if managed and coached properly......

Chris wrote:Lone shark

I admire your journalistic tendencies to view everything that is unconfirmed by the county board as "unsubstantiated rumour".....however, just because some posters on here have it before it is officially released, and I had heard it from a reliable source also, should not mean the discussion is not warranted.

It's not about shutting down discussion at all - of all the managers that were involved with Offaly teams over the past few years, I doubt that any have won as many people over as Paschal, so of course it's immensely disappointing that he's not going to continue in the job for another year. Equally there will be situations where people will be aware before it's officially announced, and as long as they consider the feelings of the people involved when posting, and qualify their post with whatever caveats are required, I'd generally be okay with it.

My comment was more in reaction to this line

county board is doing everything it can to drive all the good guys with a bit of enthusiasm away

That's a big sweeping statement, echoing a view that wouldn't be shared by too many. There are those who think the county board is responsible for everything that's wrong in Offaly GAA and there are those who think they are blameless, but the vast majority of people, me included, would fall somewhere in the middle. I also know this - that of all the Offaly intercounty teams that took the field this year, this group was given as much if not more support than any of them. I would certainly say with a reasonable degree of conviction that there was more resources sunk into this group than there has been into a minor team for a long time. If Paschal's not in a position to move forward in the job next year then that's a matter for him and his family, but I very much doubt that this is one that can be laid at the doorstep of those big bad wolves in O'Connor Park.

We should just put out the Ferbane minor team for Offaly next year !! They hammered a very poor Edenderry side today , surely Ferbane can turn another underage success into producing a good Senior side that can challenge for a senior title soon.

On either team today had either team any players who play senior

Any word on management for Minor Football team yet??
According to other teams in Leinster, we're one of the very few still yet to find a manager. This team this year has the potential to do big things but right management and support from the County Board must be there also, if this team will succeed in winning anything next year.

mickey wrote:On either team today had either team any players who play senior

Young Mahon on the Edenderry team played in senior county final this year he has the making of a good footballer , other than that I wouldn't really know any of the lads from Ferbane , I'm sure loneshark might .

Can these players keep coming back from final defeats though? Confidence muSt be low, hope someday Eden derry can make the break through. The seniors will never set the world on fire with talent bit they have fair heart.hope minors follow suit

Ferbane were well worth the win but edenderry never turned up....... these lads have had loads of success now and years above them have had it too at underage.....It is time ferbane started reaching county finals and semis at senior now on a regular basis........ to me they havent harvested the talent there at all.....U 21 has not been looked after from what i see and a lot of their talent will go missing if they dont start to compete at the top table soon......

kingscounty wrote:

mickey wrote:On either team today had either team any players who play senior

Young Mahon on the Edenderry team played in senior county final this year he has the making of a good footballer , other than that I wouldn't really know any of the lads from Ferbane , I'm sure loneshark might .

To my knowledge, Mikey Butler and Jack Egan are the only ones that would have played senior for Ferbane so far. Ronan McEvoy started for Shannonbridge most (if not all?) of the year in the IFC too.