Offaly Minor Hurling Management 2010

[GreatDayForTheParish]

The following is from Hoganstand.com:

'Former Laois senior boss Damien Fox has been appointed coach to next year's Offaly minor hurling team.

The Tullamore man will link up with manager Joe Cleary from Shinrone after their appointments were ratified at last night's county board meeting. Three selectors will be confirmed later this week.

The new management team takes over from Johnny Pilkington, Ronnie Byrne, Roy Mannion and Noel Russell, who endured a disappointing 2009 when the Faithful County suffered a surprise Leinster championship exit at the hands of Westmeath.

Meanwhile, Fox is preparing his Castletown-Geoghegan charges for Sunday's Westmeath SHC semi-final against Lough Lene Gaels.'



Great to see this being sorted out early unlike what happened to the U-21 hurling management this year. A good setup in my opinion and a drastic improvement (on paper anyway!) over the previous managment. This grade really needs to receive the correct and deserved attention that has been lacking for some time. The results over the last few years haven't done justice to the talent in the county.

I would like to wish the management team the best of luck next year in what will be a new deacde and hopefully a fresh start for Offaly hurling.

[Bord na Mona man]

Best of luck to them.
We really need a gee up at minor.
Losing to Carlow and Westmeath will become a habit of the rot continues.
Fox's experience (though not ultimately successful) managing Leix should stand to him.

[uibhfhaili]

Best of luck to them.
We really need a gee up at minor.
Losing to Carlow and Westmeath will become a habit of the rot continues.
Fox's experience (though not ultimately successful) managing Leix should stand to him.

Given the v impressive displays by Westmeath in the recent All Ire U16 we'll be doing well to keep it underdouble figures. Fox is a decent sort, knows his stuff. As for his predecessor the less said the better.

[old yellar]

damien is a very good coach and will give it everything. Rem, both ourselves, carlow, and westmeath have beaten ye deservedly over the last 2 years. No bad refereeing etc, just bet on the day by a better team. Both of us are putting in a lot of good work at ubderage and it has to pay off fair eventually. it has been neglected a bit in offaly but also the talent maybe isnt what is was. the minor management can take some blame but more work needs to go at schools level to bridge the gap- birr this year were competitive for the first time in a while this year in colleges a, and banagher college were there or there abouts in the voc schools competition. perhaps the idea of an offaly colleges team is now worth looking at, like the north offaly idea.. just a thought.. and yes westmeath are a cracking team at u16 this year..

[Lone Shark]

damien is a very good coach and will give it everything. Rem, both ourselves, carlow, and westmeath have beaten ye deservedly over the last 2 years. No bad refereeing etc, just bet on the day by a better team. Both of us are putting in a lot of good work at ubderage and it has to pay off fair eventually. it has been neglected a bit in offaly but also the talent maybe isnt what is was. the minor management can take some blame but more work needs to go at schools level to bridge the gap- birr this year were competitive for the first time in a while this year in colleges a, and banagher college were there or there abouts in the voc schools competition. perhaps the idea of an offaly colleges team is now worth looking at, like the north offaly idea.. just a thought.. and yes westmeath are a cracking team at u16 this year..

In fairness OY, I don't think anyone would argue that either of those results were utterly deserved. I think if there was any sense of injustice or anything like that it would have been seen as a mitigating factor, but it's the very fact that they were comprehensive results that has led to such a sense of crisis at this age group.

I'd disagree with an Offaly colleges team myself. We already amalgamate a lot of schools into the North Offaly team, including my own alma mater which would be nowhere near North Offaly. That leaves pretty much four teams - Birr, Banagher, Kilcormac and North Offaly, not including the few lads that would play with Cistercian in Roscrea. That means that you've only about 80/90 lads in the county hurling over the winter - which is more than low enough. It would be better for those to be playing and struggling to compete than to only have twenty five lads hurling all with the one team - and possibly still losing to one of the Kilkenny schools, thus sending a really bad psychological message.

[GreatDayForTheParish]

Evidently this is a fantastic appointment by the county baord, if the sedate reaction of this forum is anything to go by!
Almost two years there was absolute pandemonium on uibhfhaili.com when the previous management was announced; viewtopic.php?t=1544. As I recall, grown men cried, insults were traded not one person 'thought of the children'.

Another example (as if one was needed), that if you hold any sort of public office and people aren't marching on the streets, then you're doing a sterling job. Nothing better to make a people angry and noisy than bad or controversial decisions; and nothing better to sedate a people than good ones!

[Lone Shark]

Evidently this is a fantastic appointment by the county baord, if the sedate reaction of this forum is anything to go by!
Almost two years there was absolute pandemonium on uibhfhaili.com when the previous management was announced; viewtopic.php?t=1544. As I recall, grown men cried, insults were traded not one person 'thought of the children'.

Another example (as if one was needed), that if you hold any sort of public office and people aren't marching on the streets, then you're doing a sterling job. Nothing better to make a people angry and noisy than bad or controversial decisions; and nothing better to sedate a people than good ones!

In fairness, we'll only really know if pandemonium is on the cards when Offaly's Future comes on board to tell us what he thinks...

[old yellar]

About the colleges thing lone shark, if you ve been following the colleges scene, you ll know that kilcormac lads were in with the offaly north before. Secondly at this level, you can almalgamate and play in the higher grade as long as you re not playing in that grade too. As in they could all go together in colleges A and then play in their own grade in colleges b/c. If you look at the Dublin model, you ll see that no Dublin school on its own has played in recent times in the Senior colleges A. A couple (2/3) compete on their own at colleges b, with improving results- 2 of them played out the b leinster final this year. The most play in an internal Dublin competition, with the winners playing in leinster. The cooleges has benfitted them no end. The use this model all the way down the grades and it seems to be working.I just feel at some stage you have to look at quality over quantity. We need lads playing at the highest level. We ve had some lads from the tullamore/kilcormac schools, good hurlers, who are playing at vocational school b in recent years. We ve ferbane who dont field in competition at all yet they are in the area of a senior club. Banagher are playing Voc A and do well, but i m afraid colleges A is where it is at at senior level. Birr did well this year but have had some ropey days there. Roscrea CC are in the voc a and have had some success as with borrisokane. The Cistercian have v few offaly lads in their ranks now. Its hard to expect lads to raise their games in a few months having played poor games during the year.. Just my thoughts!