OFFALY V CAVAN.

[Georgio1]

Hats off to the lads for a fine display today! After the shambles of last week this was a big improvement. They worked hard and kicked some great scores. Also with the way results have gone today a defeat would almost certainly have spelled relegation.
Mulhall played well, and tried to direct his kickouts, saved a penalty and pulled off a great save at a vital stage during the second half.
Evans, poor positional sense cost him dearly, gave away the penalty and got the yellow as a result. Too long around without delivering, (bar the game against Laois), too slow. Might be needed for the rest of league because we have no options but will be destroyed in championship at this rate.
Quinn, solid performance, but may have to slot in at full back, might suit him better.
Brian Darby, not his biggest fan but I thought the lad played well.
Lonergan, not his best game but generally ok. Carried a lot of ball out the field and delivered quite well.
Rafferty, I criticised him big time over the last few games , but to give him his due he was dogged and was not exposed pace wise.
Matt Mitchell gave a much improved performance and kicked a massive point in the first half.
Slatts played most of the game in defence covering in front of Seanie Johnston, and did well especially in the second half and carried the ball brilliantly.
Alan Mcnamee, a brutal performance, where will he go from here? Good against Louth, but offered nothing last week and again today.
McManus, slow start, but this was his best display for a long time, free taking was great, and his energy, and the way he broke the ball intelligently was impressive.
Conor Carroll, worked hard but not a wing forward, might have offered more around the middle than Super, and should get the chance there the next day.
Niall Smith, another good display and is a vital part of tis teams hopes now, and a guy who will captain the team in the next couple of years..
Deehan, great display, showed well and played a part in a lot of scores.
Niall Darby, a bundle of energy and he kicked some good scores. Close to man of the match.
Niall Mc, Back close to his best, missed some chances, but won great ball, won the penalty, and set of Shaper for the clinching goal.
Subs
Sulivan was ok when he came on for Evans. But was black booked early again in the second half and I felt he was too loose.
Shaper, took his goal well.
Sean Ryan, worked hard, but turned over ball to cost 2 scores at crucial stages.

Absolutely pathetic support for Offaly. Jayz lads, is there any interest out there at all? I know we were poor last week, and I presume all the new rugby fans were nursing hangovers, or nursing their Mammy's but still. I would say not many more there than travelled to Tipp last Sunday.
Lads will be giving out yards about this team without having seen them play.
County Board need to seriously look at ways of improving attendances.

[Bord na Mona man]

Agree with Georgio's assessment.
It was good to see Offaly using the boot a bit more to get on the attack.
Especially in the first half where they had the wind.

It was worrying all the same that Cavan drew level in the 2nd half and with wind advantage would have been favourites to pull ahead. However Offaly showed good grit to pull away again.

Special mention must go to:
Mulhall - two good save including the penalty.
McManus - covered the ground. was back behind his full back making vital interceptions and driving the team. His pressure frees into the wind were good ones.
Smith - Went into the clouds to cath the kickouts. He looks like he's peddling an invisible bike to get himself launched into the air.
Thomas Deehan - Showed for the ball like he was doing 3 years ago and was lively. Was even chasing back into his own half.
Niall Darby - Great boot on him and knocked over nice points.
Niall Mc - Is getting on the ball more and with a bit more training should be able to get away from his markers when he sells the dummy.

I'd still worry about the ease in which Offaly concede scores, Cavan didn't have many attacks but generally punished Offaly. Also midfield needs to be addressed too.

[Lone Shark]

Very encouraging display all round. I don't think Cavan were any great shakes, however this still could easily have gone very wrong for us when they tied the match up at 12 apiece with the breeze at their backs and it's to the credit to the lads that they dug in and bossed the game from then to the finish. After having to scratch my head at a few of the decisions that were made last week, I will also doff my cap to the management for a few of the calls they made this time around:

(1) McManus belongs at midfield. He still covered countless yards, made vital contributions at both ends of the field and simply cannot be put anywhere else. Smith's fielding now gives us the option of a good and balanced two man midfield.
(2) I wondered about the selection of Niall Darby at full forward, however it worked really well - when he got the ball he was close enough to be able to do damage rather than 60 yards out from goal on the wing, while he still used his freedom very well. Nice to have another scoring option too.
(3) Ger Raff at centre back was excellent - held his ground really well when Cavan lads came running through the middle, while he was completely on top of Lyng all day. Good positioning, good play.
(4) I've great time for Slattery as a free man in the back line - he reads the game very well, gets involved under the kickouts and still gets forward on occasion. More importantly, he's well able to cover defensively if someone loses their man and it's no coincidence that Seanie Johnston barely got free all day because Slatts was always there to help out.

However, and I hate to bring up the elephant in the room, but I do want to see what others think.

How long can we keep picking Alan McNamee?

Now I understand that he's not long back from Australia, but that would be fine if he was playing well for the county for years before this - he hasn't been. He hasn't played well in an Offaly shirt for years now and his lackadaisacal attitude is heartbreaking. He makes no attempt to tackle, he never seems to break out of a jog and his tracking is simply shocking. Hugh Coughlan ran the show last week while McNamee was supposedly marking him. He slows the game down all too often as well while I can't remember the last time he caught three balls in the one game. Niall Smith has fielded more balls in the last two games than I'd say McNamee has in two years. Yesterday he was jumping with his head down, jumping with one hand and all sorts of other weird styles that sure as hell don't end up with you catching the ball.

I'm open to being told I'm wrong here, but I haven't seen Alan McNamee play well against a half decent opponent for years (even the most ardent Tullamore fan would tell you that midfield was a problem area for them last year so please don't bring up the county final or the group game between the two - when he came up against Jimmy Grennan or John Ryan, two county standard players but both well past their best, he was cleaned) so I really can't see why he's still on the county team. My thoughts on his "player of the year" award last year are well documented - he would not have been in my top 50, while I wouldn't say he would have been in Rhode's top ten.

I'd love for someone to come in and stand up for him here and I hate getting bogged down on individual players, but this is getting beyond a joke now. I honestly think this collective blind spot is one of the biggest problems facing Offaly football right now - not into the future, but now.

[bracknaghboy]

I'm open to being told I'm wrong here

.

That won't be happening because you are 100% correct about Alan. Every player has off days now and then but he annoys me because on many days in the last 3 years he simply hasn't looked interested. He makes no attempts to play himself into games (i.e. no runs, hits or making himself available).

I've spoken about Connor Evans not being up to it for a while now but at least Evans does makes an honest effort. Hoever the first requirment of a good full back is to be able to be tight and Evans never gets anywhere close to his man. I think he stands off his man in an attempt to gain an advantage on him due to his lack of pace but that more often than not gets him in even bigger trouble when his man gets the ball. Despite this going on for years now he keeps getting picked so my point is dont hold hold your breath when it comes to Alan Mc getting dropped. There seems to be culture in Offaly that once picked you're there until you retire. With a few exceptions year after year you will get called back.

One last thing........finally McManus does not start at #3 or #14 and he plays a right good game and we get the win. Why did it take the experts that pick this team so long to see that he ain't a full back or full forward. Sometimes you have to wonder whats going on in lads heads that name these sides. Lets win the next 2 games and get promoted

[Superted]

Great response yesterday to last wks defeat! McManus was fantastic, covering great ground and knocking over important frees at a crucial stage of the game and trackin back in the full-back line. As for alan McNamee, I dont to persecute a fella , but he another shocker, its like as if he is doin a light jog around the place. smyth and mcmanus should be our midfield pairing going forward!

[the bare biffo]

I havent seen them play this year at all so I am not qualified to say too much, but two general comments I'd like to make.

Against Louth and now Cavan, they have won seemingly through digging in and refusing to yield. This is something that has been missing from this team for a long time. I can forgive lack of ability so long as it is not matched by lack of effort. And I think in divisions 3 and 4 effort and guts go a long way.

Secondly regarding Alan McNamee. Is my memory failing or would it be fair to say that probably the last good season Alan put i was when they got to the Leinster final. And would it be fair comment to say that Alan was a big part of the reasons for that "relatively" successful year. If so, then I just wonder what has happened in the meantime. If he was capable of performing at a high level then, sureley he is capable of getting back there again. Whatever buttons Tom Cribbin and his team need to push I just hope they find them soon because Offaly can't afford to discard a player who has shown he has the ability.

Next weeks game against Down is now huge. A chance to right the wrongs of last years qualifier and put themselves in striking distance of a promotion place.

[offalycork]

hi guys,

at both the cavan and tipp games and also have to agree alan mcnamee would not make the rhode team never mind the offaly team in my book. Mcmanus and smith in the middle of the field for me. i hate this management thing as well that if a player isn't playing well in his position they move him to another instead of taking them off straight away. what i mean is carrol and mcnamee are midfielders and if they are not good enough fot that position they should be on the bench. carroll has potential but not this year. we beat a very poor cavan side and the game against down and limerick will tell us alot more about this team and there will to win important matches. i will be travelling from cork to down on saturday so hopefully a few more from offaly will travel as they will need all the support they can get up there. i said at the beginning of the year that if we stayed in division 3 it would not be a bad year when you think of where we were only a few months ago. does anyone know if neville coughlan is fit as he was on the bench on sunday and would'nt he be beneficial to us on the half forward line? good to see kildare beaten at the weekend as well.

[Georgio1]

"I havent seen them play this year at all so I am not qualified to say too much, but two general comments I'd like to make"

Bare Biffo, at least you admit that. You are definitely not alone in not havin seen them play!
I would feel that everything Lone Shark has said about Alan Mc is true, as I said earlier he was brutal yesterday and his body language says he just dont want to be there. And he is our Captain?

[Kemo Sabe]

id be the first to admit that alan mc hasnt being playing well this year or for the past few years for that mather .but how can lads come on here and have a go at him when they cant be bothered to go and support the team .its that attitude that has us out numbered at every single game we have played this year even our home games .says it all really .

[Lone Shark]

id be the first to admit that alan mc hasnt being playing well this year or for the past few years for that mather .but how can lads come on here and have a go at him when they cant be bothered to go and support the team .its that attitude that has us out numbered at every single game we have played this year even our home games .says it all really .

Kemo I'll be the first to agree with you that the support this year has been very disappointing, however I think it's quite forgiveable in the sense that people do have other things to do, and if the county team don't give off the impression that they're busting a gut to win, why should supporters bust a gut to give of their free time and spare cash to follow them? Now as it happens the lads did put in a wholehearted effort, but the same could not have been said of the Roscommon game at all, while the story going around is that the lads had a hoor of a training session the morning of the Tipp game.

I'd be the first to encourage people to go and I genuinely hope that they do, both to Newry and to Tullamore for the final game against Limerick, but I won't castigate them for not doing so when it's a little bit of a lottery whether the team and management are trying or not. However I have faith that this current set up has the bigger picture in mind, and I believe they will deserve our enthusiastic support in the summer - and hopefully they'll get it.

However this is unconnected to the McNamee point - anyone who has gone into this issue has been people who have been at the games. Bare Biffo was not in attendance so he stayed somewhat neutral, except to point out that there is football in McNamee if we can rediscover how to get it out - a point that most of us were aware of, yet is still well worth making.

Regarding "having a go" at him, well I won't lie, I left it for an hour before uploading the post for the simple reason that I hate doing it - however my line (rightly or wrongly) has always been that issues on the field are what this board is there for, and as long as this doesn't descend into speculating on the causes for his current slump in form, then it's fair game. It's not like how players are performing goesn't get about anyway.

Let's face it, every time anyone speculates about what kind of team that they'd like to see lining out for Offaly in the championship, they implicitly criticise any of the fringe players that they leave off. Right now Alan McNamee doesn't warrant a place on form IN MY OPINION and as such I wanted to see if my opinion held any support.

Against Louth and now Cavan, they have won seemingly through digging in and refusing to yield. This is something that has been missing from this team for a long time. I can forgive lack of ability so long as it is not matched by lack of effort. And I think in divisions 3 and 4 effort and guts go a long way.

Sums it up perfectly. That was why some of the games of the past twelve months have been so heartbreaking - there has always been another layer of effort in this Offaly team, and if that's not good enough (as it may not be against what appears to be a very decent Kildare team) then so be it, they'll still get the thanks of every right thinking supporter. Games like Roscommon this year, Down last year and a couple the year before weren't in that vein at all though.

[bula bula]

As has been said Alan MacNamee has not being doing it in the county jersey for quite a while now and is occupying a place that surely someone with perhaps not as much talent but willing to give his all and leave everything on the pitch would give their left arm for. I am still of the opinion that a fully fit and commited Super would give us something that no-one else in the county can but for some reason this does not look like happening at the present time. I think this is up to the management to get the best out of all players and I hope that Cribben will eventually get him back playing to his potential. This is the reason I believe that he is being kept in the team. He is being given every chance and I would hope that if he is still not putting in the effort or his performances have not improved then he will be dropped. Time will tell whether present management are going to be persuaded by reputations or not.

[Johnno81]

Coming out of O'Connor Park last Sunday, I was satisfied with the performance from the lads especially when they were dead to the world in Thurles the sunday before. Heard sunday night, that they had a hard session on the saturday and another that morning. Words were said to management after the match and it was agreed to tone it down before matches. You have to give credit to them for digging deep when cavan had them on the ropes despite cavan being a very average team. If they beat down a few weeks back, it surely has to give us hope of getting something from newry this saturday.

And also, is it true that the match is been shown on saturday night?? This wont stop me from headin up but with our "support" in the league this year, I presume it will be the diehards that will travel up. Its the same old faces you see at away matches and that applies to tullamore as well. Probably with all the crap that has gone on in offaly football, people have given up on them!!! But from seeing the louth and cavan matches, there is football in this team and I for one will definitely not abandon them!!!

[black and red exile]

Im in agreement with Kemo Sabe. There is too much of a follow the sheep mentality when it comes to kicking Alan McNamee when he is down. I firmly believe that the heavy training Offaly are doing at the moment does not suit him at all. Lat year when Offaly were knocked out of the championship Super was given time off and came back a different man which resulted in man of the match performances in our own senior championship and the Leinster campaign for his club. Now he probably won't get the same leeway right now because of his lack of fitness but i've a feeling our new manager will work with him to get him right for the championship, it probably wouldn't do him any harm to be dropped for a couple of games to get his head right.
The bottom line is that Super is still our best option as a midfield partnership with Niall Smith and it doesn't help matters when every Tom, Dick and Harry are on his back over his poor form because Im pretty sure that nobody knows better than himself that he is not up to pace right now. Why not just leave the guy alone and stop taking a pop at him at every opportunity. Finally Kemo Sabe is also spot on with people that are not even going to the games running down our players. Our County is riddled with these armchair supporters and they are just not worth bothering about.

[Kemo Sabe]

i think satanta are showing it not sure if its deferred covarage though.its gas if all the users on this site went to games im sure we wouldnt have such bad support .id say we are in the bottom 5 supported counties in ireland and for a county with our great tradtion thats shocking .i suppose as loneshark said why should supporters bust a gut to follow them .after all they are only repersenting our county ,no big deal there eh .

[keephercountry]

I was disgusted last summer when we were out supported in the championship by Westmeath supporters and then to be outshouted by down suppporters.I know the hurlers were playing the same day as the football but there didnt seem to be to many supporrtes at that either even by looking at sharks home page you can see that.
I think its hard also to try and make league matches when your involved with clubs as club league matches fall around the same times as county games.there cant be much done about that really as there are only so many days in a week but it contributes to poor attendence.
I think the main reason of poor attendance however is because us Ofally people were used to playing the best teams around a while back and we just arnt intrested in travelling to places like thurlus when you feel in your heart we might struggle.looking back at the killmurray era we had great support when we were playing the best in the land with reasnablile chance of winning.Its a shame but I think untill we are back playing at that level we wont see support.