That wasn't meant to blame the players. I wasn't actually trying to apportion blame in any direction, since unlike the underage football, I'm conscious of the fact that I don't know the players quite as well, so I don't know if management underachieved with what they had at their disposal or whether the raw material simply isn't there. My gut feeling is that there were three or four guys out there who looked painfully out of their depth at that level, and that no amount of preparation from February could have changed that.Sharp Eye wrote:It is most unfair to blame the players for last night's fiasco. Tipperary and Kilkenny had their Under 21 panels in place on February 1st last before Offaly appointed a most inexperienced manager. Tipperary with a limited panel were well prepared by Ken Hogan and have worked hard since last December. In Offaly the club under 21 hurling championship was arranged at a time that would most interfere with the county teams preparation. The Offaly fixtures secretary recently fixed an Under 21 football game between Wheery & Shannon Gaels which involved dual players from Birr, Belmont and St Rynaghs. All under 21 fixtures were cancelled during the campaign of the under 21 footballers. Players wont waste their time with our under 21 hurling panel unless there is a more professional approach. The under 21 footballers trained in Croghan at 6.30 in the mornings. Our hurling team did not look as well prepared last night. Unless the Offaly County Board appoint our under 21 management by October each year and fully support the management, we will be playing in the Christy Ring competition.Our younger players deserve the same coaching and training as those of Kilkenny & TippLone Shark wrote:
No bias in that. Lee was excellent and in general, Wexford thoroughly outplayed Offaly at midfield. I'd have made him man of the match too, though I thought that neither Gary Moore nor Diarmuid O'Keeffe were far off. It was an odd game actually. I felt that in a lot of sectors, Offaly were well matched - but we were just hopelessly outclassed in the middle of the field, while up front, I make it that our full forward line scored one point and won one free in the whole game. I know Quirke scored three from play, but two of those were after he was moved out to the half forward line. Equally Hannon seemed lively enough and there is a little bit of regret that he didn't get better ball to fight for, but the two corner positions were a black hole throughout the game.
From the point of view of Ollie Baker watching the match, I actually think he won't be too unhappy. Sean Coughlan was excellent at full back, and while Tom Carroll mixed the good with the headless, he never stopped trying and was another that looked decent. I don't think anyone else is really going to feature in his thoughts this year from this team.
Trying to wedge in a club underage competition spanning across exam time, underage county prep and college competitions is a nonsense for a lot of reasons. I would be firmly of the belief that it should be played in Sep/Oct/Nov, allowing young lads to carry on from training with their adult teams, and not up against either school or college exams. Play it as U20 and let selectors use it as a guide for the following year.
