Jaysus, twas only yesterday I was thinking to myself that I haven't had a good ould row with True Red in an age......
I'm the first to admit that I've wanted to see the guy tried at county level for a good while. He came onto the scene at 18/19, was very good, then for some reason went off the boil at 21 which was when everyone was keeping an eye on him. Playing London is just too weak an opposition to really judge him. However for the last couple of years he has made a decent impact in Sigerson cup matches. Another big bugbear of mine is that I am a firm believer that Sigerson/Fitzgibbon cup is the closest thing to intercounty championship that there, and if baffles me how Offaly management can ignore it so much. Rory Guinan got picked for AIT while Ken Casey was sitting on the bench, yet Casey is on the senior panel and indeed the team for large chunks while Guinan twiddles his thumbs. Doesn't make sense to me.
My whole thing is not that I'd pick him if we had a championship game in the morning - my point is that in contrast with the amount of chances that some have got Rory hasn't really been given a chance to bed in. I'd like to see him get a run in the league, play three games in next year's division four and then go from there. If he proves to be not up to the standard, as so many here believe, then grand. It's just frustrating when you think that deep down the guy has something and he's dismissed on the strength of challenge match football.
David Larkin would be an outside shout as midfielder to say the least, but I'll say this - he will spoil a better fielder than he is himself, if you get my drift. The week before Doon played Ferbane in a challenge match, and while Larkin was marking him Grennan only caught one ball. Now I'm not saying Jim Grennan is a county standard midfielder any more, but he's still the best fielder in Offaly club football. Larkin got in his way every time, broke ball and tackled well. Again, maybe it's enough raw material to work with.
That said, he's not lazy - but he isn't quick. At all.
I didn't mean to say he was lazy just that he looked lazy. I really think that a lad like Larkin might be what's needed, he's young enough to work with and has strength which we're missing in a big way. Of all the midfielders I say at the weekend Jimmy Grennan was the only one that went up and came down with a clean catch a few times. John Ryan was the only one that was close. That's not giving me hope for the middle of the park!
Is this the same John O'Hara who was involved with the Dublin minors a few years ago? His father is a Clara man but he was raised in Skerries. He is strong, quick and has potential. Hopefully he will get involved with the county scene later in the year.
It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe - Muhammad Ali
Maybe a stupid question but I don't suppose Pat Roe or any newly appoint selectors have been seen around the eplace doing what you lads are doing ?
Are you mad? I reckon an auld look into the message board would be a help to them.
Anyone know how ye'd get a job as a selector on the Senior team? We could nominate someone here and funnel all ideas through that person. I'm being serious now. Getting a job as a manager would be impossible but I reckon a selector job couldn't be that hard, it did take them half the year to get the last selector last year!
Yep, I think you have the right John O'Hara. To be honest, I'm surprised that you're only picking up on him now. He had a very good year for Clara last year in what was his first year with the club. He showed well in both the County Final and Semi-Final.
The Dog chases the Car....the Car stops....the Dog can't Drive!
rory guinan was struggling with injury last sunday, if he was fully fit he would have been playing at no.11, not corner foward.
if he is given his chance he'd be agreat no.12 for offaly.
i have the match programme from the carlow game beside me and im going to say yes/no/maybe on whether in my opinion they should be back next year!
players id like to see getting a chance: keily, d.kelly(erin), molloy(sham) cunningham(sham) dalton(eden) b.darby, m.cassidy, heavey (all rhode) o'grady (tul)
I was at two games at the weekend, Erin Rovers vs Shannonbridge and Ferbane vs Tubber. In the first match it was nearly too wet to judge, and it certainly would be harsh to rule anyone out on the strength of it. My final impressions were:
Rovers
Declan Kelly covered a lot of ground and scored two points but wasn't on the ball enough for my liking. He was also up against a very young Shannonbridge half back line and should have taken them on a lot more. As I said, jury's out, but didn't enhance his cause.
Alan Lynam was very busy and Dinger never game him a free all day desptie Bridge lads hanging out of him. Should feature prominently for the under 21's next year.
Richie Fox was my man of the match. Had real good presence at centre back, never let any Shannonbridge runners get past him and used the ball well. Would need to improve his marking though.
Shannonbridge
Jason Kelly - in a word, no. Failed to score, didn't really lead his team and was all too quiet.
Ciarán Flannery (I have the right one this time) still offers a lot of pace, but conditions did not suit him. Tried hard though - I think he's still under 21 next year, and if he is he'll be in the shake up.
Niall Price was a little shaky - he didn't let Alan Lynam run riot, but he did give away a couple of sloppy possessions. Can't say I'd be going along with him either.
As for Ferbane vs Tubber, despite it being a much better game, you couldn't pick out many stars. John Mollen continues to improve, but he's still very selfish with the ball - but he should have been used a lot more. Saran Butler lost nothing in defeat, he couldn't have been faulted for any of McGuiness's scores, while Colm Gavin and Paul Rosney were very good. Paul is probably a bit far on to be brought into a county panel now, but by Christ they fought for every ball and won loads that they weren't entitled to. If every one of our current county players had the heart of these two we'd be a long way forward.
On the Tubber side, it was all about McManus. I hate singling out one guy for such a team display, but he covered every inch, he scored two great points from play and nailed three fantastic frees - the winning one was as good as I've seen. Has to be a central position for the county - just has to be. Other than him, Eddie Kavanagh played well at centre forward but no-one else looked like county standard. [/b]
Shamrocks vs Tullamore - nobody stood out too much and a lot of county players looked very ordinary. It might have been the conditions because there was a lot of misty rain. The best displays were proably in defence. Tommy Coughlan marked Sean Martin very well and James Keane was very good on P.J.Ward although over-confident in his use of the ball. The Mooneys and Gary Heffernan also played well while Shane Dooley looked he could do well with the right supply.
Rhode vs Gracefield - this was more of a showpiece for players because it was an open, flowing game with plenty of scores. Niall McNamee was majestic, waking up visibly when Gracefield took an early six point lead and going on to give a Man-of -the Match performance. Ciaran Kiely did nothing wrong on him and blocked his solo runs cleverly as Niall tried to go past him but played him mainly from behind. The two Slattery corner backs were their usual competent, combative selves.
Niall Smith was o.k. at midfield, making a few great catches and linking up well. His partner Padraig Duffy looked very promising at times and looks like one for the future. John Knight also had his moments. The full forward line of John O'Neill and the two Fitzpatricks began very well but in the second half the Rhode backs had them well-contained.
On the Rhode side everybody played well but nobody bar Niall would knock your eye out. Mark Kavanagh looked very comfortable in goals. Eoghan Byrne was good when moved to corner back. Joe Kilmurray impressed at centre back. The Darbys and Roy Malone were busy. Shane Sullivan made a few great catches - he's one of the best fielders in the county as also, incidentally, is James Keane. Pascal Kelleghan showed his hot-headed side.
Gracefield impressed as a team, very fit and focused, with no obvious weak links even though they were missing Karol Slattery.
If I was to pick out a few potentials and regulars from yesterday....
(1) Declan Hennessy. Couldn't be faulted for either of the two goals, made at least one fine stop and dealt with a lot of tricky high balls very well. (i.e. attacked aggressively and woe betide anything that got in his way - gotta respect that) Kickout was solid as well in less than tricky conditions. The goalie jersey is certainly open and I'd be open to considering Hennessy right now.
(2) Tommy Fitzpatrick. Did fade out a bit in the second half, but he can forage, he can pick out a pass and he can take a score when he gets the chance. Needs to improve fitness and consistency, but he has enough talent to warrant a call into the county panel for the winter at least.
(3) John O'Neill. The jury's out. We know he's accurate and he did really well when he got good ball - and did feck all with bad ball. I'd be worried he'd run up a few big tallies against bad teams and then disappear on a hard day. That's possibly harsh, but even so. Possibly deserves the nod ahead of a few others, but right now he'd still be down my list.
(4) Niall Smith. He's not the finished product yet, but I think he's the closest we have. Obviously you don't like saying this to any player, but i'd be strongly tempted to say to him that the jersey is his for 2008 barring a savage loss of form. Make sure he's not looking over his shoulder and see does hegrow into it.
(5) Stephen Egan. This guy is developing into a classy defender. I've always rated him, but he's beginning to look right at home playing senior club football. Not sure if he's still under 21 next year, but I really hope Deehan plays against Clara and Egan marks him - it'll be a clash worth watching.
(6) Paul McConway. Slowly making his way back from injury - came into the game as it went on. Finding his form again.
(7) James Keane. Christ he really can't shoot. He can pretty much do everything else though. Very solid.
(8) Kieran Hogan. Not involved enough at all for my liking. Caught one ball all day at midfield. Midfielders are the late maturing type so obviously he could be a county player yet, but not in 2008 based on anything I've seen.
(9) Seán Martin. Ater raving about him before, had a very bad day. Will need to redeem himself from here on in.
(10) Shane Dooley. Got two goal chances that he'd never get against better defences, one from indecision and the other from Slattery not having the time to let the forward get out in front and defend normally. He'll be a hurler first.
(11) Gearóid O'Grady. Chin strokingly interesting. The lad can take points, and he never hid. Rugby would obviously mean he's physically robust, so I'd be keeping an eye.
(12) Shane Sullivan. Did okay on Noel Browne, as I suspected he would, but Browne still got one goal and should have won two frees of Sullivan. Good hands, hopefully will play himself back into form with Rhode. Been a hard year for this lad, he deserves to get back on track.
(13) Eoghan Byrne. Assured, calm, reasonable delivery, just not looking to take on responsibility the way you wish he would. Needs the bigger tests.
(14) Alan McNamee. The more I see of this guy the less I think he's worth his place on the county panel, never mind the team. I don't remember him catching one ball yesterday, and twice he went up and turned his back to the ball with predictable results. He was also the only Rhode player to react to Tubber intimidation too and could have got a red card. (He did something, McManus went down - a guy below us said it was a punch, but he was a Tubber guy we didn't know, so I wouldn't say it was Gospel) The more interesting bit was that he had one possession for the rest of the game.
(15) Niall Darby. This guy is coming on in leaps and bounds. Didn't have a good shooting day yesterday, but he showed for the ball time and again. If he works on the frees he definitely has an intercounty future - will play under 21 next year barring injury.
(16) Paschal Kelleghan. Kicked four beautiful points, and resisted more of the Tubber provocation. That's the good bit. Also spent a good chunk of the game immobile with his hands on his hips. That's the bad bit. Has the talent to be one of the best footballers in Leinster, but stubbornly refuses to change his attitude. I personally wouldn't pick him, but it's a divisive issue and I can appreciate the opposite point of view.
(17) Niall McNamee. An absolute joy to watch who can't kick frees. Nothing new there then.
(18) Lee Dunning. Now here's a name I didn't think I'd be putting on this list, but he was moved on to Niall in the second half and Niall never scored from play, despite being one on one with Dunning for large chunks as Tubber pushed up. Obviously Niall didn't have great delivery, but Dunning hung in there and had one great block in the first half. Could be the type that would do better within a better team.
(19) Ciarán McManus. Such a pity he's not a fielder, because he needs to be in a central position. For the second time in a row he took on the work of about three men, as well as scoring three great points. This craic of naming him wing forward has to stop. He's either number 9 or number 11 (or possibly 6) and that's the be all and end all to my mind.
That's it really. Aaron Farrell has really impressed with me as a minor and I hope whatever injury he did to himself that it's not severe, while I was delighted to see James Guinan have good game after a few tough days at the office, but no-one else other than those on that list above should come close to a county senior or under 21 panel. Hopefully several of those above won't either.
Superb analysis LS on Alan McNamee, this guy has never stamped his authority on a game with Offaly and this year he's not even doing it with Rhode. I don't know if its burn out, lack of interest or both but unless he has a serious attitude change in the very near future then surely his days as an county player are surely at an end. This guy is one of the players that turned my stomach with his '' I could'nt be bothered in going for a ball attitude'' in Aughrim on July 7th last and its just my opinion but I certainly wouldn't shed any tears If we don't see him again.
I'd be slow enough to blame any players for Aughrim - obviously I don't agree with the notion of ever phoning it in while wearing the county jersey, but if McNamee was on the back of a good year where he had physically competed with the Whelans and Seamie O'Niells that he came up against then I'd find it easy enough to absolve.
The truth of it is that we seem to be leaving him in the county team simply because no other obvious alternatives are presenting themselves. He hasn't even dominated a club game in a couple of years in my recollection.
Rhode will probably have a few games over the winter, he has chances to prove he's back in form, but if he doesn't feature a hell of a lot more prominently he's strong favourite to be the highest profile casualty of this supposed "cull".
Was very impressed by both Shane Dooley and Gearoid O'Grady the other day, Dooley is a great athlete, as is O'Grady! Unfortunately it would seem that both have a first preference for hurling in Dooley's case and rugby in O'Gradys. However, both should certainly get a chance if there is a cull like happened with the hurlers last year!!!
The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.
What about clubs that aren't senior? How often do their players get looked at?
Take the 3 parishes of Daingean & Killeigh & Clonbullogue.
Daingean,Kilclonfert,Ballycommon,Cappincur,Raheen,Killurin,Clonbullugue,Walsh Island,Bracknagh. (I could be missing one) Add Edenderry to that and you have 10 clubs that are not senior.
Has anyone ever investigated these clubs recently to see what players they have.
It's probably,.."he got a game for the county at minor, but sure he was no good" maybe so,..but players develop differently.
Cast the net further, have a Parish Senior Tournament early in the year, and get to see these players playing at a good level.
Are you mad? I reckon an auld look into the message board would be a help to them.
