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Interesting point about whether a hammering might be better in the long run.
If Offaly were to lose by a somewhat respectable margin, would it reinforce the belief that we can cruise along with slipshod preparation work?
If we got completely tanked, it would make it much easier for a manager to come in and make the players buck up big time for next year.

Still, heart ruling head, you'd be hoping get a much better result than the preparations warrant.

Niall McNamee ruled out of Offaly's championship opener

A groin injury has ruled Niall McNamee out of the Offaly side to face Kildare in the Leinster SFC quarter-final on Sunday next.

The influential forward had a limited run in the league due to the injury and his absence is a blow to the Faithful as they face the highly regarded Lilywhites.

McNamee’s brother Alan is a doubt for the Portlaoise clash with a calf-injury, while Niall Smyth, Richie Dalton and Nigel Dunne face fitness tests.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/football/20 ... are-clash/

Bord na Mona man wrote:Niall McNamee ruled out of Offaly's championship opener

A groin injury has ruled Niall McNamee out of the Offaly side to face Kildare in the Leinster SFC quarter-final on Sunday next.

The influential forward had a limited run in the league due to the injury and his absence is a blow to the Faithful as they face the highly regarded Lilywhites.

McNamee’s brother Alan is a doubt for the Portlaoise clash with a calf-injury, while Niall Smyth, Richie Dalton and Nigel Dunne face fitness tests.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/football/20 ... are-clash/

will we raise a flag at all

I'l bring a flag townman, thats one!!

raise a white flag and surrender !! niall is a huge loss , we would have had some hope if he were available but its hard to see where the scores will come from. if its wet sunday and conditions are poor it might slow kildare down but we dont have big fit players to even create a dog fight of a game. all we can do is wish the lads the best of luck and if they do their very best thats all we can ask.

I don't know how accurate this statement is. Niall formed part of a 2 man full forward line with Peter Cunningham in a challenge match last weekend against Waterford. Niall scored 2-2 and Peter scored 1-2.

fatlad wrote:I don't know how accurate this statement is. Niall formed part of a 2 man full forward line with Peter Cunningham in a challenge match last weekend against Waterford. Niall scored 2-2 and Peter scored 1-2.

you would be right thats where Niall Mac got hurt

Offaly team:
Mulhall;
Sullivan, Moloney, Pender;
B Darby, Brazil, Rigney;
A McNamee, Dalton;
Brady, Currams, Smith;
Casey, Guilfoyle, Sullivan

Lambs to the slaughter springs to mind.

I see Kildare are even money at -10. I presume they'll cover that if it's a fine day?

Bord na Mona man wrote:Offaly team:
Mulhall;
Sullivan, Moloney, Pender;
B Darby, Brazil, Rigney;
A McNamee, Dalton;
Brady, Currams, Smith;
Casey, Guilfoyle, Sullivan

i persume guilfoyle will switch with smith because its a bit silly having guilfoyle who will run all day standing in at full forward. i hope currams can keep up with the pace because morgan o flaherty likes to run and if hes at centre back he will attack all day long. these are the 15 who will step out sunday , il be at the game and wont be leaving when the hurling is over , its offaly and il follow them no matter what. its not going to be easy but i would hope that the majority of supporters would stay on and give them some sort of encouragement . it would be the shock of all shocks if we did beat kildare but by jaysus it would be sweet

Daniel Currams will become the 29th Offaly man to line out in Senior championship for Offaly in both hurling and football. He will also be the third from Kilcormac to do so, Liam Currams and Conor Mahon being the other two.

Bord na Mona man wrote:Offaly team:
Mulhall;
Sullivan, Moloney, Pender;
B Darby, Brazil, Rigney;
A McNamee, Dalton;
Brady, Currams, Smith;
Casey, Guilfoyle, Sullivan

Wouldnt be surprised to see Cunningham feature. Best young talent ive seen. As for dalton, hes a disaster. Its like Trap playing Mcshane against Spain. We have a few big men around the middle so hopefully we wont be muscled out of it. is Nialler even named on the bench????

I presume Guilfoyle is going to play in the 'not at all predictable' withdrawn role and leave Casey and Anton inside? I have a sense of foreboding about this game I've never had for Offaly footballers at all.

The key to how this pans out will be our forwards ability to close down the Kildare defenders, here i have a real fear with Smyth, DAlton, Guilfoyle, Brady, Alan Mc not renowned for their tacking and tracking of runs. If they dont do this Kildare to win by what they want. If they do this effectively, then we can remain somewhat competitive.
Kildare defenders will run into the open spaces and feel confident in doing this as their midfield will drop off to cover and they wont feel Offaly will have the threat to catch them on the break. They will also use this tactic to run the legs off our players, allowing them to open us up more as the game goes on.

Its important that we move the ball as quick as we can to our inside line to allow us create some opportunities, if we dont, our opportunities will be limited and we will inevitably turn over ball.
I wish the lads the best of luck, tis one of the toughest draws we could have received. On the other hand , we have nothing to lose and lets approach this game without the pressure. It will give the lads exposure to one of the best teams in the country, and whilst we may suffer a bad defeat, we must support the lads and it would be disgusting to see a stream of Offaly supporters leaving after the hurling.
All the best to the team and management!

Best of luck to Offaly.
There are some decent lads on the team who will give it their all.
Unfortunately, it's another one of those years where we are going into championship, not really knowing what the best 15 is and undercooked in preparation and game plan development.

Lets not get too carried away with Kildare and build them up to mythical status either. I don't rate them as much as some in the media do. In big games, by pure stubborness and doggedness they've stayed close to the better sides.
And that's not to be dismissive of such qualities. I'd love to transfuse more of that mentality into the Offaly panel.

As for the game itself. A lot will depend on how much covering back Offaly's midfield and forwards do.
Without an abundance of blue chip forwards, Kildare style is to get a lot of scores from swamping bodies forward and overloading the opposition defence.
Look at the scoring stats for Emmet Bolton at wing back for example. Even their corner backs get forward and take shots.

So how fit and willing are our players to keep chasing back?
I don't see major damage being done by say, an individual Offaly corner back getting roasted by a Kildare danger man. It's the white shirt ghosting into space while 3 Offaly players get sucked into tackling the same man that will do more harm.

Let's get stuck into them!