Cribben gets the job

[keephercountry]

Delegates in Offaly have ratified Tom Cribben as manager of the county's footballers.

The former Laois supremo was the only name put forward at a specially convened county board meeting in Tullamore tonight.

Cribben replaces Richie Connor in the position and will take charge for the rest of the year. Connor resigned last month, following a vote of no confidence by the 2009 panel.

Cribben managed Laois in 1999 and 2000, and led with Edenderry to an Offaly SFC title in 2001".

Cribben will have temporary selectors in Vinnie Claffey,Tom coffey and Phil Reilly.

Is his appointment a suprise ?I think so from the rumours going around during the week of john Maughan and the likes showing intrest in the job .

Anyway hope its the right move from the county board.Is he the right man for the job ?whats your veiws?

[ubon3fate]

who in jehovah is tom cribben ? the county board in offaly couldnt organise a baloon snoggin competition .there must be some women out there who could do the managers job ex lady footballers-- where did agnes gorman go she was an all star in 1974 im afraid the tricolours will adorn division 4 for a good many years but the plus side is we will be able to get revenge on the cats for being eaten alive every year with the small ball only the cats dont bother with the big ball there too interested in the small ball i guess the offaly county board are like that too more interested in the small ball thats why the found cribbeeeeeen or is it cruuuuuubbeeeeennn on thing for sure he isa has been whoever he is

[gutless08]

Typical of the county board.

[Lone Shark]

Lads surely the right thing would be to give Cribben a go before necessarily dismissing him off the bat? What we have here is a relatively young and enthusiastic guy, but who also comes in from a background of having managed at intercounty level before, having managed (successfully) within Offaly before and having had a successful business career, indicating both an ability to manage and to make decisions, while also showing that he's not in this for the money. (Could we really honestly have said that about some of the bigger name journeymen style managers that were hovering?)

Anyone I've talked to who would have been around when he was managing before would have good things to say about him while he's close enough to the county to respect and understand what Offaly football is about. I'd also be inclined to say that if he was good enough for men like Coffey, O'Reilly and Claffey to ratify and put their name to, then he obviously had something good to present.

This might work out well or it might not, but I'd have no problem whatsoever with this appointment. I can't see any reason to blame the board or anyone else for that matter.

[Archangel]

There was never going to be a 'big' name new manager at this stage,... and there was no chance of Darby taking over. None..Zero..forget about it!!

What we got is a decent guy with a decent track record who will give it everything, but it's more down to the best 30 players in this county to prove to the Offaly supporters that they can play football. Time for whining is over, it's time to restore a bit of pride in the jersey.

[gutless08]

I just wish we could have appointed a manager who has had some success at county level, maybe someone who improved a team.
Who will be our next manager Dave Foran? . He has all the credentials ,was rubbish in his year as manager of Wicklow and has bein in the wilderness since. But he has expierience of managing at county level.
Sorry about the rant just a very frustrated offaly fan who wishes we got a proper manager back in November

[bracknaghboy]

but who also comes in from a background of having managed at intercounty level before, having managed (successfully) within Offaly before and having had a successful business career, indicating both an ability to manage and to make decisions, while also showing that he's not in this for the money.

Didn't Richie have all this going for him as well

[Lone Shark]

The level of success with which Richie (a) managed within Offaly, and (b) built a career, is somewhat up for debate to say the least.

[turk]

I just wish we could have appointed a manager who has had some success at county level, maybe someone who improved a team.
Who will be our next manager Gerry Hargan? . He has all the credentials ,was rubbish in his year as manager of Wicklow and has bein in the wilderness since. But he has expierience of managing at county level.
Sorry about the rant just a very frustrated offaly fan who wishes we got a proper manager back in November

You can count on one hand the number of available inter county managers who have had some success at county level.
I'd be inclined to prefer to see Cribben get a run than have someone come in and milk us

[bracknaghboy]

Our chances of success this year rest 20% with Cribben and 80% with the players. When it gets down to the business end of things it'll be up to the boys themselves to run until they can't run anymore and to stick their neck in to contest for a dirty ball they have little chance of winning. We shouldn't expect miracles. Lets put in this way.....if Brian Coady took over the Kerry hurlers for a 3 year period they still wouldn't win a game in the munster championship. Obviously thats an extreme case but it just hightlights that managers can only do so much. If the current Offaly panel don't stand up and fight for the cause then it matters little who we have in.

[Bord na Mona man]

Well lets give him a chance.
When he was in Leix, I recall he wasn't given much resources by the county board.
He admitted to paying the expenses of some unemployed players out of his own pocket.
At the time, the county board would only give mileage to players travelling from outside the county boundaries.
It was a far cry from the bankrolling bandwagon days of Micko soon after.

His time in Laois obviously didn't end to well, they lost to Westmeath in Tullamore in 2000, in a game that they were expected to win.
I remember for one league game, he played all the forwards in the backline and the backs up front. The idea was to give the players a greater insight into playing the positions of their markers.
Foolish if it doesn't work and ingenius if you win a trophy later in the year I suppose.

He did well in Edenderry granted. Maybe some of the Edenderry lads could give us an insight? Lets hope he has a good stint in Offaly.

[turk]

Our chances of success this year rest 20% with Cribben and 80% with the players. When it gets down to the business end of things it'll be up to the boys themselves to run until they can't run anymore and to stick their neck in to contest for a dirty ball they have little chance of winning. We shouldn't expect miracles. Lets put in this way.....if Brian Coady took over the Kerry hurlers for a 3 year period they still wouldn't win a game in the munster championship. Obviously thats an extreme case but it just hightlights that managers can only do so much. If the current Offaly panel don't stand up and fight for the cause then it matters little who we have in.

Good points there

[True Red]

Tom Cribbin is a highly capable manager with a modern mindset geared towards getting the best out of his players at all times.

His training methods are up there with the best around and he wont be found wanting in terms of players looking for a professional approach.

One thing he does require as a manager is the utmost committment and he doesnt suffer fools easily.He is a straight talking man that will get the best out of this Offaly football squad(whatever the "best" is for this bunch)

[TheManFromFerbane]

I wonder will he stick with the current crop or go hunting for players?

Whatever the case is, all I hope is he put's a bit of pride back into the lads and they start playing for the jersey and themselves. No man should ever want to be walked over like they have been walked over lately.

[Lone Shark]

I wonder will he stick with the current crop or go hunting for players?

Whatever the case is, all I hope is he puts a bit of pride back into the lads and they start playing for the jersey and themselves. No man should ever want to be walked over like they have been walked over lately.

One would presume that he would be open to changing the panel around a little bit at the very least. Whoever he gets on board as selectors will obviously have an input while he'd have his own contacts within the county as well. He'll also have his own style of play in mind so one would assume he'll be looking for players to suit that.

The pride in the jersey aspect is really beyond Cribben's remit. That much is down to the players themselves - he can influence matters by selecting those who tend to put in the extra 10%, but ultimately it's only those on the field that can do justice to themselves and the county.