Offaly management 2027

[Behindthegoal]

He finished 6th in div 4 with longford then got them promoted the next year. Longford have been going up and down from 3-4 since the dawn of time so theres nothing to read into there. Two bad tailteann campaigns and he walked away after two years when he was meant to do 3 whats to sat he wont do the same to us? So many red flags think we will be in exact same or worse spot when he leaves

[biffinbanner]

dont know him from adam but lets give him a chance? if nigel is involved with him there has to be hope. doubt he would just go in with anybody. and remember the limited squad we have? div 2 on a good day. div3 a normal day.(at the moment)

[Lone Shark]

A few preliminary thoughts....

(1) Mike Solan has a very solid CV, with different roles and a decent track record across the board. I won't lie, I thought that if ever there was a time to go for someone not long out of playing, perhaps even someone who has played under the new rules themselves, then this was the time to do it. That being said, this guy is current, he's in the game, he's worked in a variety of setups, and he speaks like a man who knows what he's doing.

I'll put it this way - I heard about five names mentioned at various stages over the last month, and by some distance, Solan is by far the best option of any of the rumours.

(2) So far, we know of three names that are on the ticket. We all know that by the time November rolls around, there will be five or six more in a variety of roles. The last management ran an extremely lean ship with a lot of responsibility on a small few people, but the norm is that there would be a wide range of voices and views. I fully expect that there will be more people, and more Offaly people within that group.

(3) I don't know how anyone who is even making a half-hearted attempt to follow Offaly football could say that Nigel Dunne is a bad choice. The transformation in Shamrocks since he took over is obvious, and there are only good things being said about him in Rahan and Mucklagh. He had a huge role to play in the 2025 minors and was very well got there, he knows the local scene inside out, probably better than anyone, and his enthusiasm for football and for Offaly GAA is infectious. Honestly, I think he's the best option out there as the passionate Offaly man on the ticket.

That's not meant as a dig at Niall McNamee, Niall Stack, or anyone else.

I'll admit I'm living out west now so while I keep an eye on Offaly football, I'm far more on top of the club scene in Roscommon, Galway and Mayo than I am with what's happening in Dublin, Kildare, Meath etc. I genuinely didn't know Niall Mac was coaching in Dublin, and I still don't know at what level, has he had success, is he well-got or not etc.. If the metric was how good they were as a footballer determines how good they are as a manager or coach, then you'd put out a management team with himself, Ciarán McManus, maybe Cathal Daly or Karol Slattery to coach the backs, and you couldn't go wrong. But just because he is coaching, doesn't mean he's good at it. We've no idea.

As for Stack, he enjoyed a lot of success with a stacked (no pun intended) Tullamore team, while using a tactical approach that was the right thing to bring success to that team in that era, but has been rendered completely redundant by the new rules. He stepped away for family reasons and I've no idea if he has any interest in being involved with a team now, or if he's done anything with any team since those new rules have come in.

He's a very decent human, he's clearly a good man-manager and I'd have no problem with seeing him involved, but just by virtue of stepping off the hamster wheel when he did, Nigel moved ahead of him in the queue. One could argue that even within the Tullamore club, Paul McConway possibly has as well.

[ah lethimoutwithit]

Hard to credit some of the negativity.
Its like everything these days, too many unrealistic expectations.

I just want to extend a welcome to the manager and his team, current and incoming. Wish them all the very best and hopefully our best players make themselves available and are ready and able to hit the ground running in 2027.

At the moment the real focus needs to be on the clubs and supporting them over the remainder of the championship. There are concerning trends emerging that are for another thread with the poor standards now apparent in many rural clubs.

For now though, hopefully the backroom team is strong and the very best of luck.

[frankthetank]

I’ve seen Nigel Dunne coach once. Kids hurling. Ridiculously impressive.

[MarkCassidy5]

You’d imagine Solan and Keane having worked together as much would be in sync and Nigel will be the newbie to that dynamic and as such he’d be doing well to be able to influence anything or get enough trust from them rapidly as to be empowered to have ownership over parts of the preparation. Perhaps he has gone in to learn and sees it as a development for himself but it may work out that he feels after the fact he would have been better off taking an underage county manager role or sticking with developing the Shamrocks seniors. Or maybe he has timed it all fantastically and in two years we are doing great and Solan and Keane are off to Mayo and Nigel takes the reins after a period of success.we really will not know until it plays out and it would have been the same for any of the local candidates who ended up in there. Local Coaches will be a sideshow for us as fans but not a big deal to this management ticket who will make their own minds up no doubt repeating the same mistakes of old management teams and that is their right to go that way.
The thing I would be most curious and excited to see is how fast they can figure out if the way Declan Kelly and Mickey Harte put the personnel out was the best way of fielding a balanced Offaly team who can win against teams at our level. I expect them to tear up the script and slowly by championship we see similar ideas re-emerge like Cormac as a half back, Jordan Hayes in midfield, big fielding half forwards like Higgins or Leavey and if it does play out that way the only ones who can make progress for us will be the players out there again in the same positions.

[jimbob17]

Interesting perspective MC. It could very easily end up with similar personnel in 1st 15 to last year and could easily land that way as you say. If doing it right, I'd expect a much stronger squad depth with lads jostling for positions. Without naming names, there were a number of players either excluded by Kelly or self excluded through Kelly Harte management that would improve squad significantly. Nigels knowledge should ensure best squad available, that we can have is in there and they should work then from there. Again, I'd be disappointed and concerned that there is not a higher proportion of Offaly football people involved who know lie of land with players in Offaly. Maybe that'll happen through broader additions to backroom team.

[Superhans75]

The big problem last season was a proper goal scoring forward
If the bring in the rule changes of scoring
With the fist we would be in serious trouble..
We need a proper forward coach I know some counties have them
I just think we have been terrible in the department for a while
We will definitely see the 4 points for a goal coming in the next 2/3 years we have to be plan in advance

[oneshot]

4 points for a goal will make a balls of the game . the only thing it will do is most counties will get the shite kick out of them when they come up again the top 4 or 5 teams in the country.

[Faithfully]

4 points for a goal will make a balls of the game . the only thing it will do is most counties will get the shite kick out of them when they come up again the top 4 or 5 teams in the country.

Very little evidence for that at all. They said the exact same thing about the 2 pointers which are more frequent and easier got than a goal.

An extra 1 point for a goal isn't going to create a wave of hammering that weren't already going to happen anyway.

[Lone Shark]

I'm far more worried about the "max three handpasses thing". To me, it'll be like the attacking mark when it came in first, with unintended consequences. Just like back then, the rule makers (or suggesters!) have an idea in their head of what will happen, but the reality will be very different. Instead of fellas putting boot to ball with a long kick into the forward line, it'll be an awkward five-metre kick backwards to reset the clock, slowing everything down, just like the attacking mark led to daft 20 metre chip passes into a forward's chest.

I actually like the idea of the four-point goal. Two long range frees being worth more than a goal just sits badly with me.