The Future

[True Red]

Your obviuosly from the football end of the county.
Firstly you cant judge teams from different genertations.

Your level of percpetion knows no bounds.I may be from the football end as you so eloquently put it but does this preclude me from expressing an opinion? I think not.Of course you can judge teams from different generations.And at the moment our current crop,while ever willing, hasnt got the talent of their predecessors in the nineties and eighties.That is not the county board's fault,the club's fault or even the player's fault.

In the words of Tupac Shakur,"thats just the way it is".

Secondly Offaly have plenty talented hurlers in the county, and in order to get then to the next level they need to be coached and trained properly.

I agree that we have some good stickmen in the county.However to say that they werent coached or trained properly in the last couple of years is a falsehood. It would be widely acknowledged that McIntyre would be an innovative and modern thinking coach and while his man management and tactical nous could be lacking it would be unfair to say that Offaly's skills work this year was below par.Also,at a recent county board meeting it was stated that over €500,000 was spent on County teams this season alone.That roughly breaks down to €250,000 apiece between big ball and small ball. So its obvious that funding isnt a problem.

Thirdly in order for the county team to become successful there needs to be proper coaches at Club level and county level where there isnt.
How can players possibly improve if they are getting coached at club level by some lad from the club that hasnt a clue. This is happening in nearly all hurling clubs in the county.

So you have been to a training session at every club in the county?Most hurling teams in the county are managed by genuine hurling men who have a deep love of the game.(I'd imagine or why else would they be doing it) I know my own club is only a junior A hurling side but they are proud hurlers (despite been from the football end)and have reached a semi final this year having been managed by a pure,driven hurling man.I am sure most other sides in the county have like minded individuals over them. As regards the skills quotient of players, I put it to you that it is the individual responsibility of players to improve their skill level on their own and not just rely on the collective training of their club or county.Is enough of this happening at club or county level?I doubt it.

Fair play to Kinnitty for reaching a poor club championship semi final

Surely its not Kinnitty's fault that the championship is a poor one?They can only play whats in front of them and will be rightly proud of getting to the last 4 in Offaly.

Its attitudes of people like you the reason that GAA in the county is so bad at the moment. Instead of looking into why the county team is under performing, you take the easy option and say the playes arent good enough. Which is false. And then you go on about this small hurling community which is a complete load of rubbish. In Offaly there is as many senior teams as kilkenny. If players have some ability which alot have in Offaly and if they are trained and coached properly which they are not, they will be successful.

This brought a broad smile to my face.So its my fault the footballers are in Division 4 and the hurlers are trying the scrounge their way back into Division 1? Eh, I dont think so.At the moment the best our hurlers could look at is a leinster final appearance and maybe giving someone a right good rattle in a All Ireland quarter final.The same applies more or less to the footballers.Sad as that may seem it is the reality.At the moment the requisite quality isnt there.

I'd even go further to say that you weren't even at the games in Rath last weekend.
Do me a favour stick to your football unless you have something constructive to add to this not the usually waffle that i am sick of hearing.

I have to hold my hands up here.Unfortuneately I wasnt at the games in Rath.However this was due to the fact that I was playing the big ball version of our National games. As regards adding something constructive I believe i did add something constructive to this debate.From what i can see all you want to say is that because I am from the "football end" I should "stick to the football".Ah yes,a very constructive and mature opinion.

All the same my club has 2 lads who won All Ireland medals with the county in 1994 and 1998.Sean Og Farrell and Cillian Farrell.
Not bad for a junior hurling team from "the football end."

[True Red]

Your obviuosly from the football end of the county.
Firstly you cant judge teams from different genertations.

Your level of percpetion knows no bounds.I may be from the football end as you so eloquently put it but does this preclude me from expressing an opinion? I think not.Of course you can judge teams from different generations.And at the moment our current crop,while ever willing, hasnt got the talent of their predecessors in the nineties and eighties.That is not the county board's fault,the club's fault or even the player's fault.

In the words of Tupac Shakur,"thats just the way it is".

Secondly Offaly have plenty talented hurlers in the county, and in order to get then to the next level they need to be coached and trained properly.

I agree that we have some good stickmen in the county.However to say that they werent coached or trained properly in the last couple of years is a falsehood. It would be widely acknowledged that McIntyre would be an innovative and modern thinking coach and while his man management and tactical nous could be lacking it would be unfair to say that Offaly's skills work this year was below par.Also,at a recent county board meeting it was stated that over €500,000 was spent on County teams this season alone.That roughly breaks down to €250,000 apiece between big ball and small ball. So its obvious that funding isnt a problem.

Thirdly in order for the county team to become successful there needs to be proper coaches at Club level and county level where there isnt.
How can players possibly improve if they are getting coached at club level by some lad from the club that hasnt a clue. This is happening in nearly all hurling clubs in the county.

So you have been to a training session at every club in the county?Most hurling teams in the county are managed by genuine hurling men who have a deep love of the game.(I'd imagine or why else would they be doing it) I know my own club is only a junior A hurling side but they are proud hurlers (despite been from the football end)and have reached a semi final this year having been managed by a pure,driven hurling man.I am sure most other sides in the county have like minded individuals over them. As regards the skills quotient of players, I put it to you that it is the individual responsibility of players to improve their skill level on their own and not just rely on the collective training of their club or county.Is enough of this happening at club or county level?I doubt it.

Fair play to Kinnitty for reaching a poor club championship semi final

Surely its not Kinnitty's fault that the championship is a poor one?They can only play whats in front of them and will be rightly proud of getting to the last 4 in Offaly.

Its attitudes of people like you the reason that GAA in the county is so bad at the moment. Instead of looking into why the county team is under performing, you take the easy option and say the playes arent good enough. Which is false. And then you go on about this small hurling community which is a complete load of rubbish. In Offaly there is as many senior teams as kilkenny. If players have some ability which alot have in Offaly and if they are trained and coached properly which they are not, they will be successful.

This brought a broad smile to my face.So its my fault the footballers are in Division 4 and the hurlers are trying the scrounge their way back into Division 1? Eh, I dont think so.At the moment the best our hurlers could look at is a leinster final appearance and maybe giving someone a right good rattle in a All Ireland quarter final.The same applies more or less to the footballers.Sad as that may seem it is the reality.At the moment the requisite quality isnt there.

I'd even go further to say that you weren't even at the games in Rath last weekend.
Do me a favour stick to your football unless you have something constructive to add to this not the usually waffle that i am sick of hearing.

I have to hold my hands up here.Unfortuneately I wasnt at the games in Rath.However this was due to the fact that I was playing the big ball version of our National games. As regards adding something constructive I believe i did add something constructive to this debate.From what i can see all you want to say is that because I am from the "football end" I should "stick to the football".Ah yes,a very constructive and mature opinion.

All the same my club has 2 lads who won All Ireland medals with the county in 1994 and 1998.Sean Og Farrell and Cillian Farrell.
Not bad for a junior hurling team from "the football end."

[Offalys Future]

Your level of percpetion knows no bounds.I may be from the football end as you so eloquently put it but does this preclude me from expressing an opinion? I think not

Now your trying to start a football end/hurling end debate which am not interested. I just made the point that you were from the football end and you are end of story.

Of course you can judge teams from different generations.And at the moment our current crop,while ever willing, hasnt got the talent of their predecessors in the nineties and eighties.That is not the county board's fault,the club's fault or even the player's fault.

I disagree you cant judge teams from different eras. Can you not just realise the fact that over the last fifteen years the county board have done absolutely nothing correctly to improve hurling in the county.

It would be widely acknowledged that McIntyre would be an innovative and modern thinking coach and while his man management and tactical nous could be lacking it would be unfair to say that Offaly's skills work this year was below par.

Widely acknowledged are you kidding me? By who his friends in the print media. McIntyre was a complete joke and hasnt a clue how to manage a intercounty team.

Also,at a recent county board meeting it was stated that over €500,000 was spent on County teams this season alone.That roughly breaks down to €250,000 apiece between big ball and small ball. So its obvious that funding isnt a problem.

Firstly the spread wasnt €250,000 each and just so you know kerry have spent nearly one million on preparing teams this year. Thatsthe price of success.

So you have been to a training session at every club in the county?Most hurling teams in the county are managed by genuine hurling men who have a deep love of the game.

You miss the point completely, nobody faults these men for their efforts but they havent a clue how to train, coach, manage, deal with player.
And you dont have to go to every club training session in the county to see what way a team is prepared.

Surely its not Kinnitty's fault that the championship is a poor one?They can only play whats in front of them and will be rightly proud of getting to the last 4 in Offaly.

I never said it was their fault, i said they are a poor side that will not win a poor county championship

At the moment the best our hurlers could look at is a leinster final appearance and maybe giving someone a right good rattle in a All Ireland quarter final.The same applies more or less to the footballers.Sad as that may seem it is the reality.At the moment the requisite quality isnt there.

Thats complete rubbish as both limerick and wexford are average sides and they contested a all-ireland final and final this year between them

All the same my club has 2 lads who won All Ireland medals with the county in 1994 and 1998.Sean Og Farrell and Cillian Farrell.
Not bad for a junior hurling team from "the football end."

Like i said not getting into this because thats all that you want. But just to say there are many panel member guys throughout Ireland that have all-ireland medals but never earned them and had little art to play in their counties victory.

I'm here to talk about offaly hurling and the reasons for the decline and how this can be resolved.
Not to listen to a man that his claim to fame is that he is a member of a club that two lads have all-ireland hurling medals talk nonsense

[Lone Shark]

Blame the fact that the best four intermediate teams are all second string senior sides and yet nobody sees anything wrong with this and yet we persist with thirteen senior clubs.

Ballinamere are in the intermediate final and they beat Killavilla in the semi final so you are wrong with what you are saying here.
And for the rest well isnt that where our great county board and club delegates come in ya??

Just on this point here - over the last five years the most consistent sides in this grade have been the aforementioned four clubs. This year Ballinamere are rightly in the Intermediate final, having topped their group and beaten Coolderry intermediates along the way. However KK intermediates were knocked out by Rynaghs, who in turn were taken out by Birr. If Ballinamere get badly beaten in the final, as is quite possible, there is a serious case for saying that nothing has actually changed. Even if they go on and win, as I genuinely hope they do (nothing against Birr, but I'd always cheer for the club who's fielding their top team in this kind of situation), we're back to a situation in 2008 where the top five in the betting will be these four plus whoever goes down.

[DD]

Offaly's future,
You are a prick of the highest order! All you do is waffle on with the same shite every time you post and anyone that dosn't agree with you is in your opinion an idiot.
You really need to lighten up and get a life!

[Offalys Future]

Offaly's future,
You are a prick of the highest order! All you do is waffle on with the same shite every time you post and anyone that dosn't agree with you is in your opinion an idiot.
You really need to lighten up and get a life!

I wouldnt normally waste my time with lads like you but i have a bit of time so here i go.

Firstly i have never called anybody an idiot on this forum so your wrong there.
Secondly a discussion forum is about expressing your views on issues related to GAA. That is what i have done and will continue to do. So like a good lad go away and dont be annoying me.

If i'm full of such waffle and dont know what i am talking about then why dont you put a case against what i am saying and back it up.
Nah that would take a bit of common sense and understanding of Offaly GAA i guess.
Again it looks like your more of a football man and have very little knowledge of hurling in the county so you wouldnt be able to post anything worth responding to. Instead you resort to bad language. Sad.


Good luck to ya...

[True Red]

Now your trying to start a football end/hurling end debate which am not interested

Forgive me here but you are the one that brought this up,not me.I fail to see what relevance the geography of my location has to do with a debate on this forum.

Again it looks like your more of a football man and have very little knowledge of hurling in the county so you wouldnt be able to post anything worth responding to.

From your reply above to DD you show your true colours in your attitude to people that aint from the "hurling end".

I disagree you cant judge teams from different eras. Can you not just realise the fact that over the last fifteen years the county board have done absolutely nothing correctly to improve hurling in the county.

Well we can agree to disagree on your first sentence.Now I can never be accused of being a county board supporter(and more seasoned contributors to this board can testify to this )
I will say that they have set up the underage academies which are under the tutelage of Johnny Flaherty and they are trying to nurture underage coaching in the schools which is key phase of a young boy's life as regards getting him to play both hurling and football. The Coaching Officers,John leahy and Carina Carroll, are doing trojan work in this regard.

McIntyre is a complete joke and hasnt a clue how to manage a intercounty team.

He still managed an Inter County side for four years,managed a club side to an All Ireland final and played inter county hurling for Tipperary for a number of years.He cant be all that bad.

Firstly the spread wasnt €250,000 each and just so you know kerry have spent nearly one million on preparing teams this year. Thatsthe price of success.

The cost of preparing Inter county teams this year in Offaly was OVER 500,000 euros. I have seen the figures and the rough breakdown equated to about €250,000 between footballers and hurlers. And just so you know Kerry are sponsored by one of the biggest agri-business entities in Europe who are guaranteed maximum exposure for their sponsorship almost every year. Add in the fact that Kerry have possibly the best football squad in the country at the moment and its easy to see why that amount of money is thrown at the team.However it doesnt mean that if Offaly could get a sponsor to throw a million at the county teams that it would make them into genuine All Ireland contenders.
The point (which you are failing to grasp)is that Offaly's playing base is NOT good enough at the moment in either code to mount a serious title challenge. Competitive in the traditions of bygone Offaly teams,Yes. Title winners,sadly,NO.

i said they are a poor side that will not win a poor county championship

Are they a poor side?They are in the last four of Offaly.For a small club,it aint bad.And by the way you are making out,Offaly should be in All Ireland finals due to the standard of player that is in the county.So surely our senior championship cant be all that bad.Birr won last year and pushed Ballyhale Shamrocks hard for 50 mins in the Leinster Club final.I am afraid you are not making sense my good man.

Thats complete rubbish as both limerick and wexford are average sides and they contested a all-ireland final and final this year between them

To call Limerick an average side after their Championship saga this year is a bit rich.Wexford wouldnt be great but in the last 3/4 occasions that themselves and Offaly have met in league/c'ship they have come out on top.Where does that leave us?

Like i said not getting into this because thats all that you want. But just to say there are many panel member guys throughout Ireland that have all-ireland medals but never earned them and had little art to play in their counties victory.
I'm here to talk about offaly hurling and the reasons for the decline and how this can be resolved.
Not to listen to a man that his claim to fame is that he is a member of a club that two lads have all-ireland hurling medals talk nonsense

This statement is beyond belief.You are the one that stated i was from the football end.I responded in this manner to show what a "football end" player can achieve with the small ball despite the obvious handicap of been from the wrong end of the county according to yourself.

Catch yourself on.

[DD]

Offaly's future,
You are a prick of the highest order! All you do is waffle on with the same shite every time you post and anyone that dosn't agree with you is in your opinion an idiot.
You really need to lighten up and get a life!

I wouldnt normally waste my time with lads like you but i have a bit of time so here i go.

Firstly i have never called anybody an idiot on this forum so your wrong there.
You may never have called anyone an idiot but your constant snide remarks and your "what would you know about it?" attitude is basically the same thing.

Secondly a discussion forum is about expressing your views on issues related to GAA. That is what i have done and will continue to do. So like a good lad go away and dont be annoying me.
Since you have come on this forum you have as good as posted the same message 150 times.. While it may have been interesting or entertaining at one point but it is now just a tedious bore.
You are in a minority of one that is dillusional enough to think we have a massive untapped talent that would be unleashed if we had "a good coach"
If i'm full of such waffle and dont know what i am talking about then why dont you put a case against what i am saying and back it up.
Nah that would take a bit of common sense and understanding of Offaly GAA i guess.
I would be the first to admit I would not be very knowledgeable on hurling, there are however posters on here that would fall into that category but you just dismiss them totally because they don't agree with you. .
Again it looks like your more of a football man and have very little knowledge of hurling in the county so you wouldnt be able to post anything worth responding to. Instead you resort to bad language. Sad.
Again more snide remarks but I do apologise for the bad language. I should have called you a penis of the highest order Good luck to ya...

[kinnittyman]

Okay Offalys Future maybe you'll be proven right that we wont win the county final but theres plenty of reasons that we could. Of course everything here depends on is getting the better of St Rnaghs and K/K which we will once again be huge underdogs to beat.

1)We are definitley improving with every game. Peaking at the right time???

2) One of Birr and Coolderry will have taken the other out by county final time so it wont be a case of having to beat both.

3) If it turns out to be Kinnitty/Coolderry final id give us a good chance. If the 2005 semi went on 5 mins longer we had them after a piss poor start in which we froze and we completley fcuked the 2006 group game away when we went two points up in the second half. They would hold no fears for us.

4) However much they might try not to be Birr or Coolderry would be hugely complacent going into a county final against us as they would feel they would have the hard work done be beating the other in the semi/

Anyways all this is hearsay and conjecture as its going to be a titanic battle to get over the semi first as the drawn game was a very good match. We have a chance but we're still probably fifth in the pecking order.

[Offalys Future]

Not interested in answering much of that, except for Kinnittyman fair play for putting your case forward and the best of luck to ye.

As for the rest here we go again

The underage county structure is an absolute joke.
Foley's drainage are putting alot of money into the academies that aren't attended by players from, Birr, Banagher, Shinrone etc and the reason is because of the way they are run. Guys that havent a clue how to coach kids and that includes Johnny Flattery. And if any of you go to these academies like i have and see what goes on you would understand.
John Leahy is the development Officer for underage in the county yet he has nothing to do with the academies??

While people think great work is been done they are been told lies.
And for a u-14 selector to come out a few weeks ago and say that his "team need and want for nothing because they were given a hurl each and have a sliotar each at training" just shows how far we are behind.

If Offaly had been trained peoperly for the u-21 championship this year they would have been in an All-Ireland Final last weekend against Galway. They weren't. Like i said before one of the subs had to do the warm-up before the Leinster Final.

The training of the senior team this year was a complete shambles, and like i have said about mcintyre before he trained clarenbridge to win the county final yes, he won one more game by beating the northern champions and they got bet in the final by Birr. So the notion of getting to an All-Ireland final - they won galway championship plus one game.

Even as bad an all as the training was this year Offaly could have qualified for the all-ireland quarter finals.
Limerick are an average side and next year they wont reach the all-Ireland quarter finals. Wexford were in the All-Ireland Semi Final this year.

The standard of hurling in the club championship this year has been very poor apart from Kk/St.Rynaghs game last weekend and if you go to games this weekend you will see that for yourself.

I never said Offaly had a team that could win an All-Ireland but they have enough players in the county that under the right guidance would be able to compete consistenly against any team in the country.

The county Board in Offaly are a joke and have been for very long time now. Just go to the back page of the midland tribune sports this week and you will see an example of what i am talking about.

Every comment i make i am able to back it up with facts, figures and knowledge, i wont be stopped from doing this.

In regard to Kerry Gaa they dont just through money at anything and the money that they spend is what they have to, to compete at the highest level. But all companies in Offaly are sick of giving money to a "Ghost Stadium" in Tullamore.

Birr won last year and pushed Ballyhale Shamrocks hard for 50 mins in the Leinster Club final.I am afraid you are not making sense my good man.

And just in relation to the Birr/Ballyhale game last year.
Birr played with a massive breeze and were winning by 0-07 to 1-03 at the break. They scored their next point after 17 minutes of the second half while Ballyhale had scored 9 points in a row. Eight of these were from play. They then added 2 more points in the next 2 minutes.
So after 50 minutes in that game the score was
Ballyhale Shamrocks 1-14 ---- Birr 0-08

I think its you that aint making much sense. See there is a big difference between facts and general pub nonsense talk - A BIG DIFFERENCE.

The Truth Hurts

[True Red]

THE TRUTH HURTS

I think this is hurting you more than it is hurting me.

John Leahy is the development Officer for underage in the county yet he has nothing to do with the academies??

Em, you are way off the mark here.John Leahy is a main facilitator of these academies.He transports all the gear etc to the venues and he is in constant contact with the guest coaches to ensure that are there on time etc.And as regards the non-attendance by players from the clubs you mentioned,who's fault is that?Surely not the county boards?

And just beacuse one Under 14 selector has a bad attitude it is a significant reason why Offaly are "so far behind". get a grip you fool.

You say training for the Senior hurlers this year was a shambles?Well if that is the case how do you explain the rousing 40 mins hurling that Offaly gave against Kilkenny in Portlaoise?Kilkenny are so far ahead of everyone this year its ridiculous.But for 40 mins Offaly matched them.Maybe,just maybe they were prepared properly?

The county Board in Offaly are a joke and have been for very long time now. Just go to the back page of the midland tribune sports this week and you will see an example of what i am talking about.

I am not inclined to disagree with you on this point but there are some good people on the County Board executive who are trying to improve things and they deserve credit for that.

In regard to Kerry Gaa they dont just through money at anything and the money that they spend is what they have to, to compete at the highest level. But all companies in Offaly are sick of giving money to a "Ghost Stadium" in Tullamore.

Kerry have the best panel of footballers in the country.They are the ones that compete at the highest level.And no amount of sponsorship will change that.It will get the team nice gear,pay for hot food after training and get each player gym membership but after that its natural talent that is getting them where they are each year. Something we do not have an abundance of.

And as regards this "Ghost Stadium"? I played there last weekend and I can assure you that its there.Maybe you should throw €10 at the turnstile the next time somethings on and see what its like instead of peering through the gap in the gate?

[the bare biffo]

I have not wanted to get involved in any of this "my daddy is bigger than your daddy" tit for tat posting, and it would be better if threads remained on topic rather than developing into essay writing contests, but......

OF, because invariably in your posts, whether you do it intentionally or not, you insult other posters with put downs such as "bar stool experts", "narrow minded", being from the wrong end of the county or whatever other put down comes to your mind, I would just like to know a little bit about your own credentials.

You put yourself forward here as some kind of Roy Keane figure castigating all around as fools and "amateurs". You use the famous "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail" quote as a signature and I am not sure if your user name is intended to be objective or subjective.

Now, myself I am no more than a former club footballer who played senior level at an average club. I have completed the GAA's foundation level coaching course and I have spent all my life to date watching football and huling at all levels. So I am no expert nor do I claim to be, just a regular fan of GAA. I have my own oppinions on GAA matters, sometimes posted here but more often I like to read the postings of others oppinions, because invariably someone will post something that you haven't considered before and so the "discussion" board fulfills an entertainment and a learning function as people share their views.

In contrast I believe your posts deal only in facts, truths and certainties.
So I would just like some details on how you have accumulated these facts, truths and certainties. Are you a current player, coach, manager ?
What coaching qualifications do you hold. By the way, one critical skill required by any coach, is an ability to communicate effectively with a broad range of people, I don't see much evidence of that.

I would like to think that someone with such strong views on any subject as you express here on Offaly GAA would be working at the coal face to change things. Or are you just a knocker, another hurler on the ditch, firing off shots from the safety of a keyboard.

I'm just asking questions here, I don't know.

[Lone Shark]

Just to throw in a couple of points here, Clarinbridge actually beat Ballygunner in the All Ireland club semi and not a northern team. Equally winning a Galway championship is a very decent achievement by itself, particularly with a team like Clarinbridge that aside from the Kerins had very little by way of intercounty talent.

Secondly I have no "bone to pick" with K/K. I merely observe that if one was to take the traditional hurling area of Offaly, K/K take in a good chunk of it, well over 10% by my reckoning. In the last ten years of Offaly hurling maybe 100 different players have played championship hurling, of which K/K have contributed Stephen Byrne and Colm Cassidy. I consider that a below par contribution. In that time frame Kinnitty have been fairly lean as well, but they do have a much smaller pick and it was more or less balancing out their disproportionately large influence on the teams of the 1978-1985 era.



As to the debate at hand, I'm going to leave all that "football/hurling area" nonsense aside. There is a tendency for these threads to develop into about five seperate discussions wrapped up in one, and my gut feeling is that would be best avoided. So just to try and throw my two cents in here without going too far down that road...


There is a tendency to see things in black and white, and that since Kilkenny are winning All Irelands, all that they do is wonderful and great, while a fallow period for Offaly GAA must by definition be as a result of rank mismanagement and gross incompetence at many levels, playing, coaching and administrative. While Offaly's Future is by no means on his own in having this kind of outlook, nor would I be quick to dismiss a lot of his message which has some relevance, his espousal of the notion that the whole thing is rotten from head to toe is undoubtedly likely to alienate people who do put their little bit of effort in, as I know many of the posters on this board do and I'm sure several others do as well without choosing to make that known.

Equally, a little bit more realism in terms of what can be done needs to be in place too. Kerry do not spend money on stadia - because Fitzgerald stadium is well capable of taking large crowds, while Austin Stack Park is perfect for saturday night NFL matches. Even then talk is now underway regarding upgrading Austin Stack, though the possibility of selling the prime town location obviously muddies the waters a bit.

However talk of spending a million euro on team preparation is nonsensical to say the least. Teams like Dublin, Cork and Kerry will always have a bigger budget than us - that's just the way it is. The last thing I would advocate is our county board going the same way of Irish soccer in recent years and spending way in excess of our means in the hope of short term gain. By all means I would like to see the county board engage in more revenue generation, and not in the hand out sense either. I would love to see O'Connor Park being made available for national school days out, or open to the public, where there is a mini museum documenting Offaly's past achievements, maybe a virtual historical tour incorporating the history of the times with Offaly GAA, a merchandise shop and café, and possibly other businesses.

There's several other avenues that could be explored too, but that's a debate for another day. Until all this is done though, there's no logic in either spending money we don't have, or continually hitting existing benefactors to the point of exhaustion.

In the meantime, all I would say is that pushing the line of "every coach is useless" (I'm paraphrasing, but intentionally or not it does read that way) and that only by matching Kerry and Dublin in investment will allow us to compete is not likely to get buy in with the general Offaly public.

[Offalys Future]

I think this is hurting you more than it is hurting me.

Your right its hurts alot.

Em, you are way off the mark here.John Leahy is a main facilitator of these academies.He transports all the gear etc to the venues and he is in constant contact with the guest coaches to ensure that are there on time etc.And as regards the non-attendance by players from the clubs you mentioned,who's fault is that?Surely not the county boards?

John Leahy has no involvement with these academies, he doesnt coach the kids and had a falling out with people over this a year ago.
And i aint saying its all the county board problems, as clubs havent been helpful either.
But here's one for ya. I know avery good young hurler he's only 14. In the last two months there has been one fixture for his age-group in Offaly. And his club forfeitted that game. He has since went and started playing soccer.
This is sad to see as how many kids is this happening too?

And just beacuse one Under 14 selector has a bad attitude it is a significant reason why Offaly are "so far behind". get a grip you fool.

You just dont get it do you. In order for success everyperson involved in Offaly GAA needs to be working together and have their noses pointing in the same direction. By this selector saying this to the midland tribune he influences people. And by you actions even though you dont think it you influence people too.

You say training for the Senior hurlers this year was a shambles?Well if that is the case how do you explain the rousing 40 mins hurling that Offaly gave against Kilkenny in Portlaoise?Kilkenny are so far ahead of everyone this year its ridiculous.But for 40 mins Offaly matched them.Maybe,just maybe they were prepared properly?

Right Offaly didnt match them so dont say that. And a hurling game lasts 70 mins. You ask any player how the training was this year and they will tell you. Actually you go to clarenbridge and ask them how the training went and they will tell you.

And as regards this "Ghost Stadium"? I played there last weekend and I can assure you that its there.Maybe you should throw €10 at the turnstile the next time somethings on and see what its like instead of peering through the gap in the gate?

I have been there many times and my phrase ghost stadium means empty stadium.

Was thinking Clarenbridge didnt beat Dunloy alright.
The point i was trying to make was in regard to Kerry is that yes in order to be successful now at intercounty level you have to spend.
Now like Lone Shark said for the county board to go and spend that type of money would be crazy but if they had a detailed plan etc to make sure the money was put to good use then definetely it would help.

Kerry have the best panel of footballers in the country.They are the ones that compete at the highest level.And no amount of sponsorship will change that.It will get the team nice gear,pay for hot food after training and get each player gym membership but after that its natural talent that is getting them where they are each year. Something we do not have an abundance of.

And finally this is what i have wanted to get at since the start.
Natural Talent?
There is no such thing.
Henry Shefflin wasnt able to score goals or points when he was born nor was the gooch able to kick off both feet.
Nor was any sports woman or man in the world born with "natural talent"
What it takes is hard work and proper coaching.

If in Offaly kids are coached at u-12/14/16/18 correctly. If in their schools they are coached correctly. If at the clubs and their county academies they are coached correctly then they will have a great chance.

All i'm looking for is that these kids are given that chance which at present they are not.

[Ylaffo]

Long time lurker here.

OF I'm interested in hearing your answer to the question about your own qualifications. Are you involved in your own club? Or are you one of these guys who dismisses everyone else as muppets and walks away? The kind who complains about lack of commitment in others but doesn't give it yourself? Or have I got you totally wrong and you're slaving away at the coalface with other good people who are doing their best? You have raised some very valid points but your negative, patronising, know it all attitude reduces their impact.

The debate is a welcome and much needed one but come down off your high horse and there might be some more meaningful engagement by the good people of this board.