Offaly Minor Hurlers

[faithful till I die]

When he told me what went on in the dressing room at half time i was appalled

To be honest that kind of makes sense because what worried me most of all about Saturdays performance was the lack of spirit & fight in the young Offaly hurlers especially in the second half. These young players deserve our full support & I for one am behind them 100%. The county board & Offaly mgt need to take a long hard look at themselves as they have the future of our county in their hands.

[baz]

A sister of a panel player on last years team told me of how he arrived to the bus going to a match and pilkington told him he wasn`t wanted .Thats not good enough to treat young lads like that .He`s playing football now and not hurling and he wasn`t the only case .Similar outburst happened after one of the matches in the dressing room .But here`s the point ,WHY DID THE COUNTY BOARD APPOINT HIM THE SECOND TIME AFTER HE CARRIED OUT THAT same SHITE LAST YEAR .Telling young lads they are not fit to wear the jersey after losing is not on .Unless you have good experince at club level ( where you know the players anyway ) how the hell can anyone be appointed to county level without that experince ? I don`t know but to me thats basic common sense .Sure the point that was made about eguene coughlan is a no brainer .2 decent under 16 teams in the last 2 years have been coached along and done very well in turanaments .One of the lads looking after them made the point that the managers appointed at minor level don`t know anything about them ,JESUS COUNTY BOARD COP ON and start doing whats best for offaly hurling .
Anyone with a brain would know pilkington wasn`t going to work ,the other brother was appointed to offaly u21 ( with no experince of management at good club level ) and look what happened .

[red exile]

the county board must think that an eternal debt of gratitude is owed to former county hurlers who made a name for themselves in a different generation. ok, the praise they get is well deserved after sacrificing so much to bring all ireland glory to the county but playing and managing are two totally different disciplines and there seems to be little protocol involved in selecting underage management other than the "we'll give him a go at it" attitude.maybe a management accademy would pave the way for future mentors to get some qualifications and expierience in order to bring success at underage level

[TheManFromFerbane]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1544&start=0

Stand up and take a bow OF. You called it way back in 2007. I don't agree with the way you phrase your points sometimes but you nailed this one anyway.

I don't know enough about club hurling to pass comment on situations like this but from a general point of view it's probably fair to say that a "devil may care" attitute as a player probably doesn't lean itself favourably to a career in management.

That's my humble opinion anyway.

[Offalys Future]

To be honest i would much prefer to be wrong about this.
It is shocking the way young hurlers have been and are treated in Offaly.
It is no surprise whatsoever that Offaly hurling is the way it is.

I wrote last year about how the academies were also a joke and that continues
to be same. This Thursday night there is a game between north tipp and Offaly u-14's
go take a look yourself and you will see what i am talking about.
They dont train because it doesnt fit into John Leahy's canvassing schedule.

From what i have been told and from my own experiences Eugene Coughlan
would be the ideal candidate. Unfortunately he was involved before with
academies etc but left because they were such a joke.
He would only come back i would think if there was a complete clearout of the present
crowd.

He has a great attitude towards the kids and constantly speaks to them and
encorages them something so basic but the current management werent even capable of.