Anon444 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2026 11:46 pm
I think the injuries excuse is irrelevant at this stage, as I don’t feel that the team are playing for the management. Every team has been able to walk through during the league and we have not really grafted a dogged performance at all, bar one half against Cavan. Today, our full back gave away the ball under the stand when Meath got on top in the second half and walked back while they got a score. And it wasn’t just him so I’m not trying to blame him at all for the team performance. But there isn’t really anyone dogging it out, getting into the opposition’s face, how many scores are got against us with zero pressure on? Maybe it’s all speculation and I am completely wrong and if I am, I apologise in advance to all. But that’s the overriding feeling for me and it’s hard for a management team to turn that tide when it goes against you.
On the supporters issue, there’s a disconnect there. Teams travel with decent support when playing us, especially when they sense a bit of a trimming. And I wouldn’t blame supporters, I think if the product was better from our flagship team the support would follow. It was the same with the hurlers in the Christy Ring and it has been this way for a while with our footballers. The only way to draw supporters back in is to show serious fight.
Laois will travel up sensing a win. I hope that there will be decent support, but when another heavy beating is expected if we were to win and play a top 4 team, I’m not sure supporters rush to OCP.
Have to agree with general sentiment of this Anon. Meath the last day at times could just score at their leisure. They had free shots because some of our lads were just not working hard enough to track runners. Is this because we are not good enough / fit enough etc? I don't think so. I think there is a cohort of players there who are just going through motions with things as they do not have a real belief in it themselves. When you get seven defeats in a row and when there is a degree of negativity around the team, this type of thing creeping in is inevitable. Some lads have lost heart and it is hard to blame them. Yea they can spike for periods of games because they have ability but when the group dynamics are in a bad place, then you just don't get the same level of buy in as you might otherwise. Some will have seen how some of their peers - their friends have been treated shoddily. It all feeds in to a negative vibe, resulting in players dropping effort levels in periods of games, and it is hard to escape that type of malaise once it starts.
I have been watching Dempsey play football a long time and I have never seen him drop the head and walk like he did last Sunday after giving ball away. He always gave his all for the county to be fair to him. Maybe that was emblematic of the mood in the camp - which maybe is one of frustration at the moment. Don't forget we have averaged a 9pt defeat across 7 games with a -63 points score difference. We were lucky it was that low as on many days, opposition took foot off the gas with 15 or 20 mins to go with the game over - Cork and Meath as just two examples, Tyrone too. It is hard to be a player in that environment. Don't under-estimate that.
The knowledgeable GAA community in Offaly is a small tight group. The level of negativity that has come out of this camp over last 3 years or so is very disappointing - often through lads who are no longer involved to be fair. I have not heard of such a high level of negativity before to be honest out of group that was considered to be doing fairly ok (we won div 3 last year)- even when we were in Div 4. The supporters have picked up on all of this, and hence the disconnect with supporters clearly voting with their feet. The Cavan attendance was a big statement from the support base. The Offaly supporter generally is a real genuine GAA person. They are generally involved in their clubs in some shape or form and are genuinely interested in Offaly doing well. They are connected to the players or their families and know what is going on. DK had huge support at the outset owing to U20 success. It is amazing to see how far that has turned in such a short space of time. The fall outs with players, with medical staff, with clubs etc leaves a lot to be desired and hence the supporters are not willing to turn up.
I said before that the one job of a management team is to manage things - that means managing people in the right way, not falling out, and just simply having the capacity to bring people with you. You do that by bringing experienced people (coaches and selectors who know more, who have their own opinion and who will challenge you in the right way) who are not divisive with player group and have the best interests of players and team at heart - but also have the know-how to get the best of a group. There were serious misgivings on DK management team on that front after year 1 in 2024 and that full management group were all replaced bar DK for 2025. That was on the back of meetings that were done with the player group after the London debacle. I think DK made a grave error of judgement in year 1 by maybe not adding senior inter county experience to his ticket and trying to do a lot of it himself, as if he was training a club underage team. The science, the coaching levels, the expectations of senior players had moved on significantly from the level at which that first year was pitched. That chastening London game could easily have been the end.
MH coming in gave an obvious boost - and we did well last year in league - but there was still some negative noise going on in the background throughout, that probably only those close to football scene would have been privy to. There is no doubt but that DK was and is well intentioned in relation to getting success for the county. But is / was he misguided about the best way to do that? Had he enough experience in dealing with adult players to be put straight in?
It was mentioned before about stories being carried. In a squad that really believes, I think stories don't get carried near as much. I think you could somewhat equate the level of the stories being carried with the level of harmony and belief of the player group in what is going on. That was shown too in Dempsey's poor attempt to recover from his mistake the last day.
For all that, we still have enough talent to beat Laois. We have lads returning that will give the group a lift - I hope......... Hopefully, the group can turn things around with a good opportunity for the winners. For the players and Offaly's sake, I'd hope that a chunk of the support base returns to support them V Laois in first round.