Club football 2025

[Plain of the Herbs]

A four team group requires three rounds. A five team group requires five rounds (due to the odd number of teams).

We can begin tentatively working these permutations out because Group 1 has played 2 rounds before Group 2 have kicked a ball. Given group 1 only has one extra round, surely there only needed to be a 2 week gap between the two groups starting instead of 4?

[Anonymous1]

A four team group requires three rounds. A five team group requires five rounds (due to the odd number of teams).

We can begin tentatively working these permutations out because Group 1 has played 2 rounds before Group 2 have kicked a ball. Given group 1 only has one extra round, surely there only needed to be a 2 week gap between the two groups starting instead of 4?

Yes but group 2 could’ve started this week and just play one game per round for the first two rounds.

Leaving a four week gap disjoints the whole thing.

[Anonymous1]

It’s a bit skewed by the amount of frees and 45s he’s taking too it was 6 from play against Durrow which let’s be honest about it aren’t in the top 6 teams in Offaly. Cian Johnson scored 1-6 from play against Ballycommon and there wasn’t anyone saying Offaly need him. Club football is different to county.

If Durrow aren’t in the top 6 teams then Ballycommon aren’t in the top 8.

[Anonymous1]

Every year has to be a new start. Of course you factor in past behaviour, but what I saw there tonight was undeniable. If Cian Farrell goes into the Offaly panel in 2026 and puts the same focus into it as he is doing with Edenderry right now, clearly taking the captaincy seriously, then he's probably not just an automatic starter, he's arguably our best player.

Points off left and right, winning his own ball, winning frees, very positive around his colleagues, and all while being effectively marked by decent players. Honestly, I can count on one hand the amount of Offaly footballers I've seen produce scoring displays like it in the last 25 years.

Now if January and February rolls around and he steps out of line, then so be it, straight red card from the panel is perfectly reasonable. But I genuinely believe that Cian Farrell makes Offaly a two or three point better team instantly.

We all think this and have thought this for years. On his day for his club, he’s irrepressible. But until he does it consistently for Offaly (which, let’s be honest, he never actually has) then it’s just speculation. I’d love to see him do it for Offaly but I’m just conscious that we’ve had this conversation umpteen times before over the last number of years after some club game. The proof will be next January/February/March for Offaly. A much, much higher standard. Until then he can score whatever he wants in club match, it doesn’t matter a damn to Offaly.

Well off the mark when you say he’s never done it consistently for Offaly.

He was our best player in both 2020 and 2021.

[Behindthegoal]

Well David Dempsey is the counties go to Defender for marking so I’d say that’s a bit more impressive than no disrespect to the Durrow players

[Anonymous1]

Well David Dempsey is the counties go to Defender for marking so I’d say that’s a bit more impressive than no disrespect to the Durrow players

David Dempsey became Stephen Conneely for the second half of that game.

[Behindthegoal]

Sure that’s the managements call plan A obviously wasn’t working

[Lone Shark]

We all think this and have thought this for years. On his day for his club, he’s irrepressible. But until he does it consistently for Offaly (which, let’s be honest, he never actually has) then it’s just speculation. I’d love to see him do it for Offaly but I’m just conscious that we’ve had this conversation umpteen times before over the last number of years after some club game. The proof will be next January/February/March for Offaly. A much, much higher standard. Until then he can score whatever he wants in club match, it doesn’t matter a damn to Offaly.

We're not talking about putting the man into the hall of fame here. We're talking about calling him up to the county panel for the winter, so he can compete for a starting spot alongside anything from 12-15 other forwards. Right now, there are only a very small handful of players who have cleared your bar of consistently doing it in a county jersey, and you'd never bring in anyone new if that was your parameter.

Given that Cian will almost certainly be one of the best three or four forwards in the club championship, and that's a conservative estimate, not calling him in will be a very personal statement.

I accept that if any player had Cian's past track record of not accepting bad news well, then that would be a black mark on his record, but you have to give players a chance to grow up and mature, and you have to also appreciate that we are preparing to play in Division Two, where our number 14 next year will have to mark players like Pádraig Hampsey, Seán Rafferty and Brendan Rogers. We're going to need something a bit special to have a chance of taking scores off those lads. I'm not going to name names, but a good share of the forwards that were on the Offaly panel this year have shown no evidence yet that they'd be able for that type of opposition.

[Anonymous1]

Sure that’s the managements call plan A obviously wasn’t working

Just making the point. Same with Farrell today, he can only beat what’s in front of him.

[Anonymous1]

We all think this and have thought this for years. On his day for his club, he’s irrepressible. But until he does it consistently for Offaly (which, let’s be honest, he never actually has) then it’s just speculation. I’d love to see him do it for Offaly but I’m just conscious that we’ve had this conversation umpteen times before over the last number of years after some club game. The proof will be next January/February/March for Offaly. A much, much higher standard. Until then he can score whatever he wants in club match, it doesn’t matter a damn to Offaly.

We're not talking about putting the man into the hall of fame here. We're talking about calling him up to the county panel for the winter, so he can compete for a starting spot alongside anything from 12-15 other forwards. Right now, there are only a very small handful of players who have cleared your bar of consistently doing it in a county jersey, and you'd never bring in anyone new if that was your parameter.

Given that Cian will almost certainly be one of the best three or four forwards in the club championship, and that's a conservative estimate, not calling him in will be a very personal statement.

I accept that if any player had Cian's past track record of not accepting bad news well, then that would be a black mark on his record, but you have to give players a chance to grow up and mature, and you have to also appreciate that we are preparing to play in Division Two, where our number 14 next year will have to mark players like Pádraig Hampsey, Seán Rafferty and Brendan Rogers. We're going to need something a bit special to have a chance of taking scores off those lads. I'm not going to name names, but a good share of the forwards that were on the Offaly panel this year have shown no evidence yet that they'd be able for that type of opposition.

That last part is key.

I’ll go a step further and say only 3 of last year’s starting 6 forwards are good enough for where we want to go.

[Behindthegoal]

I’d like to see him in there as much as the next man but I have it from good word that its irrelevant what he does the bridges have been burned. It’s the culture of a team and everyone being in it together it only takes one man to drag that down when he’s not selected etc and start getting into other lads heads that’s why other players who I won’t name have also been let go. I think there’s about 15 lads who weren’t part of last years squad doing gym work in case they get a call in November and he’s not part of that so he won’t be involved we just need to move on until there’s new management to open up this debate again

[oneshot]

what ever about forwards coming back into the squad in 26 .offaly badly need midfielders we have been beaten hands down at centre field the last few years.

[Anonymous1]

The debate won’t be opened up again. If he’s not back in now, he’ll probably never be back in.

He must be 26 and new management in 12 or 24 months time are hardly going to bring him in to start building a new team around.

[Anonymous1]

what ever about forwards coming back into the squad in 26 .offaly badly need midfielders we have been beaten hands down at centre field the last few years.

That’s a different problem. There are some forwards out there who could be brought in but there aren’t midfielders out there. We just don’t produce tall athletic men in midfield.

[oneshot]

what ever about forwards coming back into the squad in 26 .offaly badly need midfielders we have been beaten hands down at centre field the last few years.

That’s a different problem. There are some forwards out there who could be brought in but there aren’t midfielders out there. We just don’t produce tall athletic men in midfield.

true the best in offaly still would be Niall Smith and he must be nearly 39 or 40.