Club football 2025

[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.

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

Ciaran Macmanus was subbed on for Tubber yesterday.

[G91]

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.

Ciaran Macmanus was subbed on for Tubber yesterday.

Could Micky heart convince him to throw back on the jersey

Great club man soldiering on all these year’s albeit a substitute yesterday still a key player for tubber and a handful id imagine

[Plain of the Herbs]

That's incredible. I make it he's 49 this year (was U21 in 1997).
Was three years an Offaly U21, but didn't play Offaly Minor.

Could Micky heart convince him to throw back on the jersey

Great club man soldiering on all these year’s albeit a substitute yesterday still a key player for tubber and a handful id imagine

[Anonymous1]

He’ll turn 50 later this year I believe. Will he be the first pentagenarian to play Senior in Offaly? (Albeit Senior B)

He’d have been about 14 years into his senior club career before some of his current teammates were born…

That's incredible. I make it he's 49 this year (was U21 in 1997).
Was three years an Offaly U21, but didn't play Offaly Minor.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Well if he's 50 later this year, he was overage for 1997's U21 team. And he played on that (which I think was the one with the massive row in Parnell Park).

He’ll turn 50 later this year I believe. Will he be the first pentagenarian to play Senior in Offaly? (Albeit Senior B)

He’d have been about 14 years into his senior club career before some of his current teammates were born…

That's incredible. I make it he's 49 this year (was U21 in 1997).
Was three years an Offaly U21, but didn't play Offaly Minor.

[Anonymous1]

Well if he's 50 later this year, he was overage for 1997's U21 team. And he played on that (which I think was the one with the massive row in Parnell Park).

He’ll turn 50 later this year I believe. Will he be the first pentagenarian to play Senior in Offaly? (Albeit Senior B)

He’d have been about 14 years into his senior club career before some of his current teammates were born…

That's incredible. I make it he's 49 this year (was U21 in 1997).
Was three years an Offaly U21, but didn't play Offaly Minor.

If not this year I’m sure he’ll be playing for a few years to come yet.

[Faithfully]

He could well be starting in the next few games, as I believe he was a late direct replacement for Donal Shirley, who broke his wrist after going to the clouds for a ball and coming clattering down to earth when his feet were inadvertently nudged in the air. 49 is some going, in fairness.

[Lone Shark]

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

Then it's up to management and the player to be grown ups and rebuild new bridges. Every year is a new project, there will be new players on board, and there are a variety of reasons why a certain player might not have been ready to be the player he needed to be at one time, but the situation has changed a few years later.

Once again, there's no problem bringing in any player with a warning that his attitude has to be spot on from the start. But the trick is in the name - management. It's not management if you'll only deal with players who will do everything you ask without batting an eyelid, and they never put a toe out of line. 100%, there are players where the juice is not worth the squeeze, in the sense that they are impossible/toxic, or even they are difficult, and if everything goes right, they aren't going to be anything more than just a bit part player at best. There are players that bring the acrimony out into the public domain, in which case absolutely, you can't let them near the dressing room at all, because they will undermine the trust and togetherness therein.

But there are also players that have a burning competitiveness inside them and while it's hard to handle, it's a force of nature and you want it on your side. On this very thread we are hailing perhaps the greatest force of nature I ever saw in an Offaly jersey in my lifetime, Ciarán McManus. I don't think I've ever seen any player bend games his way out of sheer will and grit the way I've seen him do it, and I will forever be grateful that he was one of us.

And if you ask any of the management team from 1997, he was not easy to work with. He's an emotional guy, and those emotions, for good and for bad, were never far from the surface, on and off the pitch. I know of one game in particular where things got very heated between them.

But this was a good management team who understood that this guy was one of our best players, and that any angst and contrariness he showed came from the right motivation. So they worked with that, and both player and management were rewarded for it.

The thing to remember too is that when a player gets cut from a panel for reasons that aren't directly football related, it tends to be big news. Jim McGuinness cutting Kevin Cassidy, Brian Cody cutting Charlie Carter, Liam Cahill dropping Cathal Barrett, we all hear about those ones. And in a lot of cases, it's justified. But if it gets to the point that the list of players that you won't consider picking, or the list of players that won't play for you starts to get to a half a dozen names and more, then you have to start looking in the mirror and ask if you maybe need to find another approach short of the nuclear button.

By definition, we don't hear about the situations where players are difficult to handle behind closed doors or they bring different baggage with them, but management decides they need to invest in them. And I guarantee you, every panel has one or two of those.

[oneshot]

sure the gift fox won a county title at 50 in 2009 his still togging out for tullamore 16 years later.

[oneshot]

He’ll turn 50 later this year I believe. Will he be the first pentagenarian to play Senior in Offaly? (Albeit Senior B)

He’d have been about 14 years into his senior club career before some of his current teammates were born…

That's incredible. I make it he's 49 this year (was U21 in 1997).
Was three years an Offaly U21, but didn't play Offaly Minor.

was overage in 97 played in the 95 leinster win alright .

[Plain of the Herbs]

You might want to check your facts there Oneshit. Because you're wrong again. As you generally are.

was overage in 97 played in the 95 leinster win alright .

[Hyper]

was overage in 97 played in the 95 leinster win alright .

oneshot, Maccie be 50 next year, class act he was and still is - as a baller, motivator and person

[SearingDrive]

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.

Cian Farrell is a quality player ,worthy to play for Offaly. Cian seems to have a difficulty in working with team management, and has opted off the panel previously. Will that approach change if Cian joins the Mickey Harte/ Declan Kelly
management for 2026? All players have to work as part of the panel.
Is it true Cian Johnson, Ferbane is on the county football panel for 2026?

[faithfulfanatic]

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.

Cian Farrell is a quality player ,worthy to play for Offaly. Cian seems to have a difficulty in working with team management, and has opted off the panel previously. Will that approach change if Cian joins the Mickey Harte/ Declan Kelly
management for 2026? All players have to work as part of the panel.
Is it true Cian Johnson, Ferbane is on the county football panel for 2026?

There’s 12-15 lads on gym/running plans with the view of trying to make next year’s panel.
Cian is one of them

[del]

Tullamore comfortable win vs Bracknagh was expecting more from Bracknagh but their legs were gone after 20 mins.
Tullamore were sloppy with there finishing particularly in the first half and I’m sure they weren’t happy with that aspect
Tullamore Still short 4/5 definite starters who are coming back in the next week or 2 the next in line showed they are well capable tho
Corey white in goals I thought was exceptional for Tullamore bar one kickout that went short.
The next round vs shamrocks will be a right good game
Todays games shamrocks should win handy and Durrow will give Ferbane a serious fright but Ferbane should still win by a few points