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Prior to Pat Roe being appointed, can anyone tell me when was the last time that Offaly appointed a football manager who had previously managed another county team?

Football managers since 1977

1977-84 Eugene McGee
1984-86 John Courtney
1986-87 Greg Hughes
1988-89 Michael McBrierty
1989-90 Jody Gunning
1991 Brendan Hackett
1992-93 Pat Fitzgerald
1994-96 Eugene Mulligan, Eamon Mulhall, Kevin Gavin
1996-99 Tommy Lyons
2000-02 Padraig Nolan
2003 Paul O'Kelly
2004 Gerry Fahey
2005-06 Kevin Kilmurray
2007-2008 Pat Roe
2009- Richie Connor
2009-11 Tom Cribben
2012 Gerry Cooney

Maybe thats what we're lacking, inter county EXPERIENCE!

Pat Fitzgerald was later than that BnM. He was in 1993 anyway. and 1994 - 96 was the triumvarate of Eugene Mulligan, Eamon Mulhall and my auld lad.

azoffaly wrote:Pat Fitzgerald was later than that BnM. He was in 1993 anyway. and 1994 - 96 was the triumvarate of Eugene Mulligan, Eamon Mulhall and my auld lad.

I must check up the Pat Fitzgerald one.
I think Brendan Hackett was possibly in charge back in 1991 when Offaly got to the league quarter against Donegal, as well as hammer the bejaysus out of Westmeath! Then was it Pat Fitzgerald after him?

The triumvarate setup was an interesting setup. Again I wouldn't have been aware as to who had the final executive power, or were all three powered equally.

BNM Man, You've gone back nearly as far as Father Gilhooley.

The question must be - Have we ever taken on somebody with inter-county coaching/training/managing experience??? - Ever.

All 3 were equally empowered, but I think Mulligan did the interviews, as he would obviously have been the best known.

As regards Fitzgerald, I know he was there in 93 at least because that's one of the years I was knocking around it. He managed the Under 21s as well that year.

Hovering over the edit button now....

We will be like the Newcatle United of GAA f we ditch the manager after one month

We will be like the Newcatle United of GAA if we ditch the manager after one month

Pat Fitzgerald also had a stint in charge of Kildare before he managed Offaly. Apart from Pat Roe he is the only Offaly manager to have managed a county team previously.

Rynaghs Biffo wrote:Maybe thats what we're lacking, inter county EXPERIENCE!

The four best teams in football currently are Kerry, Tyrone,Armagh and Dublin. Their managers are or have included in recent times Jack O Connor, Pat O Shea, Mickey Harte, Joe Kernan, Pillar Caffrey. None of these to my knowledge have had prior inter county experience.

Also, having a manager with inter county experience does not guarantee success - there are a lot of journey men out there who roll from job to job and prove adequate but not spectacular. The cost of these managers is also prohibitive.

I think our problems stem from the basic setup at underage level coupled with the lack of resources provided to every senior management team since Tommy Lyons. The management then struggle to cope, and having just managed to learn a bit are then booted out for the new management team to suffer the same fate ( all the while the top teams are improving each year so the gap grows ever wider).

Rather than just list problems I would advocate a radical approach to the county Board setup. A permanent Advisory Group to interact with the four main parties - The County Board, Minor Board/Underage Devpt team, Players and the Current management. This advisory Group should be responsible for reviewing and providing the needs for the current management team and players based on best practice in other counties - Physios, psychologists, fitness assessments etc. They should have a database for each player who has "senior county potential" from the age of 14 upwards. Provide these 100/125 players with fitness targets that they need to achieve if interested in playing with the county - the players should via training on their own, with their club and in the gym get and keep in the proper physical condition.

Each management team upon starting their job is provided with a list of players who are interested and fit. The management select their panel from this. Players who dont make it should then be informed as to where their weaknesses are eg physical strength etc- give them a programme to develop the lacking skills and then reassess in 6 months.

Its radical I know but we need to come up with some system that provides continuity and a steady stream of 1/2 new players to the Senior team every year. Feel free to call me crazy !

Mighty Pair O' Hands wrote:I think our problems stem from the basic setup at underage level

We've had great success at underage level in the past 5 years or so. I think the real failing is not bringing in these youngsters and a steady rate. And by steady I mean giving them a bit of experience around the setup for a year or so, give them a chance at the league, let them develop physically and then throw them into the senior championship team.

Instead of this we've been getting youngsters, f*cking them into the team after a good year at minor and when they don't match the expectations (which they will never do unless they're Niall Mc) we say ah they're not up to it and call back in the lad whose been there for years!! It's madness, if we had done this every year for the past five years, we'd have 2-3 from each year that would make the break through and we'd have an extra 10-15 players who are adding to the panel. Instead we have Ken Casey, Paul McConway and and another few lamb minors to the slaughter this year. Madness!!

Apart from that your idea seems good in theory but I bet it would just turn into another pointless COM-IT-EEE.

Just updating the list.
They'd be running out of space if they were putting every manager's name on a plaque!

TheManFromFerbane wrote:

Mighty Pair O' Hands wrote:I think our problems stem from the basic setup at underage level

We've had great success at underage level in the past 5 years or so. .

What success was that, must have missed it. I wouldnt class reaching a Leinster Final a success. What has any Offaly conty team won in the last ten years. ?

The biggest mistake we made in recent years was getting rid of Gerry Fahy.Offaly played some great football in 04 hammering Roscommon and Kildare in successive league matches and we played a great brand of simple pacy direct football.2 unlucky narrow defeats against Westmeath and Wexford didnt justify him getting the boot.