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Straightforward question - most people on this board have been to several club championship games, and nobody I've talked to yet has laid eyes on our county manager at any of them. As far as I'm concerned what players do now is of a lot more relevance than what they do in challenge matches or in the O'Byrne cup. I know for a fact that if he was in Tullamore yesterday evening and he saw the way McManus nailed all those long range frees with Tubber's championship life on the line he'd be making sure that Mac was taking all frees 40m plus for the county again, and that's just one instance.

I heard a rumour that he was resigning?

Nothing concrete that I know of. I wish if he was going to he'd just get on with it. This carry on of managers not seeing thr county championship is not on.

I must say I have'nt laid eyes on him at any of the matches ive been to, although Alo Kelly was in Tullamore over the last few weeks watching games, but then again he goes to all the matches anyway.
This would certainly be the time of year when County managers tour the county searching for new talent and seen that he has not been spotted it looks like he has already made his mind up about 2008. I suppose we will find out in the next week or two.

If Roe is staying what benefit would it be to attend bad standard club games?

He has trained Offaly for the year so he has had 30 plus players that he has got a good luck at.

I think that is one of the big problems in Offaly, is that players get picked for hurling and football panels for playing well in low intensity club games.
A huge difference to intercounty hurling.
Brendan o'Meara, Joe Brady are great examples with the hurlers.
Will never and i repeat will never be of intercounty standard but will make the panels because of performances in club gams.

What should be done is 40 players should be brought in for 3 months intense training and then the management can analyse them and see if they have what it takes to play at inter county level

Offalys Future wrote:If Roe is staying what benefit would it be to attend bad standard club games?

He has trained Offaly for the year so he has had 30 plus players that he has got a good luck at.

I think that is one of the big problems in Offaly, is that players get picked for hurling and football panels for playing well in low intensity club games.
A huge difference to intercounty hurling.
Brendan o'Meara, Joe Brady are great examples with the hurlers.
Will never and i repeat will never be of intercounty standard but will make the panels because of performances in club gams.

What should be done is 40 players should be brought in for 3 months intense training and then the management can analyse them and see if they have what it takes to play at inter county level

I would argue that a big club championship match will tell at least as much about a player as a division 4 league or O'Byrne Cup match, which is all the players will have between now and the 2008 Leinster Championship. Certainly if Pat Roe saw the way Ciarán McManus nailed three crucial long distance frees last Sunday evening in Tullamore, he'd have seen him perform under a pressure that no amount of "intense" training could replicate.


As for your two hurling comparisons, I'll agree that Joe Brady seems to fall between club and county standard, but Brendan O'Meara has never had the chance to underperform in an intense county setting, so I'm not sure how you can dismiss him so readily.

Offalys Future wrote:
What should be done is 40 players should be brought in for 3 months intense training and then the management can analyse them and see if they have what it takes to play at inter county level

How would you decide on who these 40 players should be ?

I would argue that a big club championship match will tell at least as much about a player as a division 4 league or O'Byrne Cup match, which is all the players will have between now and the 2008 Leinster Championship. Certainly if Pat Roe saw the way Ciarán McManus nailed three crucial long distance frees last Sunday evening in Tullamore, he'd have seen him perform under a pressure that no amount of "intense" training could replicate.

Complete different if you ask me, a club game you are playing against club players with a lot less standard.

I went to the OByrne cup final in Tullamore and the intensity and pace of the game was played at a very high level.

Ciaran McManus has nailed those points so many times but not consistently. Thats Ciaran McManus problem. I am a big admirer of him, he has massive ability but its about a good manager maximising that ability to benefit the team

As for your two hurling comparisons, I'll agree that Joe Brady seems to fall between club and county standard, but Brendan O'Meara has never had the chance to underperform in an intense county setting, so I'm not sure how you can dismiss him so readily.

You will just have to take my word for this but to compete at intercounty hurling in the backs at a high level you need to have some sort of pace and o'Meara is simply too slow.
A good Offaly club hurler

Offalys Future wrote:

I would argue that a big club championship match will tell at least as much about a player as a division 4 league or O'Byrne Cup match, which is all the players will have between now and the 2008 Leinster Championship. Certainly if Pat Roe saw the way Ciarán McManus nailed three crucial long distance frees last Sunday evening in Tullamore, he'd have seen him perform under a pressure that no amount of "intense" training could replicate.

Complete different if you ask me, a club game you are playing against club players with a lot less standard.

I went to the OByrne cup final in Tullamore and the intensity and pace of the game was played at a very high level.

Ciaran McManus has nailed those points so many times but not consistently. Thats Ciaran McManus problem. I am a big admirer of him, he has massive ability but its about a good manager maximising that ability to benefit the team

If you're trying to put a dead ball over the bar from 60m out off the ground with your club eliminated if you miss, it doesn't matter in the slightest who your opponents are - it's just you, the ball and the posts. I'm aware that he has missed some during the year, but his year to my knowledge he didn't take a single long range free despite no-one else in the county being anything like as good at them.