Damning Sunday Tribune Article
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 2:02 pm
Losing games, faith, players and the plot
Ewan MacKenna
BAD, wasn't it? Offaly were never going to beat Westmeath but to go down like they've done so many times before would at least have been acceptable. Offaly football has always been about going as hard as possible for as long as possible and seeing what happens. To play a two-man full-forward line against a defensive team while having the other four forwards the wrong side of midfield though, was completely unacceptable and left Pat Roe under massive and justified pressure.
Think that's bad? Take a closer look at the Offaly set-up and you'll realise that their championship aspirations disappeared long before last Saturday. Playing Division Four football was never going to help their cause but while the opening months of the year should have been all about passing time with a little experimentation, they instead became about losing players. In all, five walked from the panel, all for reasons that should have been dealt with by Roe and his management team.
First up was Conor Evans, a player who was told all along to stick with it because he was back-up to Scott Brady. When Brady was moved to centre half-back earlier in the year, Shane O'Sullivan was given the number three jersey. Evans wasn't given an explanation and decided he was wasting his time. Next up was Ken Casey. In a county seemingly bereft of young talent, the corner-forward was seen as a rising star. Having been brought on against Kilkenny in a meaningless league match, he was withdrawn 10 minutes later and decided he was wasting his time.
Two more of the panel quickly followed. It's known Neville Coughlan had been having trouble with Roe since the start of the year. Having done damage to three ligaments in the county final, he was told to talk to physio Mick Lillis and the verdict was he'd be out until after the new year. However it wasn't long before he was told to seek the advice of a second physio who told Coughlan he could return to training. When he did, his Achilles was damaged. Lillis said that was always going to happen, was annoyed he'd seen another physio and told him he'd be out for a further fortnight. Roe said that he was of little use due to his injury-proneness and to return to his club Shamrocks and get fit. No longer on the panel, Coughlan was left to pick up the continuing medical bills and decided he too was wasting his time.
His clubmate PJ Ward was arguably the biggest loss. The former Westmeath player had starred against Carlow in last year's championship, didn't get any ball against Dublin and it's believed he endured a tough year due to some of his teammates' behaviour. After an incident in a warm-up before the Kilkenny game he received a punch to the face, and decided he was wasting his time. He didn't go there and then, having been calmed down by some of the squad's senior members but even with extra time to play with, Roe failed to sort it out.
Four down one to go. Finally there was John O'Hara, another bright young forward who's started the year by kicking some nice tallies. However as the year progressed he couldn't get a game even from the bench and decided he was wasting his time.
All of which raises questions about a management team who only had to show up for training and on game days to coast back to Division Three and guarantee themselves a place in the qualifiers. Now that they are there, there's little hope of them going anywhere but out.
When Roe left Wexford for Offaly, it was seen as a step up and a step closer to his ultimate goal of managing Laois. Next Sunday, those two counties clash in the Leinster semi-final, a stage and a standard Offaly are well away from. Little wonder given what's gone on in the camp in the early part of the year.
June 15, 2008
Ewan MacKenna
BAD, wasn't it? Offaly were never going to beat Westmeath but to go down like they've done so many times before would at least have been acceptable. Offaly football has always been about going as hard as possible for as long as possible and seeing what happens. To play a two-man full-forward line against a defensive team while having the other four forwards the wrong side of midfield though, was completely unacceptable and left Pat Roe under massive and justified pressure.
Think that's bad? Take a closer look at the Offaly set-up and you'll realise that their championship aspirations disappeared long before last Saturday. Playing Division Four football was never going to help their cause but while the opening months of the year should have been all about passing time with a little experimentation, they instead became about losing players. In all, five walked from the panel, all for reasons that should have been dealt with by Roe and his management team.
First up was Conor Evans, a player who was told all along to stick with it because he was back-up to Scott Brady. When Brady was moved to centre half-back earlier in the year, Shane O'Sullivan was given the number three jersey. Evans wasn't given an explanation and decided he was wasting his time. Next up was Ken Casey. In a county seemingly bereft of young talent, the corner-forward was seen as a rising star. Having been brought on against Kilkenny in a meaningless league match, he was withdrawn 10 minutes later and decided he was wasting his time.
Two more of the panel quickly followed. It's known Neville Coughlan had been having trouble with Roe since the start of the year. Having done damage to three ligaments in the county final, he was told to talk to physio Mick Lillis and the verdict was he'd be out until after the new year. However it wasn't long before he was told to seek the advice of a second physio who told Coughlan he could return to training. When he did, his Achilles was damaged. Lillis said that was always going to happen, was annoyed he'd seen another physio and told him he'd be out for a further fortnight. Roe said that he was of little use due to his injury-proneness and to return to his club Shamrocks and get fit. No longer on the panel, Coughlan was left to pick up the continuing medical bills and decided he too was wasting his time.
His clubmate PJ Ward was arguably the biggest loss. The former Westmeath player had starred against Carlow in last year's championship, didn't get any ball against Dublin and it's believed he endured a tough year due to some of his teammates' behaviour. After an incident in a warm-up before the Kilkenny game he received a punch to the face, and decided he was wasting his time. He didn't go there and then, having been calmed down by some of the squad's senior members but even with extra time to play with, Roe failed to sort it out.
Four down one to go. Finally there was John O'Hara, another bright young forward who's started the year by kicking some nice tallies. However as the year progressed he couldn't get a game even from the bench and decided he was wasting his time.
All of which raises questions about a management team who only had to show up for training and on game days to coast back to Division Three and guarantee themselves a place in the qualifiers. Now that they are there, there's little hope of them going anywhere but out.
When Roe left Wexford for Offaly, it was seen as a step up and a step closer to his ultimate goal of managing Laois. Next Sunday, those two counties clash in the Leinster semi-final, a stage and a standard Offaly are well away from. Little wonder given what's gone on in the camp in the early part of the year.
June 15, 2008
