As backlash goes, that was pretty tame. Granted there was a lot less shame in the way we lost, but we still lost by nine points on our home ground to a team that was played the first half with several of their better players on the bench, even if there are grounds for saying they shouldn’t have been available at all.
It’s sad to say that if we had played like that last week – not outstanding, but just putting effort into doing the basics right – we probably would have beaten Dublin. However we didn’t and so we find ourselves bottom of the table and clear favourites for the drop.
The newspaper articles will no doubt go into the basic chronology of the game, praising us for how we ran the All Ireland champions close for so long, and tackled with such aggression throughout etc. As a result there’s no need to dwell on too much of that here. Not to put too fine a point on it, we took the field very fired up, we started with the wind, and got out of the blocks well, only failing to be ahead at half time on account of some fantastic scores from play from Stephen O’Neill. Tyrone brought out a few more of their big name guys for the start of the second half, and though Offaly continued to be marginally on top for the third quarter, we never looked like getting too far ahead, though with fifteen minutes to go and a two point lead in hand, it became possible to dream.
And the dream was duly extinguished, as with a combination of fluid passing and movement, superior fitness and complete domination in the battle for breaks around the middle of the field, Tyrone completely overwhelmed us, winning the last quarter of the game by 2-6 to 0-1. As a display of footballing cohesion and skill it was very impressive, and certainly the level of play that Tyrone were able to reach was a stark indictment of how far off the All Ireland winning standard we are at the moment. On the other hand, it’s probably not unfair to say that the all round ability and skills of that current Tyrone team are a joy to watch, and probably on a par with anything Gaelic Football has ever seen. It makes it all the more sad that they feel the need to resort to bringing on players who really should have been suspended, because such antics tarnish the county’s achievements, all the more lamentable for the fact that this particular generation of players have been the first in that county’s history to reach the pinnacle of football success.
But enough about Tyrone – this is an Offaly messageboard after all. From our point of view, there were a few points worthy of note from the game as a whole, some good, some bad. Mainly:
(1) Our players reverted to playing much earlier ball into the full forward line, greatly aided by the good running lines of Thomas Deehan. This worked out infinitely better than the slow crossfield handpassing that was engaged in last week, and yielded results. Indeed where we struggled was when we reverted to looking to lay the ball off short in the second half, a policy that usually resulted in our players being crowded out and surrendering possession.
(2) Fitness was again a serious issue – by the end of the game the Tyrone players were flying forward in numbers and our lads looked seriously heavy legged in their attempts to keep pace. As in all matters we were being measured against the best in the land, but the shortfall was still glaring.
(3) High fielding may be a dying art in Gaelic football, but it’s still a great way to lift a team and on a day like today when Alan McNamee is struggling, we really do struggle in this regard. That’s not to say that there are a huge amount of alternatives, indeed we all know there aren’t, but again perhaps it’s something that should we should be working on with 2007 and beyond in mind.
(4) We’ve really got to ask ourselves why we score so few goals, particularly bearing in mind that we have players on board who have proven that they can get them. If we leave out the farce in Dublin last week when the game went mad in the last few minutes, we’ve scored one goal in seven competitive fixtures this year, including a game against Kilkenny. If I’m not mistaken we’ve conceded nine in that time. Are we not creating overlaps? Is the support running not good enough? Personally I think it’s because we’re struggling to really isolate the inside players to give them enough space so that if they do get the ball they have a real goal opportunity. This is another aspect of our forward play that we’ve really got to start addressing.
As for player by player…..
Kevin Meehan: Good kickouts, he’s clearly been working on this part of his game and kudos for doing so – the rewards were obvious there today. However the primary function of a goalie is to stop shots, and the one time he was called on – albeit when the competitiveness was gone from the game – he failed. Cavlan’s shot was very stoppable to a goalie that stood up and made himself big – as Kelly usually does. It’s a pity, because otherwise he did well.
Ger Rafferty: I thought he had a good game. He was aggressive, was never shown up for pace and did well at getting a hand in when he needed to. In a line where we certainly have vacancies, he did his cause no harm at al with today’s display.
Sean Casey: Marking O’Neill on today’s form was a mammoth task, one which Paddy McCormack in his heyday would have struggled with. Casey won a good few balls, went after possession with real hunger, and generally shepherded O’Neill in the right direction, as you would hope your full back would do. O’Neill generally responded by kicking a glorious point from a tight angle off his wrong foot, or some such shenanigans. In general I would say Casey did okay and the experience should stand to him.
Nigel Grennan: Some woeful use of the ball by times, but again he held his own, compensating for his lack of defensive nous with pace and continuous effort as is his modus operandi back there. Colm Cooper next week might expose him on a few occasions, but so far he has at least kept himself between his marker and the goal at all times – if he could just learn to read the incoming ball a bit better he might make a corner back yet.
Neville Coughlan: Had a very poor and ineffective game by his standards, largely due to being out of position. He’s an above average attacker and a middling defender, so playing him here is not utilising him well at all. Needs to get back in the half forwards, and fast.
Scott Brady: Physically strong, but still slow and was given the run around a little bit by McGuigan. Got his customary yellow card, made a few trademark bursts out of thebacks, but overall was not dominant. The case for him to return to the full back line is strong.
Karol Slattery: Looking a lot more like himself this week – he took the game on, ran at Tyrone and caused real havoc in doing so. Restricting him to holding his own half was a very odd idea and thankfully it appears to have been aborted. Should come on even more for getting more games.
Ciaran McManus: All round excellent again. Had a good day with the frees, including one glorious sideline ball, and covered a lot of ground forward and back. Largely used the ball well but still didn’t look to do it all himself and in doing so was twice as effective. Yet again our man of the match.
Alan McNamee: Had a very poor day at the office, failing to match Sean Cavanagh in most aspects. Hit a few good balls in, but largely was second best at winning possession, still slow to deliver ball in and missed one goal chance, albeit a difficult one. His spot would be under real pressure if Keane were to be available again.
John Reynolds: Once more with feeling – an inside forward or nothing. Two years ago under Gerry Fahy we had four inside forwards he wanted to play so Niall got shunted out to half forward just to accommodate them all- the same thing is going on now with Shaper. If we want guys to run at defences we have better options – Slattery or Coughlan for power, Ryan, Grennan or Phelan for pace. Took a good score at the start of the second half to prove that he can, but why play a guy out on the 50 who can’t kick points from range and doesn’t have the strength or speed to stop opposing wing backs charging forward, a la Jordan yesterday? Ten is not the slot for him.
Paschal Kelleghan: Played a few good balls forward in the first half, but for me didn’t do enough to justify his continued selection. He was lucky to even stay on the pitch at one stage when he was on a yellow card and still swung a wild kick at a loose ball when a Tyrone player was going down on it – the ref allowed advantage, but he could easily have ended up walking for it. A forward that concedes judicious frees is not a bad thing, but he’s got to be more careful. It’s a long time since he’s scored more than once in a county game as well if memory serves. Needs to step up.
Leonard Mooney: He’s actually growing into the county role thing. Much like Paudie Mulhare when he used to play, he doesn’t strike fear into the hearts of opposition by way of reputation and it would be easy to look and say he’s a weak link, but after the game he invariably will have made a good few small positive contributions and helped link up the play well. He’s a guy that could really do well if he bulked up and added some upper body strength to his armoury. For the first time this year I consider him now in the front line to start for the championship, albeit on a close call.
Thomas Deehan: He was very lively throughout, took a couple of good scores and always offered himself as an outlet. He’s a live contender for the free taking role too, so in all likelihood I’d say we’ve seen him dropped for the last time this year, barring injury.
Ross Connor: He offers a very different threat in the inside line, but there is a strong case for saying that threat would be best kept in reserve on the bench instead of looked for from the off. The idea of a big full forward to win high ball is good, but in reality there only are a single digit number of those deliveries per game. Against high energy supporting teams like Tyrone as well he causes real problems by not having the pace to track emerging defenders. Perhaps is he becomes an 80% free taker in time there is a place for him – for the moment the big man on the edge of the square thing is probably not a policy we should look to engage in for seventy minutes.
Niall McNamee: I wouldn’t go as far as to say he was back to his best, but he certainly was looking a lot closer to it than he has for some time. His confidence is slowly coming back, so hopefully by the summer he’ll be ready to deliver on his huge potential.
Colm Quinn: Didn’t get on the ball that much and by the time he was on Deehan was gone, which meant the best forward target was no longer. I still like him as an impact sub, but he didn’t make much impact today sadly.
Sean Ryan: I still feel this guy is hard done by – he offers something really different to our team and hasn’t let us down so far. Giving him ten minutes is not enough.
Shane Sullivan: Came on very late as well, but good to see him get the run out. Hopefully he’ll be raring to go in Tralee, where he’ll be a real addition to the backline if so. Still found time to hit some guy a good solid shoulder off the ball to check his run. The hunger is still there then.
James Coughlan: Wasn’t on long enough to really contribute. Got one ball, didn’t collect it cleanly, but won a free.
Tyrone 2-15 Offaly 0-12
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Lone Shark
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Bord na Mona man
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That has been the case for a few years now BnM. Laois 2003, should have beaten them out the gate, and didn't put them away. Laois 2005, Kildare 2004(?), Westmeath 2004, Westmeath in the league last year.
All games where Offaly had been the better team and either struggled mightily to put them away (Kildare and Westmeath League) or failed altogether (the rest).
Mind you, it's almost a vicious circle, because a real killer instinct comes with having won games, being confident that you are not going to relinquish a winning position. These Offaly players have given up leads so often that they seem to 'tighten' when they get 3 or 4, or more, points up.
All games where Offaly had been the better team and either struggled mightily to put them away (Kildare and Westmeath League) or failed altogether (the rest).
Mind you, it's almost a vicious circle, because a real killer instinct comes with having won games, being confident that you are not going to relinquish a winning position. These Offaly players have given up leads so often that they seem to 'tighten' when they get 3 or 4, or more, points up.
We may well be a 50 minute team like Ireland's rugby team used to be!!
Still we were miles better this year than last year up in Tyrone. That day the game was gone in 10 minutes and we made footballers like Ryan Mellon and Martin Penrose look like legends. Our whole pattern of play was so naive with aimless balls going into an 8 man defence. The other end of the field we had one defender running up and down the 21 yard line with a single Tyrone forward - result being that any ball hit anywhere in by Tyrone from midfield found said hapless defender hopelessly isolated in miles of space.
Yesterday at least we had men behind the ball in defence and we were putting intelligent balls into the attack, with Deehan showing particularly well for the ball. Another encouraging feature was that we were very accurate from frees and play in the first half with only one wide. A variety of players took the frees - Thomas Deehan, Ross Connor and Mac who once again had a wonderful game. All in all very encouraging.
Still we were miles better this year than last year up in Tyrone. That day the game was gone in 10 minutes and we made footballers like Ryan Mellon and Martin Penrose look like legends. Our whole pattern of play was so naive with aimless balls going into an 8 man defence. The other end of the field we had one defender running up and down the 21 yard line with a single Tyrone forward - result being that any ball hit anywhere in by Tyrone from midfield found said hapless defender hopelessly isolated in miles of space.
Yesterday at least we had men behind the ball in defence and we were putting intelligent balls into the attack, with Deehan showing particularly well for the ball. Another encouraging feature was that we were very accurate from frees and play in the first half with only one wide. A variety of players took the frees - Thomas Deehan, Ross Connor and Mac who once again had a wonderful game. All in all very encouraging.
It strange in a way but I too was far more satisfied coming away from yesterdays game, having lost by 9, than I was coming from Parnell Park having lost by 2.
The fight that Offaly showed in the first half was super. McManus was brilliant and its difficult to justify playing him anywhere but midfield now.
Yes we ran out of steam in the second half but this was a strong and determined Tyrone team after all. At least we know now where we need to improve and we can work towards that.
Some of the scores we got were very well worked with more efficent passing up the field and picking a man out. It at least gave our forwards a chance to play. Karol Slattery is certainly on the way back to his best at what he does best in the attacking wing back role.
The fight that Offaly showed in the first half was super. McManus was brilliant and its difficult to justify playing him anywhere but midfield now.
Yes we ran out of steam in the second half but this was a strong and determined Tyrone team after all. At least we know now where we need to improve and we can work towards that.
Some of the scores we got were very well worked with more efficent passing up the field and picking a man out. It at least gave our forwards a chance to play. Karol Slattery is certainly on the way back to his best at what he does best in the attacking wing back role.
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Bord na Mona man
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Unfortunately AZ I worry that the traditional Offaly manner of defeat is now changing.
We may no longer be getting caught with last minute sucker punches.
I fear a trend of teams steamrolling through us after we've tired ourselves out trying to batter our way though them.
Maybe we're not fit enough, or maybe we just end up killing ourselves playing the barnstorming game.
The Irish rugby team analogy did come to mind.
However I am a little bit more hopeful about the trip to Tralee.
I think we might just catch Kerry on an off day.
We haven't a prayer otherwise.
We may no longer be getting caught with last minute sucker punches.
I fear a trend of teams steamrolling through us after we've tired ourselves out trying to batter our way though them.
Maybe we're not fit enough, or maybe we just end up killing ourselves playing the barnstorming game.
The Irish rugby team analogy did come to mind.
However I am a little bit more hopeful about the trip to Tralee.
I think we might just catch Kerry on an off day.
We haven't a prayer otherwise.
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the bare biffo
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While the players have to go out to beat Kerry just the same as anyone else, this team isn't close to the two best championship teams in the country, so losing while showing some progress is what its all about.
Mid Term Review.
Perfect start against a woeful Cork, a good win.
Mayo are the best team in the country at the minute, second half fade out was diappointing, but wouldn't have expected any points from this one.
A weakened Dublin, who are not great to start with, were there for the taking. I have no idea what the hell happened here. Two points lost.
Tyrone are an exceptionally talented team, needed a win and brought on their big guns to secure it. No points expected, but encouraging performance after last week.
I think everyone would have anticipated that Offaly's league campaign would hinge on the last two games, home to Fermanagh and away to Monaghan, and so it has. Fermanagh at home looks winnable to me, I havent seen Monaghan at all but they have had some impressive results, even in losing. I don't know how this will go.
Mid Term Review.
Perfect start against a woeful Cork, a good win.
Mayo are the best team in the country at the minute, second half fade out was diappointing, but wouldn't have expected any points from this one.
A weakened Dublin, who are not great to start with, were there for the taking. I have no idea what the hell happened here. Two points lost.
Tyrone are an exceptionally talented team, needed a win and brought on their big guns to secure it. No points expected, but encouraging performance after last week.
I think everyone would have anticipated that Offaly's league campaign would hinge on the last two games, home to Fermanagh and away to Monaghan, and so it has. Fermanagh at home looks winnable to me, I havent seen Monaghan at all but they have had some impressive results, even in losing. I don't know how this will go.
I don't think we could have expected much more from yesterday's game -but the second goal gave Tyrone a winning margin which was somewhat unfair on Offaly.
Obviously when the All-Ireland champions brought on their substitutes, stepped up a gear and took total control at midfield, they were in a different class. Yet the experience of playing against Tyrone - especially the experience gained from the first 50 minutes - has to stand to Offaly.
OK, Neville Coughlan mightn't have been very prominent but I don't think we can afford to weaken the back line yet by moving him - or Karol Slattery for that matter - forward. Resources are just too thin on the ground in defence.
Anyone watching underage football for the last number of years would have known - and this is a point I made before - that post-Jimmy Grennan, Offaly will struggle to win clean ball at midfield because there just aren't high fielders coming up through the ranks. There's huge pressure now on Alan McNamee, but he's going to be conceding inches to the top midfielders so it's hard to find an answer.
I remember going to Offaly minor and under 21 championship matches for several years in a row hoping to see a top-class midfielder emerge, but, in truth, I knew that the chances of that happening were slim.
I actually can't remember us dominating under 21 matches at midfield since Kenneth Claffey played superb football in 1995 (though I'm open to correction on that one).
Back to yesterday's match. It's true that we tired in the closing 15 minutes. But don't forget Tyrone hadn't a match the previous weekend and could call on stars from the bench.
Also, I believe some Offaly players lined out in the league for their clubs the day after losing to Dublin and also that some of them played for their clubs in the under 21 championship last Friday night.
As far as I'm concerned, playing on Friday night and then on Sunday against Tyrone is unacceptable because even if a player took a slight knock or lost 5% of energy, it could make a significant difference when playing at the highest level. It would hardly happen in Tyrone.
Obviously when the All-Ireland champions brought on their substitutes, stepped up a gear and took total control at midfield, they were in a different class. Yet the experience of playing against Tyrone - especially the experience gained from the first 50 minutes - has to stand to Offaly.
OK, Neville Coughlan mightn't have been very prominent but I don't think we can afford to weaken the back line yet by moving him - or Karol Slattery for that matter - forward. Resources are just too thin on the ground in defence.
Anyone watching underage football for the last number of years would have known - and this is a point I made before - that post-Jimmy Grennan, Offaly will struggle to win clean ball at midfield because there just aren't high fielders coming up through the ranks. There's huge pressure now on Alan McNamee, but he's going to be conceding inches to the top midfielders so it's hard to find an answer.
I remember going to Offaly minor and under 21 championship matches for several years in a row hoping to see a top-class midfielder emerge, but, in truth, I knew that the chances of that happening were slim.
I actually can't remember us dominating under 21 matches at midfield since Kenneth Claffey played superb football in 1995 (though I'm open to correction on that one).
Back to yesterday's match. It's true that we tired in the closing 15 minutes. But don't forget Tyrone hadn't a match the previous weekend and could call on stars from the bench.
Also, I believe some Offaly players lined out in the league for their clubs the day after losing to Dublin and also that some of them played for their clubs in the under 21 championship last Friday night.
As far as I'm concerned, playing on Friday night and then on Sunday against Tyrone is unacceptable because even if a player took a slight knock or lost 5% of energy, it could make a significant difference when playing at the highest level. It would hardly happen in Tyrone.
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the Untouchable
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I find it hard to understand how people can say that we lost by 9 pts yet their still happy!!! Sunday's defeat has highlighted Offaly's weaknesses even more so than the defeat to Dublin did.
Our team is still not able to play 70 minutes football at anything even near championship pace. Our whole defense is a collection of average club defenders & in the case of Grennan, Coughlan & Slattery their played as forwards for their club!!!
Midfield is still not capable of winning even 50% of kickouts, which is putting our fragile defence under even more pressure!!!
In lenny Mooney & John Reynolds they have to decent forwards who have alot of pace & are well capable of kicking scores, however they are being asked to play the entire match practically on their own half back line...as part of Kilmurray's 12 men behind the ball style that he's trying to bring to this Offaly team but neither player looks comfortable doing this, as neither of them are physically strong enough to stop their man going forward.
Like I appreciate that Offaly played well for 50 mins or so but they got completely destroyed in the remaining 15 mins or so....which against a Tyrone team that really hasn't being firing on all cylinders this year leaves me wondering exactly what the Offaly players & management are going to do to address these problems!!!
I think the team needs a bit of tinkering with, I definately think trevor phelan should be given a run in at corner forward, because I think Niall Mac has too many off days...he's the type of players that when things are going well Niall would kick a point from the corner flag, but if Offaly were down by 2 or 3 he's not interested!!!
If I was picking the Offaly team to play kerry with a view to the Westmeath match this would be it,
1)P.Kelly...might be dodgy under a high ball at times but still a better option than Meehan,
2)S.Sullivan...needs games now to be ready for the championship.
3)S.Casey...like with any full back he needs time to settle in to that position & is improving I think with every game. Certainly a better option than Sullivan at fulll back.
4)K.Slattory...he's there purely because I don't know any other player who can mark the Gooch as well as Slattery could. Ideally I'd love to see him playing either at full forward or at no.12....but that looks like its a luxury that Offaly will not be able to afford this summer. He's probably paying the price for being such an all round good footballer!!!
5)Hard to know who will play at no.5 next Saturday, I reckon with Mooney gone for the Championship I would like to see James Keane in the No.5 jersey...provided of course keane is somewhere near getting back to full fitness. Without wanting to be too hard on any of the players I don't think any of them really stand out for automatic selection for Saturday's game...especially in light of the fact that they will be facing Eoin Brosnan. I would probably play Ger Rafferty at wing back.
6)Scott Brady...regardless of what anyone else tells me I think Scott is still leagues better than anything else we have to play at center back. I agree that he's not the quickest but there is no one else better than Brady on his day.
7)Again this is a really problem position for Offaly!!! Without Slattery here it really is anyone's guess who plays wing back. I think that come the championship someone is likely to be asked to play left wing back that probably won't have played there too much because I can't see anyone other than Karol Slattery being asked to man mark Dessie Dolan. I suppose there might be a case for Nigel Grennan to play there but I don't think so, I think he's a much better half forward & I would love to see him No.10 in the championship....I reckon for the Kerry match & the fact that they will be marking Paul Galvin....who covers alot of ground & is a very physical player I think Neville would be well able for him!!!
8)A.McNamee...still be best midfielder in Offaly....pity he usually saves most of his big performances for playing with Rhode than for Offaly.
9)C.McManus....purely because there's no one else!!!
10)Nigel Grennan...saw him play a few times for Ballycumber this year on their half forward line & looked a constant threat, great engine to get up & down the field....which should get him the nod over reynolds if Kilmurray persists with the 12 men behind the ball tactic for the summer!!!
11)P.Kellaghan...he needs to be involved in the game & is one of the few truly gifted natural footballers that Offaly has that can change a game in a split second!!!
12)Lenny Mooney...I would like to see Lenny play a less defensive role & instead allow him to run at teams because he is an excellent ball carrier & well able to kick a score or two if the opportunity presents itself.
13)T.Deehan...seems to be hitting something close to his best form again. Has looked dangerous when he's played & probably will just do enough to keep j.Coughlan off the team.
14)N.McNamee...If you are going to play your most gifted forward anywhere....then play him straight in front of the goals....that way when he wins the ball he's in a good position to kick a score....like for me alot of the reason why we kick so many wides is because the vast majority of the ball our full forwards get is heading out towards the sideline...which was fine when we had Vinny & Brady in the corners because they we seriously strong men who would use their strenght as well as their experience to get by their man & either kick a point or win a very kickable free for themselves, none of our forwards can do that, so we need to start working off a different play book!!!
15)T.Phelan....worth a run at this stage, certainly has tormented enough of defenders in Offaly to warrent a look at least. Has the sort of blistering pace that would trouble any defender.
So there it is folks, 1-15....it probably isn't to everyone's liking but I'd like to hear what ye think!!!
Our team is still not able to play 70 minutes football at anything even near championship pace. Our whole defense is a collection of average club defenders & in the case of Grennan, Coughlan & Slattery their played as forwards for their club!!!
Midfield is still not capable of winning even 50% of kickouts, which is putting our fragile defence under even more pressure!!!
In lenny Mooney & John Reynolds they have to decent forwards who have alot of pace & are well capable of kicking scores, however they are being asked to play the entire match practically on their own half back line...as part of Kilmurray's 12 men behind the ball style that he's trying to bring to this Offaly team but neither player looks comfortable doing this, as neither of them are physically strong enough to stop their man going forward.
Like I appreciate that Offaly played well for 50 mins or so but they got completely destroyed in the remaining 15 mins or so....which against a Tyrone team that really hasn't being firing on all cylinders this year leaves me wondering exactly what the Offaly players & management are going to do to address these problems!!!
I think the team needs a bit of tinkering with, I definately think trevor phelan should be given a run in at corner forward, because I think Niall Mac has too many off days...he's the type of players that when things are going well Niall would kick a point from the corner flag, but if Offaly were down by 2 or 3 he's not interested!!!
If I was picking the Offaly team to play kerry with a view to the Westmeath match this would be it,
1)P.Kelly...might be dodgy under a high ball at times but still a better option than Meehan,
2)S.Sullivan...needs games now to be ready for the championship.
3)S.Casey...like with any full back he needs time to settle in to that position & is improving I think with every game. Certainly a better option than Sullivan at fulll back.
4)K.Slattory...he's there purely because I don't know any other player who can mark the Gooch as well as Slattery could. Ideally I'd love to see him playing either at full forward or at no.12....but that looks like its a luxury that Offaly will not be able to afford this summer. He's probably paying the price for being such an all round good footballer!!!
5)Hard to know who will play at no.5 next Saturday, I reckon with Mooney gone for the Championship I would like to see James Keane in the No.5 jersey...provided of course keane is somewhere near getting back to full fitness. Without wanting to be too hard on any of the players I don't think any of them really stand out for automatic selection for Saturday's game...especially in light of the fact that they will be facing Eoin Brosnan. I would probably play Ger Rafferty at wing back.
6)Scott Brady...regardless of what anyone else tells me I think Scott is still leagues better than anything else we have to play at center back. I agree that he's not the quickest but there is no one else better than Brady on his day.
7)Again this is a really problem position for Offaly!!! Without Slattery here it really is anyone's guess who plays wing back. I think that come the championship someone is likely to be asked to play left wing back that probably won't have played there too much because I can't see anyone other than Karol Slattery being asked to man mark Dessie Dolan. I suppose there might be a case for Nigel Grennan to play there but I don't think so, I think he's a much better half forward & I would love to see him No.10 in the championship....I reckon for the Kerry match & the fact that they will be marking Paul Galvin....who covers alot of ground & is a very physical player I think Neville would be well able for him!!!
8)A.McNamee...still be best midfielder in Offaly....pity he usually saves most of his big performances for playing with Rhode than for Offaly.
9)C.McManus....purely because there's no one else!!!
10)Nigel Grennan...saw him play a few times for Ballycumber this year on their half forward line & looked a constant threat, great engine to get up & down the field....which should get him the nod over reynolds if Kilmurray persists with the 12 men behind the ball tactic for the summer!!!
11)P.Kellaghan...he needs to be involved in the game & is one of the few truly gifted natural footballers that Offaly has that can change a game in a split second!!!
12)Lenny Mooney...I would like to see Lenny play a less defensive role & instead allow him to run at teams because he is an excellent ball carrier & well able to kick a score or two if the opportunity presents itself.
13)T.Deehan...seems to be hitting something close to his best form again. Has looked dangerous when he's played & probably will just do enough to keep j.Coughlan off the team.
14)N.McNamee...If you are going to play your most gifted forward anywhere....then play him straight in front of the goals....that way when he wins the ball he's in a good position to kick a score....like for me alot of the reason why we kick so many wides is because the vast majority of the ball our full forwards get is heading out towards the sideline...which was fine when we had Vinny & Brady in the corners because they we seriously strong men who would use their strenght as well as their experience to get by their man & either kick a point or win a very kickable free for themselves, none of our forwards can do that, so we need to start working off a different play book!!!
15)T.Phelan....worth a run at this stage, certainly has tormented enough of defenders in Offaly to warrent a look at least. Has the sort of blistering pace that would trouble any defender.
So there it is folks, 1-15....it probably isn't to everyone's liking but I'd like to hear what ye think!!!
The Untouchable
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Mighty Pair O' Hands
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Untouchable,
I agree with your points on the Tyrone game - they outclassed us for 15 minutes and we looked well off the pace. Better commitment and effort granted from the Dublin game which is welcomed.
Team selection wise, Kelly for goals with Meehan as understudy looks ok.
back line of sullivan, casey, slattery, rafferty, brady and coughlan looks solid enough and close to full strength barring mooney's return.
Centrefield - your old bias against McManus comes to the fore again - he has been our best player in the league and is still our only player that would make any team in the country. I only wish that Alan MacNamee would show the same commitment because since the Kildare game in 2003, he has yet to play well for Offaly - that's 3 years of below par performances without being dropped. I'd play young Keane there as soon as he is fit.
Agree that Phelan is worth a shot and that Deehan is well worthy of his place on current form. Due to lack of options, Pascal is in but he is another who has not played well for Offaly in a long time.
Niall Mac played well in parts yesterday - again it would be nice to see a few consistently decent performances from this Rhode man before I'd guarantee him a starting position.
My starting forwards would be Reynolds, Quinn, Grennan, Phelan, Niall Mac, Deehan.
I agree with your points on the Tyrone game - they outclassed us for 15 minutes and we looked well off the pace. Better commitment and effort granted from the Dublin game which is welcomed.
Team selection wise, Kelly for goals with Meehan as understudy looks ok.
back line of sullivan, casey, slattery, rafferty, brady and coughlan looks solid enough and close to full strength barring mooney's return.
Centrefield - your old bias against McManus comes to the fore again - he has been our best player in the league and is still our only player that would make any team in the country. I only wish that Alan MacNamee would show the same commitment because since the Kildare game in 2003, he has yet to play well for Offaly - that's 3 years of below par performances without being dropped. I'd play young Keane there as soon as he is fit.
Agree that Phelan is worth a shot and that Deehan is well worthy of his place on current form. Due to lack of options, Pascal is in but he is another who has not played well for Offaly in a long time.
Niall Mac played well in parts yesterday - again it would be nice to see a few consistently decent performances from this Rhode man before I'd guarantee him a starting position.
My starting forwards would be Reynolds, Quinn, Grennan, Phelan, Niall Mac, Deehan.
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Lone Shark
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At the risk of giving the man even more momentum on a matter like this, I’m inclined to agree with Untouchable here – the truth is that we were beat by nine points at home on a day when we supposedly didn’t do anything wrong. By no stretch of the imagination is that encouraging in my eyes.
Where I don’t agree though, is that I’m not nearly as pessimistic about this batch of players – I stand by my opinion that we are greatly underachieving at the moment and that there is a certainly a lot more ability in this bunch of players than we are seeing on a weekly basis. However I retain my complete pessimism, in that there is no way I expect to see that potential fulfilled under the current guidance.
It’s fair enough to talk about the defence being seriously weakened, but for all that, I still believe that the best way forward for Offaly is to play our good players in their best positions and try and fill the gaps left as well as we can after that. As it is we are taking players out of positions where they are strong to play them where they are uncertain – definitely not the way forward. If that means making hard choices and leaving some reasonable footballers on the bench, then so be it – much and all as some people might think otherwise, we aren’t dropping any allstars.
The first thing to do is decide what style of game we want to play. Tings we have to bear in mind here:
(1) Barring a transfer system that can bring Sean Cavanagh or Nicholas Murphy to Offaly, we just don’t have a strong fielder – so we have to deal with that. We have to spoil as best we can and pack the 5-12 section with great foragers and ball winners. So we get a good share of possession for ourselves.
(2) Goals have been killing us, the lack of scoring and the heavy rate of concession. With this in mind, I think we need the full back line to be full of defenders, and not frustrated attacking half backs. In saying all that, while I would love to put Brady back there, his pace or lack thereof would be shown up in a bad way. Ditto up front – I think we need to isolate the full forward line a bit more, and hit them from deep. By all means have half forwards who like to get in and support, but only at serious pace – not amble in and bring three backs with them.
(3) Like it or not, fitness is an issue. Too many of our players are flagging near the end of the game, and struggling to track. That can’t go on – if our forwards can’t keep up the work rate, they shouldn’t get to start. I’ll make an exception for Deehan here – he’s been out so long, every game is bringing him on.
Now, from 1-15, I think the following jerseys are no brainers – they are guys playing in their best positions, and should not be anywhere else. Kelly in goals, Casey at 3, Brady at 6 (if we had a faster full back I’d put him at four, but we don’t, so centre back it is) Slattery at 7, Mac at 8 (Untouchable, on current form he’s one of the top midfielders in Ireland - because there’s no-one else my eye!!), Neville at 10, Deehan at 13, Niall at fifteen.
That leaves a good few slots, so taking them one by one …….
Corner Backs – Rafferty looked good last week, so I’d be happy to leave him there. As for the other slot, it will definitely be a degree of make do irrespective, but personally I’d leave Grennan as the front runner just for his pace alone, though I’d like to see Cassidy get a chance.
5 – Has to be Shane Sullivan. I’ve wanted to see him back in the half backs for ages, and his willingness to throw his weight about and not hold back would be an asset here, rather than in the FB line where he tends to concede scoreable frees. Just don’t ever let him get far enough forward to shoot.
9 – McNamee leads, but as was said, it’s a long time since he’s played for Offaly like he did for Rhode all last year. He holds for now, but if I had the chance to give Keane a run there, I’d do it.
11 – Leonard Mooney. An odd choice perhaps, but he has been very aware of those around him from what I’ve seen, and I think he could do a quietly effective link job here. As I said, I’d love to see him with a lot more upper body strength, but I just think this could be interesting.
12 – Rory Guinan – I’m going to keep up with this until he gets a run. He mightn’t make the grade, but he deserves a chance. If it doesn’t work out, Sean Ryan – still ahead of Trevor Phelan for the small flier role.
14 – Shaper if you want three men inside, Ross Connor coming on if you want to change the pace, or else – and I’d strongly consider this – a player to drop right back, and sweep in front of the full back line. A good reader of the game like Barry Mooney would be perfect for this, but in his absence I’d let Scott Brady do it, with James Keane playing centre back.
With Colm Quinn, Ross Connor and Sean Ryan all available to come in and shake up things a bit, I think that tactically that’s the best we could do in terms of maximising our resources. Until next week when my opinion will change again.
Where I don’t agree though, is that I’m not nearly as pessimistic about this batch of players – I stand by my opinion that we are greatly underachieving at the moment and that there is a certainly a lot more ability in this bunch of players than we are seeing on a weekly basis. However I retain my complete pessimism, in that there is no way I expect to see that potential fulfilled under the current guidance.
It’s fair enough to talk about the defence being seriously weakened, but for all that, I still believe that the best way forward for Offaly is to play our good players in their best positions and try and fill the gaps left as well as we can after that. As it is we are taking players out of positions where they are strong to play them where they are uncertain – definitely not the way forward. If that means making hard choices and leaving some reasonable footballers on the bench, then so be it – much and all as some people might think otherwise, we aren’t dropping any allstars.
The first thing to do is decide what style of game we want to play. Tings we have to bear in mind here:
(1) Barring a transfer system that can bring Sean Cavanagh or Nicholas Murphy to Offaly, we just don’t have a strong fielder – so we have to deal with that. We have to spoil as best we can and pack the 5-12 section with great foragers and ball winners. So we get a good share of possession for ourselves.
(2) Goals have been killing us, the lack of scoring and the heavy rate of concession. With this in mind, I think we need the full back line to be full of defenders, and not frustrated attacking half backs. In saying all that, while I would love to put Brady back there, his pace or lack thereof would be shown up in a bad way. Ditto up front – I think we need to isolate the full forward line a bit more, and hit them from deep. By all means have half forwards who like to get in and support, but only at serious pace – not amble in and bring three backs with them.
(3) Like it or not, fitness is an issue. Too many of our players are flagging near the end of the game, and struggling to track. That can’t go on – if our forwards can’t keep up the work rate, they shouldn’t get to start. I’ll make an exception for Deehan here – he’s been out so long, every game is bringing him on.
Now, from 1-15, I think the following jerseys are no brainers – they are guys playing in their best positions, and should not be anywhere else. Kelly in goals, Casey at 3, Brady at 6 (if we had a faster full back I’d put him at four, but we don’t, so centre back it is) Slattery at 7, Mac at 8 (Untouchable, on current form he’s one of the top midfielders in Ireland - because there’s no-one else my eye!!), Neville at 10, Deehan at 13, Niall at fifteen.
That leaves a good few slots, so taking them one by one …….
Corner Backs – Rafferty looked good last week, so I’d be happy to leave him there. As for the other slot, it will definitely be a degree of make do irrespective, but personally I’d leave Grennan as the front runner just for his pace alone, though I’d like to see Cassidy get a chance.
5 – Has to be Shane Sullivan. I’ve wanted to see him back in the half backs for ages, and his willingness to throw his weight about and not hold back would be an asset here, rather than in the FB line where he tends to concede scoreable frees. Just don’t ever let him get far enough forward to shoot.
9 – McNamee leads, but as was said, it’s a long time since he’s played for Offaly like he did for Rhode all last year. He holds for now, but if I had the chance to give Keane a run there, I’d do it.
11 – Leonard Mooney. An odd choice perhaps, but he has been very aware of those around him from what I’ve seen, and I think he could do a quietly effective link job here. As I said, I’d love to see him with a lot more upper body strength, but I just think this could be interesting.
12 – Rory Guinan – I’m going to keep up with this until he gets a run. He mightn’t make the grade, but he deserves a chance. If it doesn’t work out, Sean Ryan – still ahead of Trevor Phelan for the small flier role.
14 – Shaper if you want three men inside, Ross Connor coming on if you want to change the pace, or else – and I’d strongly consider this – a player to drop right back, and sweep in front of the full back line. A good reader of the game like Barry Mooney would be perfect for this, but in his absence I’d let Scott Brady do it, with James Keane playing centre back.
With Colm Quinn, Ross Connor and Sean Ryan all available to come in and shake up things a bit, I think that tactically that’s the best we could do in terms of maximising our resources. Until next week when my opinion will change again.
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the Untouchable
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I think that people are probably misreading what I meant by I'd only play mac at midfield because we have no one else....what I actually meant is that I'd have preferred to have played him at center forward because without him there we have a very small & light half forward line. Thus explains why Pascal was selected to play at no.11 on my team!!!
I hate disagreeing with the Lone Shark(yet I nearly alway do) but I don't think Ger Rafferty is really a corner back, from past experience of both playing on teams with him & seeing him play, I always felt that he was the type of player that had to be played straight down the middle of the park, be it Full back or Center back.
There is no way Offaly are going to not put their best man marker on Dessie Dolan come the championship & that unfortunately from an Offaly point of view means that Karol is going to have to play corner back, he probably will have the number 7 jersey on his back....but he'll be corner back!!!
Your solution to our midfield not being competitive is hardly ground breaking either....but at the next offaly match count the number of times either Alan McNamee or Mac himself actually breaks a ball...My bet is that they won't break 5 kickouts between them....because both of them are too incline to want to make this magnificent high catch that doing the right thing!!!
Cassidy is in Germany last I heard so if he gets a run now I'll be amazed & Rory Guinan is injured at the min but won't feature anyway because he's not county standard...regardless of how much you keep up with this, he'll always be a good club player but he isn't up to county level.
Also how do you work out that Neville playing No.10 is a no brainer....I might be wrong saying this but has Neville played at number 10 yet of Offaly this year in the league??? I don't think he has...I think he's being wing back most of the time & while I agree with you to a large extent Lone Shark that he would be better used on the half forward line I wouldn't be surprised to see him playing wing back against Westmeath.
I suppose saturdays match will tell us alot more...just interested to know what people would feel would be a credible result against Kerry?
I hate disagreeing with the Lone Shark(yet I nearly alway do) but I don't think Ger Rafferty is really a corner back, from past experience of both playing on teams with him & seeing him play, I always felt that he was the type of player that had to be played straight down the middle of the park, be it Full back or Center back.
There is no way Offaly are going to not put their best man marker on Dessie Dolan come the championship & that unfortunately from an Offaly point of view means that Karol is going to have to play corner back, he probably will have the number 7 jersey on his back....but he'll be corner back!!!
Your solution to our midfield not being competitive is hardly ground breaking either....but at the next offaly match count the number of times either Alan McNamee or Mac himself actually breaks a ball...My bet is that they won't break 5 kickouts between them....because both of them are too incline to want to make this magnificent high catch that doing the right thing!!!
Cassidy is in Germany last I heard so if he gets a run now I'll be amazed & Rory Guinan is injured at the min but won't feature anyway because he's not county standard...regardless of how much you keep up with this, he'll always be a good club player but he isn't up to county level.
Also how do you work out that Neville playing No.10 is a no brainer....I might be wrong saying this but has Neville played at number 10 yet of Offaly this year in the league??? I don't think he has...I think he's being wing back most of the time & while I agree with you to a large extent Lone Shark that he would be better used on the half forward line I wouldn't be surprised to see him playing wing back against Westmeath.
I suppose saturdays match will tell us alot more...just interested to know what people would feel would be a credible result against Kerry?
The Untouchable
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the bare biffo
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