Offaly's surrender to Down

[Bord na Mona man]

How bad was it?
By the sounds of it, it knocks even the performance against Wicklow in last year's Tommy Murphy Cup into a cocked hat.

The management are/were hardly world class, but something similar happened to Kevin Kilmurray in his last game vs Leix.
We are dangerous ground when its the players that decide whether to perform or not.

It's high time for a big clean out of the panel I feel.
The attitude is all wrong if some players seem fine with pulling on the Offaly county jersey and disgracing it.
The county team is far bigger than any player or players. It is an honour to play for Offaly, but it is also a choice. If someone feels they aren't going to give it 100% then they should step aside and let someone else take their place.

Lets hope some hard questions are asked and answered. It is time the players shouldered some of the blame for the bad state of Offaly football. Blaming management becomes more difficult when the same rubbish occurs under different management teams.

[TheManFromFerbane]

To say it was embarrasing is the understatement of the year.

The referee contributed more to Offaly, with his clearly bias attempts to give us some sort of chance, than any Offaly player did. And that is not a lie.

Every player lost his individual battle. Some lost it fighting, sadly, far more lost it with out even a whimper.

[faithful till I die]

It's high time for a big clean out of the panel I feel.
The attitude is all wrong if some players seem fine with pulling on the Offaly county jersey and disgracing it.

Could not agree more. There are too many players not putting in the required effort, full of their own self importance thinkink they are superstars. Its clear that Roe has marginalised several important players & he needs to go. I never agreed with giving the most important football job in the county to a Laois man but I gave him every chance & supported him but the appointment clearly has been a disaster. He has been in charge for some of our worst days in living memory ( Laois , Westmeath & Down) and should do the decent thing & f**k off back to Laois & he can bring Laz Molloy with him if he wants. The County Board nees to have a serious look at football in this county before its too late. We have a good bunch with the minors & need to do everything in our power to prevent them from being infected with the apathy of many of the senior players.

[Lone Shark]

It was pathetic, abject, and I cannot understand how players would let that happen. Some players got up as far as challenge match pace, others didn't even muster that. There were individual excuses, the likes of Ger Rafferty being dragged from the sick bed to chase Benny Coulter around, but largely speaking it burst the bubbles of a lot of players and I think we know a lot more know about which players care about playing for Offaly and which ones don't.

We could conceivably start our first championship game in 2008 with as few as four starters from this match, and that would not necessarily be a bad thing. It is highly unlikely that we will start with more than seven.

[naasmanxrhode]

I have never in all my life left an Offaly match before the final whistke, but I headed for home at half time and was glad i did. This was a shambles. At least Dempsey and Coyle resigned the following day afer Lonford and Meath's exit. Why did Roe + Molloy not follow suit. I can't say anymore,as Tony Davis said on the Sunday game - OFFALY ARE A SHAMBLES GOING NOWHERE.

[Aweflee]

It was pathetic, abject, and I cannot understand how players would let that happen. Some players got up as far as challenge match pace, others didn't even muster that. There were individual excuses, the likes of Ger Rafferty being dragged from the sick bed to chase Benny Coulter around, but largely speaking it burst the bubbles of a lot of players and I think we know a lot more know about which players care about playing for Offaly and which ones don't.

We could conceivably start our first championship game in 2008 with as few as four starters from this match, and that would not necessarily be a bad thing. It is highly unlikely that we will start with more than seven.

From the scoreline and reading the comments here I'm glad I went to Thurles. If the next manager is an Offaly man would he have the balls to drop the players that have been living off their reputation from 3 or 4 years back? I think we all know who they are. There was big talk of a clearout after last years shambles but that didn't happen. It sounds like the worst championship performance in many years and I'm glad I didn't witness it.

[Sydthebeat]

whatever happened to the other 80'ish players called up at the start of the year... remember that thread?

This game was a disgrace and i dont want to dwell to long on it, it will give me an ulcer. Any chance of my €40 back please?

The very least to expect of an intercounty player is to give 100%, even if they are being run ragged, they should always give it all if they have any pride in the shirt. I really dont know how Roe can get county pride going in a dressing room following some of his disgraceful comments following liam kearns appointment.

The only plus i could get out of the game was a good performance from gary comerford when he came on, but garys no spring chicken either.

Yes, we need a clean out, from management downwards.

All i would expect from next year is lots of experimenting and new players being tried in the league, and hopefully many challange matches.

[TheManFromFerbane]

Just in case it's lost in the other thread I want to say this again:

Do you know what the funny thing is, the really funny split your sides laughing at the hillarity of it all thing is. These lads are expecting a cheque to compensate them for their "Pursuit of Excellence".

I think I might just die laughing now.

[black and red exile]

An even bigger laugh is that last week some of us were even contemplating racing from Thurles at the final whistle back to the cars and tearing back like formula 1 drivers to Tullamore for the second half. Thank God common sense prevailed. JAYSUS CAN YA IMAGINE GETTING IN FOR THE SECOND HALF AND FINDING WE WERE 17 POINTS BEHIND. PIG SICK WOULD BE THE ONLY WORD THAT COMES TO MIND AND AFTER MISSING THE CORK/GALWAY CRACKER TOO.

[Silken Thomas]

How bad was it?.

The Match

It was diabolical. Basketball like tackling in the first half but in fairness to the lads they hadn't the pace or fitness to keep up with Down.
It's scary though when you realise that with the exception of five and maybe eight maximum these are the best players in Offaly!!
In an attendance of 2,600 I would say there were 750-1000 Offaly people there, muggins included .
We are way behind in physical conditioning and the players have little or no style of football.
Roe and Molloy literally herded up 11 or 12 of the usuals and some form players and expected them to compete whilst being unfit, slow and physically weak with no tactical plan or sense of teamwork.
Down were good by the way but you would really feel for future Offaly senior teams.
It was a scandal to play three in the full forward line when we were clearly being cleaned out in the middle. Clueless.
People leaving after twenty minutes. Down supporters laughing. Down not bloody Kerry here. Paul McConway becoming a corner back for the day when his strength was needed in the half back line. Blah blah blah a disgrace. Leinster finalists to Nationwide disgraces.

Next Manager

The succesor must command respect. Richie Connor, Phil O' Reilly, Stephen Darby and Tom Coffey are the only indiginous candidates who know the club scene due to their own involvement. Three of them along with Séan Dempsey or Luke Dempsey at the helm would be the way to go.
I admire both of these managers as they are good coaches for a start( unlike the slogger Roe who was a pseudo disciplinarian/ trainer) with game plans who can improve players.

Not so wild Rumours

I have read the board and most of what has been said is on the money however there are two issues I want to address.

First of all there are no leaders on this team. No talking. I have never seen mute winners.
Secondly it is common knowledge as to a huge proportion of the squad who have crazy social lives. Enough said. Until this ends we will remain jokes.

Football in Offaly needs help lads...

[swiftpost]

I wasn't at this game so could someone tell me if there was any good performances, who kept going until the end etc.

[TheManFromFerbane]

I wasn't at this game so could someone tell me if there was any good performances, who kept going until the end etc.

The referee contributed more to Offaly than any player did by giving soft frees to us all day. That's about it really.

[Oceans 15]

I have never in all my life left an Offaly match before the final whistke, but I headed for home at half time and was glad i did. This was a shambles. At least Dempsey and Coyle resigned the following day afer Lonford and Meath's exit. Why did Roe + Molloy not follow suit. I can't say anymore,as Tony Davis said on the Sunday game - OFFALY ARE A SHAMBLES GOING NOWHERE.

It's high time for a big clean out of the panel I feel.
The attitude is all wrong if some players seem fine with pulling on the Offaly county jersey and disgracing it.

Could not agree more. There are too many players not putting in the required effort, full of their own self importance thinkink they are superstars. Its clear that Roe has marginalised several important players & he needs to go. I never agreed with giving the most important football job in the county to a Laois man but I gave him every chance & supported him but the appointment clearly has been a disaster. He has been in charge for some of our worst days in living memory ( Laois , Westmeath & Down) and should do the decent thing & f**k off back to Laois & he can bring Laz Molloy with him if he wants. The County Board nees to have a serious look at football in this county before its too late. We have a good bunch with the minors & need to do everything in our power to prevent them from being infected with the apathy of many of the senior players.

Question for everbody.... Nearly every post on this Site refers to Pat Roe & Laz Molloy and rarely mentions Kieran Rigney. Is he not a selector the same way as Laz Molloy is and why does he always seem to escape when it comes to the blame game or am I missing something.