new football manager

[Truth as i see it]

Found this on the Offaly Express website

Don't know how true it is in terms of the writers opinion or if it is indeed fact but if it is true and it is typical of clubs around Offaly i would be very very worried

ONCE again this week Offaly is in the national sporting headlines for all the wrong reasons. Three months after Tom Cribbin stepped down from the position, there is still no new manager in place for the Senior Football team.

By Damian Moran, Sports Editor, Offaly Express

And now the captain is threatening to withdraw his services. Could it get any worse?

Worryingly it could. The seemingly endless process looks set to go for another while at least after the three candidates in the shake-up, Tom Coffey, Jack Sheedy and Stephen Darby, all now seem to be gone by the wayside.

While the handing of the situation has been incredibly ham-fisted in the past week and has been the usual PR disaster for the county leaving us a laughing stock once again, the foundation for this latest shambles was laid three months ago the very day the process started.

In the understandable anger vented through social media and in various public houses across the county, the blame seems to be laid squarely at the feet of some faceless entity known as ‘The County Board’.

What seems to have escaped the attention of the ordinary club member is that the County Board is in fact made up by the clubs and some of the delegates charged with representing their members have serious questions to answer.

When the selection committees were being set up to begin the search for new managers, County Board Chairman Pat Teehan wanted to appoint five man committees himself. That wasn’t satisfactory for some of the more vocal club delegates who demanded, and were eventually granted, the right to chose seven man selection committees.

Anyone who has ever sat on a committee where a consensus needs to be reached will tell you that seven people on a committee like this was simply too many. Never was the cliche ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ more apt. Trying to get five people together to meet is difficult. Organising numerous meetings with seven people looks to have been infinitely harder.

A special county board meeting was organised with the clubs given the opportunity to nominate people for the committee but the representation of clubs at that meeting was simply pathetic given the vehement arguments that were given to allow the clubs select the committees. One club in particular, whose delegate was the most opposed to the County Board Chairman selecting the committees and who fired accusations left, right and centre, did not turn up for the special meeting.

But that club was not alone. Would you like to hazard a guess at how many clubs were represented given that selection committees for senior hurling and senior football managements were being decided?

In fact just under half of the 43 clubs in the county were not represented. The attendance from the traditional football clubs was particularly bad with a third of senior clubs alone not present Another ten traditional football clubs between Intermediate and Junior also didn’t attend.

Was your club represented? I’d hazard a guess that the majority of you who are members of clubs have no idea either way.

This was the foundation laid by the clubs of Offaly for selecting new managers and is it any wonder the way the whole house has come crashing down.

In saying that, the County Board Executive is far from blameless. While the County Board is a democracy, Pat Teehan should have insisted that the committees were kept at a manageable five instead of giving in to the mob mentality.

Even after that there is no way that the process should have been allowed drag on this long and leadership was needed to avert the fiasco that has now occurred. The appointment of Ollie Baker took nearly as long but thankfully that was completed before it also blew up on the national stage.

When you consider that Ollie Baker does not have selectors in place, it appears that the two separate selection committees are working to different standards given that it appears that Stephen Darby was being forced to add another selector.

Whatever happens next (and let’s hope something positive happens soon) Offaly are again handicapped before a ball is kicked.

Captain Niall McNamee vented his understandable frustration and has threatened to not play next year.

Something needs to be done this week to resolve the situation. Real leadership is shown in a crisis and it is up to Pat Teehan to take control even it means usurping the power of a committee that has proved itself not fit for purpose.

[jimbob17]

have to agree clubman, what is going on is nothing short of a disgrace on the CB and selection committees part. if this committee were worth anything at all, they would have contacted people in time and got a couple of options that they were happy to entertain for interview. It appears that they were happy to entertain what they interviewed and then went back on their decisions or lack of one for some reason or other. if they were doing it right, surely options they were happy to consider would be interviewed first time round and we wouldnt be in this sorry mess, again washing dirty laundry in public by what is now a county board considered round the country as a bit of a joke and famous for errors of judgement.....

[corner back]

Another one bites the dust:

OFFALY football was plunged into deeper chaos last night as the latest favourite to take over as manager withdrew from the running.

Gerry Cooney's decision to pull out means the county board will have to start again in their search for a replacement for Tom Cribbin.

Cooney, who sought the Meath job last season, had emerged as the favourite after the three initial candidates exited the race.

The process, which started in July when the Faithful county were knocked out of the championship by Limerick, will continue, with the same committee tasked with finding a new manager.

Tom Coffey and Jack Sheedy withdrew, Stephen Darby did not want to go back for a second meeting and now Cooney has absented himself, meaning the prize of managing one of the GAA's sleeping giants appears to be losing its lustre as the process drags on into the autumn.

- Ruaidhri O'Connor

Irish Independent

[blue74]

a sad state of affairs indeed... who in their right mind would want the job now after all the bickering. they will be thinking in the back of their mind that once anything happens every tom dick and harry who loves the sound of their own voice will be complaining at the next county board meeting that they have no faith in the process etc etc..
on an aside topic the county board meetings seem to be occupied with the same voices complaining all the time if the reports in the papers after each meeting are accurate.

[puzzled]

According to the news this morning Gerry Cooney has withdrawn as well,is it possible that the county board have a big name manager lined up and are just waiting to finalise everything,they bloody better have its awful how long this has been dragged on and on!

[TheManFromFerbane]

According to the news this morning Gerry Cooney has withdrawn as well,is it possible that the county board have a big name manager lined up and are just waiting to finalise everything,they bloody better have its awful how long this has been dragged on and on!

This was my hope too but they can't (IMO), anyone with a reputation won't want to tarnish it.Even a young, qualified coach with great ideas and plans isn't gonna make EVERYONE rejoice and therefore will be on the back foot straight away, no chance to develop the squad and the county. Regardless of whose fault this all is, now it's a complete f*cking mess.

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

Pat Teehan should have insisted that the committees were kept at a manageable five instead of giving in to the mob mentality.

This is the key, all we want is leadership and it aint happening. If the truth be known back during the Richie debacle, Teehan should have called that at the time , but unfortunately for him and us he doesnt want to rock the boat.

Anyway I have to laugh, its easy to through out the line about the county board, but we all elect lads to go in as delegates who just want to be part of the old boys club. The fact that there was such a poor turnout for the meeting to pick the committee says it all, we have what we deserve and until there are guys willing to go in there with the atitude that they want to change, then we will continue to be in the doldrums.

As a matter of interest, how many of the people who post here are members of a club, because if you aint you have no voice or obviously no interest in changing things!

[gearbag]

This is some load of bull....we are in the dark ages!!why the f... should any of the above go back in for a follow up interview,such rubbish.They put their cards on the table,what more do the committee want??What wasters we have in the County Board,harmless stupid c.... like your man on the microphone during the county final "will the owners of car reg numbers........ all during the f...... game,who gave a shit,clamp them or take them away but please shut the f... up.If we dont have a manager by this weekend i cant see many bothering to support any County draws in the future and rightly so..And by the way Paul O Kelly is the best man for this position but of course the same ass..... screwed him years ago so he wont insult himself,Darby would have been the obvious choice.

Why is there 7 lads needed on the committee to pick a manager should 3 not be enough were the laughing stock of the country and will be after kildare beats us in all fairness who in the right mind would take the job as manager.

[Truth as i see it]

You'll have to forgive me i'm in a somewhat philosophical mood at the moment and felt the need to get it down on the page so to speak.

Whats been quite clear throughout this whole fiasco is that the process to find the manager had been doomed from the start with self inflicted sabotage coming from the board

Now whether this was done unintentionally done or whether their was politics at play i don't know but if the stories are true we now know that both the club representatives and the chairman do not have the leadership qualities to bring Offaly gaa Forward

Often the excuses throughout the county in the past (and in canteens where i worked as a young lad) was that the players and the talent aren't there

This is no longer the case especially i feel with the footballers where despite not getting anywhere with the minors and u21s this year there is enough evidence to suggest that there are players coming through with the right mindset (which i believe is more important than natural ability) as well as the talent to take us a long way in the future.

I'm thinking of some of the Edenderry lads and the current Ferbane minor side which has the spine of the Gallan cs team that won the vocational schools senior title this year to name just a few who i believe have the right ingredients to take us in the right direction

However as i said the managerial situation means that for the moment we can expect more dissapointment over the next few years as it looks increasingly likely that someone, anyone will be appointed for the sake of just filling the hot seat primarley because of the mess of the current situation

So what slither of silver lining can we take from this?

The one thing that i would hope (but do not expect) the board to learn is that

1. a seven man set up for appointing managers does not work and will come up with a more practical and more modern approach to picking a manager (if any board members are reading this and i highly doubt they are but you never know, what worked in the 70's and 80's does not work in modern day Gaelic Football)

2. For Pat Teehan to grow a backbone and learn to back his own judgement instead of listening to people who obviously have an outdated and overblown opinion on Offaly GAA

3. For clubs to consider more carefully the people that they appoint to the county board in the first place, in other words if you call for something to be done back it up don't run and hide when your suggestion is up for debate (again board members with have no backbone)

In short i still have hope for the future, Allan Mulhall is putting in some very good underage structures and is promoting the game much better than has been done for a long long time and as i said there are some very good players that will come to the fore over the next five years but for the short term at least we will have to go through some more misery before we get to where we want to be.

Right that's me finished until the start of the season next year, talk to you all in the new year

[red exile]

Sure we might poach pat gilroy seeing as he still hasn't made up his mind on the Dublin job, you heard it here first . Hehe

[the bare biffo]

Maybe Tony Cascarino will take it on on a part time basis, just keep him supplied with playing cards and maybe he'll win a few bob for the county board too.

But... I've listened all my life to lads in pubs and hanging over sideline fences whinging about club officers, club committees, county boards etc etc while the few willing to stick their head above the parapet just get on with the work that has to be done as best they can. In many cases they may not be th emost competent people but at least they put themselves out there to be shot at.
Now it seems that the Offaly CB have been incompetent in their efforts to appoint a new football manager but how did they get there. Who put them in their positions. Who appointed the club delegates. How many county board deleagte positions are actually contested at club agm's ?

[west offaly power]

paudie oshea? , tommy lyons again ?

[toughtackler]

From todays INDO

The drawn-out search to find a new Offaly manager could reach an end by Thursday night when the county board meet for the first time since the process descended into chaos.

A proposal is now expected and Gerry Cooney is thought to be the favoured candidate once more.

Cooney came into the reckoning after the departures of Tom Coffey, Stephen Darby and Jack Sheedy, but then withdrew.

He was involved with Kevin Kilmurray in 2005 and 2006, but after taking a break from football he resurfaced to put in a strong challenge for the Meath job, which went to Seamus McEnaney.

Cooney has close ties to former All-Ireland-winning Kilmacud Crokes boss Paddy Carr, who stepped down last week. But Carr has said that he will take some time before he considers his next move.

The committee, which set out to find a successor to Tom Cribbin in mid-July, is now under increasing pressure to come up with a name and they've been trying to coax Cooney back into the race.

The delay and the confusion over an appointment has led to deep frustration in Offaly, with Niall McNamee, the county's best footballer, adamant that he will not be playing for the Faithful as long as the current administrative structures remain in place.

McNamee's frustration seemed to be shared by hurler James Rigney, who looks set to join London as he seeks employment. Rigney was critical last week of the lack of interest Offaly GAA has been showing in his case.

None of the original three candidates interviewed by the seven-man committee have been revisited. Rhode manager Coffey was the first to withdraw three weeks ago, citing frustration over the delay, and Sheedy was informed that his plans weren't suitable to what Offaly wanted.

Darby declined to go for a second interview, though he did not formally withdraw. "I haven't spoken to anyone from the board since my last discussion more than a fortnight ago when I was asked to attend a second meeting," he said.

"I'm still available. I thought they might come back to try and sort out whatever problem arose, but I've had no contact."

[bracknaghboy]

"I'm still available. I thought they might come back to try and sort out whatever problem arose, but I've had no contact."

Good man Darby.....eh I think the problem was you refused to go back and meet the county board when they contacted you!! The only conclusion I can come to is that this fella clearly does not want to be the next Offaly manager. If he did he would simply have gone back to meet the county board when requested.
Heres another way of putting it: Man goes for job interview for a post he really wants. The company call him back requesting that he attend a second interview. Man refuses. Man complains that nobody has contacted him to resolve the matter! Darby has a teaching job and it would appear that he was never had to apply for a job or attend interviews in the real world because if he did he'd understand that second, third and fourth interviews are the norm. Also showing respect to a potential employer by meeting with them when they request is also standard behaviour.

[RhodeRunner]

Good man Darby.....eh I think the problem was you refused to go back and meet the county board when they contacted you!! The only conclusion I can come to is that this fella clearly does not want to be the next Offaly manager. If he did he would simply have gone back to meet the county board when requested.
Heres another way of putting it: Man goes for job interview for a post he really wants. The company call him back requesting that he attend a second interview. Man refuses. Man complains that nobody has contacted him to resolve the matter! Darby has a teaching job and it would appear that he was never had to apply for a job or attend interviews in the real world because if he did he'd understand that second, third and fourth interviews are the norm. Also showing respect to a potential employer by meeting with them when they request is also standard behaviour.

Hey bracknaghboy his name is Stephen, you have some respect! you obviously don't know the man from your shite talk!