Offaly management 2027

[faithfulfanatic]

Amazingly, I do.

I also realise that being a manager for a division 3 intercounty team is a completely different level of commitment and scrutiny to being a coach (not manager) for a very successful club team. Hence my comment. Perhaps you might realise it yourself too.

Stephen Rochford managed one of the biggest club teams in the country, Corofin, to an all Ireland title.
He took the poisoned chalice of his home county, Mayo, to 2 all ireland finals.

I don’t think he would be too worried about the ‘commitment and scrutiny’ of the Offaly football gig.

Corofin were All-Ireland contenders and….much closer to Crossmolina.
Mayo are his home county, perennial division one team and/or All Ireland contenders (and my god he got them close) and…….much closer to Crossmolina.

Offaly haven’t won a provincial title in decades and have spent the vast majority of the last 15 years in division three. Crossmolina in 2 hours and 36 minutes from Faithful fields.

Realistically what is success for Offaly, a provincial title, and maybe get to play in the Sam Maguire competition for a few years? It remains to be seen if thats enough to motivate him or anybody in that position to make the journey. Just because Mark McHugh is mad enough to do it doesn’t mean everybody is.

2 hours for Oisin McConville to Wicklow.
3 hours for Justin McNulty (from Stormont) to Portlaoise.
3 hours for Mickey Harte to Faithful Fields.
2 and a half hours for Steven Poacher to Leitrim.

That's just some of the trips being undertaken by managers in the lower leagues.
Success isn't the only motivator...

[Offaly Hero]

I don't know Stephen Rochford's personal circumstances, I've never met the man, I've no idea if he'd be the right person for the job or if he'd be interested.


I would however, STRONGLY push back on the idea that this isn't an attractive gig for an ambitious, progressive manager. It's a dream gig, in that you have a team in Division Three that has proven that they are capable of getting out of it, you have the possibility of bolstering the 2026 squad with players returning from injury and players that didn't play in the past for non-football reasons, and you have a panel backboned by a cohort of All-Ireland winning U20s that are just coming into their peak.

You have a good group of natural leaders, most of which will benefit from not having to play every minute of every game, as was the case in 2026 because of the chronic lack of depth.

For good measure, you have a Division Three campaign in 2027 which is full of local derbies, that are great games to draw a crowd - and if you want to get positive momentum going again, it's a big help to have people in the door, and for your road trips to mostly be less than an hour away.

I would even go so far as to say that over the next four or five months, there are very few senior intercounty football jobs in the top two tiers going to be there for the taking. Even if Jack O'Connor steps away, it'll be one of Kieran Donaghy or Tomás Ó Sé who takes that on. I don't know if Jim McGuinness or Kieran McGeeney will stay on or not, but following either of those two is a poisoned chalice.

Pádraic Joyce has said he's staying on and I don't expect there to be any change in Tyrone/Mayo/Roscommon/Louth/Meath/Dublin/Derry/Cork/Down/Westmeath.

Notwithstanding any geographical factors (as in, a Kerry man might be more drawn to managing Tipp or Limerick, a Tyrone or Armagh man might look at Antrim or Cavan before coming further south) or any personal connections, I would confidently state that Offaly is the most attractive intercounty football management role that's going to come on offer this Autumn.

So it's over to our county board to take advantage of this.

All very fair points.

[jimbob17]

It's over ThomasMc. Please stop now. Ill be honest here. Yes there were lots of naysayers on here re Kelly and Harte. There were very basic reasons for this, which DurrowBoy has pointed out. I too heard some shocking stories. The players have not been happy for a very long time and it was all to do with management style. How they treated people had a lot to do with it. And there is very little troublesome players in that current group if any. They are all good solid lads. Nobody revolted and threw toys out of pram and caused trouble like you refer.

I really wanted that last management to achieve, more than anything. I thought when DK got the job initially that it was going to be really really positive, coming off his U20 success. It looked the right move from outside looking in, but very quickly, things soured. I believe that it was a lot to do with ignoring recommendations of people on backroom team who knew way more than, and were way more qualified on training and injuries etc. He wanted to 'Dog them' when the professionals wanted to manage same in the right way. Ultimately, he started off on a bad footing and had lost the dressing room after year 1 with some of the worst results in our history, London at home a case in point. The stories that surfaced since did not help to endear himself to wider audience either and people stopped attending matches. Maybe you are blind to these incidences or don't want to hear it, but old style autocratic dictator style management style will not work with the modern player. It will just generate needless resentment, which appears to be case here. I do think that DK on reflection will have learned more from this experience than any success he ever had, so it isn't a bad outcome for him when you take a broad view.

When the stories coming out are as bad as they were, lads are connected as friends and relations to wider public and a general theme was coming through that brought major disaffection from the support base, which became a major problem for county board too in terms of income. As for the players taking a stand, you can be certain that if the players felt the thing was good enough, they'd have sought another year and not looked for change. Ultimately, they will know best. When supporters get wind of such, of course they are going to come on and offer opinion on it - as is their right once done in correct way. I was on for change but I'd like to think anything I suggested was football opinion and never personal.

As for future, I am not so concerned about who new manager is if they are outsider - once they have good bit of experience, good reputation and lots of know how. Thats not saying it doesnt matter and I would expect the co board to be rigorous in their research of what theyve done before. It is not about if they won stuff or not. It is about if they have improved teams theyve been involved with. I would look for experienced guys like Peter Keane, Jack Cooney or Colm Collins or someone in that vein, Rochford too but not sure he'd come. Someone in the mould of Liam Kearns would be ideal.......

However, the singular most important thing is that they are surrounded by proper Offaly football people. Between all of coaches this year, they had one person who knew the Offaly scene - and he hadn't managed or coached a senior A team in the county ever. That was one major flaw of last group. Some of the things you'd be looking for is that they are experienced managers and coaches themselves - who know Offaly football, and have broadened horizons coaching wise and maybe have some experience of working outside of Offaly or have been involved in inter county backroom teams before. And within this I am talking about coaches, selectors, s&c people etc who have vested interest and experience in Offaly football. The county board needs to get this part right so a new manager who does not know the Offaly scene is surrounded by a proper brains trust that can help get the thing off the ground fast.

[Bord na Mona man]

I fully agree that Offaly are an attractive prospect, especially for an up-and-coming manager looking to build a reputation.

Cultivating the right dressing room spirit will be key, the drill sergeant approach just doesn't cut it as well nowadays. While a big county can get away with player attrition, banishing non-believers because they have a bigger supply of willing disciples. Offaly's smaller playing pool needs a more skilful man manager.

Mark McHugh is the sort of young coach who created a positive culture. That’s not to say we exclusively need a younger face. The likes of Liam Kearns, Tom Cribbin, and Pat Flanagan were no fledglings, yet they successfully kept dressing room harmony.

There is an element of risk in picking a young guy who hasn't a track record. There is potentially a greater upside if you get the right person though.

[frankthetank]

Colm Colins would be a very worthwhile person to interview I feel. His track record with Clare with their similiar geographical divide to Offaly regarding hurling and football would be a valuable asset.

[Hasselhoff]

Keith ricken
Philly mcmahon

[Bord na Mona man]

Keith ricken
Philly mcmahon

Good man David.

Tommy Carr
Val Andrews
Count Binface

[Bord na Mona man]

Colm Colins would be a very worthwhile person to interview I feel. His track record with Clare with their similiar geographical divide to Offaly regarding hurling and football would be a valuable asset.

Collins worked so well because he was a passionate Clare man. He stuck the course so long because of his dedication to the county. That's not something that's a lift and drop to another county.

[Offaly Hero]

Colm Colins would be a very worthwhile person to interview I feel. His track record with Clare with their similiar geographical divide to Offaly regarding hurling and football would be a valuable asset.

Collins worked so well because he was a passionate Clare man. He stuck the course so long because of his dedication to the county. That's not something that's a lift and drop to another county.

Agreed. Don’t think he would be a fit. Stephen Rochford with an Offaly backroom team would be my choice.

[Snotser123]

No drill sergeant approach , I give you Jim McGuiness and Kieran mcgeeney rubbish to say it can't and doesn't work....the mccughs would kill their granny to win a gaa game...don't be fooled into thinking he would be all lovey dovey with the young Offaly lads...it would be cut throat ....if you were no use to him he wouldn't be calling you every week to check in ..time to wake up folks ...

[jimbob17]

McGuinness and McGeeney selected best players for panel regardless of age. They didn't get rid of quality players with experience, they valued it and as result had serious competition for places. They seemed to be able to keep players onside in the panel. Lads wanted to play for them and respected them hugely because of how they engaged with them, how they looked out for them and how they treated them. The environment around the squads valued expertise such as physios, s&C coaches, analysis people etc to form a high performance environment. They had a culture of accountability, not a culture of blame! In essence, they got good people on board and they managed their people effectively.

Not sure that the Offaly football management could say the same?

[Snotser123]

Ah here I give up Jim McGuiness literally dropped the best club footballer in donegal when he came in and refused to make it up with the player theres been more than one book written about it

[Lone Shark]

Donegal is twice the size of Offaly in terms of population, and McGuinness is a unique individual, who fell out with one high profile player, after he had already made a strong impression on the rest of the panel that this was a group that was going to do things very differently, and that they were going to succeed by doing so.

Comparable counties to Offaly in terms of footballing population, and also counties who went well in 2026, are Monaghan, Roscommon and Westmeath.

I live in Roscommon, and Mark Dowd didn't really fall out with any significant player, and the only big names that didn't play this year are one that were fully retired. Mark McHugh got every player he wanted involved, there was no issue with personality clashes in Westmeath. And I don't know the club scene in Monaghan that well so I can't speak confidently there, but I know that the vibe and the mutual respect between Gabriel Bannigan and his players is palpable, and it would be a surprise if you had a county like that with five or six potential difference makers kicking ball for Magheracloone or Ballybay, but not playing for Monaghan.

In every one of those counties, they are able to train to a high level, maintain high standards, and still bring everyone along who is an asset to the county team.

Yet in Offaly, seemingly there is a list of players that extends into double figures that are supposedly troublemakers, to the point that we're better off without them. Personally, I find it hard to believe that our footballers are any more difficult or contrary than those of anywhere else.

[jimbob17]

Ah here I give up Jim McGuiness literally dropped the best club footballer in donegal when he came in and refused to make it up with the player theres been more than one book written about it

You need to give up. you are yet again grossly misinformed!

He did not drop him when he came in. In fact,
Cassidy played in McGuinness first year for Donegal. I saw him play for him in All Ireland semi final v Dublin. There are programmes available if you don't believe me. He was dropped after for what was stated in a book by Declan Bogue after their first year in 2011.

The fact is that Kevin Cassidy is on record as saying that after that fall out, after a good season with Gweedore, McGuinness actually invited him back into the Donegal squad and he refused the offer!

The fact is also true that McGuinness went and won an All Ireland without him in 2012, so he was unlikely to be the very best footballer in Donegal at the time! You can just not accept that you are so wrong as so often as you are. You have a creative mind, ill give you that, but you are so far off on so many things, it is actually laughable

[biffinbanner]

im living in clare and i know colm. i doubt he would take on another county. he is involved with cratloe seniors and id say hes quite content. some beautys of names being mentioned here? jaysus lads. do we want corner backs attempting eye gouging? id like stephen rochford personally if he was willing to get involved? he came to tullamore so why not offaly?