New manager

[Rynaghs Biffo]

I'm gonna start the ball rolling on this again!

With everyone crying out for Kevin Kilmurry to leave, and Phil Reilly and Tom Coffey after standing down from the minor team after three years, would it make sense for the county board to get Phil and Tom to take over the seniors or is it too soon?? Or maybe they could take charge of the U-21's for the next three years?

Maybe a more experienced manager that can provide the proper guidance, that has won provincials and all-irelands i.e. John O'Mahoney, John Maughan, Mickey Moran etc....

To me, managing the Offaly team for the next 3-4 years has to be a mouth watering offer, some skillful players and plenty of youth coming through, reminds you of when Micko took over Leix.

[Lone Shark]

A lot depends on what managers are looking for. If managers want to make a name for themselves, then Offaly could be a good option. However I'd say a big expenses package might make the mouth water a lot more than good potential going forward I suspect. If O'Mahony wants the job on reasonable terms, then great, but I'm not a believer in paying 60 grand to a manager, so if he wants something like that, then I wouldn't want Offaly to pay it.

To my mind the minor team have done well - but they've a long way to go before they can be considered for senior management all the same. Kids are easy to manage, in that largely speaking they just want to play football, will happily play wherever they're picked, and try to do what they're told. Managing adult footballers with inflated notions of their own ability is another matter entirely. I'd like to see the lads take on a club team or something first. The under-21's would be the next logical step in one sense, but most senior managers like to have control of the under 21's too, so the senior role would have to be sorted first I would imagine.

[turk]

Hi folks,

i think Kilmurray should stay for another year myself.

[Lone Shark]

Hmmmm .... Mammoth endorses Dinosaur.......

[Rynaghs Biffo]

Why Turk?

[turk]

Ye're all just talking mickey about getting John O'Mahoney or some other lad in or that's there's gonna be hapes of great managers queuing up to take the job. Then you're speculating that any of these lads will be any better than Kilmurray - speculation!

Kilmurray has his major limitations - but looking back, i think it was a decent year. We got relegated - that's not good but we were always gonna hover about the trapdoor anyways. The run in Leinster was good stuff - it mightn't have been brilliant but our players played well and the teamwork was good. The leix match was a travesty but there you go.

Kilmurray was given three years and if he wants to take the third year then i think that we should respect that!

I'm sure a lot of you will disagree with this so feel free.

[DD]

would it make sense for the county board to get Phil and Tom to take over the seniors or is it too soon?? Or maybe they could take charge of the U-21's for the next three years?

Phil Reilly's missus had a baby (their first) a week or two ago and he was quoted in one of the local rags as saying he was taking a break from the game.

[del]

lets hope kilmurray goes.but i feel he will have to shoved out the door cause i cant see hi m walking out by himself, i think offaly need a manager with injtercounty experience and a proven track record but those type of managers are hard to come by and come at a price and the county board are prob unlikely to front up the cash .so whoever is appointed wont please everyone but surely managers can see that the raw materials are there to be worked over the next couple of years or are we all seeing through tinted glasses???????

[Lone Shark]

Kilmurray has his major limitations - but looking back, i think it was a decent year. We got relegated - that's not good but we were always gonna hover about the trapdoor anyways. The run in Leinster was good stuff - it mightn't have been brilliant but our players played well and the teamwork was good. The leix match was a travesty but there you go.

Kilmurray was given three years and if he wants to take the third year then i think that we should respect that!

It depends on how you perceive matters. The way I look on it is this - I think we did have a moderately good year, however I would perceive this to be despite of the management rather than because of it. If you take a kind of management par to be what you'd expect from a journeyman like Mickey Moran, Val Andrews or Brian Talty, I think Kilmurray fell below that. My evidence for the prosecution would be the following:

(1) Not once, League or championship did we come back from behind. Once we fell behind in any game (by more than a point) we lost.

(2) The kind of humiliations we suffered in Dublin in March and a few weekes ago never used to happen to us.

(3) We clearly weren't as fit as several of the teams we met. If Laois can outdo us for fitness under Mick "Laps of the pitch" O'Dwyer, something is wrong with the training we're doing.

(4) I'm trying for the life of me to think of a substitution all year that made a really positive impact. I can't think of one - that's a fair indictment in twelve league and championship games.

(5) The kind of headlessness he displayed after the Monaghan game was a poor show to say the least.

(6) When something wasn't working - i.e. the forward line against Laois - nothing was done to change it until too late. I don't think Ryan, Phelan or Hunt would have changed anything if they went in earlier, but they might have. It was worth a shot.


I'm not actually talking about the likes of O'Mahony myself - I'm thinking going down the highly paid route is not advisable. However a little bit of intelligence could go a long way with this panel. This guy certainly doesn't have it.

[Heshs Umpire]

An outside view....
Richie Connor, anyone?
Was one of Laois's best managers in recent times. I believe he's doing great work with D'Island these days. Would he be worth a try?

[turk]

It depends on how you perceive matters. The way I look on it is this - I think we did have a moderately good year, however I would perceive this to be despite of the management rather than because of it. If you take a kind of management par to be what you'd expect from a journeyman like Mickey Moran, Val Andrews or Brian Talty, I think Kilmurray fell below that. My evidence for the prosecution would be the following:

(1) Not once, League or championship did we come back from behind. Once we fell behind in any game (by more than a point) we lost.

(2) The kind of humiliations we suffered in Dublin in March and a few weekes ago never used to happen to us.

(3) We clearly weren't as fit as several of the teams we met. If Laois can outdo us for fitness under Mick "Laps of the pitch" O'Dwyer, something is wrong with the training we're doing.

(4) I'm trying for the life of me to think of a substitution all year that made a really positive impact. I can't think of one - that's a fair indictment in twelve league and championship games.

(5) The kind of headlessness he displayed after the Monaghan game was a poor show to say the least.

(6) When something wasn't working - i.e. the forward line against Laois - nothing was done to change it until too late. I don't think Ryan, Phelan or Hunt would have changed anything if they went in earlier, but they might have. It was worth a shot.


I'm not actually talking about the likes of O'Mahony myself - I'm thinking going down the highly paid route is not advisable. However a little bit of intelligence could go a long way with this panel. This guy certainly doesn't have it.

It's an easy thing to sit back and pick specifics and say that it will all be better under a new manager! But it just isn't as simple as that.

it's my opinion that a third season under kilmurray will be better in the long run than getting someone else in now for the sake of change. Sometimes you have to go downwards to go upwards!

[Lone Shark]

Can't say I'd agree with you, but fair enough.

For what it's worth he's the first manager of Offaly in the last ten years in either code that I would actually advocate pushing out the door. (Babs notwithstanding)

Of all the monkeys to give job security to.

[True Red]

he had security for the first 2 years of his tenure and he is due a review after that which is due shortly.I doubt he will survive this.

[the bare biffo]

(1) Not once, League or championship did we come back from behind. Once we fell behind in any game (by more than a point) we lost.

Are you saying KK is responsible for this, don't players have a lot to do with what happens between the first and final whistle ?
I was at a league match in Ballyshannon two years ago where we gave Donegal a 7 point start and came back to win with a N Coughlan point securing div 1 and relegating Donegal. I believe KK was manager, but I suppose that was despite him too.

(2) The kind of humiliations we suffered in Dublin in March and a few weekes ago never used to happen to us.

I'm not sure thats true. Before Tommy Lyons arrived I remember bad losses to far lesser teams than Dublin.

(3) We clearly weren't as fit as several of the teams we met. If Laois can outdo us for fitness under Mick "Laps of the pitch" O'Dwyer, something is wrong with the training we're doing.

Laois and Dublin have been going to the later stages of the championship for the last few years, while Offaly have gone out early. The cumulative fitness counts for a lot, we didn't lack fitness against our fellow early exiters Wex and Kil.

(4) I'm trying for the life of me to think of a substitution all year that made a really positive impact. I can't think of one - that's a fair indictment in twelve league and championship games.

What player do we have on the bench that can make such an impact ?

(5) The kind of headlessness he displayed after the Monaghan game was a poor show to say the least.

He should stay away from after match comments ok.

(6) When something wasn't working - i.e. the forward line against Laois - nothing was done to change it until too late. I don't think Ryan, Phelan or Hunt would have changed anything if they went in earlier, but they might have. It was worth a shot.

Maybe so.


I think you can pick specifics to suit your case and I think LS, you let that bee in your bonnet get the better of you quite a bit.

I would agree with Turk. KK is far from top of the pile, but I don't believe he is going to jump and there is no way the county board will push the man in charge when we've reached a first Leinster final in 9 years.
KK was taken on as a novice, if he was given 3 years then he is entitled to complete it. We lambasted the board for throwing out O'Kelly and Fahy, because we thought they were wrong to do so and we were right. Is it ok then to throw a man out so long as we think it the right thing.
Eugene Magee only progressed on round per year with a far more talented squad than Kilmurray has. If we dont reach a quarterfinal next year, then we won't have progressed and the case against KK will be strong. Until then I think we should cut the whinging and let the men get on with their jobs.

Just an aside, I think maybe some of us are over rating the quality we have a bit, to describe the job as mouth watering is a bit too much. We have a decent team with a few top class players, but do you really think the team is anywhere near the level displayed by Kerry last week ? We got cleaned out at midfield in every game, unless something is done to remedy that I don't think we will progress.

Finally, for those worried about playing in division 2, Westmeath should not have even won promotion this year and yet they are in a quarterfinal.

[Lone Shark]

(1) Not once, League or championship did we come back from behind. Once we fell behind in any game (by more than a point) we lost.

Are you saying KK is responsible for this, don't players have a lot to do with what happens between the first and final whistle ?
I was at a league match in Ballyshannon two years ago where we gave Donegal a 7 point start and came back to win with a N Coughlan point securing div 1 and relegating Donegal. I believe KK was manager, but I suppose that was despite him too.

I'm saying that it's at times like this that a manager earns his corn, when the players on the field are not working in their current roles. I'll accept the Donegal fixture was impressive - however it stands out all too much. And even then, the comeback had started before he actually did anything.


(2) The kind of humiliations we suffered in Dublin in March and a few weekes ago never used to happen to us.

I'm not sure thats true. Before Tommy Lyons arrived I remember bad losses to far lesser teams than Dublin.

I meant in the last decade - we were a badly prepared shambles back then, and we all knew it - the game is different now. We're not exactly judging him by the 1982 yardstick here - judging him by the team he took over is surely fair.

(3) We clearly weren't as fit as several of the teams we met. If Laois can outdo us for fitness under Mick "Laps of the pitch" O'Dwyer, something is wrong with the training we're doing.

Laois and Dublin have been going to the later stages of the championship for the last few years, while Offaly have gone out early. The cumulative fitness counts for a lot, we didn't lack fitness against our fellow early exiters Wex and Kil.

I would argue that against Kildare we did a little - but then they brought on Glen Ryan to negate that advantage. I'm not saying that it isn't a factor to some extent though.

(4) I'm trying for the life of me to think of a substitution all year that made a really positive impact. I can't think of one - that's a fair indictment in twelve league and championship games.

What player do we have on the bench that can make such an impact ?

It's not about the player - it's about changing the game, whether that be an extra defender, a cool headed free taker, a target man, fresh legs, whatever. Witness Sheehan for Kerry - not one of their better players, but came on against Armagh to do a job and took two scores.