The man behind the wire: Real debate should be on Offaly's failure to attack subsidiary competitions not managers

AS usual when Offaly football teams under perform or go belly up, guns have been loaded and the ire of some supporters has been focused on team managers.

As usual, it is a loud few who generate an impression that there is widespread unrest. In the modern world of social media forums and everyone able to be heard, it is important not to read much into the comments of a few – and it is only a few that have been having a go at senior manager Declan Kelly in the wake of Offaly's bitterly disappointing Tailteann Cup campaign.

They should not be taken as representing the majority or anywhere near it and as always in these type of “campaigns”, the rants of a vocal minority should not be allowed to have any influence. It is always important to remember that for the handful of people who are calling for heads, there is a huge majority out there who are saying nothing and either have no view, are neutral or who believe that Declan Kelly needs more than one year in charge.

Defeats by London and Limerick, the nature of them, has been very disturbing for all who support Offaly football. The London one was horrific as Offaly went down to by 2-20 to 0-12. Their effort levels were way below what was needed on the day. While the work rate was there for most of the Limerick game, and the majority of players were honest, the outcome was only marginally better, a 2-10 to 0-8 loss. Eight points was a very poor return and Offaly went down fairly tamely late on.

While most players went at the game in a diligent manner before Limerick got on top around the three quarter way mark, there were a couple who looked like they didn't want to be in Rathkeale and it was a very sobering defeat.

There is no hiding from results and the bottom line is that Offaly have been resoundingly beaten by two Division 4 teams while only managing to score 20 points. The players or management don't need anyone to tell them that this is not good enough and it is a real shame to see the year ending in this manner. It is an damning indictment that at this stage, it will be a mercy for all involved when the Down game is over and it should not be this way.

Had the year ended after the Leinster championship, there would not be much debate going on at the moment. After losing their first four games in Division 3 of the National Football League, Offaly recovered to stay up. They achieved one of their season's big aims by beating Laois in the Leinster championship and played very well that day while they were resoundingly beaten by Dublin in the semi-final.

People were possibly a bit too happy at that defeat as there was no spell when Offaly genuinely competed with them or looked capable of an upset. The result was no better than hoped for or no worse than feared but the way Louth played against Dublin in the Leinster final put Offaly's display into perspective – Louth required extra time to beat Offaly in last year's Leinster semi-final but made a much better fist of taking the Dubs on.

At the same time, there was some green shoots there with some of the younger players attacking the game well and revelling in the wide open spaces of Croke Park. It would be stretching things to describe it as an “acceptable” defeat but there was no witch hunts after it and no need to engage in them either.

It is a different story now and the Tailteann Cup malfunction is placing pressure on everyone involved.

There are similarities between this and last year when a debate emerged about interim manager Martin Murphy – Murphy had stepped into the role after the tragically sudden death of Liam Kearns during the National Football League. There was a debate over whether he would get the job full time – if the decision was taken after the championship, he was on the high ground, the Tailteann Cup exit at the hands of Wexford damaged his prospects. In the wind up, the affable, genuinely passionate Gracefield man opted out himself, paving the way for Declan Kelly to get the job.

After leading Offaly to the All-Ireland U-20 football title in 2021, Kelly deserved his chance and his appointment was substantially different than Martin Murphy's. Martin was a selector with Liam Kearns and he ended up in the hot seat through circumstances that no one wanted. A very successful club trainer who had also managed underage county teams, Murphy deserved complete respect for what he did. Kelly deserves the same.

He is a no nonsense type individual who is passionate about bringing Offaly football on. He has stepped on toes along the way, was always going to do the same as senior manager and that is why some people are taking the opportunity to have a pop with undisguised relish.

It is similar to last year. If you judged Offaly on the league and Leinster championship alone, there is no debate about him getting a second year. The Tailteann Cup places him on trickier ground and it could get rockier with a group game to come against Down, with Offaly already certain of bowing out.

Now is not the time for knee jerk reactions and Kelly and the County Board deserve the time and space to reflect and discuss; to consult with all players and not just a handful. There is a case for making a change after the Tailteann Cup but equally, there is a very strong case for trusting in the process, in their man, for persevering. Give him time to make the changes he wants, to put his plans into fruition and see where it leads.

It is a decision for Kelly and the County Board. You have to judge the season in its entirety and if you changed every manager after poor Tailteann Cup or qualifier results, you would never have one for more than one season.

We really shouldn't be talking about managers. In fact, by focusing on this, we are deflecting away from the real issue here which is the way Offaly football teams play in these second tier competitions.

It has been going on for over two decades with the senior footballers and now, most worryingly, it has infiltrated down the line to underage teams. The U-20 footballers gave a very poor effort when exiting the second tier Liam O'Connor Cup in Carlow after bowing out of the championship properly.

The minor footballers lost to Waterford by 4-11 to 0-13 in the Tier 3 preliminary quarter-final in Faithful Fields last Saturday.

If those results are an accurate reflection of where all three teams are, fair enough but that is difficult to accept at the moment. You have to believe that Offaly football is better than those results suggest and if it isn't, then it is in bother. In all these cases, Offaly did not get up to the intensity of or show the same hunger as their championship games and that is the major problem.

Offaly's lack of interest in qualifiers and second tier competitions has been going back to the commencement of them in football in 2001.

A few years ago, it looked like the Offaly football ship was rising. At underage levels, they were generally beating the likes of Carlow, Wicklow, Longford etc in Leinster and occasionally taking the scalp of a Meath, Kildare or Dublin.

Staying ahead of Carlow, Wicklow et-al was of paramount importance but Offaly have lost to both this year. Not only that but the senior footballers have taken a dramatic step downward by losing to Limerick and London.

It is not good and taken in its entirety, Offaly football has gone into reverse this year. Managers are always disposable, players are not but this is not down to any one individual or individuals and the problems have much deeper roots.

It is an attitude where second tier competitions are just not treated with the same seriousness as league and championship. That is not acceptable but it is hard to criticise minor and U-20 footballers for merely following in the example set by their seniors for almost two and a half decades. A win in any of those senior, U-20 and minor competitions would serve Offaly well, bring the players on but all three teams went down very softly.

Do we dispense with Declan Kelly, Ken Furlong (the U-20 manager) and Roger Ryan (minor manager) for this? Or do we try and change the culture from the earliest age up? To insist that these competitions be treated with respect and to hammer this point home at every opportunity. And to talk about anything else is a avoiding the real problems.