Kelly faces a major task with patience running out quickly
WEXFORD SENIOR footballers are edging towards the more important games of their season but therein lies the problem, as they have the credentials to cause even more problems for the game in the county.
Wexford open their Leinster championship campaign with a home game against a Louth side which narrowly missed out on promotion to Division 3 over the weekend, just missing out after a draw with Westmeath.
But when one now looks at this game, it has been given an extra flavour in that Wexford have just announced the appointment of former Wee county manager, Colin Kelly, as their coach.
Many may feel that this is too close for comfort but, giving the coaching qualities of Kelly, irrespective of the opposition, it can only be good for a Wexford side sadly lacking in those qualities for the entire league campaign.
They struggled for just three victories, with the defeats to both London and Waterford leading to a huge crisis in the game in the county.
One would find it difficult to find a period when Wexford football was at such a low ebb. Supporters are really pinching themselves to bring themselves from a situation where they are now 30th in the country, having dropped to 32nd a few weeks earlier, but victories over Wicklow and Limerick helped lift them from the bottom step of the ladder.
It’s still a situation that’s difficult to believe, but this is where football in the county is at right now.
Most genuine Wexford supporters were looking towards a situation where there would be improvement on 2018 which was a dismal footballing year for the county, but the league placing dictates that the county has fallen further off the radar.
It would be huge if Wexford beat Louth, setting up a game with reigning All-Ireland champions Dublin, but one can be fairly sure that they will find it difficult to deliver an opening round victory.
With Louth visiting Innovate Wexford Park, one would expect the home county to deliver a positive result. But with real panic in the game in the county, that thought might be further away than one believes.
Wexford were sadly lacking in the initial stages of the league, and while improvement was forthcoming in the latter end of the campaign, Colin Kelly still has a huge task to bring the side to a level that will even seriously test the visitors.
Taking a look back at the league, in my view this Wexford squad contains so many players that are seriously not up to inter-county senior standard. This was borne out even more over the weekend when I witnessed a number of club football championship games.
The startling fact to emerge from those games reflected back on the league campaign, as many Senior players failed to give standout performances. Indeed, with the odd exception one could find little difference in the standard of the majority of players, so that is where we are at at the moment.
At the moment it seems Wexford haven’t the players to compete at Senior inter-county level even with the weakest of counties. This can go back to neglect of the under-age game.
One has seen success at colleges level but this was not followed through to the inter-county scene. It’s that neglect which is coming back to haunt the county.
In football we had back-to-back Leinster Junior titles, but what happened?
The present County Board management decided this was not for Wexford, opting not to enter the grade last year and this year, when it would have proved a beneficial experience for many young players coming through the system.
Wexford footballing stock is pretty low following a dismal league campaign and the lack of action from the top table, those responsible for football in the county, will see Wexford in for a testing championship.
Wexford need a little bit of luck, as that’s the only support base they will enjoy. It’s only a chance, that with home advantage and their handful of quality players delivering, they can string together a winning effort.
But patience is running out with Wexford football and the lack of support for the game in the county.