There's just no hiding place in this shambles
ANOTHER year, another crisis in Offaly GAA.
They’re not the only county with problems and they all have one thing in common – people in positions of influence that are simply not up to it.
We live in different times now; the GAA in 2018 is vastly different to that in 1978, ‘88, ‘98 and even 2008. But the fundamentals around choosing the right people to do a particular job remain the same.
That relates to both county board personnel and team management.
The counties that are doing well get it right at the top with their county board officers – when do you ever hear any disquiet in Kilkenny, Kerry or Dublin about their board?
It largely happens in weaker counties that lack ambition. Offaly shouldn’t be in that category. They’ve been one of the most brilliant dual counties and there are GAA people of high integrity there.
In the past 10 years or so they’ve produced a lot of good underage footballers and shouldn’t be in the position they’re in.
When you see what happened with Stephen Wallace this week, it’s humiliating for all concerned.
Players may have made a statement indicating support for the manager but I believe that was only a face-saving exercise.
What about those at the top? What due diligence did they carry out before appointing Wallace?
In recent months I’ve heard from different managers that came up against him that his conduct on the sideline and interaction with players was well short of what’s expected of a manager at this level.
With any job, you vet all of these things before putting someone in place.
More than ever, a manager has to command respect and if he doesn’t, players will see through him pretty quickly.
Just look at
Malachy
O’rourke and
Kevin Mcstay – managers doing well in small counties.
The players are dancing to their tune and they’re in absolute control of what’s going on.
Compare that to Wallace last Sunday – sitting above in the stand wrapped up in a hoodie while serving a suspension and later that evening you had past players slating him on Twitter and current players endorsing them.
You have no hope when a culture like that exists.
Offaly is one of a lot of counties where change is needed at the top table. Sean Boylan worked with Fintan Ginnity for 20 years in Meath and unless the whole thing is in sync, you can forget about any chance of success.
Offaly are now looking to make their ninth football managerial appointment within the last decade.
When the job became available last year, the most obvious person within the county to take it on was Paschal Kellaghan. He knows the scene and the players inside out – it was a no brainer.
Yet it was a real surprise that they gave the job to a little known Kerry man.
Kellaghan’s now a coach with the Tipperary footballers and, by all accounts, is a big hit with the players down there.
How can Offaly let that happen? What is the agenda here?
This type of nonsense happens far too often in Offaly.
And unless the genuine GAA people in the county get together and bring about change from the delegates right up to the top table, it won’t be too long before they find themselves a laughing stock yet again.