No heave but Offaly stars quit

and are thought to be prepared to move to relieve Wallace of his position if they indicate that this is what they want, though the players are reluctant to be associated with a coup against the management.

Wallace was a surprise appointment to the role and has endured a difficult first season with several key players not involved for various reasons and Offaly only narrowly escaped relegation to Division Four.

Matters came to a head when Offaly suffered their first Leinster Championship defeat to Wicklow since 1898 last Sunday, a game which Wallace watched from the stand after being hit with an eight-week ban following an incident in a club game in Kerry.

An argument broke out at half-time which saw forward Nigel Dunne leave the dressing room only to return minutes later. Dunne had already been replaced but was reintroduced in the second half and then missed a penalty.

Following the game, Wallace’s position was undermined after tweets from former Offaly footballers Alan Mcnamee and Ruairi Allen that were critical of the management were liked by players who were involved in the panel up to last Sunday at least.

Offaly reconvene for training in Kilcormac tonight but it remains to be seen how many players will show. The county board hasn’t commented as yet.