Messages

1

Laois / Re: Tailteann Cup 2023

« on: June 03, 2023, 07:06:31 PM »

I know Sheehan is useless but the bigger picture here is that even when he leaves we are STILL going absolutely nowhere anytime soon . The problems in Laois football run MUCH deeper than just Billy Sheehan. That SHITESHOW up in Parnell park today is only the tip of the iceberg and let me tell you we will get even worse again . Lillis , Finn and Timmons might possibly hang it up after this year , apparently Greene and Pigott won’t be committing next year and from what I’ve seen OCarroll is after getting very heavy and sluggish. I try to be less harsh but not beating London is the absolute bottom of the barrel . I just can’t see ANY positives that make me think that there is light at the end of the tunnel in the near future .

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Laois / Re: Laois GAA needs urgent help

« on: May 19, 2023, 12:16:27 AM »

Offaly on a steep upward curve.  U20 Leinster on top of last years minor win.

If the will is there, there is a way.

Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if they win a senior All Ireland title within the next decade and I bet that's their ambition. If Offaly can do it, is there any reason why we can't achieve some success?

Offaly Senior all Ireland in the next decade ? There’s not a snowballs chance in hell that will happen

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Laois / Re: Tailteann Cup 2023

« on: May 14, 2023, 04:00:20 PM »

A lot of positives to be taken out of yesterday.

The first half and in particular the first 20 minutes was some of the best football Laois have played in the last couple of years. Sublime scores from Mark Barry, Kieran Lillis, Padraig Kirwan, Paul Kingston and Evan O'Carroll who caused the Cavan defence a rake of problems and took a brilliant goal early on.

Speaking of defence, that was the most pleasing during the first half. Clearly a lot of work has been done in this regard since Dublin 3 weeks ago and it showed. Well organised, good tacking, a couple of great blocks against a Cavan team who are favourites for the Tailteann and a lot of them have Ulster titles to their name. Roche was excellent in the first half with good kickouts. Also, there was no way that was a penalty for Cavan, was never a footblock.

In fairness, Cavan dominated the 3rd quater of the game. They pushed up on our kickouts and we couldn't get hold of the ball. But we made them earn their scores, most of them were excellent shots from way out the park. Bare in mind that Cavan ran Armagh to 5 points a few weeks ago in the Ulster championship.

We showed great character and resolve to fight back from 9 points down to bring it back to 5 at 1-18 to 1-13 and we had momentum then. An effort fell into the keeper's hands then which would have brought it back to 4 but Cavan then went up and scored a great score to make the margin 6 points. Lads ran themselves into the ground and there was no shortage of desire. A late Cavan goal in injury time wrapped it up.

The lads have restored pride in the jersey and there should be a buzz in training as we get ready for Offaly next Saturday.

Completely clutching at straws

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Laois / Re: Tailteann Cup 2023

« on: May 13, 2023, 03:45:05 AM »

the team looks to have undergone serious surgery if the rumours are to be believed, does anybody know how the challenge matches went for the supposed radical changes?

Are you saying there could be a good few changes to the starting team tomorrow?

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Laois / Re: Tailteann Cup 2023

« on: May 11, 2023, 11:20:26 PM »

I have a bad feeling about this hope I’m wrong.

A bad feeling about which ? This Cavan game ? Or the Tailteann cup itself ?

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Laois / Re: Leinster Minor Football Championship

« on: May 04, 2023, 01:09:15 AM »

Where’s the future? It’s all a solid mess

I follow all the games very closely in Laois football whether it be club or county and I hate to say it but we STILL haven’t hit rock bottom yet despite us being in division 4.  I can visibly see our underage teams particularly our minor teams becoming increasingly further off the mark every year . It was like men vs boys down in Wexford park tonight . Wexford were physically a much more superior team to Laois and we had no answer to their power and pace . Laois are not lacking ability or anything but the department where we are CONSTANTLY getting shown up in at all levels is our size , power , pace and mobility compared to other sides . Interestingly enough that Wexford team lost to Wicklow by 3 points and Wexford only bet Carlow by 3 points which suggests that Wexford are nothing special themselves
I think in 3-5 years from now that our senior team will be worse than it currently is now to be honest. I mean for a start the likes of Timmons , Lillis and J Finn who have been great servants will probably pack it in in the next year or two . More worryingly when P Kingston (30 next year ) and particularly OCarroll ( 29 next year ) move on there will be a gaping hole up front . None of the forwards I’ve seen at minor or u20 for us the past few years look like they will be anywhere near the level of Paul or Evan . I haven’t seen anyone as of yet who is capable of replacing OCarrolls  size , ball winning ability , ability to get fouled and draw frees and ability to break the tackle and bully full backs with his sheer size . He brings others into play too by plucking dirty ball and throwing it around to others . He’s also comfortable shooting off both feet and taking frees with both feet too. Them attributes are not easily replaced especially in a county like Laois where we struggle to do even the basics right . Once he’s gone thats our main focal point and scoring threat gone . Everything comes through him . In my eyes he was our closest thing to Donie Kingston in a way .
Basically I feel that it will probably get worse again before it gets better as I think that what’s coming through is actually worse again than what’s currently on our senior team . Our recent minor teams in the past few years have been a lot worse than the minor teams that most of our current senior players were on . The longer this rut continues the harder it will probably be to convince lads to commit to playing Senior with Laois too . There was as many as 7/8 lads from my club asked to play senior with Laois this year and only 1 lad committed for example. I try to see light at the end of the tunnel for us but it just feels that the walls are still closing in on us with no end in sight for foreseeable future

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Laois / Re: Tailteann Cup 2023

« on: May 03, 2023, 04:43:48 PM »

Toughest draw we could have got .
Best top seeds and best 2nd seeds .

We will need to keep the scores down and hope a healty win v London might scrape us through

Offaly are nothing special but they are still ahead of us . I hear Jordan Hayes has rejoined their panel for the Tailteann cup which is a huge boost to their midfield .

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Laois / Re: Tailteann Cup 2023

« on: May 01, 2023, 02:18:52 PM »

Looking at the way the Tailteann Cup is shaping up I think the winner will come from either Cavan, Down , Fermanagh or Meath . I’d probably give Limerick and Offaly a slim outside chance of winning it after that

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Laois / Tailteann Cup 2023

« on: May 01, 2023, 02:15:37 PM »

Pot 1 :

Meath
Cavan
Fermanagh
Limerick

Pot 2 :

Down
Offaly
Antrim
Wicklow

Pot 3:

Longford
Tipperary
Laois
Wexford

Pot 4:

Leitrim
Carlow
Waterford
London

10

Laois / Re: 2023 National Football League Division 4

« on: April 30, 2023, 07:42:49 PM »

I don’t want to dismiss the idea that our structures and player development systems are in chaos. I honestly don’t know enough about that and the evidence suggests that something is wrong structurally. But we’re not talking about getting on the Kildare team (although I think several of them would). We’re talking about doing better than Leitrim and Wicklow. This doesn’t require a team of David Cliffords. It just requires good preparation, organisation and motivation. Obviously, as you move higher in the Divisions something more is needed but really in Division 4, it’s not.

Do you still think several of our lads would get on the Kildare team ? In my opinion not one of our lads would be let carry in the water for a full strength Kildare . The sooner we pull our heads out of our own arses the better . What went on between Laois and Dublin last weekend was nothing short of DISGRACEFUL. That same Dublin team today SHOULD of been beaten by Kildare in croke park only for some bad decision making . I knew we were bad but to be honest we are A LOT worse than I actually thought . SERIOUS SERIOUS changes are needed in this county just to keep our names on the map now the way it’s gone .

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Laois / Re: The Future for Laois Football

« on: April 04, 2023, 02:05:12 PM »

Anyone have any idea what the minor footballers are like this year ? I seen the panel named last night

12

Laois / Re: 2023 National Football League Division 4

« on: March 30, 2023, 02:33:15 PM »

I don’t know whether your point about poor administration in Laois is right or not but that is certainly not the reason for the change in fortunes in Louth and Derry. The population of Louth and Derry is pretty much the same now as it was when they were in the lower divisions and the club structure in those counties was roughly the same too. The only thing that really changed was the manager. Laois should never be one of the 6 worst teams in the country, even at times when the crop of players is not the very best.

Why should we not be in the bottom 6 teams in the country ? I mean why do we feel that we are entitled to be above the Wexfords , Leitrims , Wicklows , Sligos , Longfords etc . In fact those are all predominantly football counties ( with the exception of Wexford ) whereas we are trying to balance both hurling and football at the same time with a smallish population.  Also our main population centre in Portlaoise caters for a third of our population and has just ONE club . This notion that we are entitled to be above these so called weaker counties really dosent make sense to me . We are where we are on merit unless there is HUGE long term changes within this county . It’s such a steep hill to climb that it will probably never be climbed in our lifetime

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Laois / Re: O’Byrne Cup 2023

« on: January 05, 2023, 02:59:53 PM »

Getting rid of Sheehan or keeping Sheehan won’t make much of a difference at all in the long term . Our problems go FAR beyond just Billy Sheehan. We are a mess from top to bottom . Our minor footballers last year for example suffered 20 point defeats to both Offaly and Dublin in the championship.
We were a mess before Sheehan arrived and we are still a mess with him . We need a complete rebuild from underage grassroots the whole way up to senior intercounty . You can’t solve the problems at senior intercounty without solving the problems at schools , club and underage level too. What went on in Port last night is only the tip of the iceberg, it’s the end product of years of taking our eye off the ball . We have sleepwalked into this mess
The next manager that comes in after Sheehan will have the very same problems . The frightening part is I’m not sure whether the expertise nor the appetite is their in Laois to overhaul our structures and change this mess . I honestly think we are going to just limp on the way we are . Truth be told whether we come out of division 4 or not this year it won’t make a whole lot of difference in the long run . When we start playing teams in the higher divisions again we are going to be badly shown up again and then back to square one  .
Id like to see all our resources poured into the underage , giving them the best coaching , the best S and C and the professionalism that they would recieve in counties like Dublin for example . We have to put in the hard yards and prepare these young players for senior intercounty football down the line . Simply sitting back and hoping that a “ Golden bunch “ will come along simply won’t work anymore in this age of pace , power and S and C . You won’t break even with the likes of Dublin or Kildare for example by sitting Back and hoping we will “magically “ improve .  When we get a conveyor belt of good underage teams coming again we will see the knock on affect at senior in maybe 5/6 years .
I have never doubted the ability in Laois but one thing we don’t have is the pace and power and size to match any of the semi decent intercounty teams . That thank god can all be worked on put it is going to take a LOT of hard work and patience . I’ve heard a lot of people say that we are in “transition “ . Where exactly are we transitioning to ? As it stands we will be transitioning between division 3 and 4 for the next 10 years unless we roll up the sleeves and put in the hard yards at underage .
Look at Port vs Kilmacud for example . Some very good “footballers”  on that Port team but they simply couldn’t deal with the power and pace and size that kilmacud possessed from years of hard work on the S and C side of things . Them Port players have never been exposed to that level of attention to their S and C from a young age like the kilmacud lads . Give them Port lads the same attention to training from a young age as the kilmacud lads and Port would EASILY break even with Kilmacud.
Us people in Laois want the end result of a rebuild without having to go through the actual rebuild process itself . It’s going to take a lot of work . I’m not sure we have the expertise and appetite to do it but if we want to become competitive again we will have to do it . LaoisAbu

14

GAA Discussion / Re: O’Byrne Cup 2023

« on: January 05, 2023, 12:55:29 PM »

The Laois people beside me reckoned only 2 names on the program were county material so perhaps Billy Sheehan is keeping his real team in cotton wool for the attempt to get out of Div 4.

If there isn't a 'real' team then Laois are in serious trouble. Laoislad would reckon Laois is a hurling county now - like their neighbours in Kilkenny.

Billy Sheehan isn’t hiding a real team , we are in division 4 for a reason . We have about 5/6 lads to come back into that team ( some of them may not even make any difference in fact ) . Half of the Laois starters last night will be on the team and the 3 subs that came on ( Finn , OCarroll and B Byrne ) will all be on the team too . We will do very very well to come out of division 4 . Serious serious problems down here in Laois football at the moment from senior intercounty right the way down to grassroots .

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Laois / Re: O’Byrne Cup 2023

« on: January 03, 2023, 06:15:18 PM »

Apart from having a poor manager, we are now deciding that average players from outside the county are eligible.  They keep finding new lows.

I 100% agree with you Ballyroanabu . I know the player(s) you are talking about too .