The Future for Laois Football

[Spiritof86]

This is probably the most in-depth critical  analysis of where Laois football is in a long time . As the lads have all stated above  the most important thing now is what happens next . How much of this information will actually be taken on board and a coherent plan established !? 

[BallyroanAbu]

I presume all of it is taken on board, it's aspirational and despite everybody knowing it's the right thing to do.  It has very little chance of being implemented to any degree.  Even take the most obvious one the recalibrating of the club championship which does not need money, this would take a minor miracle to get ratified.

[clonadmad]

Laois county board out shopping for a new studier book shelf to put this on.

To go with the 2 recent strategic reports plus the famed but seldom seen Cheddar Hurling Development report.

Pardon the cynicism but when you seen some of the easy wins which were cost neutral in the other reports gathering dust.

I wouldn't be too hopeful of this going anywhere fast either.

[Spiritof86]

https://www.laoistoday.ie/2021/10/06/laois-gaa-hope-to-have-new-senior-football-manager-in-place-prior-to-sfc-quarter-finals/?fbclid=IwAR13T8GHseb9H_eLA984-TslhEkZOzQ8305wy-L9uP5qHU8PjkeJC4QEaW0

No offence to either of them but Flanagan and Evans not the names we need to be hearing .

[BallyroanAbu]

We are in dire straits not for the first time but this time looks particularly bad.  Whoever gets the job has little or no chance of success and will struggle to attract players in.  Things are about to get worse,  I take no pleasure in saying this but Laois Football is possibly in one of its worst ever positions.  I like alot of lads on the County Board but they have presided over this and it's probably time to go.    On the field performances is where it's at and we are not at it.

[Laois Rising]

Billy Sheehan is the frontrunner for this job. He won't prove as expensive to bring in as other options either. No harm in trying a young, ambitious and hungry for success manager. I have no interest in seeing a journeyman intercounty manager get the gig-Cribbin, Flanagan etc. are not progressive appointments.

A left  of field appointment if looking for a young and ambitious manager could be Killian FitzPatrick at Ballyfin. Incredible consistently over the last three/four years competing with and beating clubs that they would not be expected to beat in championship football. Are a very well organised side who play a nice brand of football.

[BallyroanAbu]

I don't think Billy Sheehan would be a good appointment,  a review in it's very name is a look at the past.   We have not looked forward once,  It's not always the easiest path.  We have not asked ourselves what do we want, how can it be done and is it realistic ?  My own opinion for long before it became fashionable much like a player pathway we must create a coach pathway.  This is why Mark Bates, Mike Quirke & Billy Sheehan are of little or no interest to us.  I am sure they are perfectly nice people but we keep ending up asking the question why no Laois Coaches simply because we overlook them all the time.   Killian Fitzpatrick applied to be Laois Minor Manager at the same time Mark Bates did,  Killian is still working away in Laois.  Mark Bates was a disaster, (Well Flagged) but was deemed a better appointment, Mark is long gone.   We always seem to bring our personal grudges to the party .  We in Laois have constantly screwed over our own (said this two years ago)  to appoint people from outside with similar or lesser qualities.

It constantly amazes me that ex-players in Tyrone are always involved with the County Set-Ups but in Laois the players are constantly opting out. 

[High Fielder]

Hardly a great comparison is it? Tyrone have history and pedigree. We just don't. And because we're constantly at such a low ebb, we don't believe anybody internally could make a difference. I accept your point about Fitzpatrick though. He at least has shown the ability to improve and sustain performance. Perhaps now is the time for him to be given the Minor role. The Seniors has gamble or journeyman written all over it unfortunately. Burke could have been an option because he has a point to prove

[clonadmad]

The successful counties promote from within and would never even consider bringing in an outsider

Secondly their managers don't get parachuted into the big job

They have a body of coaching work often done from u14 upwards and it's a progression,be successful at 14,get moved up to 15 and so on.

There's a mentors pathway in place in these counties with ex players heavily involved.

I know of a man who was asked to take a u14 divisional team here,in the past month

He went away and came back with a proposal

They were going to train as a club team twice a week,central to the clubs location so they wouldn't be trucking in and out from the CoE

Had a 6 man back room team assembled to include 3 coaches,an athletic development person a physio and a stats video person

He was in the process of getting gear for them as he has access to funds and was looking to feed them afterwards so that they could get home to study etc after training.

Everything he suggested was shot down

One by one

He didn't have a son on this particular team,he was doing it to improve standards as that's his approach in his professional life.

[Spiritof86]

The successful counties promote from within and would never even consider bringing in an outsider

Secondly their managers don't get parachuted into the big job

They have a body of coaching work often done from u14 upwards and it's a progression,be successful at 14,get moved up to 15 and so on.

There's a mentors pathway in place in these counties with ex players heavily involved.

I know of a man who was asked to take a u14 divisional team here,in the past month

He went away and came back with a proposal

They were going to train as a club team twice a week,central to the clubs location so they wouldn't be trucking in and out from the CoE

Had a 6 man back room team assembled to include 3 coaches,an athletic development person a physio and a stats video person

He was in the process of getting gear for them as he has access to funds and was looking to feed them afterwards so that they could get home to study etc after training.

Everything he suggested was shot down

One by one

He didn't have a son on this particular team,he was doing it to improve standards as that's his approach in his professional life.

Jaysus it's demoralising to hear stories like that 😔

[Tier2]

The successful counties promote from within and would never even consider bringing in an outsider

Secondly their managers don't get parachuted into the big job

They have a body of coaching work often done from u14 upwards and it's a progression,be successful at 14,get moved up to 15 and so on.

There's a mentors pathway in place in these counties with ex players heavily involved.

I know of a man who was asked to take a u14 divisional team here,in the past month

He went away and came back with a proposal

They were going to train as a club team twice a week,central to the clubs location so they wouldn't be trucking in and out from the CoE

Had a 6 man back room team assembled to include 3 coaches,an athletic development person a physio and a stats video person

He was in the process of getting gear for them as he has access to funds and was looking to feed them afterwards so that they could get home to study etc after training.

Everything he suggested was shot down

One by one

He didn't have a son on this particular team,he was doing it to improve standards as that's his approach in his professional life.

Thats deeply disturbing if true (not saying it isn't I wouldn't be shocked)
Where was the level he was shot down
CB or GDA?

[Spiritof86]

Clonadmad is usually spot on and it's absolutely demoralising to hear that . You can actually see in it in the stands and grounds around the county . The attendance in OMP at the weekend was lower that I've seen in a while given what was at stake .

[Jd]

I was in at u16 Divisional training and matches and the first night everything was laid on  with programmes printed proper jerseys warmup areas etc. There was almost 90 lads named. The first match was 15 on 15 with both having subs and the second match had one team toggled and the manager of the second looking at around 10 lads out of 23 or 24 lads and trying to cobble a team together. This group of players have S+C twice a week and football training once a week with matches every second Monday. However I heard last Monday that the first group had only 12 or 13 lads training and group 2 around 20. So out of 90 possible players for next year's minors around 30 odd turned up for training and a path to a Co panel. The U16 hurling was pulled altogether due to low interest. Now I'm not here to defend the Co board but you can hardly blame them for the apathy of players and clubs towards sending lads in for a Co team

[Robbo]

The successful counties promote from within and would never even consider bringing in an outsider

Secondly their managers don't get parachuted into the big job

They have a body of coaching work often done from u14 upwards and it's a progression,be successful at 14,get moved up to 15 and so on.

There's a mentors pathway in place in these counties with ex players heavily involved.

I know of a man who was asked to take a u14 divisional team here,in the past month

He went away and came back with a proposal

They were going to train as a club team twice a week,central to the clubs location so they wouldn't be trucking in and out from the CoE

Had a 6 man back room team assembled to include 3 coaches,an athletic development person a physio and a stats video person

He was in the process of getting gear for them as he has access to funds and was looking to feed them afterwards so that they could get home to study etc after training.

Everything he suggested was shot down

One by one

He didn't have a son on this particular team,he was doing it to improve standards as that's his approach in his professional life.

Deflated after reading that.
Obviously the proposal was rejected because it'd shine a light on how things are currently being run.
And I'm saying that as someone who thinks we are doing a bit better with our dev panels at the minute.

[High Fielder]

I have seen panels put together where some lads weren't expected to trial. They were automatic selections fair enough, but setting them apart created a terrible atmosphere. Worse than that, I have seen a CB member's son involved and the lad wouldn't be the fifth relation of a decent footballer. We're a filthy little county for politics and cronyism and most right thinking people don't want to go near it. Look around for God's sake. From attendances to participation and funding, the whole machine is grinding to a halt. We need to call a spade a spade and call out the embarrassment that Laois GAA has become. It is not there for a small group of people to hand out passes and make themselves look like great fellas. It belongs to us all and affects us all. It needs to be run properly and not like the amateur set up it has become