Messages

Folks.

I had previously spent a time with a squad and one of my friend was an academy manager .
The conversation and experience i had almost completely turned me any intrest in my county. I take my friends example he was involved in a development hurling squad.  They put in a great effort.  Put there personal money into purchasing things like engery drinks,slitors ,physiotherapist ect paid out of the management teams pocket not laois gaa. Built the panel up to a great level and a achieved great success then simply just dropped when it came to minor level ,i had spoken with parents of this squad who were in tears telling me how all they wanted was for the management team to stay on.  A new management team brought in that haven't a clue in what they are doing or any experience with that bunch of kids.
he and I had don't have kids of the age of academy we were coaching

And we wonder why we might struggle to get good people involved.?

The clubs  don't help certain clubs send in all players of the age in for trials with a view of getting  as many as possible on to the squad.

There is parents  involved  and they make sure that there kids stay involved.  I got so pissed off of laois lack of interest  in the squad and seen how the older squad management  are treated I just had enough and threw in the towel.
Laois simply want to tick a box to statify  certain people  that we have accmedy structure. Laois gaa don't give a shite about the squad. This is my personal  experience. Shane keegan  has not helped in fact I would now view that his predecessor in fact done a much better job. If we wanted someone to talk or do a podcast contact shane but to change and improve i won't be shane.

Word is we will have  a new county chairman soon enough.
Mattie collier is canvasing hard for postion.mattie seems to be the preference of the current county board ,haven't heard of anyone else going for the role just yet. Will shaggy leavy put his name in again?

My thoughts are that we need new blood a very different  chairman that brings the county hurling and football together. A leader by all account.


Any thoughts

there was 4 of the panel that are not eligible to play minor next year .this year u16 group didn't have to many to play minor hurling this year unlike the year before . the belief would be that this group are not  as strong as last year group but if the current management  team was allowed stay with them i would imagine they will get a good return from this bunch.
just to be clear there was some talk here about parents holding the role as management  on these team's this is not true

this years team has Brendan Phelan last Season it was Brian Flanagan.none have kids of these ages

I did see this coming a mile away,as i said in my last post . i still believe we have the better group of hurlers but the type of game plan we are playing  is ridiculous,as i stated previously i dont want to be seen as a criticising the management team. but some of the blame has to now be with them ? hurling has moved on so far , the type of hurling we played Sunday leaves so much room for the Opposition forwards it is just madness.

I attended the game in carlow last Saturday.  I came away thinking that we didn't learn alot from the previous weekend v kildare. I truly believe we have the better hurlers mabye  i am biased? . This is not a cut at tommy and group.  But a fast running off the shoulder team will always be worth 5-7  points more. This isn't the style of hurling we are playing. But it is the style of hurling kildare are playing.  I really hope all involved can see this and adjust accordingly. Otherwise I think we won't we winning  anything.

This conversation seem to all heading  in the same manner .
It all about modern style quailty  coaching.  I seen to many clubs training using line drills it drives me mad! Is this how the game is played? All training  should  be game based?? I go back this year's minor hurling team .there was two groups that went for the gig. One had two good kilkenny  coaches  along with two laois senior  hurlers [ enda roweland and Aaron dunphy] yet laos cb picked a different bunch and we all got to see the consequences??.so I make the point that the good management teams here were refused the role.

Can you please tell me with these decisions how can things get better?

U20 just never got going in the second half . Definitely  a game of two halves.  Contrast of work rate was unbelievable.

@ john1. I am not looking for a role with the minor team next year I certainly hope that Brendan Phelan and team are let do the job next year.
This year minor panel had very few of this year's u16. I believe  overall maybe 6 named on the panel over the season. About 30 of the lads named are all over age next year.
I had watched last year minor team with some intrest last season and the level of mis management I seen was evidence every time they trained and played. They went out of the championship v offaly to bad decisions on the line.
I was hoping that the the cb didn't appoint them again this year.  But they did. I watched  this group come up 14-16 and seen them hammering teams like offaly, kerry ect..I seen them beat galway in ballinasloe and limerick in limerick. This year's management team again did not drive this team on , and again lost the important game on the line,(no game plans,players  in wrong position  ect) to be fair to this year's mmagment team is it fair to give them a bunch of players in November and field a team in March ?? How well do they know the group at this  stage ?? I simply believe that if a management team that has brought a group from 14 to 16 and shown promise with them they should be left continue on with them ?? Is this not about developing management teams as well as players?? Where are the management team from the last two seasons i know some of them and conversation I had with them they have no time or respect left for laois gaa . Is this what we want ??

Reflecting  on yesterday on minor game i believe  the management  team got alot wrong..I feel sorry for the bunch of players I truly believe  they could of won this one. With a injury  to dan whelan o brein was left do what he wanted. Should  it not a clear plan to neutral / spoil his game from start to end. Tom og was injured and unable  to run and to leave him on and drive ball into him was madness  .the wexford  system  of play was to drop players on set play and leaving  our spare man wondering  what was going on.  Again this year minor hurlers out due to lack of management .no game plans .I have voiced  from a early stage this management  team wasn't  what this team requires. This management  team should  move on ..this practice on a management  team coaching  kids from 13-16s then to taken on by a bunch that doesn't  known has to end.  It really  makes a difference.

The u20 worked really  hard for the win great to see them work so hard. The desserved  the win.
  The lack of thought with the fixtures is a good reflection  of where  our CB is at.

The current  squad  of minor hurlers are a good bunch they have won lots the whole way up,the work that has been put into them is what now stands to them . People  dismissed this group  when they won the celtic challenge last season.  They won the lenister  schools competition  the year before.  The work that was put in with them with the management  team since u14 is what has them here. Credit  has to be given to that group  along with Connor,Jason and Ross and Mike henchy  for putting them all together.
They now face a 50/50 game against  Wexford  . There record is beating Wexford  once lost once by 2 points  so this suggested  not much between  them.
Daniel jones is a player with an appetite  for goals something  all young lads should  be though. A likeable chap.

I wouldn't  be reading to much into the score lines to date.this laois team have been given  teams like kerry ,offaly  massive beating  over the years . Now we face the real tests.
Hopefully people can turn out to support this team Saturday .

The concerning issue is that both Mountmellick and Portarlington clubs(hurling) are no longer fielding teams indepndently to participate in go games, which will impact  engagement and the development of players, and may indicate underlying problems such as lack of resources, leadership challenges, or decliing interest that need to be addressed to sustain these clubs and their activities.

As for our Coe . it is ideally placed beside O Moore pk outside of that  it is really being left behind take a look at the Faithfull fields, Ferns or Dunganny to name a few our teams spend large sections of the year training in Heywood for one simple example

Best of luck to both our hurling teams out in the coming days hopefully the 20s give a good account of themselves. The minors have played this Offaly age group all the way up through the years and have had comfortable victory's so hopefully that continues in the right direction. Large degree of credit for this year's minors has to be given to the group that has trained them for the previous 3 years. Minor teams can't be put together over 3-4 months of training it is really the couple of years before that make the big difference, great to see so many kids of the age starting as opposed to some other teams

Yes I agree with your views/issues with delevoping Laois hurling..from what I was told Shane chaired the review committee his brother in law was part of the review and then he applied for the position. Shane also then held interviews after . As we know Laois gaa seems to have issues with doing things correctly . In any other facade of life this couldn't be allowed to happen.

As for my comment about leaving them with the u19 there is 27 players( last year's minor panel) not eligible to play minor this year as they now move on to u19 surely last year management group have experience knowledge ect with this group ??  Who do we expect to now manage this group?

Hi Yes I am invested in this group but more to the point I am really invested in the future of  laois hurling. I had spent a little bit of time with this group in the early stages and coach this age group in my club.
I attended a number u16s games and trainings since then. i have also attended a number of training and games of the current u14 and u15 panels. I attended all minor hurling games last season and a number of their training sessions.  what I seen while attending last year minor set up didn't give me any great confidence in the management group in fact, I attended Celtic challenge training/games and so say the contrast in every element was so different. A very well ran camp in my view, last year minor camp was so badly organised. There element of coaching didn't lead anywhere there was no level of a game plan and from what I can see both games lost were lost from the line, I attended a game v Westmeath one evening in the coe and what happened in front of me was telling of the management team. The game was ended early due to the ref walking of the field after he was called a number of things, there had been a number of rows and the ref had sent someone off the insults to the ref came from both laois players on the field and the management team on the sideline. So, one of the mentors decided to ref the rest of the game, again another row started.one of laois best players got injured and was out for a long period of time after. The whole thing was mad.
You will have seen I have supported Shane keegan in the past and hoped he would bring on Laois hurling, however if it is the case that he chaired a selection committee for the role on minor management for this season with his own brother-in-law applying for the role that certainly changes my views. No matter what the process is now placed into question ??    how could Shane let this happen??
I would love for Laois hurling to drive on a reach a new level. This can only be done with the right people over teams, this year's management team or certainly elements should not be there we should we able to do better our expectations should be much higher. What if your felling on this??  this year minor panel shouldn't be a bad group of players if you look at their record. They won the combined school's completion and the Celtic challenge. Their results in their 14,15 and 16 completions have not been bad by any means. So should we not strive to drive on a produce a good minor team??

If you look back in recent years the minor management team have gone forward to the next level with the team. Isn't there a u19 grade being put together this coming year?? Last 3 minor managers glen and crew . Damien and Declan.
I have now been informed of some information one of the members of the management team is Shane Keegan brother in law and the same Shane was the one who chaired and ran the selection committee..
So much for Shane brining change 😭 just more of the same re appointment your friends and family.

Look at the results for the management team of last year... Talk with anyone involved ..  we lost to KILDARE. Only won Carlow game by 6 points and less to Kerry. Lost again to a very bad Offaly team..
2023 reached Q final lost to Dublin by 6.
2022 reached lenister final.

Can someone please explain how laois could keep this management team in place ?

Really looking like next year minor aren't going to be given much of a chance. Amazing laois have re appointment the minor management team from last year. They demonstrate their management abilities last year ( lost to kildare first round) no game plans couldn't figure how to counter runner coming thru the middle. Then there was the Kerry and Carlow game barely managed to beat a bad Kerry and Carlow team.  Total lack of even a consept of how to line out a team .
And then there was there great achievement lose to Offaly ( Offaly worst minor them in recent years)
Why and how could laois appoint the same clowns again. It is simply unbelievable.