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Surreal Funeral Mass live on Sky News at the moment

RIP Shane MacGowan

Interesting article in Leinster Express

" 'Proud' Laois can't compete in current hurling system" - Martin Fogarty's views on hurling in Laois and Offaly.

Seemingly it's a pilot show with the hope to return for next year's Championship if sponsorship can be obtained.

If you're not watching The Late Late Toy Show 

Virgin Media 2
Friday 24th November, 9.00pm - 10.00pm

Smaller Fish GAA Show

Maybe Justin is stepping back into inter-county management with an eye on possible future opportunities nearer home – his native Armagh in particular.

He is familiar with the scene in Laois and even though we're at a very low level currently he could made modest progress with us.

We don't know what his aspirations in the political field might be but his grá for the GAA is obvious.

https://www.sundayworld.com/crime/courts/former-senior-uvf-man-darren-moore-accused-of-stealing-20-lamb-chops-from-tesco/a908973530.html

Justin mc Nulty MLA new Laois manager cannot be much going on in Stormont.

A return for him https://www.rte.ie/sport/football/2023/1019/1411856-mcnulty-to-return-as-laois-manager/

Mark Carruthers raised this issue on The View, BBC1 NI, last night - he asked an SDLP colleague of Justin his opinion.

It is of the utmost importance that Justin's role as an MLA does not detract from his job as Laois manager 

Justin's appointment is a gamble and I hope it brings progress. We are getting a manager with a decent if not perfect track record. Of course he will be starting from the bottom this time.

I agree with BallyroanAbu that the style of football has changed radically since his last spell – a lot of us would agree with Pat Spillane that today's football is sh*#e. Much will depend on the quality of his backroom team. The Leinster SFC loss to Longford in 2012 was mainly down to team selection.

This appointment was raised on BBC NI programme The View last night – an SDLP colleague of Justin was on the panel and was asked by Mark Carruthers if Justin would have the time to commit to Laois. He couldn't give an answer.

Anyway, best of luck to Justin and the players for 2024.

Michael Dempsey's view on the future of Laois Football

"I think there's a long way back but definitely, from my point of view, there is hope," insisted Dempsey, who managed Laois for two seasons (from 1996 to '98) and went on to enjoy unparalleled success during his 15 years alongside Brian Cody with the Kilkenny hurlers.
"Even if it means just getting 30 young players, combined with some of the other players who've been around.
"I mean, anything and everything is possible if the commitment [is there] and the environment is created for players and they have pride in wearing the jersey. We've seen it in so many other counties around the country," Dempsey expanded.
"We're not saying we're going to win an All-Ireland, but can Laois make progress? If everything is right and the players commit – and that's up to everybody to create that environment, where people are happy to be there and wear the Laois jersey. I definitely think Laois can make progress."

The negativity regarding the Laois Senior Football team on this board saddens me. Yes, we are down in Division 4, hammered by Dublin in Leinster SFC and by Down in the Tailteann Cup. We have had one poster here asking should we consider withdrawing from championship and league !

Ciaran Fitzgerald famously said to his Ireland rugby teammates  "where's your f*****g pride ?" and the same applies here. The Laois Senior football team are the flagship football team in the county. Down the years young lads would dream of emulating Curly Prendergast, Barney Maher, Joe Higgins and many more. Do we really want to consider going down the same road as Kilkenny ?

Of course our pool of talent seems very shallow at present and we've had no success at underage since 2007. The structure of club football in Laois has it's shortcomings that doesn't help either. On the other hand the split season and the increased number of games gives inter-county players the opportunities to develop that were lacking previously. Many will also have the experience of playing in high-quality 3rd level competitions. We all know too that a team can be better than the sum of it's parts – no county demonstrated this better than Offaly under the late Eugene McGee.

Laois supporters have a role to play too. If you are totally demoralised then it might be better to just walk away rather than contributing to the negative background noise. Of course lads will be hesitant to commit where there is such a mood of doom and gloom surrounding the Laois Senior Football team. Now is the time that the players and new manager need our support most. Remember Offaly supporters Croke Park sit down protest in 1998 and Kildare's Newbridge or Nowhere protest in 2018. We as Laois supporters should have taken the same stance and refused to play the Dubs in Nowlan Park Kilkenny back in 2016.

Laois Abú!

If it's true that Justin McNulty has been approached I'm not altogether surprised. Despite two poor Leinster SFC defeats to Longford in 2012 and Louth in 2013 he seemed to bring a very professional approach and turned out well drilled teams who could hold their own in Division 2. He would hardly be considered again if the views of his former players were negative.
Some of the appointments since Justin were questionable so I think the County Board are right to try and get an experienced manager with a half-decent track record. None of us are expecting overnight results but promotion to Division 3 is a modest short-term goal.

We all know Laois football is in a bad place and it's hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel right now.
High Fielder - any views on whether an inside or outside manager might be best option ? What goals do you think are achievable for our senior football team in the short term under a competent management team ?

I'm wondering which is the more cringeworthy
- Bertie Ahern's cupboard ad for newspaper
- Paul O'Connell's Kevin the Carrot ad for Aldi ?

My point is simply that, as the old Chinese proverb says, it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.

Just out of curiosity - are any posters on here members of Laois Gaels ? 
They have a website https://www.laoisgaels.com/ and fairly active Facebook page.

What are you seeing that I'm not seeing? I just don't know where you're getting these players from. They don't exist at present

Laois will compete in NFL Division 4 and the Tailteann Cup next year (I don't believe that anyone is suggesting we pull out as Kilkenny have done).

It can be expected that two thirds of this year's panel will make themselves available with at least half of these having more than one year's intercounty experience. Every year there are new faces, most of them having played minor and under-20 for the county.

It is a huge commitment for young lads to devote a huge amount of their time to play for a county with no prospects of success in the immediate future. The least that we as supporters can do is to encourage them. If there is a mood of negativity in their communities, clubs and social media there will be more than the normal number unwilling to commit.

Our Division 4 status is not a false reflection of our current ranking although we should have gained promotion this year. All of us who have been following Laois for many years know how far back we have fallen. Offaly have been in the doldrums for 20+ years but are now getting their house in order.