Nobody emerges with credit from Offaly football manager fiasco

The ongoing uncertainty regarding the position of Offaly football manager for 2012 and beyond is understandably the hot topic for local GAA supporters - all the more so now that the two most obvious candidates, Tom Coffey and Stephen Darby, have apparently withdrawn from the process in response to perceived lethargy on the part of the county board. The fire was further stoked by Niall McNamee's recent contribution to the debate, indicating his own personal frustration at the situation and suggesting that he would have to consider his own inter-county future as a result. County board chairman Pat Teehan spoke to the Offaly Independent but was unable to offer any information as to the likely resolution of the whole affair while the process is ongoing. In the meantime, the meetings of the selection committee have continued throughout this past week in an effort to resolve the impasse. The absence of clear information makes it difficult to draw any definite conclusions; however, what cannot be questioned is that no party to the situation has emerged with credit from the current situation. The people likely to suffer the consequences most sharply are the players and supporters who have longed for meaningful progress throughout a very lean decade and who now must look on while other counties build towards next summer. That absence of success is an appropriate starting point from which to examine this situation, since it would be naïve to ignore the view that the Offaly senior football manager position, while prestigious and significant, is not the attractive proposition that many people perceive it to be. Relative to other counties it is certainly not a cash cow, and nor should it be. Nor should any GAA management position be, however that's a debate for another day. As a small county, Offaly have scant resources, and those that exist must be shared with the inter-county hurling teams. While there are some talented footballers among the senior players, there are several who are very much coming to the end of their careers, and those coming up behind them, while offering potential, have shown no signs of the leadership qualities that are so badly needed. Above all, while some promising young footballers have come through the county ranks, they still always found someone better in the Leinster championships at minor and U21 level, and very few young Offaly footballers have made their mark at Sigerson Cup level in recent years, by far the most accurate barometer of inter-county potential. Thus, while the three candidates who took part in the interview process each have their own strengths and weaknesses, the idea that a proven inter-county manager with no ties to the county would be eager to take on this job is not reasonable. However, there was also an onus on the candidates in the process to realise that while they each felt confident in their own ability, the Offaly county board was charged with the responsibility to find the best candidate possible, not merely the best candidate from those that presented themselves for the position. Therefore, the candidates should have been prepared to deal with the embarrassment of knowing that the management committee, while considering the positions of the three applicants, would also be out there looking to find a better person. Equally, the candidates should have been cognisant that the management selection committee was also fully entitled to highlight perceived weaknesses in their plan and to suggest remedies. Managing the Offaly county footballers is a tough job, and one that is likely to meet with several setbacks and complications over the course of the year. That these candidates chose to deal with their first setback by simply pulling out of the process is hardly a good sign that they would have been capable of dealing with other issues as they arose throughout the year. Of course, none of this is meant to exonerate the county board, who have to shoulder a share of the blame here too. If the interview process was always supposed to take this long, then that should have been laid out from the start so that nobody could have any complaints. Crucially, while they are fully entitled to take as much time as is necessary to find the right person - and are to be commended for not being forced into taking a decision for the sake of getting things wrapped up - it is inexcusable that nobody has taken charge of footballing affairs in the interim, to ensure that the incoming management can hit the ground running. It is one thing not to know who the 2012 Offaly manager is in late October - it is quite another for the Offaly footballers to be standing by with no guidance as to how to begin their preparation for the summer. One of the advantages of being a small county is that if ten football supporters were asked to name the best fifty players in the county, at least forty names would probably appear on the vast majority of the lists. It is a small playing pool, and identifying those who are likely to form the bulk of any incoming manager's panel is not a difficult undertaking. If a private company required a managing director or CEO, and found that the process of getting the right man was taking longer than expected, then it would need to do what it takes to fill the position correctly. However, it is equally important not to leave the ship's rudder unmanned in the meantime. Niall McNamee's public show of frustration emanated from watching the footballers of Kildare, Donegal and elsewhere, who already have a head start on Offaly, getting their 2012 preparations underway while here even more ground is lost. A full-time manager would not be required in order for the Offaly county board to install an interim management team, charged with getting the physical and conditioning training underway for next year and giving every footballer who wanted to be considered every chance to train with that in mind, and to ensure that the county kept pace with best practice elsewhere. A simple physical assessment of each player and a training plan would allow the incoming manager a great opportunity to see what players were willing to do without supervision, and thus get an early insight into those with the best mental attitude for inter-county football. Finally, rather than voicing their frustrations in the media or among themselves, this was also a great opportunity for players to show real leadership and to organise some sort of collective training, with an open invitation for players willing to put themselves up for selection next year to join in. Right now we have voices from all sides criticising the other parties in the process, but while every side of this debacle has earned criticism, perhaps the biggest disappointment is that no-one has stood up and done anything worthy of praise. In such an environment, the job of work ahead of the next manager, whoever they may be, is clearly a substantial one.