New Offaly football manager Pat Flanagan has questioned the purpose of the GAA's winter training ban and whether or not it affords the so-called weaker counties any advantage in closing the gap on the leading teams in Ireland.
Flanagan’s concern is understandable. His Offaly team are one of eight football counties (and two more in hurling) allowed to resumed collective training this Saturday, while the so-called stronger counties are held back over the coming weeks, on a staggered basis, until the end of December, when the All-Ireland finalists get to resume their training.
Flanagan is also one of 15 football managers starting into a new campaign in 2015, although he is coming off a year as Sligo manager, and before that, four seasons as Westmeath manager. By returning to his native Offaly he is also one of the few men to have managed three different counties, although he knows the scale of the task now lies ahead.
Own ideas
“I certainly feel Offaly football is down in a place where it shouldn’t be,” says Clara native Flanagan.
"I have my own ideas of how to address that, but it is going to be a huge challenge. The reality is the expectation in Offaly is weak . . It's been a good few years since they even won a Leinster championship match.
“But I also believe the history is still there, and a lot of it. And hopefully Offaly football can be brought back up to where it was, and should be. And the chance to manage my own county is a huge honour. But again it comes with a huge challenge.”
Indeed Offaly failed to win any senior intercounty matches this season, losing seven and drawing one of their league games (and with that relegated to Division Four), before losing to Longford (in Leinster) then Wicklow (in the qualifiers).
It won't get any easier for 2015, even if they are promoted again to Division Three, as they were drawn against Longford again in the Leinster championship and, if they win that, they face Dublin at Croke Park.
Offaly have also drawn Dublin in their O’Byrne Cup group, in January, and while Flanagan intends on making every training session count between now and then (starting this weekend), he doesn’t expect Dublin to be any way disadvantaged, come January, despite their not being allowed to resume training until December 8th.
Took over
“For us, there is certainly a lot of work to be done, even over the next four or five weeks,” says Flanagan, who took over the Offaly position from Emmet McDonnell. “So the plan is to meet up Saturday, get to know some of the players, and start back into it. I certainly think it’s a good thing, for the likes of us, to be allowed back training, as it gives us an opportunity to plan ahead, get the strength and conditioning programmes underway, all ahead of the O’Byrne Cup. Especially as we have Dublin in our group.
“But I also think the training ban was and still is a bit questionable. If you take the stronger counties, the likes of Dublin, Kerry, or Donegal, they would never be doing much this time of year anyway. Their season runs much later, and in most cases would still be involved in the club championship, too.
“So I do think more has to be done to help close that gap. I don’t think stopping those teams from training until later in the year makes any difference whatsoever. Although for us, really, it is about peaking at the start of May, for the championship.”
Meanwhile Stephen Cluxton is set to resume the Dublin football captaincy for 2015, having been included in manager Jim Gavin's team to face an Ulster selection at Ravenhill on Saturday evening (6.0), a challenge match to raise funds and awareness of motor neuron disease.
Dublin have received special dispensation to resume “collective” duty this Saturday, even though officially they shouldn’t be allowed back in collective duty until December 8th. Croke Park has agreed to allow them line out against Irish News Ulster All Stars in what is a special fund-raiser for former Antrim senior football captain Anto Finnegan, who is now suffering from motor neuron disease.
