Jarlath – finance issue intrigue

Offaly manager Tom Coffey

SOMETIMES in the championship, the post match comments by managers can cause as much of a stir as the games themselves.

Forget about the winning manager who will always disappoint, with a dull as ditch-water analysis of how they worked hard, but realise that nothing has been won and that they will definitely be underdogs the next time out. This is pure talking by numbers and gives us nothing in the way of what exactly he is thinking.

It’s usually the losing team boss who can be trusted to issue a few nuggets or insights into the heart and soul of his team. One of the most revealing and honest post match interviews this year was given by Tom Coffey, Offaly’s ‘interim’ manager after his team’s defeat to Kildare in the Leinster championship.

Coffey was appointed at the end of April after the resignation of Gerry Cooney. This followed a poor League season which saw Offaly relegated to Division 4. Cooney had only been in the job four months and had taken over from Tom Cribben who resigned after the 2011 championship.

Three managers in eight months; hardly the perfect climate to build any sort of challenge to the ultra slick, well motivated and on task Kildare outfit, managed by an All Ireland winner with a clear long term plan for success in his adopted county.

The full story is in the current issue of Gaelic Life, published on Thursday July 12. Buy your copy now in your local newsagent, or you can purchase the online version – for only 90p – by clicking here