Harte and Kelly to seek another year over Offaly senior footballers
Future of management will be decided by County Board, players and clubs
MICKEY Harte and Declan Kelly are likely to put their names forward for another year as Offaly senior football joint managers.
A question about their future immediately after a season ending defeat is often at an inopportune time as the people involved haven't had time to digest what has happened and see what way the land in lying. However, asked if he would like to be back in Offaly for a third year, Tyrone man Mickey Harte responded instantly and simply, “Please God”.
Harte and Declan Kelly will be very much a double team and will be going forward as a package. Declan Kelly was the manager on his own for 2024 with Harte, one of football's most successful managers, at his side for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
They saw Offaly's season end with a disappointing 2-26 to 4-15 defeat by Wicklow in the Tailteann Cup semi-final on Saturday in Croke Park. It was a real topsy turvy performance by Offaly, who played some very good football in the first half and looked set to win when they led by 3-11 to 1-9 at half time. Offaly were in complete control but they missed a handful of fairly routine chances at the start of the second half and the game got away from them with the favourites unable to arrest Wicklow's momentum.
It means that a very up and down season ended. The absence of several injured players, including star performers John Furlong and Cathal Flynn, was a big factor in Offaly losing all seven National Football League Division 2 games and being relegated. They carried the hangover from this into the Leinster championship where they suffered an awful defeat against Laois but they turned things around spectacularly in the Tailteann Cup.
Offaly played some excellent football as they beat Clare, Down and Wexford to qualify for the semi-finals and they had high hopes of making the final against Down, who just edged out Fermanagh in Saturday's curtain raiser. They should have been able to win from their half time position but really fell to pieces once Wicklow got on top in the second half, playing some calamitous football all over the field.
Had Offaly reached the final, Harte's and Kelly's position would have been secure and the decision would have been theirs to make. Now, it is not as certain and it remains to be seen what way the County Board will assess the year.
There has been a negative reaction to their management in some forums, with some supporters very critical on social media. However, this won't and absolutely should not have any bearing on what happens – some of the annoyance is fuelled by the absence of some players from the panel. The absence of anyone from Rhode from the panel has not gone down well in that club and has been commented on by others while missing players from other clubs also have some supporters but management have been steadfast in setting out their stall in what they want from county footballers and the conditioning and standards they have to reach.
The decision for next year will be a three way process with the County Board and the committee charged with reviewing the year, team management and players while clubs will also have an influence. They will meet later in the summer once the dust settles on the year and it would possibly take clearly voiced dissatisfaction from the current panel to result in a change.
It remains to be seen what way all of this falls and the football played by Offaly in their first three games of the Tailteann Cup and the first half on Saturday does enhance the prospects of team management being given another year.
Asked about the difference in the first and second halves against Wicklow, Mickey Harte replied:
“I think we were fierce efficient in the first half, that was the big difference. We were winning a lot of break ball, dirty ball and making it pay on the scoreboard and then to get 3-11 at half time, no matter what the rules are, it's a great return. It looked like we were in a very solid position to go on and win this game and I believe at the start of the second half if we had taken the chances that came our way. . . It will always come back to bite you if you are creating chances and not taking them and they weren't very difficult chances. There were three or four very good chances of widening the gap and we didn't do it.
“Then I feel, it showed them there is a door here if you want to come through it and boy did they come through it. We knew, we even talked about it at half time that Antrim had a lead like that (v Wicklow last week) and it was no good to them. These boys came back. There is a fierce spirit in that team and you have to hand it to them. I don't know many other teams in the situation they were in who would have had the heart to drive on, not only to get back but to go ahead again. To claw back a big deficit is an awful challenge and then to go ahead is an even bigger challenge and they did that. “
Declan Kelly talked about how hard it is to stop a team when they get real momentum.
“You are seeing the way the game is gone now and a team gets a run, it is nearly a case of when you get that momentum, what you clock up as regards a score. It can be hard to stop that momentum. If you go back to the early part of the game, I think we started the second half quite well and that was always a bit of a fear, that they could come out and get a good start on you. I suppose we left a bit behind there on that one. It's hard to break that momentum. When teams get a run on you now, it is very hard. Like an eight point lead at half time, probably in the old rules you would see it out. You'd be able to lock it up a bit but when Wicklow got the run, they were getting the scores.
“When we got the goal, you were thinking we are back in it now and they kicked a two pointer straight away and pushed it out again. We probably had done something similar in the first half. When they got a goal, we came straight down the field and got a goal. We got another goal, we got 1-2 in the last few minutes in the first half. The way it is now when you are on top and have that momentum, it is the time to make them pay.”
Mickey Harte did not agree that the defeat undermines the positive Tailteann Cup performances in the first three games.
“I don't think so. I think it has been a good campaign in the broad sense of what we have done. After the defeats we had in the league and losing in the Leinster championship, to go to Clare and get a win, to beat Down in Tullamore and to beat Wexford who are a decent team and have had two promotions, and then this game here. We can't put all the emphasis of this competition on the outcome and result today. It has to be taken in the round, 4 games. How did we do in those four games? I think we did very well.”
Asked how they assess the year, Kelly remarked:
“We review the year at the end, that is what we do every year.”
Harte added:
“We do review everything that happens but you have to compartmentalise these things. There is plenty of reasons why our league results went the way they did. You can see, the lack of belief we had after the league contributed to our loss to Laois and how well we played or didn't play on the day. I think we resurrected a lot of that through this Tailteann Cup campaign. It is progress in that competition. We got beaten in the quarter-final last year by one point and we had a kick in the last minute of the game, either a two pointer to win it or a point to draw it and we missed it. That was against the team that went on to win it. There is a lot of things that happens in sport and if we look over the last four games, I think there is a lot to be happy with.
Kelly said the injuries forced them to blood new players and some of them stepped up to the mark.
“The one thing the league did do is you have to throw a number of guys in who were knocking around the panel the last year. Definitely, a few players have definitely stepped up and found their way. It was a case of having to put them in and maybe last year, you didn't have that option to a point. This year you had to give lads game time which is probably a hard enough environment to do it in. We are in a result business. We had no choice but to go this year and throw guys in. On that basis, you have definitely unearthed and found lads who can play at the level.”