Laois boss Dempsey confident off-field problems are thing of the past

LAOIS manager Sean Dempsey is adamant the off-field problems which contributed to the county’s footballers’ disastrous summer campaign in 2009 are a thing of the past.

Player indiscipline has been an all-too-common theme in the county down the years and Dempsey expressed his displeasure last year with players who chose to go drinking following a number of defeats.

“I sense it’s over,” he said ahead of Sunday’s championship opener against Meath. “I think we are done and dusted with all the bad things. Laois down the years, if there was a mishap off the field we got an awful lot of press about it. Maybe sometimes we deserved it but it wasn’t other times. This year they have been absolutely brilliant. They couldn’t have done any better for us. We can’t say we will definitely win but we have a great chance.”

Not all the players on the panel were deemed to be guilty of unsatisfactory behaviour at the time but the issue was deemed serious enough for a code of conduct to be drawn up. It was seen as a new departure on the GAA scene at the time but Dempsey claims it hasn’t been forced down anyone’s throats.

“The charter wasn’t a legal document. We sat down and decided on what we would and wouldn’t find acceptable in terms of inside the squad and outside the squad and we sat down with the players in individual or small groups to see if they had any issues around it. They didn’t, to be fair to them. They all felt we were going on the right road. That just explained it in a more formal way and the charter hasn’t been mentioned since early in the year.”

All in all, it was a painful first year over the seniors for a man who had enjoyed such unparalleled success at various underage grades with many of the same players currently under his wing but he never once contemplated quitting.

In any case, he believes expectations were somewhat unrealistic during 2009.

“People were trying to fast-track them. Like, we played one league match this year and the average age was 23 years and ten months. That is a very young senior team to have so we are continuing with that. We are keeping the young lads involved and trying to bring them through. They did get a lot of stick last year and it affected them. They are starting to come out of their shells and play football.”

Things are looking up for the county right now, both on and off the field of play.

A new ‘Club Laois’ project was launched in the last week aimed at contributing towards the costs of running representative sides and continuing the excellent work being done on coaching and development.

On the field, the footballers face, in Meath, a side brimming with confidence after an ultimately comfortable victory over Offaly but Dempsey believes Eamon O’Brien’s side will have gained no significant advantage from having dipped their toes in the championship waters.

“It can stand to them but it can give you problems as well. If they had a few problems or if a few players had a bad game, your confidence could be a bit down. It won’t make an awful difference. It has been a very competitive game down the years and we have played two league games against them the last two years and they were very close-fought games.”