'Every Offaly person should be delighted': John Maughan can't wait to work with Tomás Ó Sé

Offaly manager John Maughan: 'I am personally thrilled. My phone was pinging this morning'. Picture: Brian Reilly-Troy

Manager John Maughan has said the addition to his backroom team of Tomás Ó Sé is “a super vote of confidence in Offaly football”.

Maughan was today confirmed for a fourth year at the helm in the Faithful County, with five-time All-Ireland winner Ó Sé to join him on the sideline next season.

The Offaly boss said his phone has been hopping all day with giddy footballers expressing their delight at the acquisition of the former Kerry defender.

“A guy like him coming into Offaly and the fact that he wants to get involved and is excited about getting involved is a super vote of confidence in Offaly football,” Maughan told the Irish Examiner.

“I am personally thrilled. My phone was pinging this morning, a lot of the messages were from the current senior group. They are absolutely thrilled to have on board someone of his experience, someone of his guile, someone of his know-how, and someone of his knowledge. I saw him on the sideline myself a couple of years ago with Billy Morgan, he has experience of coaching and he will certainly supplement our management.

“We are all delighted, every Offaly person should be, because to get someone of his credibility involved in Offaly, considering a couple of years ago things were quite a mess here, for a combination of reasons there were lots of things going awry, it is a good news story.”

Echoing the sentiments of Offaly chairman Michael Duignan, Maughan agreed that the county’s success in securing the services of the five-time All-Star is a sign of the positive and progressive direction in which Offaly GAA is headed.

“It is a huge vote of confidence in Offaly and where it's going. We will get a bounce from this. Now, it doesn't guarantee you any success or anything like that, we know that, but certainly the guys will listen.

“I have text messages from a couple of them already and they are just terrifically excited with the notion that somebody of his expertise and experience would put his hand up and say, ‘yes, I'll get involved with Offaly’.”

Maughan wasn’t overly interested in putting a title on Ó Sé’s role, stressing instead that the RTÉ Sunday Game analyst will be involved in all aspects of management.

“Everybody in my management team has a say when it comes to selecting the team and everybody gets involved when it comes to coaching the team, and that’s the way it’ll be again next year. I invite and demand participation when it comes to decision-making. Tomás will fit in with the style we have and he'll contribute to it.

“Like us all, if he observes something, whether it is a player that can do something a little bit better, he’ll identify that. He’ll assist in the management of the team and he’ll bring his know-how, wisdom, and expertise.

“Everybody that listens to him on the Sunday Game will recognise he can read the game and he can understand the game.”

The pair, along with the remainder of the Offaly management set-up, have a leading role to play in successfully bringing through to senior level the young players who delivered All-Ireland U20 glory last month.

Maughan had three U20s - Rory Egan, Jack Bryant, and Cathal Donoghue - in the senior panel this year, with several more joining for the odd training session here and there, top level exposure that U20 manager Declan Kelly credited as critical to their winning run.

Several U20 winners will be added to the senior set-up during the off-season, with the Faithful manager certain he’ll be handing out inter-county debuts next year.

“You can see there is something exciting about them. We would hope in the near future that some of them will be able to step in, particularly the three boys we had there this year, even some of the others, they'll develop quickly. That is a challenge for us to try and blend them in with what we have.

“What we witnessed in the Leinster final, All-Ireland semi-final, and final, the whole country got excited watching the brand of football they played. That's a culture thing, it is in the DNA, it is in the genepool, it is the style and brand of football that they enjoy playing best. I certainly wouldn't do anything to change that, albeit the modern approach at senior inter-county level is a bit different.”