Verdict very much in the balance

GAELIC GAMES: Seán Moran talks to the Birr hurling legend about Offaly's past, present and whether he'll be part of its future

Brian  Whelehan has deferred to the New Year any firm decisions on his inter-county future.

There had been speculation in recent days that the imminent appointment of Michael McNamara as Offaly manager - and the legendary toughness of the former Clare and Galway trainer's preparatory regimes - would persuade Whelahan to call it a day at the top level.

Currently engaged with Birr's defence of the Leinster and All-Ireland titles, Whelahan denies that he has reached any such decision.

"I haven't been speaking to anyone about it. I'll see how far Birr go. If we reach the All-Ireland stages that's a reasonable amount of fitness to carry you forward.

"But I mightn't be in the new trainer's plans. I've no plans myself and won't be making any until the New Year."

He rejects the insinuation that he is trying to broker a deal by proxy with the incoming manager. A decade's full-on hurling that articulated his claims to be the player of the 1990s has taken its toll.

"I never had a problem with training hard. I just don't know how I'd react at this stage. Mike Mac has been known to take the physical approach, but Offaly need a bit of that now.

"The young lads need a sense of what has to be done to get back to the races. He could be the man to do that. I'd never pre-judge a manager.

"But I don't know if I have it to offer. There's no point going back if I haven't got that commitment. Mike Mac's not going to want someone there to make up numbers. Maybe I'll feel different in one month's time and I'll give it one more go.

"Not too many play on once they're 30 at this stage. DJ came back this year and trained for just six weeks."

This ambiguity about the future contrasts with less than nine months ago. After his club won the All-Ireland last March in Thurles Whelahan had been notably upbeat about the emerging Birr players and the prospects for Offaly in last summer's championship.

"Well I felt coming off the Birr win that our fitness would be reasonable going back with Offaly. There were also good hurlers in other clubs coming to the fore.

"I was looking forward to the year ahead and blooding young lads. I felt we could cause an upset - not that we were going to win an All-Ireland. But things went badly and the same old failings came back to haunt us.

"There were a lot of players at college and exams obviously take precedence. Then against Kilkenny we only did it for 25 or 30 minutes before the confidence ebbed away.

"To make it worse, Kilkenny were a long way from their best and still won comfortably. They had DJ to come back, were able to bring on Charlie Carter and Brian McEvoy, and Andy Comerford was a long way from his best. We were still beaten by nine points."

The immensely talented team that won two All-Irelands in the 1990s has gradually disintegrated, leaving few enough players of experience around whom a new generation can be shaped. Whelahan intones the ranks of the fallen.

"A year further on we have a lot more blooded, but any remnants of the old team are gone. I mean there's me, Johnny Dooley - I don't know what he'll decide but it doesn't look good for Johnny because of the seriousness of his knee injury. I think Hubert Rigney's all but made his decision and Joe Errity's like me - he'll decide in the New Year."

Offaly are about to appoint a seventh manager in eight seasons. For all the perceptions of the players as being "difficult to manage", only Babs Keating could be said to have lost his position with the blessing of the team.

A gifted team firing on all cylinders had a chance of surviving this staccato routine. In times of reconstruction, continuity becomes more important.

"That's something only the county board can answer," says Whelahan. "That's always been the structure in the county that a new manager got the job for a year. At the end of that they'd either ratify you - or dismiss you.

"Whoever was over the team it was always hurling for Offaly and the team themselves and the supporters.

"I'm sure it can be disruptive. You don't do well in the league and you're out in the first round of the championship. Then the new guy who came in with whatever ground plans he had is gone - and his plans are gone with him."

The managerial merry-go-round is said to be coming to an end with the upcoming appointment likely to be at least medium-term. But it all has a personal resonance for Whelahan and his brothers and fellow panellists Simon and Barry.

Their father Pad Joe has guided Birr to two All-Irelands. Yet, apart from one year at the end of the 1980s, the last time Offaly were in such deep-veined transition, the county board has resolutely looked elsewhere for its county appointments.

Whelahan wonders whether the presence of three sons on the panel militates against his father, but, whatever the reason, he is plainly disappointed at the frustration of Pad Joe's career.

"He had one year in 1989 and probably got a bit of flak because the seniors lost to Antrim and the under-21s to Tipperary in the final. No one remembers that we won Leinster titles at senior, under-21 and minor that year.

"That was never done before or since. He was manager of the seniors and under-21s and a selector on the minors (who did win the All-Ireland with Brian as captain).

"The next thing was that maybe because of the success at underage the county board decided that they weren't giving the job for two or three years.

"Pad Joe wanted to put a structure in place, but it didn't happen. Then Padraig Horan got two years and Eamonn Cregan got two years, won an All-Ireland and got another two years."

This was probably the last chance and although he was interviewed, Pad Joe appears to have been passed over once more.

"My father was overlooked several times and that's the county board's decision to make. He's gone on to prove himself with club sides up and down the country.

"He was interested in the Offaly job this year because he felt that any old bitternesses would be left behind with a new bunch of players.

"When he was interviewed the board made it clear that they were looking at an appointment of more than a year. Anyway Mike McNamara seems to have it now and fair play to him.

"I think he (Pad Joe) would have liked to have a crack at a county before he finishes, but he's happy with what he's achieved at club level and wishes the very best of luck to Mike Mac."