GILROY’S TOO GOOD NEVER TO RETURN
Whelan’s high praise for ‘shattered’ Pat after hurling job
MICKEY WHELAN has backed Pat Gilroy to return to senior inter-county management despite quitting the Dublin hurlers.
Gilroy surprisingly stepped down from the role after just a season in charge in September, something which Whelan said left him “shattered.”
Whelan, himself a former Dublin senior football manager, was Gilroy’s right-hand man when the Sam Maguire returned to the capital after 16 years in 2011 and assumed a similar role with the hurlers.
“He did everything in his power,” said Whelan of Gilroy’s attempts to continue in the job. “And the players and management, everyone tried to make it that the thing could continue.
“But it just wasn’t possible. He’s creating a lot of employment for people in South Africa. And there is a lot of other things now beyond hurling and football.
“So apart from business, it’s the environment he’s creating and the employment he’s creating for people.
“He’s shattered. He was hoping that it could be done without him but it can’t. So he had to do it. And he’s really upset about it.
“But he did a great job when he was in.”
Although Dublin didn’t achieve anything of note under Gilroy, there was a noticeable improvement in performance levels after regression in previous seasons and a solid foundation has been left for his successor Mattie Kenny to build on.
“I thought we put together a nice setup and got it off the ground,” said Whelan. “And we changed it a little bit.
“We changed the mental profile. And that’s important. You have to be prepared to hurt to get anywhere, to make the steps you need.”
They were particularly unfortunate to lose their opening two Championship games to Kilkenny and Wexford, while injuries to some key players certainly didn’t help their cause.
“Oh yeah, but you take that, you’ll take that,” Whelan insisted. “Once you look underneath that and know that we did a good job.
“The players, the older guys, Rushe and Keaney and Sutcliffe, they were key to it too. I’m assuming they’ll be back, they’re great players.
“There was a lot of work to be done and Pat put a lot of time in. The management team put a lot of time in, Anthony Cunningham was travelling up and down so, look, you’ve enough about that but it was good, I enjoyed it immensely.
“I was a bit sad though that we were stopping because I figured we could have gone to the next level.”
Albeit his work commitments proved too much for him to continue at present, Whelan can see his fellow St Vincent’s man getting involved at the highest level again in the future.
“Absolutely, absolutely, yeah. Sure, I’ve one foot in the grave here and I’m involved, why wouldn’t he get involved again?
“He’s a young man, a very young man. He’ll be back involved, yeah.
“He won’t go chasing it [the Dublin hurling job], do you know what I mean?
“But there will be a time they’ll be looking for somebody to do stuff and if he’s available he’d probably take it, he likes a challenge.”