Have to do better
Gaels in Longford, while his St Attracta’s Community School team won an All-Ireland ‘B’ title in 2006.
After managing Sligo’s Minors and U-21s, Brennan’s name has been linked with the Sligo Senior men’s team vacancy over the years, but he was overlooked on a couple of occasions.
With Nicola leading an unsteady Sligo ship in 2020, her father knew it was time to step up, but he remains uncertain whether their father-daughter relationship will transfer into a manager-captain partnership. “We’ll see what the year brings, but we have no captain picked yet and there won’t be for a good while.”
“Nicola was captain last year, but I wouldn’t think she’d hardly be jumping up and down with excitement with the way things panned out.”
“To be fair to Nicola, last year she got the thin end of the wedge, in terms of Covid19 interrupting things and the panel. She worked hard last year in fairness.”
“She is a very good player, but then there are an awful lot of good players in Sligo, who, if they are honest with themselves, wouldn’t have fulfilled their potential in the last number of years.”
“That’s a personal thing as well as a team thing. That’s what you’d hope to see improving.”
Brennan was due to take charge of his first training session this week, but his patience will be tested in the coming weeks as Zoom communications will have to suffice.
When the Lidl National Football League starts, Sligo will hope to get off to a good start in their abridged Division Three competition, while the new boss wants his side to play without the worries of failure.
“You’d imagine we should be competitive at Division Three level but only time will tell that. The hope is we are capable of holding our own.” “With the league split on a geographical basis, you’d expect we’ll be matched up with Roscommon, Longford and Fermanagh, so all of those games will be competitive.
“The standard was very high in 2020. I have been involved in the men’s game for a very long time, but I think the game of Ladies Football is a better product that the men’s game in a lot of ways.
He continued: “I’m not just saying that because I’m involved in it now. I know from a coaching perspective that I detest the negative side of things.” “Obviously you have to defend hard but the negative type of Gaelic football that’s been played by a lot of the teams that are winning nothing is very disappointing.”
“Ladies Football is more open, it’s a very good product. In fairness the fitness levels of both Dublin and Cork in the All-Ireland Senior final was excellent.
“Then look at Meath who won the Intermediate and Fermanagh in the Junior, they both set very high standards.”
“Overall I’d hope that we would be competitive in the league and championship. That’s what I hope for.” “That’s a long way off, but in a few months’ time when we get playing, we’ll know a lot more,” Brennan added.