FRESH MEAT
There are 10 new inter-county managers lined up for 2020, all desperate to avoid being chewed up in the Championship mincer
WHEN this close season’s football managerial merry-go-round finally came to a halt, 10 men were left standing with bright new shiny Bainisteoir bibs.
For some – Rory Gallagher, Seamus McEnaney, David Power and Jack O’Connor – it will just mean a change of uniform as they return to the inter-county scene.
For the rest – Pádraic Joyce, Ryan McMenamin, Davy Burke, Michael Quirke, Paul Galvin and Michael Maher – it will represent a brand new experience.
And for the counties who appointed them, it should represent the most optimistic of times.
There is a general consensus that a new manager’s greatest opportunity to make an impact occurs when his voice, and that of his backroom team, is at its freshest.
Indeed, there is some evidence to back that up. This time last year, 12 counties changed leaders and by the end of the year, at least 50 per cent could claim to have had successful seasons.
Terry Hyland and Jack Cooney led Leitrim and Westmeath respectively to promotions, Anthony Cunningham won a Connacht title with Roscommon, James Horan marked his return to Mayo with an Allianz League title and Mickey Graham took Cavan to an Ulster final for the first time in 18 years.
On top of that, Peter Keane led Kerry to an All-Ireland final for the first time in four years.
All of the above serves to emphasise that there is no better time to strike than right at the beginning.
With that in mind, Sportsmail runs its eye over 10 good men hoping to sway football’s demanding jury.
Pádraic Joyce (Galway)
Wow factor: As big as it gets for an internal appointment given his status as a two-time All-Ireland winner and one of the county’s all-time great forwards. He has also put in the hard yards as county Under 20 manager, while he has put together a strong management team headlined by former teammate John Divilly. An iconic figure with an impressive CV, what could possibly go wrong? Ask Kevin
Walsh.
Biggest challenge: It is impossible not to ignore the ongoing crisis at county board level, which has also raised concerns as to the level of support that will be available to him as manager.
On the football side, he has to give into pressure for the county to revert to a more ambitious attackbased game plan in keeping with the Tribesmen’s tradition, but perhaps the reason his predecessor leant so heavily on defence – and did so with some success – was down to necessity.
Prospects: Winning Connacht – although beating Mayo is a pleasure that will never grow old – is no longer their sole goal. Playing with verve, ambition and a fit Damien Comer, the very least he will expect is that they re-establish themselves as a top-four team.
Rory Gallagher (Derry)
Wow factor: Probably not as big as it should be, given his track record.
That is, in the main, down to a reputation for building teams who can grind their way to success.
That reputation was cemented by his two-year stint with Fermanagh, but had he chosen a more expansive way, it is unlikely that the Erne men would have experienced the rare delights of an Ulster final appearance and a return to Division 2 football. The suspicion is he may be keen to show that he can coach more ways than one. Biggest challenge: Getting promoted out of Division 3, which will have far-reaching consequences for Championship status next season. The Ulster Championship draw has already cut the legs off any chance of reaching a provincial final – they are locked into the same side as Armagh, Donegal and Tyrone – so getting out of the third tier will secure a place in the Sam Maguire.
Prospects: Securing promotion has been made a lot more problematic by Cork’s presence, meaning they will fight it out with Down and Tipperary for a return to Division 2. He will relish those odds.
Ryan McMenamin (Fermanagh)
Wow factor: He was Rory Gallagher’s assistant for the past two seasons, so his appointment will have made few waves with supporters, but it will go down very well in the dressing room where his popularity with the players paved the way for him to make the step up.
Biggest challenge: While Fermanagh’s defensive game plan has been successful, it comes with a rigidly enforced glass ceiling, which means that they will only get so far until coming up against the top teams.
McMenamin has got to find a way to tweak that system to ensure that his players don’t start losing belief, while also ensuring that any changes do not lead to a slump in results. It won’t be easy.
Prospects: History tells us that when an assistant steps up, it can be a daunting challenge – check out Jason Ryan (Kildare) and Gallagher (Donegal).
McMenamin will have to keep his message fresh enough to ensure that Fermanagh don’t drop through the Division 2 relegation trapdoor, which is what may just happen.
Seamus McEnaney (Monaghan)
Wow factor: Limited. It is always difficult going back, but even harder when you don’t have a deposit of silverware to fall back on from your first coming.
In a way that is harsh because , during his first stint, he put the pride back into the county by reaching two Ulster finals and gaining the Farney men a reputation as a team that were no pushovers.
Biggest challenge: He has more than one major test, but perhaps the biggest is ensuring that his team develops a broader leadership base.
And it is not just the overdependency on Conor McManus; others such as Vinny Corey, Drew Wylie and Darren Hughes – the latter’s absence this summer seemed to completely unsettle them – have been carrying too heavy a load for too long.
Prospects: The Ulster draw, provided Cavan can be negotiated, would suggest he can reach a third Ulster final, but to go beyond that he will need luck on his side.
David Power (Tipperary)
Wow factor: At a different time, such as straight after leading Tipperary to a first All-Ireland minor title, it would have certainly been there.
Not now – two underwhelming seasons in charge of Wexford took care of that – but he is a lot better prepared for having that experience and for the groundwork he has put in with the county’s U20s.
Securing the services of former Dublin full-back Paddy Christie will not hurt either.
Biggest Challenge: The real fear is that their moment has passed and he has to stop a decline in form that has been three years in the making since they reached the 2016 All-Ireland semi-final.
They have lost big players along the way, but perhaps none as significant as Michael Quinlivan who has opted out for next season.
Those absences are compounded by underage results which would suggest that there is no great crop of talent about to emerge.
Prospects: He has two shots at making into the All-Ireland series – promotion from Division 3 or by somehow finding a way into the Munster final.
For once the latter looks the easier, and if they can find a way past Clare, he is likely to be satisfied with his season’s work.
HE IS THE PERFECT FIT FOR A COUNTY WHO NEED DIRECTION MORE THAN THEY NEED CELEBRITY
Jack O’Connor (Kildare)
Wow Factor: Wow indeed. Kildare have warm memories of what a multiple All-Ireland winning manager from south Kerry can deliver.
O’Connor will hardly take them as far as Mick O’Dywer – Dublin’s monopoly in Leinster should see to that alone – but he has a deserved reputation for possessing a shrewd football brain and his presence alone is going to generate expectation.
More importantly, it is also likely to generate the kind of enthusiasm that will see him have a full pack, including the ace that is Daniel Flynn, from which to pick.
Biggest challenge: Even though he won back-to-back All-Ireland minor titles in 2014 and ’15, 10 years have passed since he won the last of his three Sam Maguires, and seven since he last managed at this level.
That will bring a pressure he has not felt since 2004 as he seeks to prove himself all over again.
Prospects: Very good. Promotion from Division 2 should hardly be an over-reach – Roscommon and Armagh their likely rivals – but top-tier football is nothing new to Kildare so that will hardly be good enough on its own. The Leinster
Championship, for obvious reasons is off limits, but O’Connor will believe that he has the quality to see Kildare reach the Super 8 and also be competitive when they get there.
Davy Burke (Wicklow)
Wow factor: Burke has something far more important, he has got momentum. Already an All-Ireland U20 winning manager with Kildare, he has followed up by leading Sarsfields to a county title.
Young – he is just 31 – bright and ambitious, he is the perfect fit for a county who need direction more than celebrity.
Biggest Challenge:
Burke’s predecessor John Evans repeatedly made the point that, with no prospect of success in the summer, many players simply could not see the point of handing over a chunk of their lives in the pursuit of a futile cause.
In that sense, this will be as much about the tier two championship appeal as Burke’s management.
Prospects: They are more than capable of getting promotion out of Division 4 and if they manage that he can rest easy in the knowledge his job is done.
Mike Quirke (Laois)
Wow factor: Apart from the fact that he is an All-Ireland winning Kerry footballer – and even then he was on the fringes in the Kingdom – there is none.
But then his predecessor and fellow county man John Sugrue was an even more low-key Kerry appointee and back-to-back promotions confirmed that was not an issue.
He has a reputation for being a master of detail with a sharp mind, which is already evidenced in signing up former Limerick manager Maurice Horan to his management team.
Biggest Challenge: This summer’s hammering by Cork was a stark reminder that they are a long way off being an elite force, which will make it all the harder to instil confidence in the side – and it will not be helped by departure of Stephen Attride to Australia – that they can push to another level. Prospects: The key to his season will come in the first couple of months as he needs to cement their place in the All-Ireland series by staying in Division 2. The likelihood is that those teams under new leadership will have an edge in any fight against the drop, which bodes well for Quirke and Laois.
Paul Galvin (Wexford) Wow factor: One of the modern game’s most iconic stars, there is no disputing his wow factor but, equally there is no way of covering up his lack of management experience at any level.
But Galvin has surrounded himself with high-profile people rooted in the Wexford game, not least in signing up Mattie Forde and Shane Roche to be part of his backroom team.
Biggest Challenge: The demise of Wexford over the last couple of seasons has been in part down to a number of players not committing, but it’s easy to envisage that they will be lured back to the inter-county scene by the prospect of working under someone of Galvin’s stature in the game. Prospects: A county who little over a decade ago reached an All-Ireland semi-final finished 30th in this season’s National League.
The good news for Galvin is that the only way is up, particularly if he can plug a leaky defence.
Michael Maher (London)
Wow factor: Gaelic football does not do wow in this city, but Maher’s appointment is significant in that he become their first London-born manager.
It is timely, too, given the increasing numbers of homegrown players in the county panel, while he also offers continuity having worked under Ciarán Deely.
Biggest challenge: Even allowing for the increased number of home-grown players, London teams are in a constant and, often, chronic state of transition. It means that every year they start off with almost half a new team, which makes a tough game a lot tougher. Prospects: The bar will be set at being competitive during the spring, but if they get a home draw, they could raise an eyebrow in the tier two championship where their attitude will not be found wanting.