THE KILDARE CONUNDRUM
Lilywhites should be a lot better than they are but there needs to be a will to find the way, says Mac Lochlainn
ANDRIÚ MAC LOCHLAINN has no simple answer to solve the riddle of the Kildare senior football team. How a county with such a passion for the game, a proven conveyor belt of underage talent, a burgeoning population base, a track record of schools and club championship success – so many important building blocks – is once again under the cosh.
Lose a third Allianz League game on the bounce and Glenn Ryan’s side are behind the eight ball in Division 2, faced not just with the potential prospect of relegation but missing out on the Sam Maguire Cup by virtue of their spring standing and ending up in the second tier Tailteann Cup.
That former manager Kieran McGeeney is coming to town – or at least to Dr Cullen Park in Carlow with St Conleth’s Park under redevelopment – underscores the state of flux in Kildare.
Mac Lochlainn believes he played his best football under McGeeney on a Kildare team that mirrored, in ways, the current Armagh side in being part of the All-Ireland conversation – they reached the All-Ireland quarterfinal stage five years in a row and the semi-final in 2010. That was before McGeeney lost county board support and was narrowly voted out, despite the support of the players, and returned to his native county.
‘I’d say most people would look fondly on Kieran returning because he is very well regarded in the county,’ says Mac Loochlainn. ‘Most people were disgusted – me personally as well – in how his departure was handled. It was unbecoming of the level of work and passion and effort he gave. And how the players held him in such high regard.
‘He set up structures in a professional capacity with a second team, not just a junior team. That’s now needed more than ever. We had that under Kieran and it fell away. It’s back, but there was time lost. To me that was a misstep. Because there was no strategic plan from the top. We didn’t build on that. That was a fault. There’s no-one to blame but ourselves.’
In truth, he’s not interested in the blame game. He sees so many positives in Kildare football as a whole but just thinks a bigger picture view is needed.
‘Look at the club success – Naas and what they are doing. Look at Johnny Doyle and Allenwood who went on and won the intermediate championship in Leinster, Miltown who won the Leinster junior.
‘There’s huge amounts of things that we’re pointing to that are going well so why isn’t it translating into senior success? It’s very easy just to point a finger at Glenn (Ryan) and the crew now. There is no magic wand. Anyone who says there is is just bluffing.
‘From a business point of view I’d be taking a step back and saying what do we need to change here, short and long term? Put together a very in-depth plan and analysis.’
Because that’s the nature of his day job. A director of Murray & Spelman Financial Services, he is now head of office at Fairstone Ireland after the strategic partnership that was only announced this week. Former Ireland rugby international Devin Toner is a head of partnerships and Mac Lochlainn says there are obvious lessons for Kildare in how rugby has reorganised in the professional era.
The GAA doesn’t exist in a bubble. It’s such a competitive media environment – just look at how the rugby team just took over in terms of coverage last weekend.
‘They do that brilliantly. One of my clients is on the board of the IRFU. She’s ex-Kerry Group, strategic planner, digital marketing, she’s excellent.
‘I know people who will go out and watch the game, buy the gear, who couldn’t tell you one rule from the other but they’re behind the team. Because of the way rugby have had a strategic plan to make people feel welcome and involved and want to get behind the team.’
That’s why he raises really interesting points about Kildare GAA in terms of a sense of identity. He questions why the senior team is playing outside of the county when he sees the brand could be strengthened better by playing home League games at Kildare venues. He also questions whether the playing style in recent years is really suited to the squad’s traditional strengths.
Looking short term, he knows how high the stakes are this afternoon. Especially after county board chairman Mick Gorman heaped further pressure on management with his ‘not good enough’ public verdict.
‘Over the years, in the campaigns I was involved in, if you lose the first two games you’re under serious pressure. There’s no denying that, there’s no getting away from it. Then when your chairman’s comments enter the public domain, that doesn’t help the matter. So it’s a difficult position and I’d imagine it’s a difficult dressing room at the moment for the players and management to deal with.
‘In my campaigns, we used to view the League as a very important tool for Championship because you wanted to be involved in promotion or reach semi-finals or finals so you have a bounce into Championship rather than have a long break before a training camp. Now there is added pressure because it really affects what championship you are going to be playing in. That doesn’t help matters.
‘From a player point of view you always have to be inward looking first. The management team I played with, a lot of them, they’re obviously going to be self-analysing to see what they can be doing differently. As should the players. But that brings you on to the point, therefore, so should the county board. So if he was going to make a remark like that it should have been inclusive of the county board’s hand that they play in this. That they’re not just pointing fingers. That they look at themselves in this.’
Which brings us back again to just what is holding Kildare back. Especially given the All-Star management ticket that includes Johnny Doyle, Anthony Rainbow and Brian Lacey as selectors, Ronan Sweeney as forwards coach and new lead coach Colm Nally who comes highly regarded. But Kildare lost 0-16 to 0-12 to Cavan at Dr Cullen Park and then lost 2-10 to 0-12 to Fermanagh – again only scoring 12 points, no goals. Since beating Dublin in Newbridge two years ago in a Division 1 encounter which felt like a break
through moment, Kildare have failed to score a goal in 11 of their last 12 League games.
‘It’s difficult to put your finger on but this isn’t a new occurrence,’ says Mac Lochlainn. ‘It hasn’t happened for a number of managers who are equally as experienced and talented as the guys. Ultimately I would feel that there should be a root-and-branch assessment. How can we have such success at underage level – they won the AllIreland in 2018 and 2023, Flanno’s team [Brian Flanagan] also got to the final in 2022, beaten by a top Tyrone team.
‘Naas are competing in Division A schools (winning five of the last six Leinster titles).
‘We’ve always had a transfer. With rugby, even in Newbridge, my own clubmate Johne Murphy is a Senior Cup manager there – they’ve had success. There’s a lot of plusses.
‘We’re probably the eighth or ninth biggest population in Ireland so a huge amount going for us. So why hasn’t that translated to senior success? That is something that has to be assessed.
‘Wasn’t it Pat Gilroy, as far as I’m aware, came down after his appearance on The
Sunday Game and did a profile on the structures – that as far as I’m concerned hasn’t seen the light of day.
‘You have to start looking in the mirror for our own flaws. What has happened that we haven’t got the success? How do we go about addressing that? There’s obviously been attempts.
‘I know Johnny Doyle has been heavily involved in the coaching, Tadhg Fennin, Noel Mooney. There is great stuff underage there with the schools.
‘With the county board, these are volunteers looking to put their hand up to do unpaid work in a lot of cases. But if we want success and you look at the counties who have been consistent in that respect – Kerry, Dublin, Mayo, Galway, Limerick – they have corporate structures in place. You have a CEO that is not a chairman. A commercial manager who is not just a person who is a fundraiser with the supporters club. You have people with a skill set that is completely transferable to a professional environment.
‘In my personal view, for us to get the most out of the talent that we have in Kildare and all our other resources, that is what has to happen. With the best will in the world from the people involved, when it is managed on a voluntary basis I don’t believe that we will see the success that we could see if that was the case.’
That’s why he feels there is little to be gained by scapegoating the manager.
‘So it’s not all on Glenn. There have been other management teams there, look at Jack O’Connor. He has gone on and won an All-Ireland with Kerry. It’s naive to say this is all Glenn’s fault. Let no one look in the corners here because that suits us grand. Either we want success as a county or we don’t. ‘I’ll come back to that old adage, if you’ve done what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. That is a fact from a business point of view. There are amazing individuals in Kildare from a business point of view that have the skill set here. That can step up. But that takes a will. Maybe that doesn’t fit with who wants to be next chair or secretary. ‘Unfortunately I don’t think anything will change in terms of our success until that happens.’