We need direction and leadership from County Board

WHAT looked like a straightforward reappointment of Johnny Magee as the county senior football manager certainly didn’t go according to plan.

The comments made by the Rathnew delegate, Bobby Dignam, at the recent County Board meeting certainly halted any simple reappointment and probably rightly so. I have said it before many times and I will reiterate that there should be an annual detailed review of all county managers from U14 up to senior in both codes in Wicklow.

With the considerable costs involved with all county squads we have to ensure that our limited funds are being used wisely and that we are getting full value for money and efforts. Unfortunately, we as a county in GAA terms, do a lot of things inadequately mainly because of a lack of expertise, leadership, delegation and professionalism.

We accept low standards so therefore shouldn’t be at all surprised when we regularly fail to succeed. If we continue to do things in this manner the likelihood of future success is hard to envisage. We have to take responsibility ourselves to initiate positive change.

Both the senior football and hurling squads, whether we like it or not, are the flagship teams in the county. Their success, or lack of it, certainly dictates our standings and credibility within the overall GAA community.

At the moment our rankings in both codes are at the lower end of the scale and we urgently need to address this. In this regard I agree that trying to push through the reappointment of managers without proper and open dialogue is not in our best interest.

I don’t know Johnny Magee at all. My only knowledge of Johnny is from hearing him being interviewed on the radio and newspaper articles. I am merely looking from the outside in in respect of the workings of the county football panel.

I have to say I do like his honesty and acknowledge the difficult job he has. I have certainly no intention of undermining his role over the last three years since his first involvement with the squad. At the time of his initial appointment I was somewhat surprised by his lack of managerial experience. Would his management team benefit from a greater Wicklow influence/involvement?

I do have concerns about the players currently at his disposal. I acknowledge the number of players who have retired or who just haven’t made themselves available. I appreciate the young age profile of the current squad.

These are important factors in assessing how the county team performed under Magee’s tenure and should have been taken into consideration when adjudicating his reappointment.

The win rate of the county football team over the last two years as outlined recently by Dignam has to be a worry for all. If we were operating in Division 1, 2 or even 3 these results might be tolerated but in Division 4, when competing with the likes of London, Leitrim, Carlow and Waterford and winning only four games over a two year period, has to surely be unacceptable.

The modern game is results based and we have witnessed in other counties many high profile managers being removed from their posts as a consequence of poor results. The fact that no discussion took place at the County Board meeting immediately after the Carlow game shows a lack of interest from all sides.

This disappointing result and its repercussions surely should have been a priority on the agenda for that particular meeting.

With the current games programme at senior intercounty level I can clearly see and fully appreciate why some players see little point in giving the necessary commitment required to play particularly in lower tier counties like Wicklow and those players that do should be respected, commended and encouraged.

I understand that in a county like Wicklow with a relatively small base of quality senior players it can be difficult to get a strong panel together in the knowledge that success is rare. I would like to know the other reasons, if any, why some players chose not to play or retired early. Why are some of our more experienced players disregarded in favour of current U21 players? Why are there not more dual players involved?

I remember when I was part of the county hurling team we often joked that our hurling team would give the county football team a run for their money with the big ball as we had some top hurlers who were also fine footballers and I believe that there are still many dual players out there who could strengthen both squads.

If the County Board wanted a smooth reappointment of Johnny Magee I am surprised that they didn’t put the wheels more securely in place. Despite the lack of perceived interest in county matters it was a tad disrespectful to give the club delegates little time to discuss any reappointments away from their clubs.

If a new appointment had been necessary the whole procedure would have had to be put in place rapidly so any new manager could have had a chance to see all the senior players at his disposal.

But, I have little faith in the interview process carried out by the County Board to date and would have been fearful as to how another one would be conducted.

However, none of that mattered after the 33-18 vote in favour of Johnny Magee managing the Wicklow senior footballers for a third year and I would like to wish Johnny all the best for 2017.

We as a county now, more than ever, need professional leadership and direction from our County Board not just in relation to the appointment of managers but in other important areas such as discipline, schools, squads, fulltime staff, finances and officiating of games.

We are performing very poorly in these areas and our deficiencies are certainly holding us back.

There are serious issues happening in front of our eyes which we as a county are ignoring and someone in authority needs to stand up and take a firm stance.