Magee’s role discussed Chairman offers thanks
JOHNNY MAGEE’S resignation from his role as Wicklow Senior football manager came up for discussion at the recent Wicklow GAA County Board meeting in Ballinakill with a mixed bag of reaction forthcoming from the delegates.
County Chairman Martin Coleman began the discussion by thanking Johnny Magee for his efforts over his three-year spell in charge of the Senior footballers and the Baltinglass man said that the former Dublin footballer had no luck.
Magee’s tenure coincided with a disastrous run of results that left the Garden county second only to London at the bottom of Division 4 for two of those three years.
“I think he has left in place a young Senior squad with some experience for somebody else to take on the mantle. In that respect, we will be sending out an email to the clubs to see if they have anybody who intends on applying for the position and we will be putting a committee in place at the next management meeting to facilitate that.
Donard-The Glen’s Peter Case asked if the committee to select the new manager should not be put in place at the meeting by the club delegates.
“No,” replied Martin Coleman. “Why not?” asked Peter Case. “It will be discussed at management first,” said the Chairman.
“It’ll just be ratified at the next County Board meeting? Inquired Peter Case.
Martin Coleman confirmed this and he said that there were a number of factors that needed to be discussed by management such as finances and backroom team.
“I would ask that you allow management to set up that (committee) and bring it back to ye,” he said.
Avondale’s Victor O’Shaughnessy wished to concur with Martin Coleman’s expression of gratitude towards Johnny Magee.
“They hadn’t a lot of success but they worked very hard at the same time. I’d like to thank them for all that, Mr. Chairman. I think they deserve that,” he said.
AGB’s John Murphy asked if he was right in saying that there were players rang the week before the Leinster Junior championship to join the Junior panel.
Martin Coleman said this wasn’t the case.
“I mentioned that at a County Board meeting here, John, that if we didn’t get the support of the clubs for the county team then the Junior team would have to pull out and some players were used in the senor championship. An email went out after that looking for names of players and, in fairness, 27 players turned up on the night and I want to thank them for that,” said Martin Coleman.
“Just on that,” said the AGB delegate, “We’re involved in the semi-final of a Junior competition and we’re getting a panel together a week before. Is that day not gone? Should we not be organising this months in advance?” He asked.
“Well, John, if you can get a Junior panel together for training for any period you’re a good man because clubs won’t release players,” said Coleman.
Seamus Doyle from Avondale said that if the Senior management team were doing their job properly they would have had a panel in mind for that competition.
“If they were doing their job and looking at players in every league and championship match in the county, surely to God, a week before a Leinster semi-final they aren’t going around scraping up players. That’s how it came across on social media, anyone who had a pair of boots, if they were available to go ahead to Drogheda on the Wednesday night, go ahead,” he said.
Bobby Dignam said that he had no intention of going back over Johnny Magee’s spell in charge of Wicklow but he said that the incoming management team would have to be “a bit more on top of their game”.
“Maybe he had too much to do, I don’t know,” said the Rathnew Chairman.
Peadar Smyth, from Kilmacanogue GAA Club, said that his club had provided five names of players to the former manager ahead of the Leinster Junior clash with Louth.
“We spoke with the former manager, who was going to get in touch with us on the Sunday, he was going to ring the five names, the five numbers, and on the Monday we came from a County Board meeting and at that time two of our lads had been rang and the other three, who were ready to go, weren’t contacted, and we made contact back and we were told, “no, we didn’t need them”.
“There wasn’t even a phone call to say “we don’t need them”. I had lads ringing me asking me if there was a bus or what time it was at. That’s the way it was dealt with,” he said.
Martin Coleman asked how many Kilmacanogue players turned up at the two training sessions held ahead of the meeting with Louth.
Peadar Smyth answered that no Kilmacanogue players turned up but he added that his club had been asked to put names forward and that they had been given a commitment by the previous manager that he would speak to the players.
“He (Johnny Magee) spoke to two and is it any wonder they didn’t go forward if this is the type of treatment they receive when they do go forward,” he said.
Rathnew’s Laurence Ellis said that the fact that 27 players turned up on the night proved that there was interest in the team.
He also suggested that the County Board step back from picking the next county manager and let the delegates do the job.
“I’d have very little faith,” he said.
One delegate asked if there would be a review of the last three years, of the both the positives and negatives and Martin Coleman made the suggestion that Johnny Magee could return and take part in that review.
Mick Hagan also expressed his gratitude to Johnny Magee and said that the attitude in Wicklow GAA had to change regardless of who the incoming manager is.
Michael Sargent asked if the sponsorship with Joule which was arrange by Johnny Magee would continue and Martin Coleman confirmed that it would.
Wicklow GAA County Board member Pat Doyle said that he felt that it would be wrong to bring Johnny Magee back to Wicklow for a review.
“I think it would be wrong to bring Johnny Magee back to talk about a review. Personally I think it’s not fair on him anyway.
“We’d only hear his side of the argument. I heard him on the radio and you’d think he had left Wicklow next to Kerry. I don’t think it’s right having him coming down here,” he said.