Reds’ ‘nuanced sophistication’ impresses Farrell

DUBLIN manager Dessie Farrell says he can see the improvements made to Louth by Ger Brennan since the two-time All-Ireland SFC-winning defender took the reins in the Wee county.

While the pair were never teammates, their paths did cross at club level with Farrell’s Na Fianna taking on Brennan’s St Vincent’s.

The Dubs picked apart Louth in last year’s Leinster final – winning by 21 points – but the former GPA boss reckons the Reds are on the rise.

“Observing them from a distance, I think they were very unlucky in a couple of their league performances, beaten by the tightest of margins,” Farrell said of Louth.

“But they’ve made huge progress in the last couple of years. Obviously, there’s a little bit of a bedding in time with

Ger but I think that has happened and they are definitely continuing to move in the right direction.

“Ger will be very familiar with us, of course, and it’ll be a step up in class for us from what we’ve faced, with all due respect to Offaly. We look forward to the game and we’ll prepare as hard as we can.” On Brennan, who became the third Dubliner to manage Louth after Mickey Whelan and Val Andrews, Farrell was full of praise for his fellow northsider.

“Ger has been a great servant of Dublin football,” he added. “While he is relatively new to the inter-county managerial scene, he has more or less been involved in coaching since he retired from playing.

“And you can see what he’s doing with Louth, even (in the short time) this season. He’s trying to move on their performance to another level. Some of the elements that they’ve displayed to date shows us quite a nuanced sophistication about what they’re doing.

“Ger has been a great student of the game and I know he’ll try to master the coaching as well. He will bring a lot to Louth and has done already and will do into the future. It’ll be a great challenge for us next weekend.”