HEAT IS ON
How are football’s 15 new managers faring 100 days in?
TOP OF THE CLASS
Pat Flanagan (Offaly) Pl 10 W 7 L 2 D 1 F 8-132 A 7-87 FLANAGAN has done well since taking over his native county. The only blemishes have been a narrow defeat to Dublin in the O’Byrne Cup and a three-point loss to Longford, when they had three players dismissed.
They didn’t concede a goal in the O’Byrne Cup and carried that form into the League, boasting the best defensive record across the four divisions. Losing captain Páraic Sullivan to a cruciate ligament injury was a blow but Bernard Allen and Willie Mulhall have lightened the load on Niall McNamee. The next target is to beat Longford in the Division 4 final, setting a marker ahead of their Championship clash.
Jim McCorry (Down) Pl 10 W 7 L 3 D 0 F 14-123 A 8-119 McCORRY’S Kilcoo side were known for their battling qualities and he instilled that into Down early in the League with remarkable comebacks when they scored 2-1 in the final three minutes against Kildare in Newbridge as well as out-scoring Galway by six points in the final 10 minutes at Páirc Esler.
McCorry, however, hasn’t quite rid Down of the inconsistency that dogged them during James McCartan’s time in charge, as they have lost to both Meath and Roscommon in Newry, but he has made great use of Donal O’Hare’s sharp-shooting and trying Caolan Mooney at full-forward has also been a success.
Impressively, he guided the Mourne County men back to the League’s top flight with regulars Aidan Carr, Conor Garvey, Niall Madine and Peter Fitzpatrick all injured, having chalked up five wins from their seven divisional outings.
Kieran McGeeney (Armagh) Pl 11 W7 L7 3 D L 1 3 D 1 F 17-116 A 9-115 17-116 A 9-115 PROMOTION was the first target for McGeeney (below) and Armagh climbed out of Division 3 with the minimum of fuss.
Having lost twice to Tyrone in January, Sligo were the only team to beat them in the League. Four red cards in the first two McKenna Cup games was a concern but Armagh have worked on their discipline, although they seem to have played better football, away from their Athletic Grounds.
McGeeney has been given five years to redevelop the county’s fortunes, so it’s early days. Young talent such as Michael McKenna and Ciaron O’Hanlon have made an impact, but they are still reliant on the likes of Jamie Clarke and Kevin Dyas.
Kevin WalshW (Galway) Pl 11 Pl W 11 7L4D0W 7 L 4 D 0 F 11-1141F 11-141A 13-112A 13-112 IT’SIT’ going to take more than 10010 days for Walsh (left) to workw out the enigma that is Galway football. A decent January was spoiled by conceding four goals to Roscommon in the FBD final. Damien Comer’s goal helped themth avenge that defeat in the League, staving off Division 2 relegation worries in the process,pr but an inconsistent spring, that saw them lose three games, allal of which they led, shows that it is hard to get a handle on where Galway are. Corofin’s All-Ireland success and the continued development of Shane Walsh are encouraging signs but there’s likely to be more head-scratching in the season ahead for Walsh and Galway supporters.
Rory Gallagher (Donegal) Pl 10 W5 L5 4 D L 1 4 D 1 F: 9-111 A: 9-99 F 9-111 A 9-99 GALLAGHER has settled into the seat vacated by Jim McGuinness quite well. The League had its low point – scoring 14 against Monaghan – as well as the high of enjoying a 10-point win over Tyrone in their Championship dress rehearsal, but Gallagher couldn’t contain his excitement when they dug out a result in Castlebar, especially as it was done without the suspended Michael Murphy.
The personnel – or system – hasn’t changed much from the previous regime. But given that its success, it didn’t need to and Gallagher has unearthed a couple of new players, such as defender Éamonn Doherty.
Tom McGlinchey (Waterford) Pl 11 W 5 L5 DL 1 5 D 1 F 10-122 A 9-114 10-122 9-114 BEATING Wicklow in their opening League game rounded off a perfect January for McGlinchey with five wins out of five and a McGrath Cup title secured but his team have hit the skids since, though. They haven’t won a game since that win over Wicklow and ended the League in a familiar position near the bottom of Division 4. Conceding five goals to London in the penultimate round showed how January’s promise has evaporated. There’s plenty of work to do before they meet Tipperary in the Championship
Niall Carew (Sligo) Pl 10 W5 L5 D L 0 5 D 0 F 10-129 A 5-123 10-129 A 5-123 SLIGO survived in Division 3 by cantering to an impressive 11point win over Armagh. When Carew has got things right, Sligo have looked good – their tally of 2-26 against Louth in February was a stand-out performance and they were the highest scorers across the four divisions. So it’s taking shape under the former Waterford manager, although Charlie Harrison’s cruciate ligament injury was a setback. The experienced trio of David Kelly, Adrian Marren and Mark Breheny are responsible for most of the attacking verve but with a bye into the Connacht semi-final, Carew has only challenge games now to find some consistency.
Frank Fitzsimons (Antrim) W D 1 Pl 10 W5 L 5 4 D L1 4 F F 7-105 7-105A 5-119A 5-119 FITZSIMONS was part of Liam Bradley’s backroom team and took a while to put his own stamp on things. Antrim’s League did display a trend of consistent improvement. From a poor initial outing
Turlough O’Brien (Carlow) Pl 10 W 3 L 5 D 2 F 9-111 A 6-124 AT one point, Carlow looked like pushing for an unlikely promotion from Division 4, but their spring ended with three straight defeats. Nevertheless O’Brien has generated some optimism, with observers claiming the team are fitter than they had been in recent years. He’s also tightened up a defence that conceded 7-13 to Meath and 4-26 to Clare last summer, so they’re heading in the right direction.
Dave Power (Wexford) Pl 10 W 4 L 6 D 0 F 9-111 A 14-127 EVEN though it didn’t save them from the drop, Wexford rounded off a disappointing League with an impressive win over Power’s native Tipperary. Power has taken over a team in transition – there are only five players left from the side that played in the 2008 All-Ireland semi-final while centreforward PJ Banville and midfielder Dáithi Waters both left the squad last winter. Power has tried to infuse Wexford football with some badly-needed new talent and his ability to rouse the troops in Clonmel last week does offer encouragement.
Tom Cribbin (Westmeath) Pl 10 W 4 L 6 D 0 F 9-107 A 16-119 CRIBBIN’S outburst about his senior players will
STEADY PAIR OF HANDS
against Carlow, they forced themselves into a winner-take-all promotion battle with Offaly. They may have succumbed to Offaly’s greater quality but there were positives to take out of it.
However, the disappointment of not getting promoted was compounded by decision by brothers Michael and Tomás McCann to leave the panel due to work commitments. Heavily dependent on the classy CJ McGourty in attack, the Ulster SFC now looks a huge challenge for Fitzsimons.
Shane Ward (Leitrim) Pl 10 W4 L 4 D L 2 4 D 2 F: 9-137 A 7-108 F A 7-108 WARD is constructing a solid base for the future. With a little luck, they could have climbed out of Division 4 but two draws proved costly. Still, they were unbeaten in their final four games. Kevin Conlan has emerged as fine free-taking option and there appears to be a better balance to the team. Given that they have averaged almost 17 points a game this year shows they haven’t missed Emyln Mulligan in the scoring stakes.
Ward is also the under-21 manager and is trying to develop a proper pathway into senior football for the best players in a county of scant resources. His team might give an erratic Galway a rattle in Carrick-on-Shannon next month.
Noel Connelly/Pat Holmes (Mayo) PLPl 10 W4 L4 4 D L 2 4 D 2 F 10-117 A 10-108 10-117 A 10-108 THERE was a school of thought that they needed a good League, perhaps even the title, as Mayo sought to move on from the James Horan era. Instead, the spring was a mixture of good (an opening day win in Killarney), bad (a drubbing from Dublin in Castlebar) and mediocre (last Sunday’s draw with Donegal). The pair are unsure of their best XV and will now be without a competitive game until the middle of June. However, Kevin Keane is established as the full-back and while questions over central positions persist, Connelly and Holmes will be on the Croke Park line in late summer. By that stage, they should know what constitutes their best team.
COULD DO BETTER
hang like a cloud over his first 100 days; perhaps his whole reign. The galling thing is that it started brightly for Cribbin (below). He ended Westmeath’s 15-game losing streak with two wins in the O’Byrne Cup. They also won two of their first three League games. However, four straight defeats culminating in relegation, and the 16 goals conceded this year, hardly bodes well for the summer.
Johnny Magee (Wicklow) Pl 10 W 2 L 7 D 1 F 8-107 A 13-119 HAVING lost the experienced trio of Leighton Glynn, Paul Earls and Ciaran Hyland at the start of the year, Magee had to come to terms with Seánie Furlong’s departure during the League. It’s reflected in their results. Having conceded seven goals in three O’Byrne Cup games, they only leaked six in seven League games but a final-day defeat to London shows that Magee has a lot of work to do.
Colin Kelly (Louth) Pl 10 W 2 L 8 D 0 F 10-109 A 15-136 THERE was some promise for Kelly when Clare were shocked in Drogheda but they couldn’t beat Limerick at home in what was effectively a relegation decider. Defensive problems have sween them concede 15 goals in 10 games. Ryan Burns is a player of genuine potential, but it’s a tall order to turn things around in five weeks before they face Westmeath.
The Mayo pair are still unsure of their best XV, especially in filling central positions