Beginning the post-McStay era…
It’s been a week since the resignation of Kevin McStay and I do not envy the task of the County Board who will be entrusted with seeking a replacement.
There are several considerations. Should they look inside or outside the county? What type of manager are they looking for? What should be the aims? Who will their selectors be? What type of game will they play?
Regardless of what the permutations are, there will have to be an appointment made very soon as the club championships are now almost at the play-off stage and county training will have to start in late October or early November at the latest – in preparation for what will be a very tough season in Division One of the league.
The biggest problem that the new manager will have to deal with in Roscommon is expectation, which is generally far too high. Indeed, as a member of the local media, I have been partly responsible for the raising of those expectations a few times over the years. Every time Roscommon win a few games we get carried away when the facts are that we are not as good as we like to think we are. We are punching well above our weight as a football county and to be in the top 10 or 12 in the country is a great achievement.
Make no mistake though, Kevin McStay will be a hard act to follow. A lot of GAA people in this county are far too critical and impatient. A few bad results and it’s the manager’s fault. I hope and pray that we are not here in the same situation in another couple of years but our history in that regard is not good though.
In addition, it will be interesting to see what the response of the players will be to the new management. Will those who indicated that they were not prepared to commit for 2019 reverse their decision? Roscommon can ill-afford to lose any players with a very tough league campaign just around the corner.
I have attended a lot of club matches this year and apart from the county players that we have, I don’t see any players stocking out for immediate inclusion on the county panel. Whatever committee is chosen to pick the new manager has a really tough job. I wish them well. I have heard the name of Mark Dowd a few times in the past week. He would be a very good choice in my humble opinion.
I noted that in last week’s resignation statement Kevin McStay confirmed the retirement of Seanie McDermott and Ian Kilbride. I just want to publicly pay tribute to both men who have given such great service to Roscommon over the years. Personally I know Seanie McDermott better than I know Ian Kilbride, but both lads pulled on the Roscommon jersey and got on with it over the years without fuss or controversy. I wish them both the best of luck and thank them for their dedication over the years.
Croker? Give me Frenchpark any day!
The senior and intermediate club championships are slowly being sorted out and there were some very good performances at the weekend.
Roscommon Gaels and St. Brigid’s were impressive (see match reports) while Clann na nGael were very lucky to beat Western Gaels. A combination of a Western Gaels implosion and some really favourable refereeing calls saw Clann come through in the most dramatic circumstances possible in Frenchpark.
Western Gaels have one more chance to make the quarter-finals when they play Strokestown next weekend. On the evidence of what we have seen so far, Western Gaels should be good enough to win that. I was very disappointed with Strokestown against Roscommon Gaels last weekend.
St. Brigid’s are coming back into form at just the right time and if they can get Padraig Kelly back from injury they will be very strong in the play-offs.
St. Faithleach’s are back in contention too after beating Elphin last Saturday. Fintan Cregg played for his club just a day after getting married – and fair play to him as well –but they didn’t win and now it looks like Faithleach’s will join Pearses in the quarter-finals from Group B.
Fuerty and Tulsk look the two best teams in the Intermediate Championship. There is plenty of football to be played yet but last weekend sorted out a lot of the permutations.
I know that there was controversy in Frenchpark last Saturday, but for sheer entertainment and drama, club matches are hard to beat. I was in Croke Park the previous week. Give me Frenchpark any day!
Time for O’Neill and Keane to go?
Martin O’Neill is under pressure after last week’s terrible display by the Republic of Ireland against Wales.
Granted, Ireland drew with Poland on Tuesday night, but that result, good as it was, can’t really deflect from what has been a chaotic week.
There seems to be chaos behind the scenes – and Roy Keane is not helping either. He is never out of the news and maybe having him as assistant manager is a liability. It’s all about him and his temper. Does anyone know who the assistant manager is in England or Germany or Brazil? The answer is no.
Keane is unable to resist falling out with people and the chickens are coming home to roost now. It is a fact that the Republic of Ireland simply do not have the players any more, but if you look at Northern Ireland, they do not have the players either – but they are producing performances for their manager.
Tuesday night’s performance was much better, but there is nothing very convincing about this camp just now. Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane are costing over €2 million between them in terms of salaries. It is a fortune. Maybe it’s time for a change.
Wishing this unique GAA fundraiser well
It’s certainly a unique fundraiser. A top of the range €425,000 fully built and kitted out house in Dublin as a top prize – and that house being donated by Ballymore Properties.
Club Rossie will try to sell 15,000 tickets at €100 per head – and if they do it, they will raise €1.5m, which would be a phenomenal effort and would certainly ease the financial worries of Roscommon County Board. It would also facilitate some badly-needed improvements at Dr. Hyde Park.
I know that we have had some fantastic sponsors in Roscommon GAA over the years, but where would the association in the county be without Sean Mulryan? The vast majority of Roscommon GAA people just do not know what he has done for the association in the county over the years. Once again he has come up trumps with this incredible fundraiser.
It will be an enormous task to sell 15,000 tickets and Club Rossie will have to call on Roscommon people all over the world for this one. We wish them every success.
Hugh’s a PRO…
A well-deserved award for Hugh Lynn from Newstalk…as he is chosen as their ‘PRO of the Year’. I have a feeling that it’s not the only award that the Loughglynn man will be getting before this year is out!
He is certainly top class at his job, but I wonder is he about to move into the vacant secretary’s seat before the year is out as Brian Carroll moves on after his five-year stint? I hear Paddy Power has suspended betting on that market! Well done Hugh!
Ladies’ finals this weekend
The All-Ireland Ladies Football finals will be played on Sunday in Croke Park and it will be interesting to see if last year’s record attendance of over 45,000 is matched or passed.
Limerick and Louth will contest the junior final at 11.45 am. There will be big Roscommon interest when Meath face Tyrone in the intermediate final at 2 pm. The Royals easily beat the Rossies in the semi-final and it might be some consolation if they could beat Tyrone in the decider.
In the senior final it’s Cork v Dublin. These two teams seem to have pulled away from the rest in the past few years.
