Committee must spread net far and wide

COMMENT

RESPONSIBILITY for the sourcing of the next Clare senior football manager rests with a group of people who have no recent inter-county management experience.

 

With this in mind, it’s critical that the committee, which was appointed on Monday night, doesn’t act on a whim and appoint the new manager without rigorously examining what will be expected of him and his management team.

For example, will this committee, which currently consists of county board chairman Michael O’Neill, Pat Hanrahan, Gabriel Keating, John McCarthy, John Reidy and Tommy Curtin, be in a position to tell a possible new manager that Clare will be retaining outgoing fitness coach Micheál Cahill?

A cursory word with any member of the 2012 senior county panel will confirm that Cahill’s fitness, strength and conditioning work was of an excellent standard. It would make sense to retain him for the coming season, thereby ensuring some continuity from the outgoing set-up. Cahill, who is currently in the US for a few weeks, has reams of facts and figures regarding players’ physical conditioning and if he goes, that will be lost.

Anybody who thinks the committee’s task is simply to appoint an individual as manager doesn’t know what they are talking about. They must go much deeper and try to find somebody who not only knows their football but is exceptionally strong organisationally, communicates effectively and is willing to delegate.

A manager doesn’t have to be able to train or coach a team. He can acquire people to do that and concentrate on applying flawless organisation levels, while ensuring his players are the recipients of top-class man-management.

Clare must look at appointing a defensive coach, an attacking coach and a goalkeeping coach. These appointees don’t necessarily have to be part of the full management team but could be utilised regularly to add freshness and coaching expertise to training.

One of the priorities for Clare is to establish at least one specific game plan, apply it throughout the league and stick with it.

Hopefully, this committee will show plenty of ambition and seek to talk to proven inter-county managers, who may even express an interest in becoming involved with Clare.

Jack O’Connor and Conor Counihan have recently stepped down from their posts in charge of Kerry and Cork respectively. It would make sense to at least seek to talk with them and ascertain what is involved in an elite inter-county football management set-up.

Ideally, a locally-based management team will be appointed but, if that is not possible, Clare should look for an outside manager, who has the energy, vision and ambition to make it happen in this county.

Mick O’Dwyer has been mentioned in some dispatches but the veteran Kerry man has surely enough of inter-county management. An iconic GAA man without a doubt, O’Dwyer is nearer to 80 than 70. Clare need a manager somewhat closer to the players’ age than that.

Kieran O’Mahony (Doonbeg), Dermot Coughlan (Kilmurry Ibrickane), Aidan Moloney (Kilmurry Ibrickane), Michael Neylon (Miltown), Colin Lynch (Lissycasey), Ger Keane (Kilkee), Colm Collins (Cratloe), Declan O’Keeffe (St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield) and former Clare and Kerry coach Donie Buckley are people who would have plenty to offer as part of a management set-up. Maybe somebody from within that group will put their hand up and seek the post or possibly somebody else, who hasn’t been mentioned in that albeit small group.

While Kerry, Armagh and Offaly moved very quickly to fill their vacant football management positions, Clare shouldn’t rush into anything until they are sure they have the right men.

Responsibility for this rests with the committee. They will be judged on the success of the new management team, just as the management team will be. No pressure!