| Taking on a winning team |
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| Marty Morrissey | |
| Monday, 07 May 2007 19:32 | |
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There is an unwritten golden rule if you have any ambitions at all of becoming a Manager in the GAA world. It doesn’t actually matter whether we are talking here about club or county. It’s a rather simple philosophy and quite accurate up to last Sunday - Never Ever Take on a Winning Team. Whatever hope you have of success with a crowd of losers there is only one way normally for you and your newly adopted squad of winners to go - DOWNWARDS AND FAST!  There is an unwritten golden rule if you have any ambitions at all of becoming a Manager in the GAA world. It doesn’t actually matter whether we are talking here about club or county.It’s a rather simple philosophy and quite accurate up to last Sunday - Never Ever Take on a Winning Team. Whatever hope you have of success with a crowd of losers there is only one way normally for you and your newly adopted squad of winners to go - DOWNWARDS AND FAST! In the modern game and in the society we live in, it’s almost impossible to keep players motivated or bonded in a happy environment. The first 15 to 20 players are mildly contented but numbers 21 to 30 on the panel may be desperately unhappy with their lack of progress or complaining about a genuine chance to shine. Sounds familiar? Of course it is. It’s the same everywhere and the philosophy I highlight today is a fact of life - unless you happen to be a Kerryman and your name is Pat O’Shea. I’ve known Pat a long time and back in 2004 when my own club were in the Munster Club Final I asked him at the request of our manager at the time, Patrick O’Dwyer, to give the lads a session. By all accounts he was impressive. It was a brave call last year by the Killarney man to step out of the comfort zone as Munster Council Coach and Dr. Crokes Manager and catapult himself into the firing line as the new Kerry Senior Football manager. He really was on a hiding to nothing. Kerry, under Jack O’Connor, had just won the All-Ireland and doing two in a row was quite simply dreamland. Ask any Kerry man or woman and they will tell you that being Kerry manager is an unrelenting pressure cooker. Every year the expectations are extraordinarily high. It’s the All-Ireland or nothing. If it’s nothing the fans across the Shannon can be quite unforgiving. They just simply love Sam Maguire and they want him at home every year. No excuses, no reasons acceptable. So, considering the circumstances, why would any man want the job especially when they were at that time the newly crowned All-Ireland Champions? For Pat O’Shea the answer is quite simple really. He loves Kerry, he loves football and he dreamt since he was a kid of either playing or managing Kerry. When asked to take over from Jack he thought long and hard (my guess is for about a minute!) discussed it with his wife and family and said, “I may never be asked again so here goes”. The Munster Council seemed initially hesitant to give him permission to stand but once that obstacle was overcome he sailed home. As the brand new manager he faced losing players of the calibre of Mike McCarthy and Seamus Moynihan through retirement - pivotal players at full and centre back. A shattering blow as Moynihan especially is a living legend of gaelic football. Kerry two in a row? You must be joking! And that’s what fooled the experts. At the initial press conference in Croke Park last May the Bank of Ireland brought four Managers to officially launch the 2007 Football championship - Mickey Harte, Pillar Caffrey, John O’Mahony and Pat O’Shea. Most of the questions were directed towards O’Mahony, Harte and Caffrey. O’Shea, sitting at the edge of the foursome in a neat collar and tie, looked like a quiet schoolboy in the line up of management power hitters. It didn’t help that he kind of slouched in his seat which made him even smaller still in comparison to the ‘Big 3’ beside him. He said nothing unless he was asked a question. This was new territory for him. He was after all the new kid on the block. He looked younger than the others - slim, trim, and shy but obviously content and confident in his own mind and body. Privately, afterwards, the press lads were unsure what to make of him. Will he last was posed a few times? They soon learned. Here is a man that has been open, obliging and transparent all year. A joy to work with. He feels it is part of his job to speak to the media and allow his players to benefit from that level of exposure. Other managers that I know could do with paying a visit to Pat and learn how it should be done. No mental games, no charades just good old-fashioned honesty. Pat O’Shea has done a fantastic job for Kerry in difficult circumstances and done it quietly and efficiently without fuss. The critics will claim he has a great squad of players and this is true. But considering the circumstances of his appointment Pat O’Shea has changed my philosophy on potential new managers taking on winning teams. If a man or woman wants the gig bad enough then let them have it. Hunger and desire matched with a sprinkling of common sense is as vital to a manager as it is to his or her players. Pat O’Shea has proven that theory without doubt. Well done Pat - you deserve our applause. Above: The holy grail of any GAA footballer, Croke Park, Dublin. Yvonne Vaughan |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 November 2007 09:21 ) |
