John Fogarty
Liam Griffin was 49 when he led Wexford to their last All-Ireland hurling title in 1996 but his age never mattered a jot to him.
Speaking to this writer seven years ago when men in their 60s were still being appointed to inter-county jobs he said: “The only problem there might be is the age gap between the manager and the players.
“It depends completely on the manager’s emotional intelligence and his own man-management skills.
“I didn’t find the [generation] gap that much of a factor and he shouldn’t either. But it depends on the individual completely. Some fellas are too old at 30. Some are too old at 45. Some are young in their 60s.”
Wise words but then Gaelic games, especially football, has changed a lot since then. Between 2000 and 2005, the age profile of All-Ireland winning hurling managers was 47. In winning six of the next seven championships, Brian Cody, now 58, has since bucked that trend but then he is a brilliant anomaly.
For that same 2000-2005 six-season period in football, the average age of the most successful football manager was 48. In the seven years since, it has dropped to 45. The last two All-Ireland winning managers, Pat Gilroy and Jim McGuinness, were under 40 (both 39) when they led Dublin and Donegal to glory but that isn’t enough to suggest a major development.
However, there is no denying the most successful managers are getting younger. Just look at the average age of the managers in the last four sets of All-Ireland semi-finals – 2009 (50), 2010 (41), 2011 (42) and this year (42).
It’s a fact that seems to be recognised by counties in their recent procurement of managers. Of the 10 new faces appointed up to but excluding Aidan O’Brien’s with Wexford, six are 41 or younger with four of them in their 30s.
The four Ulster counties who had vacancies have banked on experience in Paul Grimley (Armagh), Brian McIver (Derry), Frank Dawson (Antrim) and Malachy O’Rourke (Monaghan) with all but O’Rourke in their 50s. However, the average age of the 10 is 40 and is a testament to how county boards have changed the managerial landscape.
During the payments for managers debate, Munster chairman Seán Walsh spoke of how the role of the inter-county manager had to be fully appreciated by the GAA.
He was fighting against the tide on that one but, speaking recently to the Irish Examiner, he echoed those sentiments.
“The first thing that has to be respected is the amount of time and effort now that a manager has to put in to be a successful one. That’s the first thing.
“I had different views to a lot of people and I make no apology for it. I felt that the county manager is a person who is asked above and beyond the call of duty to prepare a team.
“He has video analysis, he has to put together a schedule for training and games, the good manager is constantly in contact with his players, he has to man-manage them properly, he is watching games in person.
“It’s not a question of appointing a manager and just telling him ‘you have to work within this budget’. Everyone has to work within the budget because the money isn’t there but people have to realise the enormity of the position of a county manager now.”
Naturally, if the age profile of the inter-county manager is dropping variables such as young families and aspiring job careers come into play. But the man who now wears the inter-county bainisteoir bib or jacket is a juggler, someone who can compartmentalise his life and time-manage with great effect.
More often than not, his job offers some flexibility while giving offering regular working hours. At least half of the 10 new managers next year are teachers.
Above all else, he is a leader. No team this side of the millennium has produced as many inter-county managers as Joe Kernan’s Armagh. One half of his defence will be in situ in the Leinster SFC next year after Aidan O’Rourke was made the new Louth manager last Monday night.
Along with Kieran McGeeney (40) and Justin McNulty (37), the Dromintee man will be out to make his mark in the province. Then there’s their former coach Paul Grimley who is in charge of Armagh for next season and not forgetting Crossmaglen’s Tony McEntee who, at just 35, has already established himself as the best club manager in the country.
The proliferation of Armagh players on the inter-county management scene underlies the pioneer spirit that their team had. They were willing to take ownership of their football careers but more than anything in them other counties recognised a group of sportsmen who had smashed through the glass ceiling.
They inspired the likes of Tyrone who in turn gave Donegal an example but they were the first to cut their trails into the earth.
The generation gap between the likes of Armagh’s golden era and the current inter-county player is narrow enough for the latter group to appreciate what they achieved and what they went through to get there.
Perhaps, though, the most important relation goes the other way – the 30 or 40-something manager knows the sensibilities of the modern day top level footballer. He understands more than anyone what makes him tick.
Age may just be a state of mind but right now it’s a state of the inter-county football management nation.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/q1PSD8jx5F0/post.aspx
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