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I would have to agree with that Sidney but the reality is we are already on that road... Most people out there probably would say that managers deserve payment but whether they should is a different argument.
Many clubs are paying coaches already behind closed doors and will continue to do so, most of the college managers would be getting a fee too. I even know of a school team manager who lifts a few quid. It's rife already it's just that it's all behind closed doors, hush hush.. the same people calling for managers not to be paid are paying their own managers. Hypocracy of the highest order.

The same process began in Rugby untill Rugby legitimised everything. The GAA needs to make a hard call here or continue to bury their heads in the sand. I personally believe the only way forward is to place a cap on managers expenses. Anything over and above that should lead to suspension, which must be ruthlessly upheld by the GAA. Just my thoughts.

Play the semi finals Friday night before Patrick's day and then play the finals on 17th March before the club finals.

Big crowds guaranteed.

Jesus 2 games inside 18hrs?! Sure just play semi and final on the same day while youre at it.

Did RTE cover the game today?

What proportion of club and county managers are being remunerated outside of the standard expenses regime?
Would we say it's a majority or a minority?

I would say a majority. It has steadily increased here in Sligo at club level but the last 2 years has seen a levelling off. Personally I don't think the GAA could sustain the costs of paying managers.

Ah bud ya never stop. How about a big hug?
I did answer your question, the diff was those lads among others was contacted directly by you boys to come to your college. FACT. We have a lad at Sligo IT who was also contacted. It's laughable. I doubt if those lads you mention were "recruited" although I've never heard of any of them so who knows. You are probably signing them up for next year as we speak LOL. Maybe you can give them some free pens through your elite athlete scheme or something.

Stronghold you raise some interesting points here however you can't help yourself in getting a snipe in at Queen's whilst attempting to promote your own college uuj. It seems to be in your dna.
For the record your point on St.Mary's having 1500 v Queen's having 25,000. St.Marys is a catholic teacher training college so chances are that most of them have a GAA background (you only need 15!). Queens has extremely high entry grades (like trinity) and loads of International students so their GAA intake will be mixed (as you well know I'd say). Both of these colleges would be very credible in that they adhere to the ethos of teh competition and depend on their natural intake for players.
Unlike your own college who target players every year to beef up your squad (Leo McLoone, Eoin Waide etc). By the way Ulster uni has nearly 30,000 students, you operate elite entry scheme, you target older players to beef your squad, and you still can't win the thing!

Elite entry schemes are the cancer of HE GAA.

Yes CK and you cant not comment without having a snipe at UUJ.  Lets nail this myth once and for all the grdaes into queens are no higher than any other University, it all depends on the course and the demand.  Maybe you would like to tell me the difference in Leo MC Loone and Eoin Waide gooing to UUJ and Paul Mc Guigan, Enda Clarke and Tim Hanna going to beef up Queens as you say.
By the way there are 25, 000 students at UU which includes Magee, Coleraine, Jordanstown and the Art College there are 12,500 at Jordanstown.

No Stonghold I don't have snipes at UUJ, I have snipes at colleges who rip the piss in terms of taking in players through all sorts of silly schemes. UUJ are very much in this group and Queen's are not, yet you bring them up in every post. So what if  O'Rourke texts his own players! .. It might fit you better looking after the players you do have, then you might win something.

Stronghold you raise some interesting points here however you can't help yourself in getting a snipe in at Queen's whilst attempting to promote your own college uuj. It seems to be in your dna.
For the record your point on St.Mary's having 1500 v Queen's having 25,000. St.Marys is a catholic teacher training college so chances are that most of them have a GAA background (you only need 15!). Queens has extremely high entry grades (like trinity) and loads of International students so their GAA intake will be mixed (as you well know I'd say). Both of these colleges would be very credible in that they adhere to the ethos of teh competition and depend on their natural intake for players.
Unlike your own college who target players every year to beef up your squad (Leo McLoone, Eoin Waide etc). By the way Ulster uni has nearly 30,000 students, you operate elite entry scheme, you target older players to beef your squad, and you still can't win the thing!

Elite entry schemes are the cancer of HE GAA.

I wouldn't blame the media on this issue, i'd blame the hypocracy in the GAA from top to bottom. The media cannot help but pick up on it. My club chairman was on a local radio station recently stating how no manager or coach should be paid... the same man recruited a manager for our club team about 10 years ago and paid him and his coach an annual fee for 3 years! The same man was on the county board for a while and was involved in appointing a fully paid management team for the county.

One line for the radio, another behind close doors. Fair play to the media for exposing it and the sooner its sorted and made transparent the better.

DCU have an excellent eye for talent. They got Donie Smith and John McManus (son of one of the finest forwards in the history of the game, Tony McManus) this year, who both featured prominently in our 2011 minor championship run, among plenty of other Roscommon under-age players. Clearly Roscommon isn't the only county they've selected exciting players from either.

At minimum both Smith and McManus will be future starters for the county - both are already involved with the senior panel - so if you're sick of DCU already it isn't going to get any better.

In strong defence of DCU, I've seen first-hand how much their input has helped players like Donie Shine, Cathal Cregg and, on recent form, David Keenan, develop. They're also imbuing players from counties other than the top three or four with the confidence that there's very little between them and the very best teams in the country and that can only ever be very good thing for the game at large.

Syferus, are you being serious here? Such a pile of nonsense. "DCU have an excellent eye for talent" = They approach the best county minors in the country, don't give a damn what sort of leaving cert they get and offer them all sorts of freebies to lure them up to Dublin. That's an excellent eye for talent is it? UUJ are at the same craic up north. Neither college is credible in my book and both are seen as second rate colleges as a result.
As for "developing players" ..as if that is a consideration for DCU. The only thing they are after is shoving players into courses and then try to win trophies and claim to be some sort of GAA nursary. BS.

Orchardman, without being patronising you have never gone to college obviously. (Sigerson teams don't have big college followings) It's a players competition and always was. The reputation it has gained was always based on the standard of football and the level of competition provided.
As for not knowing the players.. I know most of them.. most of them would have been targetted by DCU for their eleite athlete scheme. Many would be regarded as players of the future for their counties and all would be top U.21 players at very least. Did you know Cluxton, Brogan and Mortimor in the early part of the last decade? (when they were recruited) ..but you've heard of them all since. Case and point. It'll be the same for todays DCU team.

DCU's policy will only further degrade the competition over the coming years

I would agree with this. Sigerson is simply not what it was due to a few colleges taking the proverbial. HE GAA stand idly by and do nothing. Lets face it, we are only talking about DCU and UUJ (ITCarlow are at it of late I hear) who have these "Elite athlete entry schemes". It really is pathetic.
If students won't go to your college without these "incentives" you should really have a good look at your college!

I find difficult to take the Sigerson seriously when you look at the "courses" some players are doing and the lengths some colleges will go to recruit players. It isn't exactly a level laying field and I don't see much achievement in what DCU did today.

I would agree with this. Sigerson is simply not what it was due to a few colleges taking the proverbial. HE GAA stand idly by and do nothing. Lets face it, we are only talking about DCU and UUJ (ITCarlow are at it of late I hear) who have these "Elite athlete entry schemes". It really is pathetic.
If students won't go to your college without these "incentives" you should really have a good look at your college!

Sigerson cup now seems to be DCU verses the rest. No-one came within 10points of them during Sigerson this year. Some will say that this is to their credit however it has as much to do with them offering all sorts of scholarships (the reason Murphy came on today was to get his scholarship!) that the rest of the colleges just cannot match. I know some will disagree but DCU's annual throwing of money at players to come into the college just makes a bit of a mockery of the competition.

The two best teams in HE are in the final. NUIM and DCU deserve to be top of the tree.
UCC and UUJ were not worthy semi finalists IMO. On todays evidance UUJ had no idea how to win, they were more intent on trying not to loose. Fair play to DCU who played the more offensive game and easily swept UUJ aside. UCC on the other hand were over rated all year. Very lucky to make it to the weekend.

I tipped Maynooth and DCU in a previous post so will remain with that. Maynooth have a host of top players, they were strong in the league and in Sigerson they have beaten a very good Queen's team up in Belfast and then UCD. They will beat UCC IMO. I saw UCC v Sligo and they were exceptionally lucky. DCU will come through the other side I'd say.

Are these games on TG4?