Wee James Is The New Down Manager

[Leo]

Spotted the obvious candidate in the Canal Court Hotel last night ......
Steve Staunton!!!!!!!

[fred the red]

Is Ray Morgan an option?

[Brick Tamlin]

Ray Morgan is definitely not an option, id say he wouldnt touch it with a barge pole, plus he would be too old for it (no offence Ray).

[Cúig huaire]

Spotted the obvious candidate in the Canal Court Hotel last night ......
Steve Staunton!!!!!!!

He is supposed to be on a coaching course with St Kilda in Australia at the minute.

[Tomorrow is another day]

Management Selection

This is a crucial juncture in our County's recent history and the wrong selection now could set back our senior team for many years.

The most successful counties over the last 15 years since our last triumph have all evolved towards a system whereby the coach is most seperate and distinct from the manager. The coach takes training, gets players fit and works on skills while the manager deals with strategy and crucially communication. The two front runners Pete and wee James have styles that unfortunately do not fall into one category or the other and are blends of both positions. I would even go further and say that Pete is not an intercounty manager per se but rather an excellent coach. However he is not a manager as he is a very poor person to person and group communicator. He is functional and factual like a GPS system!

Take a look at Dublin and Pat Gilroy. He seems to have gone further than anyone else in this intercounty "new manager" model. Upto his appointment, Tyrone (Harte and Tally) Armagh (Kernan and Grimley) Kerry (O'Connor and Finnegan) seemed to be the front runners in creating a new job description for an Inter county manager. They abdicated responsibility for fitness and basic coaching and involved most of their time in strategy, managing resource, PR, pyschology etc. Even the great Micko has been doing likewise over the last 5 or so years with Arthur French. But Gilroy's appointment went a step further. Pat Gilroy is a very successful Chief Executive of the Irish division of a French Multinational. He should not have the spare time to manage any county team let alone Dublin. But he brings a professionalism and strategy to the role. His sole task is to allocate resource and identify need and determine strategy. He has replicated his model for business success to the dressing room. He is most definitely not working out drills!!

We need to read the writing on the wall. We need to embrace the professional business like approaches to management and organisational development and motivation. Simply appointing an ex manager or ex player is not enough. As Einstein is famously quoted as saying "If you always do what you have always done then you will always get what you have always got!"

I would like to see a radical rethink as to how our county senior team is managed based on the best practices of Organisational Development Research.

I would like to see a significant overhaul of our development structures so that we are putting in the foundations for continued future success from 10 year olds up within Down.

Though most crucially I would like to see an overhaul of the administration of the Down County association. There are simply too many people who are in executive positions with insufficient intellectual ability and even worse many are going through the motions and not serving the best interests of their membership in the county. The great breakthrough was started in the late 50's by the visionary involvement of Maurice Hayes as county secretary. We need another such talent. The present incumbent is simply not upto the task and should resign in the best interests of the county.

Jack Devanney is one of the few if only people on the County Executive at present with true ability. The Longford native is a great administrator and needs to have more likeminded capable and honest people with him to make a difference for this great county of ours.

This county needs courage. This county needs new blood at administrative level and this great county needs to get the job description right first before it looks for the best manager. Finally the successful person then needs to have the confidence in his county board and the freedom to put whatever structures he needs in place to maximise the return form the players that we have.

[Farrandeelin]

Congrats tomorrow is another day. You've now wrote that piece three times on separate threads. Could once not do??

[Tomorrow is another day]

Copy and paste is easy lol

But seriously I want to stimulate debate with people who truely have the best interests of down football at heart.

Are you happy with how our oranisation is governed?

[mournerambler]

Management Selection

This is a crucial juncture in our County's recent history and the wrong selection now could set back our senior team for many years.

The most successful counties over the last 15 years since our last triumph have all evolved towards a system whereby the coach is most seperate and distinct from the manager. The coach takes training, gets players fit and works on skills while the manager deals with strategy and crucially communication. The two front runners Pete and wee James have styles that unfortunately do not fall into one category or the other and are blends of both positions. I would even go further and say that Pete is not an intercounty manager per se but rather an excellent coach. However he is not a manager as he is a very poor person to person and group communicator. He is functional and factual like a GPS system!

Take a look at Dublin and Pat Gilroy. He seems to have gone further than anyone else in this intercounty "new manager" model. Upto his appointment, Tyrone (Harte and Tally) Armagh (Kernan and Grimley) Kerry (O'Connor and Finnegan) seemed to be the front runners in creating a new job description for an Inter county manager. They abdicated responsibility for fitness and basic coaching and involved most of their time in strategy, managing resource, PR, pyschology etc. Even the great Micko has been doing likewise over the last 5 or so years with Arthur French. But Gilroy's appointment went a step further. Pat Gilroy is a very successful Chief Executive of the Irish division of a French Multinational. He should not have the spare time to manage any county team let alone Dublin. But he brings a professionalism and strategy to the role. His sole task is to allocate resource and identify need and determine strategy. He has replicated his model for business success to the dressing room. He is most definitely not working out drills!!

We need to read the writing on the wall. We need to embrace the professional business like approaches to management and organisational development and motivation. Simply appointing an ex manager or ex player is not enough. As Einstein is famously quoted as saying "If you always do what you have always done then you will always get what you have always got!"

I would like to see a radical rethink as to how our county senior team is managed based on the best practices of Organisational Development Research.

I would like to see a significant overhaul of our development structures so that we are putting in the foundations for continued future success from 10 year olds up within Down.

Though most crucially I would like to see an overhaul of the administration of the Down County association. There are simply too many people who are in executive positions with insufficient intellectual ability and even worse many are going through the motions and not serving the best interests of their membership in the county. The great breakthrough was started in the late 50's by the visionary involvement of Maurice Hayes as county secretary. We need another such talent. The present incumbent is simply not upto the task and should resign in the best interests of the county.

Jack Devanney is one of the few if only people on the County Executive at present with true ability. The Longford native is a great administrator and needs to have more likeminded capable and honest people with him to make a difference for this great county of ours.

This county needs courage. This county needs new blood at administrative level and this great county needs to get the job description right first before it looks for the best manager. Finally the successful person then needs to have the confidence in his county board and the freedom to put whatever structures he needs in place to maximise the return form the players that we have.

That's the biggest load of shite i've heard in a long time, i'd say he's a softly spoken & poor radio commentator, who is full of his own importance & hasn't as much knowledge of the GAA as he seems to think he has!

[Tomorrow is another day]

Not as a manager but as a GAA administrator he is excellent.

We need to find top quality people to manage the administration and governance of our county executive

[mournerambler]

Not as a manager but as a GAA administrator he is excellent.
We need to find top quality people to manage the administration and governance of our county executive

I'll agree to disagree.

[waitingforsam]

who is Cathal Murray managing at the min?

[Aghdavoyle]

If Devenny is the comentator on 5fm he's bloody excellent

[goldenyears]

I really think its a straight fight between james and pete.

I know for a fact that james was sounded out before ross got it, and I also know that james won't publicly go head to head with pete but def wud be interested.

I would like to see james take the job, as he is a v shrewd man/manager and was one of the cleverest players I ever played with.

No doubt a great players doesn't make a great manager but his mgt record is pretty decent.

I particularly like his willingness to put out teams/formations dependant on who he plays against or what he has available to him.

A down team led by james would no doubt be willing to play 13 behind the ball and win ugly which no doubt we need to do right now

[Farrandeelin]

Copy and paste is easy lol

But seriously I want to stimulate debate with people who truely have the best interests of down football at heart.

Are you happy with how our oranisation is governed?

Yes, as a Mayoman, I'm delighted with other counties falling out of championship left, right and centre!!

[Mourne Rover]

Goldenyears is correct to suggest that it is probably down to McGrath or McCartan, but that was always likely to be the case. As predicted earlier in this thread, McIver has confirmed that he does not want to return to county management. He was realistically one of very few outside candidates who were geographically or financially viable.

While McCartan has clear potential, McGrath has the undisputed track record and, as his interview with Paddy Heaney the other day outlined, is well up to speed on both the theory and the technology of modern training techniques.

Although McGrath and McCartan had their differences in the past, why should they not work together ? McGrath is a pragmatist, and twice brought McCartan back to the squad as a player when it seemed as through their relationship was over. They also go back a long way with St Colman's and Down minors even before the 91 and 94 AI wins.

The fact that they have different approaches and opinions could be a considerable strength rather than a weakness.  A partnership with McGrath as manager and McCartan as coach could go horribly wrong but it might just take us a long way.