Mullholland Falls

[GalwayBayBoy]

Pete Warren has withdrawn from the selection process prior to the interviews taking place, looks like it's a done deal for Kevin Walsh to be the next Galway football manager at this point.

Have ye appointed him yet ?
Or maybe ye're waiting to see if there are any Rhubarbs free when the circus is over 

Meeting on Monday evening when he'll be ratified.

[Maroon Manc]

Walsh confirmed last night along with selectors.

No mention of a strength and conditioning coach, is their likely to be one?

[magpie seanie]

Good luck with that lads!

Guaranteed we'll be going to Pairc Uí Eilifint Bán to face off with Captain Clipboard & Stopwatch in early summer.

[moysider]

In fairness seanie, Walsh deserves a cut at his own county job.

Who are his selectors anybody?

[GalwayBayBoy]

In fairness seanie, Walsh deserves a cut at his own county job.

Who are his selectors anybody?

Walsh's selectors will be Corofin manager Brian Silke - brother of 1998 All-Ireland winning captain Ray - and Seán Conlon (Barna). His term is subject to an annual review at the end of the season.

[Syferus]

In fairness seanie, Walsh deserves a cut at his own county job.

Who are his selectors anybody?

To be honest I'd question the deserving part. Besides visibility Pete Warren's record was night and day better than Walsh's.

2010, never to be forgotten. By Roscommon.

[seafoid]

I'm so afraid of playing Roscommon next year.

Pay no attention to Syferus, that's the only way to get through the winter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZR64EF3OpA

[SLIGONIAN]

Absolutely clueless management wise but his playing credentials like us will get initial respect in the dressing room and should give a boost, once that wears off theres not much substance, he is a good organiser and ok man manager but very very poor in all other aspects of management like tactics, team selection, subs, in the game changes tactically, psychology of the game etc.... you know the important stuff

[galwayman]

That's what in afraid of sligonian.
This is not a good appointment for us I'm afraid.

[GalwayBayBoy]

That's what in afraid of sligonian.
This is not a good appointment for us I'm afraid.

Nobody knows yet to be honest. His backroom team are almost as important. Don't know much about Conlon but I know Silke is very highly thought of. In fairness to Walsh it is a very short list the amount of Sligo managers that got them into 2 Connacht finals and beat both Galway and Mayo in the same championship campaign. Had they not lost both finals so narrowly his reign would probably be looked upon a lot more fondly.

Don't even know yet are they getting a proper S&C coach and all the other little things that the top sides are spending money on.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Interviewed in today's Indo.

Incoming Galway manager Kevin Walsh has vowed to leave no stone unturned in the search for new talent after taking charge of the county's footballers.

The double All-Ireland winner was officially installed as Alan Mulholland's successor at a county board meeting on Monday night as the Tribesmen look to wrestle control of Connacht away from their great rivals Mayo, who have now won four titles on the bounce.

And after being handed a three-year term, Walsh revealed he will undertake a comprehensive trawl of the talent available as he plots the county's return for football's top table.

"We will be looking at everyone in the county," he said.

"Nobody is going to be ruled out because of age or whether their club is senior or junior.

"I'm fortunate to have two good men in Brian Silke and Sean Conlon coming on board with me who have a great knowledge of football across the county. We will be looking at all players."

Walsh's appointment had been expected with another candidate, Pete Warren, withdrawing from the race to succeed Mulholland.

Walsh cut his teeth in Sligo where he had a successful five seasons and helped the county to a number of significant milestones.

He became the first Sligo manager to reach two Connacht finals and also recorded a maiden championship win on Galway soil two years ago.

Walsh also helped the Sligo to a first All-Ireland junior title since 1935 while they beat Galway and Mayo in the same season for the first time.

Indeed, his Sligo side was the last to inflict a Connacht championship defeat on Mayo when they beat them in Markievicz Park in 2010.

However, his term in charge petered out in 2013 after defeat to London in the Connacht championship and a heavy defeat to Derry in the qualifiers.

Galway's fortunes have taken a sharp nosedive since Walsh's playing days that saw him win two All-Irelands in four years. The county has struggled for stability in the last decade.

Before Mulholland's three-year stint, Galway endured a difficult time with managers as both Joe Kernan and Tomas O Flatharta served just one season each.

The county has been floundering in Mayo's wake in recent years and haven't won a Connacht title since 2008.

Last year, they shipped their heaviest beating at the hands of Mayo in more than 100 years while last year's back-door win over Tipperary was their first championship success against a team from outside Connacht since 2004.

However, they have won two All-Ireland U-21 titles in recent years and reached this year's All-Ireland quarter-final before going down to eventual champions Kerry in Croke Park.

And Walsh is hoping he can bring some stability to Galway's performances during his tenure.

"I had some great days as a Galway player and hope to have some great days as well as manager," he said.

"I'm honoured to be given the job and want to thank the clubs and officers to give me the opportunity and I will give it everything I can to do a good job," Walsh said. "All I want is that Galway will perform every time we go out and we will see where that takes us."

[seafoid]

Absolutely clueless management wise but his playing credentials like us will get initial respect in the dressing room and should give a boost, once that wears off theres not much substance, he is a good organiser and ok man manager but very very poor in all other aspects of management like tactics, team selection, subs, in the game changes tactically, psychology of the game etc.... you know the important stuff

Maybe he learnt something . A lot of the Sligo comment is very dark- there must have been some sort of breakdown in trust at the end,

I thought he was good in this :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9In3bD0D4n8
Even if they just worked on the intensity they'd be more consistent.

[An Fhairche Abu]

I think we all know that the finances aren't in great shape in Galway, it had to be someone within the county and even before Pete Warren's name was put in the ring, much less at the time it was withdrawn, this appointment of Kevin Walsh was a done deal from a long way out.

Don't even know yet are they getting a proper S&C coach and all the other little things that the top sides are spending money on.

I don't think that a proper S&C coach is even a little thing anymore GBB, the top sides have shown that it's a prerequisite at this stage, the money that is spent by the likes of Donegal and Dublin on training camps, huge backroom teams, even as far down to details like having individual spotters for each player during matches is where the bar is at now, Galway are miles off this standard and the money simply isn't there to get near it either.

Across the border, James Horan has shown that the right manager (and IMO he is the best manager Mayo have ever had) with the right structures in place and a hugely committed panel of players can turnaround the fortunes of a county quicker than you might expect, but the reverse of this can be true also and fortunes can turn south just as quick.

With the Mayo county board doing their best to f**k up the appointment of the new Mayo management, putting the two lads squarely behind the 8 ball before they have even taken a training session and the fact that there is only so long a team can stay as dominant as Mayo have been, maybe there is a chance for Galway or Roscommon to have a run at the provincial crown in 2015.
That is the optimistic viewpoint and it's probably more likely that Mayo will continue to dominate Connacht as they still, at the end of the day, have the best, most experienced and battle hardened players in the province.

No doubt Syferus will be here in a moment to tell us that with KW in charge we will be bottom of the heap in Connacht, maybe himself and the Sligo lads are correct but the very best of luck to Kevin, his backroom team and whatever eventual panel arises in the new year, everyone that loves Galway football wants to see them do well and if they can get any success at all hopefully the fair-weather support in Galway will get behind our footballers again.

[seafoid]

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2014/1006/650335-galway-manager-walsh-wins-county-title-as-player/

[galwayman]

Excellent post AFA.
Consistently the most articulate poster on here in relation to Galway football.
It's obvious you have a good knowledge of Galway football.
Personally I am not sure about this appointment but one way or another I will be giving big Kevin a chance & attending as many games as I can.
When you love Galway football that's just what you have to do!
I'm hoping we can become consistently competitive at the business end of the championship again in a few years (qf,sf,f)