Was Micko a brilliant manager/trainer or was he lucky? Why did he not keep winning when the great Kerry side aged?
Same for Gavin. Or is it? Seems like Gavin oversaw at least 2 different sides in a short space of time.
If the new Dublin manager wins another 3/4 All Irelands in next 5 years....how do we judge Gavin?
Being serious for a change, he was both. Why didn't he keep on winning when his great team aged? I think the answer is obvious; he had not got adequate replacements coming through. He had been faced with a difficult choice as he freely admitted. Did he persist with those he knew could deliver for a further limited period or did he try to shore up cracks that were beginning to appear by introducing younger, freshers players and hoping they'd measure up.
He played it safe and opted for the first former..
In hindsight, I think history has proved him right. His luck ran out with the 5 in a row in sight but he still managed remarkably well with the limited pool of quality players he had. Kerry did manage three in a row in '84, '85 and '86, when he finally had to introduce new blood and he was later to take Kildare to an AI final, for the first time since 1928.
With due respect to Jim Gavin, Micko still leads the way.