Galway Manager Steps Down

[Armagh Exile]

Ford Quits as Galway Boss
Peter Ford has become the latest inter-county manager to quit his job this summer - the former Mayo footballer ended his tenure as Galway senior football boss last night.
Ford relayed his decision to the Galway County Board last night. The board will hope to find a new manager who can guide the county back to All-Ireland SFC success and relive the glory days of 1998 and 2001.
Ford had hinted after that 2-14 to 1-14 loss to the Royals that it could have been his last game in charge of Galway.
The Mayo native took charge of Galway in October 2004 and during his time as manager he guided them to just one title - a Connacht SFC triumph - in his first year in charge.
The Galway County Board are already believed to be at an advanced stage in appointing Ford's successor.

[mannix]

Looks like Peters comment after they beat Mayo in a game was not so right after all."Its easy to win when you are on the right side of the border" .Ally this to  Galways star men getting stale with so much football played and the new stars not really being as good as expected and you can see his lot was not that great to start with.

[mouview]

Looks like Peters comment after they beat Mayo in a game was not so right after all."Its easy to win when you are on the right side of the border" .Ally this to  Galways star men getting stale with so much football played and the new stars not really being as good as expected and you can see his lot was not that great to start with.

Don't think too many in Galway were getting carried away with Galway's "new stars"  - nobody these days believes that underage success automatically transfers to senior. The 'old' stars actually haven't that much (c'ship) football played in the past few years either - they've usually been eliminated by start August latest. Staleness really shouldn't be a factor.

[DJGaliv]

Looks like Peters comment after they beat Mayo in a game was not so right after all."Its easy to win when you are on the right side of the border" .Ally this to  Galways star men getting stale with so much football played and the new stars not really being as good as expected and you can see his lot was not that great to start with.

People in glass houses and all that Mannix. He did win an All-Ireland U21 in his first year. Before that achievement is written off, a title at that grade was celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm north of the border when Mayo won it in 2006.
We might not have been "that great to start with", but certainly better than Mayo.

Good to see Forde gone, but thankful for some of his work. Contrary to popular media belief, Galway's rebuilding doesn't just start now, it's been going on since Forde came in. We've replaced a lot of big players, Fahy, Mannion, and Finnegan with Hanley, Blake and Armstrong. We've also found Nicky Joyce who's really lead our attack this season. 

Hopefully Padraig Joyce will help the young lads coming through, without halting their progress. How the next manager achieves this balancing act will be very important. We still need to scour the county for a couple of midfielders and half forwards. Unfortunately for Mayo, there's not many in Galway who think we're back to the bad days of the 80s. Moreover there's a quiet changing of the guard taking place. Galway were never going to win Sam with Forde in charge, getting rid of him is just another change in time for our capture of Sam in 2009!

[heineken_on_tap]

Good to see Forde gone, but thankful for some of his work. Contrary to popular media belief, Galway's rebuilding doesn't just start now, it's been going on since Forde came in. We've replaced a lot of big players, Fahy, Mannion, and Finnegan with Hanley, Blake and Armstrong. We've also found Nicky Joyce who's really lead our attack this season. 
[/quote]

Think Galway have replaced everyone except O'Domhnaill and Walsh - two of the most under estimated midfielders in my opinion. For all the class in the forward line if you dont have quality in the middle its so much harder.. I dont think Galway would of won the All Irelands without these lads.

[DJGaliv]

Good to see Forde gone, but thankful for some of his work. Contrary to popular media belief, Galway's rebuilding doesn't just start now, it's been going on since Forde came in. We've replaced a lot of big players, Fahy, Mannion, and Finnegan with Hanley, Blake and Armstrong. We've also found Nicky Joyce who's really lead our attack this season. 

Think Galway have replaced everyone except O'Domhnaill and Walsh - two of the most under estimated midfielders in my opinion. For all the class in the forward line if you dont have quality in the middle its so much harder.. I dont think Galway would of won the All Irelands without these lads.
[/quote]

You're definitely right with Walsh, but Ó Domhnaill I don't think so. He wasn't involved in 2001, but in fairness to him he played his part in '98.

[magpie seanie]

Problem is Mickey Donnellan is/was irreplaceable as he was so unique and now it looks like PJ is well cooked and his shoes will be big ones to fill.

[the Deel Rover]

there is too much emphasis played on the role of the manager anyway,as magpie seanie said those players named are irreplaceable and if your lucky enough to be a  manager when a bunch of talented footballers comes along like did with galway  in 1998  and 2001 then you can make a name for yourself  look at jom. Or course the manager can help with getting the right structures in place, tactcis and the likes but if you don't have the players forget about it.People in mayo foolishly thought that jom was going to be the answer to mayo's problems but at the end of the day he wasn't, the reason been the players were just not good enough 

[GalwayBayBoy]

Problem is Mickey Donnellan is/was irreplaceable as he was so unique and now it looks like PJ is well cooked and his shoes will be big ones to fill.

Well Donnellan was unique although to be fair to him Nicky Joyce has done a good impression of him this year.

Well Donnellan and Paul Clancy both retired a bit early IMO even though they have both had niggling injuries in recent years. Kevin Walsh (who had his own injury troubles) played on well into his 30's and he said that "he'd be retired long enough" once he finished up. When you see the likes of the older Geraghty and Fay still doing the business for Meath you'd have to think that the the other two called it a day a bit early. Donnellan is still playing great stuff for Salthill. Joyce by the way has no intentions of retiring yet according to himself.

However there is still a lot of talent in the county certainly comparable to and probably even more than some of the sides that reached the quarter-finals this year so no reason why they shouldn't do better next year with the right managment in place and a willingness to fix certain problems. I'd guarantee the team would be improved beyond sight with a Kevin Walsh type midfielder in there. Unfortunately those types don't grow on trees.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Anyway the only names I've heard linked so far have been...

Brian Talty
Gay McManus
Eoin O'Donnellan

[mannix]

DJ Galliv,

I am well aware of the Mayo glasshouse, 4 senior losses in 10 years has seen to that for ever.U21 stars do not always make senior stars because its a big jump for anyone except the top few.
Peters comment after that game really stuck in my head, hard to believe a Mayoman saying that after beating his own county.After losing to Sligo he knew his day was over no matter what else happened,quite sure he was told too.

[Hollow Man]

Great news for Galway fans.

If they get the right man, they'll be up there in the top 5 in no time at all.

Definitely much more talented skill-wise than the likes of Dublin or Cork.

[An Fhairche Abu]

As expected Ford has gone. Things didn't work out for him, I think that to be fair he probably didn't have the players to win an all ireland but his indecision on the line for the Cork match in 2005 was the real end of him. We were going well that year and really that was a game left behind for us, just look at first time manager's records recently and the momentum that counties seem to have under their tenure, we should have won that game.
Many of his moves during games were suspect enough, taking Meehan off in the Sligo game and moving Nicky when he was doing damage where he was were huge mistakes. In retrospect everyone critised him for dropping Joyce for the Meath game this year but hindsight is 20/20 vision, Joyce was muck in the Leitrim and Sligo games and changes were needed. Ford was a good man to get a team ready but on the line he wasn't up to the top level.

Losing to very average Westmeath and Sligo teams in 06 and 07 wasn't a good return in those years but best of luck to Peter in the future.

Anyway the only names I've heard linked so far have been...

Brian Talty
Gay McManus
Eoin O'Donnellan

Don't think that Eoin O'Donnellan or Pete Warren should be considered, a clean break from the current setup (and indeed from the previous Ford selectors) is what is needed.

Great news for Galway fans.

If they get the right man, they'll be up there in the top 5 in no time at all.

Definitely much more talented skill-wise than the likes of Dublin or Cork.

Disagree with that, Ford wasn't the right man but there's too much talk about "potential" Galway talent; at the end of the day it's up to players on the pitch to put in the performances to match.

Whoever comes in to take the reins they need to sort out midfield (easier said than done), leave Mike Meehan at FF for 70 minutes every match, get Armstrong playing to his potential, try and coax something out of P Joyce in the half forwards, tweak the backline to be a bit tighter (I don't think it is as bad as the Meath or Sligo game would have us believe, any defence will buckle under constant pressure) and most of all sort out the way the team as a whole plays, too many lads played as individuals under Ford's tenure and a game plan was not in evidence at times.
Galway are poor enough at the minute, it's a a big ask for whoever comes in.

[myball22]

Forde had to go and was about to be pushed. I'm glad as I don't think he was up to the job. He had a good start but the second half collapse to Cork in the quarter final a couple of years ago was the start of the rot.

The rumour is it's going to be a local man, no money for a manager from the outside. God knows who it is but they have a big job ahead of them. Midfield and the half forward line are in serious need of repair and could do with a few new faces aswell. Hopefully some of the minors will perform next day out so give us all a lift.

Question: When was the last Galway minor team in Croke Park? Have they appeared since the back door opened in 2001. I can't remember a Galway minor team in Croke Park since 1995. Am I right?

[Frank Casey]

Paidi O'Shea?