Sunday Times Today - Widespread payments to managers

[pedro]

Anyone read this today. Gives an insight into the extent of payments toward (club) managers and quote the figures some managers getting. Obviously they do not name clubs but you can make an educated guess on some of them. Also gives the average payment to club managers per county. I don't know how they got the figures it thay will never reveal their sources but I would reckon they are not all that far away.

Sorry, I don't have any links to the article. Maybe someone can post it

[Pangurban]

Bandwagon Journalism, picking topical subject to fly a kite which will attract attention and hopefully produce response. Usual tactic employed, vague wordy article devoid of any substantial or verifiable facts, but heavy on innuendo and aspersion. Best ignored

[hoop]

Bandwagon Journalism, picking topical subject to fly a kite which will attract attention and hopefully produce response. Usual tactic employed, vague wordy article devoid of any substantial or verifiable facts, but heavy on innuendo and aspersion. Best ignored

Well done. Stick your head in the sand and pretend that nothing is happening. Most of us are less deluded.

[DUBSFORSAM1]

Bandwagon Journalism, picking topical subject to fly a kite which will attract attention and hopefully produce response. Usual tactic employed, vague wordy article devoid of any substantial or verifiable facts, but heavy on innuendo and aspersion. Best ignored

How is that different to all the abuse the GPA got about wanting professionalism etc etc etc that you took part in???

[dublinfella]

Bandwagon Journalism, picking topical subject to fly a kite which will attract attention and hopefully produce response. Usual tactic employed, vague wordy article devoid of any substantial or verifiable facts, but heavy on innuendo and aspersion. Best ignored

so you are denying managers get paid?

[hoop]

No. Managers don't get paid.

Anyone who claims otherwise obviously hasn't read the fascist GAA propaganda book.

[Bud Wiser]

Cost for team expenditure in Laois for last year was five hundred and three thousand, one hundred and ninety smackers, or half a million give or take a few bob.  Breakdown as follows according to Sunday Trib.

Cost of running Hurling & Football teams.  €503,190.

Catering & Overnights -  Football. €59,465, Hurling €58232
Player Travel - Football, €84,286 - Hurling €87,036
Management Expenses. - Football €68,365 - Hurling €24,650 (It costs three times more to manage hurlers than footballers)
Training.  Football- €47,756 - Hurling €21,335  (footballers gyms are more expensive than hurlers)
Sports Gear. Football €45,765 - Hurling €29,653
Medics & Physio. Football 30,709 - Hurling €16,047  (Hurlers don't get injured or have to be as fit)
Hurleys & Balls including footballs €17,623.
Buses. Football €11,000 - Hurling €8650/

So there you have it, we got by on half a million and clubs like Carlow, (€421,000) and Wicklow (€197,600)

The Dub's by the way went through €898,000, or One Million. (and still had to get a Donegal man to score the points that drew with Carlow in the O'Byrne Cup)

So maybe there is a need for the GPA after all - only in counties like Carlow and for hurlers because with teams going through one million a year I see no need for them.  Take my own county, €11,000 on hurls and footballs? In my day we bought our own.  The idiots in Cork, the ones who get free exposure and documentary programs about themselves on RTE and whose hospital bills get looked after won't use them. They want to go on strike, sorry, have gone on strike and I hope they are left on strike.

For as long as one team has One Million at its disposal and a cavalcade of sports scientists and head shrinks touring along with them to counties that are running on a shoe string we will always have what we fondly call, weaker counties.

[Leo]

Interesting Bud Weser but I think the management expenses of the fooyballers as opposed to the hurllers was greater by the figures you quote.
Anyway, in the same article did you notice how few Ulster counties had figures available. Now all of these counties had conventions recently where they have to give an annual account so what is going on with this?

[AZOffaly]

I'm glad this was raised yesterday. As someone who is fundementally opposed to pay for play, how can the GAA say something along those lines to players, yet at the same time turn a blind eye to this? I've always said that valid, receipted expenses and mileage are fair enough, for both players and managers/selectors, but anything above that is wrong, 100%.

The only people who should receive a profit payment for their services to GAA are those people for whom it is their job. Full time administrators, physios, doctors and masseurs. Players, coaches, selectors, managers should get their expenses, gear, holidays and nothing else.

[Bud Wiser]

I'd say they could be right, "I'm not telling" is part of the GAA rule of Omerta since it's foundation and although Laois provided the informaton in detail there is one part of me says they were right to be open about it but there is another that says the Tribune should go and take a jump for themselves, it is none of their business how a county board spends their money.  It is harder to get the Ulster boys to disclose information at random to be splattered all over the papers, they just pick up the phone an pick the spot on the wall. There is a huge inequality though and not just betwen counties but between hurling and football.  Now, if this inequality between hurling and football is so apparent in counties like Laois where we are a "Dual Code County" what hope has hurling got in deepest Kerry?

[his holiness nb]

The Dub's by the way went through €898,000, or One Million. (and still had to get a Donegal man to score the points that drew with Carlow in the O'Byrne Cup)

Quality Bud, when he is found drunk of the street he is a Dub, but when scoring points he's a Donegal man, I like the style 

Paying managers is a big problem and there should be a huge investigation into this to eradicate it.
Why ignore it, its clearly against the rules. I cant prove its happening but its quite clear from what guys within clubs are saying its going on.

AZ got it spot on.

We should treat this as a priority and sort it out immediately.
We have pro grant guys using it as a excuse to render the anti grant argument "hypocritical" because of it also.

Plus it encourages idiots like Hoop to call the GAA, and therefore its members fascists.
Of course its not true, but it people at his level who love this stuff.

[dublinfella]

the Tribune should go and take a jump for themselves, it is none of their business how a county board spends their money. 

Hmmmm. Are you suggesting its not worthy of comment that managers get paid or that it should be a 'commercial' secret how much?

[Bud Wiser]

Paying managers is a big problem and there should be a huge investigation into this to eradicate it.
Why ignore it, its clearly against the rules. I cant prove its happening but its quite clear from what guys within clubs are saying its going on.

Let's call a spade a spade and I agree with you 100% your holiness, but this thing needs to be sorted.  All the county board statements (Financial ones) never addressed the money that us good hearted souls subscribe by the way of Supporters Clubs.  In some counties this amounts to over €300,000.  So if they already have One Million in the case of the Dub's or half a million in the case of Laois at their disposal what is the requirement for some poor father of five or six young lads who is seen wearing his county jersey and who can bareley afford to pay the amounts involved in attending three away games, for him to be accused of not being a true supporter unless he is a member of the supporters club?  Fair enough if he is a member of the supporters club to get tickets for his family and to try and reduce the costs of what can be up to €400 to attend a game in Croke Park, but if he is handing money to a club that is going to give it to a manager then it is time that this was sorted.

Now, having called a spade a spade, lets call a shovel a shovel.  When Micko was managing Laois I would have through normal events met many Laois supporters in Croke Park, Outside Croke Park and in pubs (where we drink responsibly !) and through conversation it would be alleged that Micko was well worth the money he was getting, Micko was a rip off, he was being paid too much, Micko had a free house and a hundred grand a year, Micko was this and Micko was that.  That is what was being said, smoke and fire being the way I think.  So, for the purpose of this post, Micko had a tax inspection and everything was A.O.K., but then again your books can be OK until someone starts squeeling like a pig, ask Bertie Ahern.

I want to make it clear, I am not saying Micko got a hundred grand and the use of the Heritage Hotel and a free house for his use in the Heritage and anything else but what I will say is that the rumours have to get to the players and down through the clubs. In other words there are issues regardless of who is squeeky clean or who is on the take.  Until those issues are addressed then the GPA have a stick to beat us all with.  Much as it hurts me to say, fair play to the Dub's, they have their own county manager like Kerry, Tyrone and Armagh and any team in hurling or football that have won all-irelands recently.  The beginning of the managers fee being addressed would be to ensure that all counties have managers from their own counties - and if they have nobody good enough select one or two and send them on a badge course like the soccer boyos do.

[lynchbhoy]

I dont think payment of managers and payment of players are the same thing at all.

If a club has to get an outsider in to manage the team for whatever reason, you cannot expect a guy t give up his free time for a club that isnt his own for nothing!

There has to be compensation.
However, players actually PLAY the game and do not deserve payment other than expenses.


Administration, coaching of kids and managing/coaching of adult teams is not playing therefore cannot com under the same auspices as payment to players/amateurism.IMO.

However, Croke park should move to regulate managers payments and create an accepted scale, this should hopefully help end the extortionate fees these guys charge.

[Bud Wiser]

However, Croke park should move to regulate managers payments and create an accepted scale, this should hopefully help end the extortionate fees these guys charge.

And that in a nutshell is the answer - except that it should be a standard charge and this crap of multiplying the number of miles from Waterville to Wicklow or from Paid O'Se's pub to Mullingar and then multiplying it by 2 x 7 and then by two euro plus two dinners a trip etc, etc, is not how to regulate it. It is not good enough to say that a certain amount of expenses can be justified and the answer is that managers should manage their own counties and nobody elses and if they have not got managers good enough to do the job then teach them.