Now that Gerlock has been shown the door, who is the man to get he best out of this talented, if slightly watery, bunch of players? Two candidates from within the county in Heverin and Michael Bond. Bond (with Mike Coleman, Joe Cooney and Steve Mahon as part of his team) will get alot of backing, probably moreso because of the three legends lining up behind him. Heverin (with Anthony Cunningham) has the more recent pedigree with what hes achieved at Portumna.
Would anyone from outside the county touch the job with a barge pole at this stage?
It was a tight vote. How are they going about filling the position now?
The Galway Hurling Board have sacked Ger Loughnane as Galway senior hurling manager.
Board delegates voted by 28 to 26 against his ratification.
Loughnane, who had been manager for two years, was not present at the vote in the Raheen Woods Hotel in Athenry last night.
Talk about Galway shooting themselves in the foot again and again.
28 to 26 shows how bitterly divided Galway hurling really is.
Bond has done it 'midstream' before with Offaly, but much and all of an admirer as I am of his back room team, great players don't always make great selectors. Oddly enough, wouldn't worry too much about our chances, a couple of winning games under our belt and things will start pulling together again; don't forget, Gerlock pised off a lot of players during his time in charge. The divided top table is a matter for another day and should / will have no relevance on the playing field.
As one who greatly welcomed Loughnane's appointment 2 years ago, I too felt he had to go. His style of management just didn't wash with Galway - the nadir being that evening in Cusack park where even his own players didn't know the line-up until 5 minutes before throw-in. That was unforgiveable.
Bring back Mattie Murphy, he knows galway club hurling and the underage talent better than most
if not than we always have Vicent Mullins (u21 boss for past 4 years)
not convinced with mr. bond and backroom team
by the way...who in the background team (selectors) did the players have it on for , was it mr. mulqueen or mr treacy ?
or was this a front for the issue of gerLog ?
Its gonna be an insider anyways judging by Miko Ryan's comment this morning that a Galway native was his preference.
Of the two that have said they would be interested, Id prefer Heverin but as Sylvie said, Mattie Murphy has earned his chance to have a shot at the job. Whether he would go forward again after prior kicks in the teeth is another story.
Ladbrokes suspend betting on new Galway manager
20 October 2008
Following a flurry of bets on Michael Bond becoming the new Galway hurling manager, Ladbrokes has closed the book on the market.
Bond, who led Offaly to All Ireland glory in 1998 is expected to form a dream ticket along with Galway hurling legends Michael Coleman, Steve Mahon and Joe Cooney.
Commenting, Donal McCarthy, Ladbrokes Ireland said; "If Mr Bond is appointed Ladbrokes will be shaken but not stirred. The only other likely candidate at this time is Portumna's Bainisteoir, Jimmy Heverin, but Michael Bond started out at evens and following the sacking of Ger Loughnane we had to suspend the market only 48 hours after it was posted.
"His team of selectors is a veritable who's who of Galway hurling legends so we can see a very positive response to that from the clubs in Galway. The Bond ticket has a home grown look to it also which is what Galway are looking for this time around."
Looks like Michael Bond has signed up and somebody has made a few quid off Ladbrokes in the process.
Should do well this coming year, if they can put few good strong players around the Joe show, id imagine they'd give most teams a good game. Maybe remain with the cats for a bit into the second half
they could all go on strike to buy themselves some time to think. If they speak to GAA/Donal OG he will advise them on the best way to throw their toys out of the pram.
Reports suggest we have it narrowed down to three candidates from the original eight.....Michael Bond, Noel Lane & John McIntyre. An announcement is likely tomorrow night. I've a feeling Bond has it sewn up. Whats the Offaly/Tipp opinion of McIntyre? Would he do any good with them?
Michael Bond is expected to be ratified as the new Galway hurling manager tonight.
The five-man selection committee met last night to finalise their choice of preferred candidate from three names - Bond, John McIntyre and Noel Lane - and it's widely expected that the Ardrahan man's name will be put forward for ratification at tonight's hurling board meeting.
Bond, who led Offaly to a famous All-Ireland triumph in 1998 after taking over from Michael 'Babs' Keating in mid-season, will head up an impressive management team which also consists of former players Joe Cooney, Michael Coleman and Steve Mahon.
McIntyre also managed the Faithful County on two separate occasions, while Lane previously managed Galway in 2001 and 2002, steering them to an All-Ireland final appearance in his first year at the helm.
Mc Intyre has been chosen as new manager!
Thats a shock...a huge surprise he was even in the last 3! Any word on a backroom team...ud imagine he'd want something impressive goin on to have swung it. Expect David Forde to be captain while it doesnt look good for lads like Cyril Donnellan given McIntyre's columns in the Tribune earlier this year.
Quote from: belleaqua on November 18, 2008, 10:19:55 PM
Thats a shock...a huge surprise he was even in the last 3! Any word on a backroom team...ud imagine he'd want something impressive goin on to have swung it. Expect David Forde to be captain while it doesnt look good for lads like Cyril Donnellan given McIntyre's columns in the Tribune earlier this year.
The selectors are John Hardiman, John Moylan & Joe Connolly. Hardiman is supposedly a serious operator and rumour has it he turned down approaches from Gerlock to get involved last year.
Forde will hardly be captain....he would be blessed to make the 15!
QuoteForde will hardly be captain....he would be blessed to make the 15!
Yes meant to say that was somewhat tongue in cheek. McIntyre was always a great promoter of Forde's cause, i agree he'l be very lucky to be on a starting Galway 15 especially a successful one. That looks a solid backroom team alright. Hardiman has been quiet on the intercounty team since the minors really.
Bond & Co must be in some state of shock this morning!
Interesting to see how John McIntyre will get on. He was a sound man in charge of Offaly, but his sense of realism (read pessimism) was almost legendary. I remember hims being interviewed before Offaly hurled Kilkenny in one of the more recent maulings, albeit not the 31 point one. It was on Midlands Radio 3, and after appealing to the supporters to 'come out tomorrow and give the lads a big boost', he then was asked if he felt Offaly had a chance. Instead of the stock reply 'Sure we'll turn up and give it our best shot, if we play well and they have a bad day blah blah blah' John came up with this Gem.
'Look Ricey*, you have more chance of bumping into a Polar Bear in the Sahara Desert, walking around with a bag of ice on his head trying to keep cool'.
It didn't exactly rank up there with 'We'll fight them on the beaches'. :D
* May not have been Ricey Scully, but it was one of them,
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D thats great! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
McIntyre first team is announced.
Team:
1.callanan
2.cullinane
3.mccleran
4.moore
5.coen
6.kavanagh
7.mahon
8.forde
9.healy
10.killilea
11.donnelan
12.gantley
13.callanan
14.healy
15.farragher
picked the wrong manager, the wrong squad and now lost one of their best players. not looking good.
Quote from: INDIANA on January 15, 2009, 10:49:41 AM
picked the wrong manager, the wrong squad and now lost one of their best players. not looking good.
Bit early to say Galway picked the wrong manager. He hasn't even had a game yet. Would be hard to do worse than Loughnane anyway.
Wrong squad I don't really understand unless you know of some hidden gems in Galway club hurling that we are unaware of. Only name of any consequence missing from the first squad was Alan Kerins who will probably be back later on in the year anyway.
John Lee being unavailable is a loss alright as you want to have as many good players as you can get hold of but his form last year for Galway was very up and down. In fairness he has his plate full with his medical studies so a dip in form is maybe understandable. Hopefully we will see him back in the near future.
Not an easy start for McIntyre though. He has to do without the Portumna contingent and a number of players out injured. Having Lee opt out for the year was probably not what he wanted to hear on top of that.
I think its a bigger loss than it looks, I can't for the life of me figure out how galway with all the talent can't find a full back and now have lost their centre back with few alternatives.
Quote from: INDIANA on January 16, 2009, 01:08:26 AM
I think its a bigger loss than it looks, I can't for the life of me figure out how galway with all the talent can't find a full back and now have lost their centre back with few alternatives.
Well Loughrea's Damien McLearn has probably been the best full-back in Galway club hurling for the past few years but has refused invitations to join the county panel until this year due to other commitments. It would be a big boost if he could make that position his own.
Lee will obviously be a loss but I guess Shane Kavanagh will be given a chance to fill the centre back berth and he was one of Galway's best performers last year so hopefully he will manage to do a decent job there.
I honest don't think it is, the main thing for Galway is to get a number of championship games/win under their belts such as a leinster qtr-final, semi-final etc. and then go into the back door with a stronger and settled team.
Quote from: hatchetfield on January 16, 2009, 03:12:11 PM
Would winning Leinster be the main objective in Galway boys?
I honestly don't think winning Leinster would mean much to them in itself which is understandable enough as they are not from the province however if winning Leinster means you are getting more good quality games against sides like Kilkenny then that can only help the team develop and hopefully leave them in a stronger position later in the year.
If Galway do win Leinster will it not be weird? Im mean im glad there in leinster because it gives a greater chance of all ireland success. But seeing Galway lift the leinster trophy will just not feel right IMO.
Dont forget to sing the WESTS AWAKE though!!
We only have 6 hurling clubs so we just cant give them a proper Connacht championship against 30+ hurling clubs in Galway although Offaly seem to make the most of what theyve got club wise in both codes. I can only hope our hurling alliance with the midlanders can bestow some wisdom on us and push on from there.
When was the last time wexford gave them a real scare?
Galway haven't a prayer of beating the cats, same as all the other teams in leinster. All you read with galway is potential. Long on potential , short on delivery. Bit like being impotent.
Quote from: INDIANA on January 16, 2009, 05:01:05 PM
Galway haven't a prayer of beating the cats, same as all the other teams in leinster.
Galway have beaten Kilkenny in All-Ireland semi-finals in both 2001 and 2005 which is probably a better record than anyone has against the Cats in recent years. Granted they have dished out a few humpings to Galway as well but Galway teams generally don't fear Kilkenny teams whether it be intercounty or club. Or at underage.
Doesn't mean you'll beat them mind as they set the standard.