Official Galway manager thread

[Croí na hÉireann]

Interesting appointment, will be interesting to see how Tomás gets on in the west. I would safely say he'll take his backroom team from the clubs there, Seán Ó Domhnaill and the likes

[GaillimhIarthair]

Interesting appointment, will be interesting to see how Tomás gets on in the west. I would safely say he'll take his backroom team from the clubs there, Seán Ó Domhnaill and the likes

No!  Had his year with Big Joe and I doubt very much if he will be involved this time round.  Better selectors out there than Sean Fada TBH.

[Duine Eile]

When Pat Fallon withdrew his name the rumour was it was because he was coming in as a selector. Don't know how true that is though.

[Rossie11]

A great week for Galway..
New manager and a seriously handy draw for 2011 Connacht championship.
You play the winners of a game between 2 teams who didnt win a championship game
between them in 2010..
Whilst last years provincial finalists battle it out of the other side..
In fairness..... 

[GaillimhIarthair]

Well tomas welcome to the mad world of connacht fotball jesus if this thread is anything to go by interest in football in galway seems to be at an all time low

We just dont have as many Galway posters on the board unlike our Mayo counter parts.  Any day now Im sure Oliver Stone or Clint Eastwood willl stumble on the 90 odd page Mayo Manager thread and direct some cinematic epic that will do the whole process justice    Sure you might even get a role as an extra Deel 

[Peter Solan the Great]

Another outsider. What recession!

[the Deel Rover]

Well tomas welcome to the mad world of connacht fotball jesus if this thread is anything to go by interest in football in galway seems to be at an all time low

We just dont have as many Galway posters on the board unlike our Mayo counter parts.  Any day now Im sure Oliver Stone or Clint Eastwood willl stumble on the 90 odd page Mayo Manager thread and direct some cinematic epic that will do the whole process justice    Sure you might even get a role as an extra Deel 

some times you must feel like your the only galway poster gi as for the movie probably get roddy doyle to write a book and then a movie   probably call it the committed 

[GaillimhIarthair]

Well tomas welcome to the mad world of connacht fotball jesus if this thread is anything to go by interest in football in galway seems to be at an all time low

We just dont have as many Galway posters on the board unlike our Mayo counter parts.  Any day now Im sure Oliver Stone or Clint Eastwood willl stumble on the 90 odd page Mayo Manager thread and direct some cinematic epic that will do the whole process justice    Sure you might even get a role as an extra Deel 

some times you must feel like your the only galway poster gi as for the movie probably get roddy doyle to write a book and then a movie   probably call it the committed 

Very Good!

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Is Tomas still based up in Dublin?

[Rossfan]

He'll nearly pollute  the atmosphere as much as Mercodwyer with all the drivin' 

[Farrandeelin]

He'll nearly pollute  the atmosphere as much as Mercodwyer with all the drivin' 

Class Rossfan, never heard of him been referred to as that!

[GalwayBayBoy]

Tomas Ó Flatharta has revealed he feels privileged to have been appointed the new manager of the Galway Senior Football team.

Speaking exclusively on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta from New York in his first interview since being handed the role, Ó Flatharta told Seán Bán Breathnach that his first priority would be to put together his backroom team.

Ó Flatharta stated he would be looking for well-respected, experienced members for the team who could work together as a unit.

'The first job I have to do over the coming weeks is to finalise my backroom team. I have to sit down with a few people. I will be looking for people who have experience of dealing with teams, that have respect within the game and that are willing to work as part of a unit.

'I don't want to name anyone right now but I do have a few people in mind and I will be talking to them.'

Ó Flatharta believes the job will prove a significant test of his managerial abilities.

'It's a great challenge but I am looking forward to it. Galway are a big team with a lot of good players and a great tradition going back over the years. It's a great privilege for me to get this job and I am really looking forward to it.

'Last year someone came to me and asked if I would be interested in the job. I was just after finishing with Westmeath and I did not think I would go back into management, but when I heard it was Galway I changed my mind and decided to go for it.

'I did not get it that time but I was approached again this year and I applied again. I did my interview and it must have gone well because they offered me the job, and I'm very happy with that.'

Galway will face London or Mayo in the semi-finals of the 2011 Connacht Championship.

After a disappointing 2010, the new manager has stressed the importance of improvement next season.

'I know that this is a big job, and I can't get hung up on what has happened to Galway over the last few years. I have to look forward, that is my job.

'We all have a lot of learning to do. We have to look at the way we play, and we have to look around the county for more players, find them and, if they are good enough, give them a chance.

'Galway have a tradition of playing great, open football. The style of play I like is an attacking style, but you have to take other styles of play that have emerged in recent years into account as well. You have to get a mixture of everything. We have a good bit of learning and improving to do.'

[An Fhairche Abu]

Best of luck to Tomas and whoever else ends up on the ticket, a tough station ahead for ye in 2011 because the players are simply not there.

Well tomas welcome to the mad world of connacht fotball jesus if this thread is anything to go by interest in football in galway seems to be at an all time low

Expectations are at a low point and unless Galway are going well the support is always very poor for the population we have.

[IolarCoisCuain]

Ray Silke isn't too happy about the appointment, how it came about and the general state of football in the county: http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/blog/post/2010/10/11/O-Flathartas-biggest-rival-in-Galway-football-Apathy.aspx

We hear a lot of old shite in the (Dublin) media about how Connacht is always a two-horse race. No, it's not. If I were from Galway I would be deeply unhappy about all this.



O Flatharta's biggest rival in Galway football? Apathy.
October 11, 2010 10:45 by  Ray
Ray Silke
THINGS haven't been good in Galway football for quite a while now. Even from a distance, people appreciate and acknowledge that fact.
However during the process of selecting the new Galway manager, I noticed a new and sinister development in the county.
Apathy.
Many genuine supporters just seem to have lost their interest and passion for following the fortunes of Galway football. I asked a man who used to travel the country supporting the footballers ten years ago earlier in the week who he thought would get the job, and his reply hit hard;
"Who gives a toss*? The talent is not there, no matter who they get".   (*That is not the phrase he used. You know the one he did).
Some supporters have always been a fickle bunch, but even the die-hards are disinterested and disheartened by the constant defeats in the big games since 2001, and the slipshod manner in which a lot of things in Galway football are being done and have been done for the past few years.
Joe Kernan's appointment as county manager and the manner of his selection last year got a lot of tongues wagging, and the rant was anything but positive. His rapid departure only reaffirmed the rants.
As the joke goes in the county now - "It is not the lack of kick passing that is killing Galway football, but the solo runs from those in power".
To me there appears to be a complete disconnect with those that are the power brokers in the county and those that do the work on the ground, running clubs, and the supporters of the county teams.
There is a similarity between the relationship between the current government in power in Ireland and the citizens of the state, and the supporters of Galway football and some of the county board.
The fact that all club delegates were only sent texts late Thursday afternoon to be in the Galway football centre - Lough George - that night for a meeting to ratify Tomás Ó' Flatharta, tells you all you need to know about how they are being treated.
Keep them in the dark and then have a "snap-meeting" to stop any dissent at source. When you only give people three hours before a ratification process, they are not going to be able to get organised, even if they are unhappy.
That Peter Warren (Tuam Stars) who was a selector with John O'Mahony from 1998 to 2004 could be allowed to get a blast of text messages of congratulations on Thursday morning and numerous requests for interviews for Friday as probable Galway manager only highlights the way business is being done in the county
Anyway, looking to the future, will Tomás Ó Flatharta provide the vaccine to the apathy sweeping Galway football circles?
Nobody knows for sure, but it is asking an awful lot of a man that will have to commute from Dublin at a minimum of three or four times a week to work the oracle.
What was it Liam Sheedy said as he retired in Tipperary? - "16 hour working days" - and he did not have to spend four of them driving 220 miles, just to get to training sessions or trial games.
Being positive, progress under Ó'Flatharta would be seven or eight new players coming through to the senior squad, and being developed into better inter-county players and a bit of organisation and steel in the team when they go out to play big league games and championship.
New faces are needed badly in the Galway set-up. To prove my point; 12 of the 18 man panel used when Galway lost to Westmeath in 2006 (1-8 to 0-10) in the qualifiers (Ó'Flatharta was Westmeath manager) played for Galway in last summer's championship.
Tomás will face a baptism of fire and I would expect that the side will probably be relegated from Division 1 in the spring. 
They face Monaghan and Down away in their first two games and they have only three home games, against Mayo, Cork and Dublin.
It will be difficult to blood new players in that type of competitive environment and yet that is what must happen.
If the county is to be relegated a tier or two in order for new players to be tried out and developed in competitive inter-county league action, then so be it.
Sometimes you have to go backwards, to come forward.
In the championship, Ó' Flatharta will face Mayo in Castlebar - yes, they will beat London. And with a new man - James Horan - in situ in Mayo too, and a lot of their lads with much to prove after an utterly dismal 2010 championship run, that will not be easy. (In case you have forgotten, Mayo were defeated by Sligo & Longford. Galway were not any better, beaten by Sligo and Wexford at home).
John O'Mahony for his last three years, Peter Forde, Liam Sammon and Joe Kernan all discovered that there are major issues in Galway football and major problems.
Unfortunately, I think Tomás Ó Flatharta may be just the next victim to find out that there is a dearth of talent and proactive structures in the county.

Galway's 2011 Division One NFL fixtures:
Rd 1 Monaghan (away)
Rd 2 Down (away)
Rd 3 Mayo (home)
Rd 4 Kerry (away)
Rd 5 Cork (home)
Rd 6 Armagh (away)
Rd 7 Dublin (home)

[seafoid]

A great week for Galway..
New manager and a seriously handy draw for 2011 Connacht championship.
You play the winners of a game between 2 teams who didnt win a championship game
between them in 2010..
Whilst last years provincial finalists battle it out of the other side..
In fairness..... 

nice to see the rossies with their tails up .. for a change.
If O Flatharta could make some tangible progress like winning a QF within say 2 years I'd be happy.  I wouldn't be too worried about the league. Galway have been much better in this competition than in the championship in the last few years and what does it mean anyway ?   As long as we win another blast of all-Irelands  before Mayo reach the 100th barren anniversary of 1951..