HoganStand GAA Football and Hurling

National Forum

New Senior Manager

(Oldest Posts First) - Go To The Latest Post

You need to Login to Post

Replying To Wmeath2: "What exactly has Jack Cooney done or won as a manager? Don't know anything about him so just wondering why his name has been rolled out every time manager has come up over the last 8 years. I think whoever it is should have John Keane as manager to have continuity between U20 team and senior team. Maybe a little bit inexperienced to take on senior job yet." using your same logic - what has John Keane done to get this job either! Meridian (Westmeath) - Posts: 601 - 17/07/2017 15:47:47 2018226 Link
Would like to see Cunningham with Keane, and maybe Budda as selectors but money will be the major stumbling block. Cunningham has experience having managed Garrycastle in the past and knows how to run a county squad. Our defence needs to learn how to defend and not suck the rest of the team back. Against Offaly the players retreated but didn't know what to do or who to follow, ball or players and the same happened against Dublin. I know we have a small pool of players but if organised properly we can be competitive at a decent level. Chops (Westmeath) - Posts: 775 - 17/07/2017 22:52:26 2018419 Link
Replying To Chops: "Would like to see Cunningham with Keane, and maybe Budda as selectors but money will be the major stumbling block. Cunningham has experience having managed Garrycastle in the past and knows how to run a county squad. Our defence needs to learn how to defend and not suck the rest of the team back. Against Offaly the players retreated but didn't know what to do or who to follow, ball or players and the same happened against Dublin. I know we have a small pool of players but if organised properly we can be competitive at a decent level." Monaghan have been competitive at Division 1 level for a number of years by being extremely well organised and with 1 or 2 classy forwards. They would have a simular pool of players to pick from. We certainly have the forward power in Heslin so this managerial appointment is crucial for future development of this team, which is running out of time with most lads hitting late 20's. Wmeath2 (Westmeath) - Posts: 176 - 18/07/2017 14:32:52 2018679 Link
Replying To Wmeath2: "Monaghan have been competitive at Division 1 level for a number of years by being extremely well organised and with 1 or 2 classy forwards. They would have a simular pool of players to pick from. We certainly have the forward power in Heslin so this managerial appointment is crucial for future development of this team, which is running out of time with most lads hitting late 20's." There is a reason that Monaghan have been operating in Div 1 for years and Westmeath have yo yo'd from Div 4 to Div 2. I'm not even going to count the 1 year we had in Div 1 as realistically we didnt belong there. We got lucky and caught a number of teams on the hop that year in Div 2. Monaghan and the other northern teams are way ahead in player development because of how competitive the Schools and Colleges game is up there. They are physically more developed than our players and southern teams (rural) are playing catchup for years and are not closing the gap either. In my opinion, Westmeath are not at all comparable to Monaghan. Meridian (Westmeath) - Posts: 601 - 18/07/2017 15:30:26 2018721 Link
anthony cunningham would be a great apppointment . as for selectors i would like to see someone like ollie keating or michael ennis . im sick listening about budda mangan and john keane . i would think that anthony cunningham would bring in dessie dolan jnr with him mickcunningham (Westmeath) - Posts: 1806 - 18/07/2017 15:36:03 2018724 Link
Replying To Wmeath2: "Monaghan have been competitive at Division 1 level for a number of years by being extremely well organised and with 1 or 2 classy forwards. They would have a simular pool of players to pick from. We certainly have the forward power in Heslin so this managerial appointment is crucial for future development of this team, which is running out of time with most lads hitting late 20's." very little hurling in Monaghan though Westmeath's population is overstated by the two large towns and the % of people in them who actually play gaa. valley84 (Westmeath) - Posts: 1890 - 18/07/2017 15:49:14 2018741 Link
Replying To mickcunningham: "anthony cunningham would be a great apppointment . as for selectors i would like to see someone like ollie keating or michael ennis . im sick listening about budda mangan and john keane . i would think that anthony cunningham would bring in dessie dolan jnr with him" Whats wrong with Budda and John Keane? Budda had a good run with the ladies and John Keane was our best ever defender, an area that needs serious attention. What credentials has Ollie Keating of late? I would agree with Natchie Ennis. As for Dessie I doubt he is going to give up the cushy Sunday game job to work with a county board that he had a colourful history with to say the least. Chops (Westmeath) - Posts: 775 - 18/07/2017 19:50:46 2018894 Link
I think we will probably go for local manager but my choice would be John Evans of Kerry and is available give him a Renault and away we go . He has plenty of experience and would take no bull from players Rogers (Westmeath) - Posts: 20 - 18/07/2017 21:44:44 2018959 Link
I dont think we should rush into any appointment. The local Championships are not going to unearth someone that we dont already know about so its not essential that a manager is in place for that. I think it is more important to lay foundation for future success and for that we need change from the top down at CB level and Football Board (FB) level. The same tired old faces have to be exchanged for a bit of freshness, new ideas, new ways of thinking. The CB and FB then need to sit down and discuss our realistic ambitions for the coming years and work towards that with a management team which understands the plan from the CB and FB. Our current Senior team/panel, in my opinion, is not capable of winning a provincial title. The talent is not there at this moment. So we shouldnt be running up costs of a team that is trying to. We need to concentrate our spend on underage to provide our kids with the facilities and conditions which will keep them away from other sports and concentrate on GAA. Its a long road ahead and it will be even longer if the same heads are over the CB and FB. Meridian (Westmeath) - Posts: 601 - 19/07/2017 07:36:36 2019042 Link
Replying To Rogers: "I think we will probably go for local manager but my choice would be John Evans of Kerry and is available give him a Renault and away we go . He has plenty of experience and would take no bull from players" John Evans would be a great appointment for Westmeath Cuckoosinging (Roscommon) - Posts: 992 - 19/07/2017 09:59:20 2019101 Link
I would agree with a lot of what Meridian says above, we really need to put proper structures in place for underage to plan for a few years down the road and try and develop the young lads in the proper way and a new fresh young board would drive this forward but nothing will change at board level unfortunately.. as for a new manager Anthony Cunningham may be the best candidate if he was interested, it will be interesting to see who goes for it, I personally would not like to see Budda or jack cooney involved also John Keane is to negative tactically wise in my opinion.. Luke Dempsey if interested woul dbe another option and what about Peter Leahy? dec (None) - Posts: 271 - 19/07/2017 10:13:50 2019110 Link
Replying To Meridian: "I dont think we should rush into any appointment. The local Championships are not going to unearth someone that we dont already know about so its not essential that a manager is in place for that. I think it is more important to lay foundation for future success and for that we need change from the top down at CB level and Football Board (FB) level. The same tired old faces have to be exchanged for a bit of freshness, new ideas, new ways of thinking. The CB and FB then need to sit down and discuss our realistic ambitions for the coming years and work towards that with a management team which understands the plan from the CB and FB. Our current Senior team/panel, in my opinion, is not capable of winning a provincial title. The talent is not there at this moment. So we shouldnt be running up costs of a team that is trying to. We need to concentrate our spend on underage to provide our kids with the facilities and conditions which will keep them away from other sports and concentrate on GAA. Its a long road ahead and it will be even longer if the same heads are over the CB and FB." Good idea Meridian, but let's be honest, there seems to be very little interest from anyone around the county to get involved at CB level and it's wrapped up between those already involved who just rotate jobs between themselves. As for development, speaking to people in Leinster gaa, Westmeath are the worst county in Leinster in terms of development, coaching etc and are miles behind the likes of Longford and Wexford. Very worrying. If I was CB, instead of funding the senior team, as you say, why not employ (or get Croke Park to employ) another development coach to take the burden off the 2 lads already there. Wmeath2 (Westmeath) - Posts: 176 - 19/07/2017 10:19:59 2019112 Link
Half the people here seem to think we have the players to challenge and just need a high profile manager like James Horan to sort us. Others think we dont have the players now and need to invest in the future through youth development. Both these cost lots of money so whats the CB going to do? They'll go for short term success to keep their jobs and keep pumping all the money into the senior team martyW (Westmeath) - Posts: 319 - 19/07/2017 13:55:51 2019280 Link
Replying To martyW: "Half the people here seem to think we have the players to challenge and just need a high profile manager like James Horan to sort us. Others think we dont have the players now and need to invest in the future through youth development. Both these cost lots of money so whats the CB going to do? They'll go for short term success to keep their jobs and keep pumping all the money into the senior team" Thats the joy of the 5 year rule for you! Every Chairman will want to be remembered and as a result will do whatever they can in the short term to get success in their 5 years at the helm. Its a ludicrous situation. Every County board should have the right to make their own decisions in regard to who is on their executive. While we would love change I am sure that there are other counties who have excellent CB's and would like them to stay beyond their 5 years but they cannot because of this rule. Meridian (Westmeath) - Posts: 601 - 19/07/2017 14:24:27 2019304 Link
there is a lot of money spent in the county on coaching and games development but its a very well kept secret as to how it is spent valley84 (Westmeath) - Posts: 1890 - 19/07/2017 16:04:11 2019367 Link
Replying To Wmeath2: "Good idea Meridian, but let's be honest, there seems to be very little interest from anyone around the county to get involved at CB level and it's wrapped up between those already involved who just rotate jobs between themselves. As for development, speaking to people in Leinster gaa, Westmeath are the worst county in Leinster in terms of development, coaching etc and are miles behind the likes of Longford and Wexford. Very worrying. If I was CB, instead of funding the senior team, as you say, why not employ (or get Croke Park to employ) another development coach to take the burden off the 2 lads already there." Agreed, theres other reasons why theres not a flood of young people going for these jobs. Its a time consuming job that takes up a lot of a persons spare time and can intrude into work life also. People are very quick to jump at the county board and look for change but if there are no young people trying to push there way in and willing to give up so much spare time then it will remain the way it is. I still believe we missed a golden opportunity in 2004 to develop the kids who witnessed their idols create history, and to form some sort of a decent academy structure. Croke park says it is always willing to invest in weaker counties as long as a decent plan is put to them. Someone in the county board needs to stand up and push harder for funding and come up with some ideas to improve club and county football at all levels. We are years behind in terms of underage development. Chops (Westmeath) - Posts: 775 - 19/07/2017 23:28:27 2019665 Link
Replying To Chops: "Agreed, theres other reasons why theres not a flood of young people going for these jobs. Its a time consuming job that takes up a lot of a persons spare time and can intrude into work life also. People are very quick to jump at the county board and look for change but if there are no young people trying to push there way in and willing to give up so much spare time then it will remain the way it is. I still believe we missed a golden opportunity in 2004 to develop the kids who witnessed their idols create history, and to form some sort of a decent academy structure. Croke park says it is always willing to invest in weaker counties as long as a decent plan is put to them. Someone in the county board needs to stand up and push harder for funding and come up with some ideas to improve club and county football at all levels. We are years behind in terms of underage development." still don't know why we don't have a full time administrator in the county to take care of all the paperwork, admin, promotional and finance stuff leaving the voluntary roles and committees in the county to get on with planning and running the show. there's even funding from Croke Park towards full time administrators! valley84 (Westmeath) - Posts: 1890 - 20/07/2017 00:17:18 2019685 Link
Replying To Meridian: "There is a reason that Monaghan have been operating in Div 1 for years and Westmeath have yo yo'd from Div 4 to Div 2. I'm not even going to count the 1 year we had in Div 1 as realistically we didnt belong there. We got lucky and caught a number of teams on the hop that year in Div 2. Monaghan and the other northern teams are way ahead in player development because of how competitive the Schools and Colleges game is up there. They are physically more developed than our players and southern teams (rural) are playing catchup for years and are not closing the gap either. In my opinion, Westmeath are not at all comparable to Monaghan." cunningham would be a good addition but would require some excellent coaches and selectors. He is a hurling man basically and a good motivator. After that coaching and team selection are his weak areas. i do hope the westmeath county board have plenty of money as cunningham does not come cheap and has a reputation of being a "money man". If Kevin McStay can leave as as GAA pundit then why not Dessie Dolan leaving RTE as a pundit to help out Westmeath???? greatgalway (Galway) - Posts: 29 - 20/07/2017 09:02:37 2019742 Link
dessie wont leave yet but anthony cunningham is being touted out my area as being the preferred candidate . i hope the appointment is made quickley . one thing i would do is get rid of some of the hangers on whom make up the backroom team . great news this morning michael ryan is staying . good work co board mickcunningham (Westmeath) - Posts: 1806 - 20/07/2017 10:22:14 2019794 Link
Replying To valley84: "still don't know why we don't have a full time administrator in the county to take care of all the paperwork, admin, promotional and finance stuff leaving the voluntary roles and committees in the county to get on with planning and running the show. there's even funding from Croke Park towards full time administrators!" Agreed! Chops (Westmeath) - Posts: 775 - 20/07/2017 10:23:26 2019795 Link