27/05/2013 13:02:22
CaisleanCnucha
County: Dublin
Posts: 300

1392413
Walsh inherited a strong Sligo team who were Connacht champions at the time, that team is definitely good enough to challenge for provincial titles - Donovan, Harrison, Marren, Kelly (before injuries) and O' Hara (before retirement) are all very good footballers and there are others as well, Sligo football need a change in management.

He took over Sligo side that lost to London in the Tommy Murphy cup. They beat Mayo,Galway in 2010 and beat Galway again last year and got within two points of Mayo. Under his management Sligo won the Junior All Ireland only last weekend they beat Mayo in another Junior Connacht final


All this was even more remarkable when you consider how poor club football is in Sligo and Sligo haven't done won anything at minor or U-21 level.

Gaa_lover (USA) - Posts: 3347 - 27/05/2013 16:38:40    1392762

MaigheoAbu
County: Mayo
Posts: 2
That is the problem on here Many people posting without facts. The other thing is the clubs don't vote in the county manager, the county board does and had the existing county chairman been voted out this year the manager would have gone too but that is history now

Benbulben (Sligo) - Posts: 298 - 27/05/2013 17:07:04    1392798

Clubs have delegates who elect the county board. So they do have an indirect say in who gets elected as county manager as well. Or is it different in Sligo?. Also a post from a fellow Sligo man earlier stated that all bar 2 clubs ratified Kevin Walsh for the job. Is this post untrue because if not then the clubs and the board have to take responsibility just as much as Kevin Walsh does. And this was not (in my opinion) the view what was presented on the Sunday game last night by Eamon O'Hara. Last night was very specifically directed towards Kevin Walsh.

MaigheoAbu (Mayo) - Posts: 343 - 27/05/2013 17:39:29    1392832

@ GAA Lover

Does that take away from any of the points I made? They were still Connacht champions and had some very good footballers when he took over regardless of the club situation. I think he had a team capable of pushing on and winning more silverware - especially with the demise of other teams in Connacht, but since then they have only been runners up twice. I'm not placing the full blame on Walsh, Sligo football in general needs a mix up because I believe their footballers have the ability to achieve more than they have recently.

CaisleanCnucha (Dublin) - Posts: 1379 - 27/05/2013 17:48:34    1392846

So London bet Sligo. Big Whoop. The manager can hardly be held accountable for the loss to London. It's not a reflection of how good or bad the manager is and its taking the gloss off what was a well-deserved and long overdue London win.
Had Mayo succumb to London in 2011 and dispatched of Horan would Mayo or indeed Horan be in with a genuine shot of an All Ireland this year. Sligo is not a county graced with footballing talent and the guys have to work very hard to step up to the mark; that being said neither is London but what people must realise is London has "MORE" GAA clubs than counties like Sligo, Longford and Carlow and these clubs have seen an influx in young talent since the recession. Not making a joke of the situation but London probably has more exiled players at their disposal than Sligo. People need to take this result for what it was; a well-earned and long overdue win over a weakened Sligo side. No doubt Sligo would have won if they had Kelly and Kilcullen at their disposal.
While London is a long way off winning any sort of silverware, they are headed in the right direction and need to be supported from people this side of the pond.
O'Hara was an excellent footballer, a pundit he is not. From what I have seen thus far his analysis has been weak in my opinion and not worthy of my time on a Sunday evening. Ciaran Whealan's analysis on the other hand has been analytical and impartial, the way I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be.

campbelltommy (Mayo) - Posts: 103 - 27/05/2013 18:02:43    1392866

Sligo won the Connacht title in 2007 they had a poor year in 2008 Walsh took over them in Novmeber 2008 got them out of Div 4 and brought them up to div 2. Most of the lesser teams have good players take Wicklow,Longford for example would those sides by able to beat Mayo in Connacht? they will look back at the 2010 Connacht as one they could have won however the better side on the day won the Connacht title and London were better than Sligo yesterday as well.

Gaa_lover (USA) - Posts: 3347 - 27/05/2013 18:57:42    1392909

I personally feel O'Hara's comments were out of order, and he used his "professional" capacity as a pundit inappropriately. It was no place to air the dirty laundry. Walsh didn't deserve that slating on air.
Pity as he generally gives good objective commentary (apart from that subjective assault). As saying goes neither time nor place, has lost my respect!

Gael01 (Tyrone) - Posts: 74 - 27/05/2013 18:59:38    1392911

As a Sligo supporter, I am delighted with what both Eamon O'Hara and Tommy Breheny said in the aftermath of the game in Ruislip. I also agree with Ciaran Whelan's point about an outside manager is able to give a team a lift for 2/3 years but then you need to have in county man to take on the role of the job. The county board structure in Sligo is a joke at the present. There are great GAA people in the county but it's become so political that you just cannot get agreement to appoint the right people. I think Kevin Walsh has done a decent job in Sligo but should have been replaced last winter. Asking the county's best ever player to commit in November is farcical. Eamon deserved more but as Sligonian said earlier that the majority of Sligo GAA fans welcome the expose that he gave out last night.

TheCoolEra (Sligo) - Posts: 2 - 27/05/2013 19:57:51    1392971

All other teams are going 100% come November, KW has every right to do the same.

However great to finally see lads being honest on the air and not feeding us the same reserved s***

crossfieldball (Galway) - Posts: 650 - 27/05/2013 20:07:01    1392986

I find all the moralising and shock around O'Hara's comments very difficult to understand. What is this - the GAA goes hyper-polite and yellow livered? The only reason Walsh stayed in the job was because of County Board ineptitude. Breheny won Connacht, Walsh didn't but underage structures also went into decline under Walsh although obviously this was a larger County board responsibility.

But O'Hara made this clear, citing county board infighting as well as Walsh's poorness in management. Sligo have only won 3 Connachts and when Walsh and his backroom staff lost to Roscommon in the Connacht final debacle, they should have gone. Where is the argument there? It was, given the history, a frightful loss and a terrible indictment of management. So close and yet so far.

So what's the problem? No one can question O'Hara's commitment to the cause. Walsh and the County Board had their many chances. Get rid of the lot and start again. Look at the successes of Summerhill and Attracta's at school level and see the potential. I for one would love to see O'Hara take over as boss.

AclareJ (Sligo) - Posts: 1 - 27/05/2013 20:08:29    1392990

I have no problem with what O'Hara said. His grievances seem genuine and he has a lot of support here. He has given great service to Sligo and is nothing short of a hero to county masses.

It is where he said it & how is the problem. This might be an 'outsider' view but I feel strongly about player power. Essentially this is player power given O'Hara only recently left the panel.

For the record I think the following were also incorrect in their approach:

Limerick hurlers 2010
Cork Hurlers 2009
Waterford hurlers 2008

Why wait until now to say these things? Why say them on the Sunday game? Look at the examples above, did the aftermath in each county bear fruit? Limerick brought in Donal O'Grady and we did well in 2011 but won nothing. Cork brought in Denis Walsh & the highlight of his tenure was beating Tipp in 2010. Waterford brought in Davy Fitz who got them to an All-Ireland final but lost by 23 points .........

Tipp (2007/08) went about things in the correct manner in GAA terms. They put together a long term plan and it bore fruit. This thing that has crept into the GAA about sacking managers mid season is terrible. It leads to a bloke coming in, everyone giving their all for a month or so after the new appointment, then what?

In my opinion the best route for Sligo would to be to see out 2013, complete a review & then put a management team together to plan for 2014 & beyond. I'm sure if O'Hara were part of that team it would take the county forward.

slayer (Limerick) - Posts: 6480 - 27/05/2013 21:07:07    1393073

In my opinion it's easy to see that O'Hara had an agenda there and used TSG to pursue it.Unfair and unwise in the long run.

jerryp (Cork) - Posts: 104 - 28/05/2013 08:28:54    1393174

Still rumbling on
http://hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=193276

keithlemon (Australia) - Posts: 920 - 29/05/2013 09:31:05    1394106

Well O' Hara should stick to his own mantra now and not comment on any county other than his own ..... that will make great viewing on the Sunday Game.

Cute_Kerry_Hoor (Kerry) - Posts: 2518 - 29/05/2013 09:45:18    1394118

Cute_Kerry_Hoor
County: Kerry
Posts: 1900

1394118
Well O' Hara should stick to his own mantra now and not comment on any county other than his own ..... that will make great viewing on the Sunday Game.

Indeed, I met a Eamonn a few times and always seemed like a sound man but his recent comments are nonsensical, you should be able to comment on any county or subject you want no matter were you are from. This isn't north korea.

Tom1916 (Armagh) - Posts: 2001 - 29/05/2013 09:51:45    1394123

Great to see the sligo footballers coming out in support of walsh. O'Hara is complaining about guys being allowed to join the squad later when he wasnt, it doesnt seem to have dawned on him that maybe walsh didnt want him in his squad. It doesnt matter how much service you give to your county, at no point can a player have a bigger say than a manager, he seems to think that this doesnt apply to him.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 29/05/2013 10:02:58    1394129

Slayer, things are bad enough without putting EOH in charge, the county is split as it is.

allSOran (Sligo) - Posts: 690 - 29/05/2013 10:03:13    1394130

TheMaster:
O'Hara is complaining about guys being allowed to join the squad later when he wasnt, it doesnt seem to have dawned on him that maybe walsh didnt want him in his squad. It doesnt matter how much service you give to your county, at no point can a player have a bigger say than a manager, he seems to think that this doesnt apply to him.

Interesting point. Davy Fitz had similar issues before leaving the Clare setup at a similar age. Not sure if management thought similar to Donal Og in Cork

Ban (Westmeath) - Posts: 1415 - 29/05/2013 11:07:21    1394187

Only problem with any comments last weekend are that RTE by its strange format seems to facillitate anyone with personal rant or gripe to get air time to rubbish someone else. This is wrong, totally wrong, no matter even if the person speaking is saying the truth. Thats two weekends now we have had poor editioral control with people on this out-dated show. Its only a matter of time before someone over-reaches and brings not just the show but the very games into disrepute. If someone wants to have a pop go on facebook.......

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4896 - 29/05/2013 12:43:15    1394265

Ban
County: Westmeath
Posts: 74

If that was the case and he was not wanted, KW should have said so at the beginning and the whole saga would of been put to bed there and then, and not left to fester like it did. Once he brought Kilcullen into the squad he left himself wide open to criticism. At the end of the day if we had beaten London, all this would never have come to light in the national media.

Benbulben (Sligo) - Posts: 298 - 29/05/2013 12:43:58    1394266