Yeah i would agree with that besidetheditch............ I'd say his players would do anything for him as his man management skills are immense, and if a manager has players who are like that they are on to a good thing........ He is certainly not afraid to make big decisions, he dropped Marc O'Shea for the first semi final last year and when he did put him on, he was like a man possessed....... This type of thing is very healthy within a squad and I bet the whole Kerry panel were looking at this and saying if he is dropping Marc then I could be dropped at any stage which agin provides that hunger and desire of every single player which is only a good thing....... Big decisions need to made at this level and Fitzmaurice is not afraid to make them

ben1977 (Donegal) - Posts: 364 - 25/06/2015 10:06:28    1742383

Hard to assess. There are some managers who have great teams to manage but that too adds pressure. While others manage teams with limited resources. There is no fair yardstick here, although on the balance of it, MAlachy ORourke gets my nod.

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 25/06/2015 10:11:09    1742388

Possibly Rory Gallagher. An awful lot of people still consider Donegal to be Jim McGuinness' team. Even if you search for 'Donegal football manager' on Google, McGuinness' name will appear as the first result.

I think Gallagher has pushed Donegal up another gear, and deserves great credit.

ringo (Wexford) - Posts: 384 - 25/06/2015 10:27:16    1742399

I hope your right ringo, but just a little early to say for sure, I hope to be revisiting this page in September and agree 100% with you.....

ben1977 (Donegal) - Posts: 364 - 25/06/2015 10:49:18    1742424

Jack O Connor never got the credit he deserved

mhunicean_abu (Monaghan) - Posts: 1044 - 25/06/2015 11:30:23    1742457

For me Pat Gilroy

His drive to succeed was unreal

Ban (Westmeath) - Posts: 1415 - 25/06/2015 13:15:07    1742533

Two Lough shore men Eamonn Coleman and Jim McKeever

4KHDoneill (Derry) - Posts: 182 - 25/06/2015 13:58:08    1742558

Green and Red, ya Mickey Moran was awful hard done by, first year in charge and he galvanised a team that was well beat in 2004 final and limped out of 2005 championship. Ok in 2006 they came up against an exceptional Kerry side, but how he cut have been cut lose after one season after getting to an All Ireland was ridiculous.

I'd have James Horan up there too, if he was with any of the other top 5 counties he would have brought them Sam. I think he was found out a little tactically in the replay by Fitzmaurice and I thought Horan made a few strange calls on the sideline that day, but overall he brought Mayo football to another level.

I'll put it like this, in the past I wouldn't have had a huge amount of respect for Mayo football in all honestly. I considered them chokers and a team that too easily believed their own hype even when they had nothing to show for it. But once Horan took them over, that all changed. They became a serious serious outfit and they earned my respect by their displays last year in the semi-final. we won't underestimate them again down here. If I was the Cork County Board I'd be chasing Horan like mad, think what he could do for them!


Don't worry Ben, down in the Kingdom we thank the good Lord every day for Eamon Fitzmaurice. We know when we have something good. Like Jack before him, Kerry have been privileged to produce two of the finest managers in the history of the game over the past decade. Its no wonder Fitzy is so astute considering he earned his stripes as part of Jack's set up.

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 25/06/2015 14:14:03    1742571