Who are/were the most under estimated manager's in the inter-county scene?

Sligo pulled off a great coup in Niall Carew. Like with his time at Waterford, he is doing a great job with the Yeats County given the resources available. Himself and Ronan Sweeney football's new Jim McGuinness/Rory Gallagher watch this space!

PortInFaithful (Offaly) - Posts: 472 - 24/06/2015 15:58:14    1742182

Not sure if he is too underrated anymore but I cant recall a manager improving the fortunes of a team over the last three years as much as Malachy O'Rourke has with us. I was at the qualifer in Portlaoise back in 2012 and I thought we were gone for the rest of the decade leaving the ground so it takes some management to come in get us promoted from Div 3 to finish 3rd in Division 1,an Ulster title, three straight Ulster Final appearances, two All Ireland quarter final appearances with largely the same players who were so disillusioned in 2012.

seanie08 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1799 - 24/06/2015 16:05:42    1742189

James Horan.

Got a lot of criticism from the hindsight brigade. But what he did for football in mayo was unprecedented.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 24/06/2015 16:10:52    1742195

Pat Gilroy, Made the changes needed and got us to first All Ireland in 16 years.That team are still evolving.

Dubh_linn (Dublin) - Posts: 2312 - 24/06/2015 16:23:49    1742203

Mickey Moran in 2006. Shafted by the county board who favoured The Blueshirt. Things went rapidly downhill after that.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7345 - 24/06/2015 17:46:54    1742253

Dubh_linn
County: Dublin
Posts: 300

1742203
Pat Gilroy, Made the changes needed and got us to first All Ireland in 16 years.That team are still evolving.


Changes such as ? Hope you don't mind answering , just interested in this Dublin team, goodluck Sunday

MonaghanGlory (Monaghan) - Posts: 738 - 24/06/2015 18:17:18    1742261

Correct me if I'm wrong but Malachy O'Rourke also done well with a club from Derry and Fermanagh back in 08 I think it was

MonaghanGlory (Monaghan) - Posts: 738 - 24/06/2015 18:19:35    1742263

James Horan in Mayo....unprecedented?
Might need to look that one up

conordee (Galway) - Posts: 440 - 24/06/2015 18:43:06    1742267

Malachy O'Rourke probably the best manager in the game at the minute. I only wish we had him in Cavan. I remember when he took over, Monaghan were on a downward spiral and the talk was about a team on their last legs, facing a grim future. Meanwhile, in Cavan, all the talk was "the future is blue".

The rest as they say, is history.

Ned_Stormcrow (Cavan) - Posts: 1071 - 24/06/2015 19:30:38    1742273

Ya James horan as well.

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 24/06/2015 19:33:13    1742275

24/06/2015 18:17:18
MonaghanGlory
County: Monaghan
Posts: 315

1742261
Dubh_linn
County: Dublin
Posts: 300

1742203
Pat Gilroy, Made the changes needed and got us to first All Ireland in 16 years.That team are still evolving.


Changes such as ? Hope you don't mind answering , just interested in this Dublin team, goodluck Sunday

No problem Monaghanglory,
Before Gilroy Dublin teams were essentially seen as fragile mentally and were not capable of getting over the line in the big games. Gilroy brought in new players and backroom staff and brought about a stronger mentality which is an essential part of winning. I believe he and Mickey Whelan with probably some advice from Heffo helped bring about a change that is still benefiting Dublin today.

By the way,good luck in Ulster yourself.

Dubh_linn (Dublin) - Posts: 2312 - 24/06/2015 19:39:56    1742277

James Horan for sure,Mayo were nowhere near they are now before he came in.I think Wicklow beat them in the champ?

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 24/06/2015 19:43:14    1742279

Agree about Malachy O'Rourke, good operator, if I was a Monaghan man I would be hoping that Micky Harte stays in the Tyrone hotseat as I believe he could be headed for Tyrone at some time in the future, if they decide to look outside the county......

ben1977 (Donegal) - Posts: 364 - 24/06/2015 20:27:31    1742295

Ned

Good shout and very good point.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 24/06/2015 20:42:42    1742303

John O Mahoney must have been the best ever, won Sam with Galway twice, got to a final with Mayo as a very young manager and then got shafted , also won Connaught with Leitrim maybe his best one, most of the present Mayo team got their start under him also

culmore (None) - Posts: 1398 - 24/06/2015 20:48:24    1742308

Yeah Malachy O'Rourke was a quality manager long before he came to us. He brought the Loup from nowhere to an Ulster club in 2003, and if Fermanagh had even an average free-taker he surely would have delivered them a first Ulster title in 2008. He's also won county titles with Errigal Ciaran and Cavan Gaels.

patk (Monaghan) - Posts: 936 - 24/06/2015 20:57:34    1742314

I know Eamon Fitzmaurice is not underrated but I believe he didn't get near enough the credit he deserved for delivering Kerry an AI last year, yes it was with Kerry and its expected but even the most ardent Kerry supporters probably didn't expect an AI last year with all the retirements and injuries to key players.........

ben1977 (Donegal) - Posts: 364 - 24/06/2015 21:49:31    1742333

I know Eamon Fitzmaurice is not underrated but I believe he didn't get near enough the credit he deserved for delivering Kerry an AI last year, yes it was with Kerry and its expected but even the most ardent Kerry supporters probably didn't expect an AI last year with all the retirements and injuries to key players.........

I think they got a bit of luck in ow their injuries fell, but I'd agree overall that he doesn't get the credit. I'd imagine a large part of this is the fact that he doesn't seem to put huge importance on the league, which skew Kerry's results a bit.

In the school's final he switched a corner back to corner forward at half-time which was the winning of the game. Can't think of many more managers who would have pulled that trick out of the bag.

Also remember talking to a lad from Kerry whose cousin Fitmaurice dropped off the U21 Kerry panel when he was manager and the lad telling me that his cousin who was dropped still had massive time for Fitzmaurice and wouldnt hear a word against him - to have that kind of respect from a young lad whose ambitions of playing for Kerry you've pretty much ended is one hell of a trick to be able to pull off.

besidetheditch (Dublin) - Posts: 81 - 25/06/2015 09:39:39    1742367

Mick O Dwyer.

How he never got to manage Ireland in the international rules is a complete joy.

Paidi O shea too.

Never Got the credit he deserved for winning the 97 all ireland with a poor team and then following it up in 2000 (with a very different team). Getting Westmeath a Leinster is probably an even greater achievement.

Of the current managers (ones currently managing a senior intercounty team) I would rank Malachy O Rourkes as the best. What he has done with Fermanagh and then Monaghan with no pre existing underage success is impressive.

tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1109 - 25/06/2015 10:00:06    1742379

Ned_Stormcrow
County: Cavan
Posts: 684

1742273 Malachy O'Rourke probably the best manager in the game at the minute. I only wish we had him in Cavan. I remember when he took over, Monaghan were on a downward spiral and the talk was about a team on their last legs, facing a grim future. Meanwhile, in Cavan, all the talk was "the future is blue".

The rest as they say, is history.

Excellent use of hindsight and revisionism there Slash.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12120 - 25/06/2015 10:05:43    1742382