MrUnderhill (Sligo) - Posts: 109 - 27/07/2025 12:16:02    2628224

Anto (Sligo) - Posts: 388 - 28/07/2025 20:35:55    2628826

Well the cat is out of the bag officially now and the new Chairperson put down a fair marker by getting 5 management teams sorted, senior hurlers, u20 footballers and minor hurling and football along with senior football. So that in itself is a fair statement of intent from the new man at the top.

I'm not a fan of joint management teams, I think someone has to be the boss and have the final say and while the senior set up has given years and years of service on the field and in various club set ups, I hope that they can work cohesively and decisively when it comes down to making quick changes in the white heat of battle during a game. Wishing them all the best. Division 3 will be a good bit trickier next year I think with Down, Westmeath, Wexford and Limerick coming in. Ideally you'd be looking at promotion as a standard to hold yourself against but judging how this year went for year 1 a top 3/4 and a Tailteann Final would be seen as progress.

Sligoman1234 (Sligo) - Posts: 574 - 29/07/2025 08:20:18    2628883

Well that is some management team! First time I am excited about a Sligo management team in a long time! Credit must go to the new chairperson, he has definitely broken the piggy bank with that appointment. In this management team there is underage pedigree, club pedigree, club pedigree in other counties, Sigerson experience & inter-county experience with other counties, also an external voice/opinion in McGee. I think Sloyan & O'Hara will be a good foil for one another, O'Hara to bring the energy & intensity and Sloyan is calm & collected. One thing is for sure is that every player in Sligo will want to play for those lads, two Sligo greats in their playing days. They also both have a very deep knowledge of Sligo club football and I'm sure that no stone will be unturned in terms of casting the net for players far and wide. Eamonn may get a few of the Tourlestrane lads back in Johnny Kelly, Cathal Henry, Conan Marren etc and Dessie may convince a few of those Easky dual stars to give the big ball a try, namely Rory McHugh & Andy Kilcullen, maybe Con O'Meara can even convince Kevin Banks to commit for a year! Paul Higgins was not named in the initial announcement but I am confident that he will be added to the ticket, a highly rated coach and one of the most decent lads you could meet. Disappointed that Gerry McG withdrew but still an incredibly strong management team. Fair play to the Co Board also completed before the club championship. Speaking on a podcast last week, O'Hara was bullish about Sligo progressing over the next few years to challenge Mayo & Galway, he always has had high standards for Sligo and his wanted the job for a number of years, I think the presence of Dessie may also help improve his sideline antics. Incredibly positive for the future! Sligeach Abú

laochragael (Sligo) - Posts: 7 - 29/07/2025 09:19:18    2628893

westvoice (Sligo) - Posts: 84 - 29/07/2025 10:17:24    2628924

Seanfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 55 - 29/07/2025 11:14:17    2628945

johncreilly (Sligo) - Posts: 175 - 29/07/2025 12:22:54    2628970

Anto (Sligo) - Posts: 388 - 29/07/2025 13:13:58    2628987

Firstly well done to the Chairman for the raft of appointments last night. Like most people I am dubious about joint management teams but Tyrone managed to win an All Ireland with this type of management so it can work. Eamonñ has worked with Gerry on a joint ticket before with Tourlestrane and also with Dessie with the U.20 so he knows how it works. They will find it difficult to get to championship games in Sligo due to their club commitments so they will be glad of the games that will be live streamed. (another plus for the chairman). I would be concerned about the U.20 mgt. It's a big post. We have a lot of last year's team still eligible for next year and to compete at senior you need a steady stream of talent coming through. At the end of this 3 year term we would need to either have got promoted to Div 2 and/or win the Tailteann Cup . Connacht championship is a bit more tricky. If we win a game and reach the provential final we forego our Tailteann chance and let's be realistic we are a long way off the top teams if we were landed in the groups for Sam.
Best of luck to all management teams. A new set up always brings new faces on the team and others drift away. This will be no different.

eoinog (Sligo) - Posts: 2197 - 29/07/2025 13:23:57    2628992

We have got 3 true blue Sligo GAA guys and a man who has done it all as a player. Really excited to see how it goes but expect some shake up with existing panel and hopefully we will see everyone with the ability to represent in B&W coming in for 2026. CB have done a good job in this appointment, hopefully it pays off.

MrUnderhill (Sligo) - Posts: 109 - 29/07/2025 13:24:41    2628993

We have got 3 true blue Sligo GAA guys and a man who has done it all as a player. Really excited to see how it goes but expect some shake up with existing panel and hopefully we will see everyone with the ability to represent in B&W coming in for 2026. CB have done a good job in this appointment, hopefully it pays off.

MrUnderhill (Sligo) - Posts: 109 - 29/07/2025 13:49:04    2629003

Bumblebee123 (Sligo) - Posts: 101 - 29/07/2025 23:41:50    2629163

Dessie Sloyan and Eamon O Hara are two of Sligo greatest ever players and people. They brought us some incredible memories. They both carry a presence for me and aura which will command the dressing room and it is important to have Sligo people managing Sligo. As I said a few weeks ago O Hara has done more than enough at club level to be Sligo manager in his own right but Dessie is a good foil for O Hara in my opinion. There are concerns and whilst I would like more senior intercounty management experience I am hoping Dessie will have learned a lot from his involvement with Christie/Dempsey etc.. and O Hara has been successful everywhere he has gone. Boyle have never won a Roscommon county title but we will be keeping a close eye on that this year. Hopefully their respective teams don't go to far because I want Dessie, Eamon, Con and McGee involved solely in Sligo seniors from October.

For me I don't think McEntee has left us in as great of shape as some others think, with aging the team and Murphy has not many years left so there is plenty of work to do with the seniors over the next few years. They need to lower the average age of the team and improve our pace and ball winning. I am hoping they do a better job at bringing through the underage and can unlock that potential which was stagnating under previous management. The squad selection and early team selections will be telling.

From the joint management perspective it is a fair question, I think Dessie being the public front man would be better suited as O Hara who I have always found to be good guy has a different public persona with people who buy into that. I am sure they will work it out. I did think McGowan would be part of this ticket.

I am hoping O Meara/McGee are top level coaches and were the main coaches in various roles previously and are ready for this. It could be said there is a lack of senior intercounty coaching experience which is why I am sure Henry/Mitchell must be very disappointed as it probably was a close call. Both camps lacked that which is why backroom so important. I hope whatever way they fell short they gain the necessary experience and maybe have another go in few years. We are lucky to have them and the work they did the last few years has been incredible.

I wish Dessie, Eamon, Con and McGee all the best. Sligeach abu.

Sligonian (Sligo) - Posts: 1899 - 29/07/2025 23:55:14    2629164

Solid appointments. Good luck in 2026!

ahsure. (Galway) - Posts: 1745 - 29/07/2025 23:57:55    2629165

Drax_the_destroyer (UK) - Posts: 558 - 30/07/2025 02:14:00    2629175

laochragael (Sligo) - Posts: 7 - 30/07/2025 13:55:27    2629262

If any of ye have time its worth watching the new Sligo Management press conference on Sligo Gaa TV. Dessie, Eamon and Con effectively fielding questioning from Gavin Cawley who asked all the important questions fair play to him. I thought all 3 came across very impressively. It would dispel most of the doubts on the joint management ticket. All of them are Sligo first and clearly will challenge each other when needed but have a very healthy respect for one another. As a fan you always think of them as players but O Hara mentioned he is 50 yrs old now so timing is right. Both explained the player pathway well and alluded to giving more chances to the underage players than previous. You could tell O Hara was holding back on what he expects in terms of success. He will demand very high standards as will the whole management. I did laugh when Gavin asked Dessie about Rossa and favoritism. Dessie handled it well with the Sligo first approach but might not be a happy house lol. Under McEntee far too many average players were comfortably getting the Jersey. One thing this management team will do is make you earn it. O Hara spoke of systems but allowing players to express themselves and trust their talents in the moment. You can tell O Hara believes much more in us and rates us as footballers. There really wasn't anything I disagreed with. O Hara did mention personality and this was a major weakness of the previous management, players can know the systems, players can be committed, have a great attitude but if your limited and don't deliver across the white line and on the big day, I don't care how nice you are, how passionate you are, how you bluff your leadership off the field, actions, actions on it when it matters is what I look for. A big saying here is tilting the Ice in your favor, who stands up with their bodies not their mouths needs to be the approach.

Another thing McGee said something on OTB that will be telling and I am sure the performance coach will bring in this, nerves play a huge role in who wins and he alluded to that with Donegal at the weekend. George St Pierre the MMA fighter said in the heat of battle he would try to trigger the other fighters nervous system into fight, flight or freeze response by throwing fake punches all the time. Its the same in football. Body language is so important. Understanding the language of the nervous system and how to bring it back to balance is key. Of course its normal to be nervous but how do you react internally to that feeling will dictate how much energy you have on the day. The All Ireland football final on Sunday is clear example of this.

Lastly on Paul Henry and Enda Mitchell, I was listening to the preview the of the All Ireland final and off the ball had a 2 hour preview based from Donegal where they interviewed Brian McEniff. What a impressive man and fascinating listen. He mentioned his own troubles with being sacked by the county board various times but it never dampened his love for Donegal or his service to Donegal. He was sacked as manager and chairman multiple times in the 70s and 80s but still took the reins for the 1992 success, similarly in 2007 and 2008 Jimmy McGuinness applied for the Donegal job twice and was turned down twice before he went to McEniff for the u-20 job. McGuinness wasn't seen as a viable option for Donegal CB for a long time. McEniff got him the u-20 gig and the rest is history. Sligo actually overlooked him in 2009 as well for Kevin Walsh. After hopefully many years of success for Sligo with Eamon and Dessie, hopefully Paul and Enda will go for it again when its available after continuing their own success story with hopefully Sligo teams.

Sligonian (Sligo) - Posts: 1899 - 30/07/2025 21:35:57    2629373

There is a lof of positivity with the new management team. I would not pass much heed on the press conference. They will be judged on results I am amused that the old management team are now history and most posters on this forum has rightly moved on. There is one however who spent years castigating them and now that they are gone he is still taking swipes at them. They really lived in his head. You wouldn't expect that from a guy that practices stress management.

Taypot (Sligo) - Posts: 188 - 31/07/2025 09:21:38    2629405

BreakingBall123 (Sligo) - Posts: 146 - 31/07/2025 09:35:13    2629410

westvoice (Sligo) - Posts: 84 - 31/07/2025 10:56:25    2629423