MARTIN CARNEY: Selecting a managerial team isn’t done at the drop of a hat

WITH the first step complete and nominations for the new county senior football manager with the county board, we curiously await the next stage.

None can question the calibre nor avowed interest of any of the potential appointees, nor doubt their commitment to the cause in bringing Sam to Mayo once again. That they allow their names go forward in the first place is a courageous act in itself, given the amount of abuse they will inevitably attract, and places an enormous work load on whosoever among them succeeds.

At a time when there is nothing happening on the field at inter-county level to engage the football chattering classes, more focus than usual is shining on the race to succeed James Horan. The succession stakes in Mayo, being what it is (a stone-mad footballing county), will attract more attention than elsewhere. Let’s hope that the board’s appointment is good for the county and brings the best out in the players over the next few years.

The process of assembling a worthwhile and workable team isn’t something that is done at the drop of a hat. Meeting with interested parties, assessing their views on the game and determining whether or not they broadly correspond with your own takes time.

Already, presuming what we have read is correct, willing appointees can come from any one of the four provinces. In no particular order, Ulster’s Oisin Mc Conville, if we are to believe this, has thrown his lot in with Raymond Dempsey; he has been with the county in the past but Munster’s Donie Buckley has hitched himself to the Kevin McStay wagon; the highly respected Dublin coach Paddy Christie is part of Declan Shaw’s ticket; while Michael Solan sprung something of a surprise in naming Sligo’s Eamonn O’Hara as part of his prospective team.

Even in randomly mentioning this quartet alone, it is clear that there is no lack of interest, with people from far and wide willing to get involved.

Understandably, these and others on the tickets will have strong and differing views on the game. This diversity of opinion should be welcomed; a broad church of opinion regarding selection, tactics, players and playing styles constitutes healthy management.

Mayo are fortunate that so many highly qualified, experienced and capable candidates are willing to give their time in pursuit of football’s golden fleece, the Sam Maguire. Choosing the best team available, no easy job, is the responsibility of the board.

In mentioning the word 'time', I will recount the bones of a recent conversation I had with Donegal’s former legendary manager Brian McEniff. Over the course of a wide-ranging chin-wag, the topic regarding the successor to their recently retired manager Declan Bonner inevitably surfaced. What amazed McEniff was an admission by Bonner that managing his county demanded from him a 50-hour week. Those of us on the outside can only guess at the workload but when one has to combine their task as manager with their day job and family responsibilities, it adds up to one almighty pressurised position.

BURNING ISSUE

Of course there is then the burning issue of financing the project. It’s the same conundrum in every county I suppose but, inevitably, every team in the top five will accrue more costs than all of the others below them.

Not every county manages to get the required capital in the same way to finance their teams. Limerick hurlers, for example, are blessed in having a generous benefactor like J.P. McManus, who underwrites all of their costs and expenses. I am unsure how the Dublins, Kerrys, and Tyrones of this world manage to keep their houses in order and provide the best for their flagship senior teams but all I know is that everywhere the costs are huge and getting bigger by the year.

Looking at the recently published annual accounts of the Mayo GAA County Board, there is the astonishing figure that financing the demands of the county senior football team alone accounted for roughly 80% of their total expenditure. This is on top of the fact that it is costing the board a healthy five-figure weekly stipend to meet the repayments for the stand in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park.

So an immediate task for new management will be to determine and agree with the board who will fund their project, who (if any) will be their private investors and quite simply source where the money will come from. Will the investors then, once committed, come under the umbrella of the county board or will they operate independently?

This is a conundrum that is facing every county board nationwide. For example, in Armagh I am led to believe that the annual budget for the county senior team is controlled and operated independently of the board.

Lest anyone is in any doubt about the scale of the operation, one need only look at the size of the backroom team of the recently crowned All-Ireland champions, Kerry. Manager Jack O’Connor, in the afterglow of their win, pointed to his management army of 22 that all played their part in the win. What the total financial cost was to Kerry in real terms we will probably never know.

These financial headaches are but some of the problems that will remain with the board before and after they have chosen their newly-elected manager. Running a team within a mutually acceptable budget will be one of the main challenges that will face everyone involved.

In the meantime, all of the candidates have made their submissions to the board and await a call for interview. That this takes place quickly is in everyone’s interest. In the current void, wild talk and speculation is in full flow, with little of it having any factual basis.

Games at club level continue apace, with prospective county players strutting their stuff. Hopefully by the commencement of the championship in a few weeks’ time, all will be revealed and we will all be able to get behind and support the new man with the Bainisteoir's bib over the next few years.