Brian Barry
GAA Editor @BrianGBarry
Oisin McConville feels Dublin could kick on again under their new manager
Last Updated: 11/12/19 11:32am
As Dublin prepare for life under a new manager, questions are abounding as to whether they have peaked, or if the new man in charge can maintain the current levels.
And although some feel that succeeding Jim Gavin is a poisoned chalice given that anything other than an All-Ireland title will be deemed a failure, ex-Armagh star Oisín McConville thinks it's a hugely exciting challenge for whoever takes the reins.
"If you had any interest in management, if you're going in to manage that group of players, I just think that for the next person, it's a lot easier job now than when Jim Gavin took it," he said.
"If you look at the change of culture, if you look at the fact that a lot of what's happening is probably coming from the players.
"They seem to be doing all the right things. I can't think of anything that the Dubs have done in the past five years, apart from taking [Diarmuid] Connolly back in, that was a break from the norm in the standards that they set and what's expected of them.
"So I think that it's not an easy job for the next person coming in but it's a very, very attractive job in that once certain things are put in place, you'd be able to get the ear of a few of the older players and say, 'Listen, what's really working? What's something we could improve on?'
"For a lot of managers that's one of the first things they're going to have to do is to get the team fit, maybe try and change the culture a little bit and the next Dublin manager doesn't have to do that. I do understand...if they don't win the All-Ireland you're basically a failure but certainly if I was given the opportunity it's something I'd love the crack at if I was a Dub, to go in there and try and keep that run going because it's very possible that they will.
"So the next person coming in could kick it on again which is quite a scary thought."
However, what is the next step for this Dublin team given they have achieved so much?
"Kicking it on to another level is just creating a culture that is never going stop," McConville continued. "Because the big point is, if somebody comes in and drops the standards a little bit, he's going to be found out very, very quickly.
"And I don't think that will be allowed happen by the players. What they do next year will probably set the tone for what they do over the next few years.
"Realistically the next person could win another two or three in a row. There has to come a point where there's a drop off. But I expected that drop off to be last year or this year. That hasn't happened.
"As well as that, five in a row is a big thing. It was talked about a lot. Regardless of how isolated or insulated they are, that's bound to have been an issue.
"So that's not an issue this year. It's a monkey off their backs."
The frontrunners for the job right now are believed to be Dessie Farrell and Declan Darcy, and while the latter was involved as a selector under Gavin, McConville feels a clean break from the old regime may keep things fresh.
"I think probably the most important thing in that regard would be a fresh approach to training, so something a little different, because those guys, no doubt, they've been in a way of training," he noted.
"They've done certain things at certain times. And sometimes you need to turn that on its head. If players are used to something happening….whereas if they're not sure what's happening from night to night, personally I think that would freshen it up.
"So continuity is good as well as you're freshening up certain parts of it. Be that the psychology or the head side of it or whether that's the actual training and what's happening aerobically or skill-wise on the pitch," he concluded.
