Outside managers one of the GAA’s under estimations

WITH the GAA’s heavy-hitters so worked up these days with tackling the issue of under-the-counter payments to managers, it’s only right so that we tackle some of the myths that they themselves have been perpetuating in the process.

Over the weekend, president-elect Liam O’Neill spoke with his customary candour about his negative experiences of outside managers. Having served on the Laois county committee at the start of the last decade, O’Neill had direct dealings with outside coaches, some of whom were unashamed “money men”. Consequently O’Neill believes that when you hire an outside manager, you effectively become “his slave”.

He won’t listen or give “any credence” to any manager he believes who is “coming from afar and taking money for it”, prompting some of us to worry are Kieran McGeeney’s views on the tackle to be dismissed on the basis that O’Neill might perceive him as “coming from afar” rather than one of the best defenders of his generation.