Dublin urged to avoid knee-jerk reaction in seeking new manager

DESSIE FARRELL last night urged Dublin county chairman John Bailey to avoid a knee-jerk reaction in looking for a football manager after Brian Mullin’s withdrawal from the race at the weekend.

“I’m amazed to see that it has taken between 70 and 80 days to offer Brian Mullins the job in the first place and now, all of a sudden, the county board can turn around and tell us to expect a new manager within the next 10 days,” said the Dublin player.

“What’s important here is that there is no knee-jerk reaction and that an appointment isn’t made to get us over this PR disaster. We don’t want another shambles for the next three years.

“I can’t imagine any manager who would be too enamoured with coming in here now with the position as it stands. People will be very reluctant to get involved. I hope we don’t just appoint the first man who puts up his hand for the job.” Farrell was speaking to Bailey on local radio in the capital last night and the chairman was adamant that the best man would be found for the job, despite the much-criticised delay.

“There is no knee-jerk reaction,” said Bailey. “After the candidate was ruled out last weekend a process was put in place to try and get the next person. That’s ongoing and in development.

“I’m hopeful that in the next seven to 10 days there will be a development. There will be a three-year plan and the person concerned will put their plans forward, which hopefully everyone can agree on for the best interests of Dublin football.”

Bailey refused to explain over the air which of Mullin’s list of demands were unacceptable to the management committee, saying club delegates would be fully briefed at the next county meeting, which could be as soon as Monday week.

He also insisted the rejection of Mullins’s demands “was absolutely nothing to do with money, it was nothing to do with personality. There was no row, no friction, no nothing.”

However, Farrell questioned the level of expertise the original four-man committee actually had in relation to appointing a new manager in the first place, insisting a panel of experts should have been established instead.

“Brian Mullins compiled a very good package on sports science and any other coach worth his salt would have the same demands.

“If that is an issue now it’ll be an issue when the next man is interviewed,” said Farrell. “If it isn’t, then he isn’t qualified to take over the team. There could be serious consequences for the long-term future of Dublin football over all this.”

Na Fianna manager Mick Galvin was yesterday installed as 5/4 favourite to fill the post, while Fran Ryder, a player from the 1970s as well as a selector on the All-Ireland winning 1995 set-up, has also been mentioned as a possible candidate.