New boss Gilroy sets final target for Dubs

PAT GILROY admitted to being inexperienced yesterday at his inaugural press conference as Dublin senior football manager, adding that an All-Ireland final appearance is his first target as boss.

“We have Pat O’Neill and Kevin Heffernan, who have experience at winning All-Irelands at the top level, but unfortunately for the rest of us, we don’t have All-Ireland winning experience,” said Gilroy.

“Since I was 19, I have been involved in business and in management, in sport and in management, I have trained and played under a lot of very good coaches and managers and I think I will be able to bring that to the party.

“In addition to that, I think I have a very experienced team around me.”

Gilroy has appointed Mickey Whelan as coach, while Niall Moyna of DCU will be involved in the team’s physical preparation.

“I think I have picked one of the best coaches in the country to work with me in Mickey Whelan. The other two guys are very dedicated club men, who know the club scene very well here in Dublin and have inter-county experience themselves. They are guys I know, they share a similar philosophy to myself.”

Gilroy also acknowledged the work of his predecessor, Paul Caffrey.

“Under Paul’s leadership, Dublin have won four consecutive Leinster titles and were beaten by the ultimate All-Ireland winners in the last two years.

“He leaves behind a strong squad of dedicated players. As one of our first priorities we will try in the following months to seek additional players throughout the county to compliment the existing talent available in the squad.”

Asked for his goals, Gilroy said: “Progress for this team is to get to an All-Ireland final first because they have not achieved that.

“And when you get to an All-Ireland final, clearly you want to go and win it but progress for this team is to get to an All-Ireland final.”

Dublin lost heavily to Tyrone in this year’s All-Ireland semi-final, but Gilroy said that game wasn’t a “true reflection” of the team.

“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the guys that day.

“I have been playing in the club scene for the last five or six years with a lot of those guys and I think they are very talented and there is a lot of reasons for optimism.

“One of our first priorities is to see if we can unearth any extra players, because obviously there are guys who would be 19 or 20 who wouldn’t be there. That would be one of the first things to do.”

Refusing to be drawn on individual players, such as Jason Sherlock, Gilroy said he intends to meet his players before the end of October to outline his plans.

Regarding the pressure of his new position, Gilroy said: “My stress reliever is football, so we will see how it works out this time.”

Meanwhile, Mick Deegan doesn’t think youthful Gilroy will lack a ruthless streak in his new role as the Dublin football manager.

All-Ireland winning junior football manager Deegan was considered to be one of the front-runners for the Dublin post until the shock news broke that the St Vincent’s man had been chosen to succeed Paul ‘Pillar’ Caffrey.

“Pat is still very young, and he played with Vincent’s when they won the All-Ireland club title this year,” said Deegan.

“But I’d say that the only members of this year’s Dublin team that he played with would probably have been Ciaran Whelan and Jason Sherlock, and possibly Shane Ryan.

“So I’d say he’ll be ruthless enough when the situation demands it, and that he won’t allow any feelings of sentiment to cloud his judgement when picking teams or taking off fellas.”

In an additional assessment of 1995 All-Ireland winning panellist Gilroy, Deegan said: “Pat has played a lot of football with St Vincent’s and with Dublin, and he certainly knows what the game is all about.

“As well, he has a good head on his shoulders, and he is a very successful business man, and so he is used to dealing with people.”

The Fingal Ravens boss admitted he was interviewed for the Dublin position last week by the two-man committee of county chairman Gerry Harrington and county secretary John Costello. But he added that he no idea that Gilroy was also vetted by the big two.

Asked if he was disappointed at being overlooked for the position, Deegan said: “I never made any secret of the fact that I was interested in the Dublin job.

“But the committee have made their decision, and at the end of the day we all want what is the best for Dublin football. I wish Pat the best of luck, and I hope things work out very well for him.”