Gilroy breaks wall of silence but Dubs look to do their talking on the pitch

New Dublin football manager Pat Gilroy has been more open with the media than his predecessor Paul Caffrey ahead of their Leinster SFC final clash with Kieran McGeeney’s Kildare in Croke Park on Sunday.

IT’S a neat trick Pat Gilroy has pulled on the media. Weekly press conferences and regular updates have replaced the secrecy and evasiveness of previous regimes and yet the spotlight has somehow dimmed this summer.

Under Paul Caffrey and Tommy Lyons (post-2002), Dublin shunned the scribes, cameras and microphones but the vacuum that created was filled by a plethora of ‘think’ pieces that were invariably critical of management and players.

Guaranteed access to players allows papers to fill their pages with what tend to be more quote-laden paragraphs and flattering headlines and the softer focus has been helped in no small way by Gilroy’s polished performances at the top table.

The Dublin manager was asked 19 questions at yesterday’s sit-down at the side’s training base in St Claire’s on the city’s northside and, by the end of it all, little if any extra light was shone on his side prior to Sunday’s Leinster final.

Most of the enquiries centred on either Rory O’Carroll’s recent decision to opt out and go travelling or the thorny question of the GPA’s boycott of TV for Sunday’s games in Croke Park and Thurles.

When the game itself did crop up it was more often than not Kildare, and not Dublin, who were foremost in peoples’ minds. After a largely forgettable Leinster championship, the decider offers a shot at redemption and Kildare are the latest big thing.

Kieran McGeeney’s side have yet to play at HQ this summer but they have plundered wins on their travels around the province with Offaly, Wicklow and Laois all succumbing to the rising Lilywhite tide.

Like the rest of us, Gilroy has been impressed. “Kieran is very organised and has a clear idea about the way he wants them to play. They are certainly tackling harder and are very well set up and organised.

“He is bringing all the experience he had as a player and a captain to it. You can see that coming out in them. There are a lot of his traits in that team. They don’t seem to give up. They don’t seem to be too phased when things are going against them, like they were in the first 10 minutes against Laois.”

That ability to survive a storm may come in handy at Croke Park in three days’ time where Dublin, egged on by their huge support, habitually string together a whirlwind period or two where the scoreboard runs riot.

In Kildare, they will be facing a side made from the same mould. Mobility, pace and sheer physicality have allowed Dublin bully Leinster since 2005 and McGeeney was always going to import the same values from Armagh.

“To be fair to Kildare, from a Leinster perspective they have been the most consistent team this year in terms of their league form and championship form. They have definitely got more of a team ethic in their whole setup.

“Particularly up front they appear to be taking the right options, moving the ball to the guy in the best position and they are scoring. They are a greatly improved team from last year. Their improvement probably started last year in the qualifiers and they have brought that through.”

How Gilroy opts to confront his opponent’s two-man full-forward line, both at the back and at midfield where the extra body is utilised, will go a long way to deciding the destination of the Bob O’Keeffe Cup.

Dublin’s chances were hardly helped in that department when O’Carroll announced his decision to dust off his passport. Dublin are playing down the development although they were reportedly more surprised by it than they are letting on.

The 19-year old dual player has featured for 11 teams since November and apparently postponed his travel plans for five weeks when asked to join up with the county panel after Kilmacud Crokes’ All-Ireland win in March.

“It was very amicable, the whole situation with Rory,” said Gilroy. “You have got to respect that the guy is 19 and involved in 11 teams. He has given his all in those matches and in training here. It is a huge decision and he wouldn’t have made that lightly. I have no issues with Rory.”

His absence means there is just one change to the side which beat Westmeath. Paddy Andrews, who played there four times early on in the league before being redeployed in attack, takes O’Carroll’s place at left-corner back.