Tribesmen’s talent lured me back, declares Kernan

JOE KERNAN insists the prospect of further All-Ireland success and the pool of talent in Galway were enough to dispel any fears about tarnishing his managerial legacy with an unsuccessful comeback.

The Crossmaglen man enjoyed an honours-laden seven-year stint in charge of his hometown club, resurrecting Rangers after years in the doldrums and guiding them to three All-Ireland titles.

He then brought that Midas touch with him to inter-county management securing four Ulster championships, an NFL league success and the county’s first All-Ireland title in 2002.

His arrival in the west mirrors that of Ger Loughnane who brought success to his native Clare in the 1990s before returning to management in a two-year spell with the Galway hurlers, though his Galway tenure ultimately proved fruitless.

“Some boys have said: ‘you had a good auld record when you were in charge so why would you put yourself through this? Not every county would have appealed to me but Galway did. They are great footballers, they have great talent and are disappointed with what they have done in the last few years.”

God knows, he didn’t have to put his neck on the block again. TV punditry and a newspaper column kept him in the public eye in recent years but he always harboured a yen to give Armagh a second shot.

He had insisted time and again that he would never manage another inter-county team but, with four sons on the county panel, he felt it just wouldn’t be fair on anyone to go over that old ground.

Then Galway came calling.

His late mother had been born in Ballinasloe and, once he realised that the commute wouldn’t be all-that-punishing, he was ready to sign on and get back to work.

Whether he can get his head around the enigma that is Galway’s senior footballers remains to be seen. Since winning their last All-Ireland in 2001, another accusation repeatedly directed at Galway has been that they are simply too nice, too wedded to the beauty and without any beast.

That, when Armagh and Tyrone ushered in a more robust era of football in the new millennium, Galway were unable or unwilling to respond in the manner which Kerry did, and continue to do, so successfully.

“Some people say too nice. A lot of people say they didn’t work hard enough but they have natural ability and some of the forwards they have in Galway, they’re as good as any other team in the country. If you get three or four of them boys together and, if they’re on song and getting good ball in, they’ll cause anybody problems.”

That failure to go the extra mile has seen Galway lose to Kerry at the end of the last two league campaigns on days when victories would have guaranteed them progress into the knockout stages.

Any team that Kernan has ever managed has made strong finishes a happy habit however and he points to sides like Manchester United, Munster and Kerry as those he would like to emulate in that regard. He remembers too an All-Ireland semi-final between Meath and Roscommon in 1991 when, with the Connacht side five points up, an announcement came over the tannoy for stewards to attend their end-of-match positions.

“Six minutes later Meath won by a point,” he said. “That’s the way it works and hopefully we can get these boys believing in themselves, playing as a team, have a good work ethic and showing their true potential.”

Mayo in Castlebar in Sunday’s league opener will be an interesting first test.