McConville happy to double up duties

PUNDIT or inter-county coach — Oisín McConville could be forgiven for getting confused.

Ever since Paul McGrane and himself joined forces with Paddy O’Rourke in his Armagh management team towards the end of the county’s Allianz Division 1 campaign, the Crossmaglen man has been leading something of a double life.

A double life that involves conflicting interests? More of that anon but for now the bit of magic he and McGrane have brought to Armagh seems to be working.

Derry on Sunday could undo all the great work put in by the pair, O’Rourke, selector Donal Murtagh, physical coach Mike McGurn and the players in grabbing the local bragging rights from Down last month. But things have been working well with McConville focusing on improving Armagh’s attack and McGrane devoting his skills to steeling up the team’s midfield performances.

McConville was delighted to be invited in but knew from watching as a spectator that areas had to be addressed.

“Paddy had approached myself a while back and it just didn’t suit, with Cross being on a run, and (me) getting married. There was just a lot of stuff going on. There was no point in me committing to something I wasn’t able to give everything too.

“So he approached me again towards the end of the league and to be honest, it was nice to be asked. We had a discussion about what way Armagh play football and I don’t want to say anything shitty going forward but we could see things would have to change a little bit.

“The thing was we would all have to stand up together on it. When I heard what he had to say then I was very positive about the whole thing and I ended up going in.”

Explaining his and McGrane’s roles, McConville reveals they are coaches without selecting rights.

“Anybody who knows Paddy O’Rourke will tell you he’s a gentleman and he’s a good man-manager. Myself and Paul would be at training sessions. We wouldn’t have that much to do on match-day. We’d be in contact with the boys on matchdays and in the dressing room but matchday is down to the players.

“Whatever influence you have you give on the Thursday night beforehand or the day before the game. But when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, we wouldn’t have a huge pile to do with that. We don’t have a lot to do with picking the team but we do have a say in how we play football and the positive manner in which we played the last day and hopefully we can keep that going.”

But given McConville’s commitments to the likes of BBC and The Sunday Life, can he really say he’s giving an impartial view when he’s so intrinsically linked with the Armagh team?

“I don’t find it awkward at all. I enjoy the punditry stuff because it brings you to matches you might notnecessarily have been bothered going to. It’s very easy to sit and watch a match on TV. Both things complement each other. You’re seeing other teams and how they play first hand.”

Meanwhile former Armagh boss Joe Kernan thinks that Crossmaglen clubmate Jamie Clarke can be as good as Kerry star Colm Cooper but only if he dedicates himself fully to realising his potential.

“I said two years that he’s the next Gooch if — and he’s my own club man — if he does the things right. Keeps his feet on the ground, works hard at his game, does the gym work which he’s not doing, and does the things that’s going to make him better.

“He’s still learning but the one thing about him, he gets the ball, he knows what to do. You can coach certain things (but) you can’t coach what he has and that’s natural instinct, a predator. He’ll put it away. He has good hands. When he gets the ball, he seems to be gone all the time and that’s natural.

“But he has to add the other things, the discipline, the workrate, all the other things to his game and that will come in time. Hopefully he’ll keep his feet on the ground and he’ll be made keep his feet on the ground by his teammates and management. I think he’s just a class act.”