Siege mentality adding to pressure on Kildare

Back towards the turn of the century, during an Armagh boot camp that involved a raft race, Oisín McConville was more than a little tentative at the back of a craft because he couldn’t swim.

He dipped a paddle into the water on one side, then the other, and tried to find a semblance of balance to calm his mind. That was until Kieran McGeeney turned from the front of the boat and shot him a look that screamed ‘faster’. A choice between the ire of his leader and drowning was easy so McConville started to row as hard as he could.

It’s always been McGeeney’s way. Until management, that was fair enough as McGeeney was the trend-setter in a time of football upheaval. But in his latest role, his need to control and his distrust of authority have resulted in a personal persecution complex and, by extension and proximity, a squad-wide world-against-us mantra in Kildare.

Yet go through their list of grievances and you wonder what pity they deserve and what’s the point of it all. There’s no doubting he misjudged Seánie Johnston when the only comparable case in modern times was that of Thomas Walsh. That made front pages in Wicklow and Carlow so to expect an easy ride was naive. But the lengthy battle has only made McGeeney and those around him far more sceptical when it comes to people in ruling positions and the latest criticism from the county board and management in Kildare has been needless.

When home advantage for the Limerick qualifier meant a game in Portlaoise, Kildare officials suggested it was punishment for the transfer saga when in truth, anyone who has been to St Conleth’s Park knows the state of disrepair it is in. It’s not like the county board weren’t warned in advance about health and safety, either.

Now there has been more anger as they objected to Hyde Park being the venue for this evening’s qualifier with Sligo but look at the figures. Kildare travelled a total of 111 miles from their crumbling county ground to their round-of-last-12 games under McGeeney. Their opponents in those games had to travel 397 miles. That’s an average of 72 more each way per game.

And if the problem is that Sligo recently played in Hyde Park, then Derry, Monaghan and Fermanagh could have cried foul when it came to facing Kildare in Croke Park.

None of this is disputing what McGeeney has done with Kildare. They’ve become public property and have unsurprisingly retreated into a cocoon but the fact people have such an interest shows what the manager has achieved. For people to care, Kildare have to be relevant and that wasn’t the case before he came along.

Indeed for all the arguments about their lack of wins against top teams or a trophy beyond a Division 2 title, the fact they’ve been consistently competitive against the very best is the obvious mark of progress. But that only makes the 2012 siege mentality all the more bizarre and while the manager is fighting a personal agenda, at times he is missing out on what is best for his team.

Such mindsets are situational and it remains to be seen how much it could damage Kildare’s development. But it’s not wise to take on the whole country off the field while competing with the elite on it. This is a side with enough battles to fight to get their championship back on the rails. They didn’t need to take on more.