Gilroy: Eight to 20 teams can win Sam

Pat Gilroy predicts next year’s championship will be the most open in several years.

With Kerry and Tyrone’s stranglehold of the competition now a thing of the past, the former Dublin manager sees a series of counties fancying themselves for top honours.

“I think there’s any one of eight to 20 teams that would genuinely believe that they could win the All-Ireland next year,” he said.

“It comes down to the team that has worked the hardest off the pitch, I would say, has won the last three All-Irelands. In the year that they were working hard, they won the All-Ireland. I think that gives hope to a lot of people. That’s a key facet of the game.”

Speaking for the first time since he stepped down after four years, Gilroy fancies Dublin to be among the vanguard again in 2013 and predicts they will be walking up the Hogan Stand steps some September shortly.

“They’re very young. They’re a very young team apart from one or two guys. A lot of them are in their early 20s so they have a lot to offer.

“They’re a very honest and genuine group. They always give of their best so I think if they keep doing that they probably will win another one or two, if they keep their focus.

“Even chatting to the lads over here, they’ve learned a lot from last year. I think if they take those lessons forward they’re well capable of doing it again and winning another one.”

As much as Dublin came up short at the second final hurdle this year, he doesn’t believe defending an All-Ireland title is something of an almost impossible mission. That said, he feels Donegal will be up against it to go one further than Dublin and lift the Sam Maguire Cup for a second succession season.

“I think it might be difficult if you’ve win your first and then try to retain it but if you’ve got through that experience of little things maybe that dropped, standards-wise, even ourselves, you learn from those and if they won another one it is possible to win one after that.

“Donegal will, I think, be doing very well to retain it. It is difficult when you’ve been in that position before but I think if you’ve won and you lose one, then you can go and win two-in-a-row.

“That’s more likely than a team that just comes up for the first time.”

Gilroy realised 2012 was going to be his last year in charge of Dublin midway through the championship. Work commitments had become too much for the St Vincent’s man, managing director with energy company Dalkia.

“With work I just had to give up. I got busier and I’m starting to do some work over here so that meant I couldn’t do it so it was kind of an easy decision, it was out of my own hands.

“I knew from the middle of the summer that this was going to be my last year.

“I’d like to have stayed on a bit longer but four years was a long enough stint as well. You just have to move on.”

Gilroy admitted his organisational skills were tested by the work and study demands of his players.

“It’s funny like, in the last four years, the lads are not really contactable much during the day so you have to do all your business outside of business hours.

“So it meant mainly that football never interfered with work but you had to be very organised because you had a limited window to get hold of lads.”