O’Shea: New rules leading to ‘cult of the manager’

For GAA president Liam O’Neill and for the Ard Stiúrthóir, Páraic Duffy, the new hugely restrictive sideline regulations might be a done deal, an issue they now fervently wish would just go away.

It won’t, new Tipperary manager Eamon O’Shea the latest in a long line of top hurling managers to add his dissenting voice, albeit with a new twist.

“I would be very supportive of Martin Fogarty (Kilkenny selector who recently came out very strongly against the new rule). It’s a strange position to be standing on the line without the support of your selectors. The Maor Foirne (usually a selector) is caught up in the game, he’s in and out of the pitch and he can’t see that well what’s going on — he’s transmitting messages so you’re depending on your third selector. You have to go and find him and they aren’t always as close to you as you’d like. What I find is this rule is leading to the cult of the manager.

“The manager stands up there like he’s the only game in town and I don’t think that should be the case. The county board appoint three selectors and that’s who should be there. You (the manager) end up isolated and end up making decisions based on little enough information and the very thing the GAA seem to be against, which is the cult of the manager, is actually coming to fruition because of these rules. There is also the medical stuff as well that I agree with (either the team doctor or the physio having to take a place in the stand) — I’d like them to look at it again.”

An issue then that’s not going to be simply wished away by those who, without consultation with the managers and selectors involved, introduced this rule.

Of more immediate concern to O’Shea is the visit of league and All-Ireland champions Kilkenny to Thurles this Sunday, looking for their fifth successive competitive win over a Tipperary team whose confidence right now is fragile. The opening round heavy defeat against Cork didn’t help. “Confidence is always an issue for any team-player or athlete,” says O’Shea.

“In terms of where we want to be the team probably has lost a little bit of confidence; from where they want to be from last year our performance against Cork certainly hasn’t helped but these are top quality players and while confidence may be low now, I don’t expect it to be low for long.”