Carr wants Cavan players to 'give it their all'

New Cavan senior football manager Tommy Carr has warned the county's players that he expects their full commitment right from the off for his first season in charge.

Carr looks set to adopt a zero tolerance policy as he attempts to bring the glory days back to the Breffni county.

Speaking to the Anglo Celt newspaper, the former Dublin and Roscommon boss said: "The one thing I've learned in my experience as a manager is that if you have players on the panel, and they are not fully committed, then no matter how talented they are, you are better off without them.

"No matter how much effort is being put in by the management and selectors, it will not bring success or an improvement of standards unless every player in the panel is willing to give his all.

"For me, that will be important in my working with Cavan."

Carr resigned from his last inter-county posting as Roscommon manager in March 2005, amid the spectre of player unrest.

But he was well-supported by the Dublin players during his reign's in the capital between 1999 and 2001 and his fresh approach could be exactly what Cavan need.

His predecessor in the role, Donal Keogan, hit out at the Cavan players when he questioned their commitment during his two-year term.

Indeed, Seanie Johnston, Paul Brady and Martin Cahill were axed from the panel by Keogan last year, after the trio jetted off to America in the aftermath of Cavan's Ulster championship defeat to Down.

They were later reinstated and Johnston, the classy DCU forward, is likely to be a key player in Carr's 2009 team.

Adopting a wholehearted approach, the former Dublin defender added: "And neither should the manager feel that taking over a county team should be some sort of opportunity for the glory of playing in a big championship game at Croke Park.

"For a start, you have to want to do it and I've given a commitment to Cavan and want to try to do a job for them to the best of my ability.

"I feel that perhaps too many guys look at the TV and they see Croke Park and big qualifying games and All-Ireland semi-finals and think that is brilliant.

"But that is only a very small percentage of what is involved in the whole thing.

"At the end of the day, it's the commitment from management and players together that makes for a successful county team."