Colin Sheridan: Soul of the GAA being eroded by payments to managers

 

Do you know how much an entry level nurse earns each year? €39,520. Not a lot of money considering the work they do. Gardai come in at €35,322. A soldier, €38,001. All important jobs, with incredible responsibility and risk. 

An inter County manager? Anecdotally, very few would get out of bed for the salary of a soldier or a nurse or a cop, especially since those brave souls pay tax. No, most intercounty managers in the GAA wouldn't drive across county lines without the promise of a wedge of at least 50k, a car and a few butter vouchers. So the stories go, at any rate. 

And if those stories are to be believed, or even half believed, it is safe to assume that we are about ten years away from the GAA being in front of some audacious titled Oireachtas Committee regarding those payments, and all the other payments made to managers, coaches and various subject matter experts. 

The industrial complex of “backroom teams” has grown to almost outnumber the number of players on matchday squads. 

Some of them are completely necessary, others snake oil salesmen in undersized tracksuits. Each one of them being monetarily rewarded for the work they do. 

Much of that financial remuneration happens on the books, paid for through authorised mileage and expenses, the rest of it is a mystery to everyone, except those who pay, and those who get paid. It may even be a mystery to them. 

Either way, everybody is aware it's happening; sports media, players, supporters, the revenue, and, crucially, the coaches themselves. That's why a lot of them do it. 

For others, the financial reward only softens the burden of their “sacrifice,” because the GAA, as we all know, is all about sacrifice.

Given the elongated off-season, we now find ourselves with much more time to fill with managerial movements. The holy trinity of dysfunction - the players, the county boards, and the management team - spent much of this off-season in a staring contest. 

In some cases, you have players unhappy with managers, quietly demanding end-of-year reviews to be carried out by county boards, an entity they inherently distrust (county boards are City Hall to players in pretty much every county other than the ones that habitually win All Irelands, and even then, one party view the other with suspicion). 

The new weapon of choice - the players survey - suddenly de rigeur among squads that are maybe not unhappy in their relationship – is a convenient tool to hold over the sitting manager's head, especially if you can make it anonymous. 

The survey also suits the county board, as it puts manners on the manager until it’s published and thrashed out. 

The same survey, however, is a double edged sword for the board, as it will likely demand improvements in other areas - strength and conditioning, for instance, and player welfare. That means money. And, as the Notorious B.I.G. put it, mo money means mo problems.

This has, by any measure, been an exceptional off-season for managerial movements. Micky Harte, arguably one of the greatest managers of modern Gaelic Football, has been appointed joint manager of Offaly just months after departing Derry, whom he joined as he was still managing Louth. 

Cian O’Neill, once an inter county manager himself, has been poached from the Galway set up to rejoin Kerry. Stephen Rochford, still part of the Mayo backroom team, has been linked with the job left vacant in Meath by Colm O’Rourke. 

Another O’Rourke - the much sought after Malachy - has been snapped up by Tyrone. None of these players or coaches have joined or been linked with roles in their home counties. 

In hurling, the most sensational move involved Davy Fitzgerald, who, in departing Waterford, suddenly pitched his tent up in Antrim. 

Henry Shefflin departing Galway was much less of a surprise, but indicative of the transient nature of things. Round and round the merry go round goes, with nobody asking what’s driving it.

It’s an uncomfortable conversation, but one that will eventually have to be had. Everyone will argue that they are doing it right. 

That every cent paid was receipted through expenses, and if that is the case, more power to every single county for managing to find a manager - pretty much all of whom have full time jobs away from football and hurling - who is willing to give up his free time, save for the price of diesel he puts in his (own?) car. 

If that is indeed the case, how convenient that every story told of a manager or coach - not just intercounty - receiving X amount is somehow untrue.

The fact is, the GAA’s soul is being eroded by this avarice, and the longer we continue to discuss the permutations of this fella moving to that county, without also questioning how any of it is possible, the deeper the hole we are digging for ourselves to eventually climb out of. 

We mock Chelsea and the Premier League for their profligacy, while praising ourselves for our humility in volunteerism. The gap between the mother giving up her evening to bring a bunch of kids to a blitz up the other end of the county and the celebrity coach demanding a salary to manage a football team is ever growing.

And, ultimately, unnecessary and wrong.

Bar for footballing greatness is as low as it has been for a long time 

Is Lamine Yamal the best footballer in the world? Is he even the best footballer in Spain? Barcelona? His house? HAve you ever heard of Hakn Calhanoglu? Artem Dovbyk, or Florian Wirtz? Are you familiar with Vitinha’s game? If yes, you’re a more learned football fan than most. 

Each name mentioned has two things in common; they are all nominees for the men's Ballon d’Or, and their inclusion is a depressing reflection on the lack of genuie stars currently in the game. 

Joining them on the list are Ademola Lookman, Alejandro Grimaldo, Declan Rice and Mats Hummels. If it were a lineup for a charity kickabout you’d feel a little shortchanged, yet these are the creme de la creme in a year that boasted both a European championship and a Copa America. 

Compare these names with the list from nine years ago. In 2015, you could choose between Messi, Ronaldo, Bale, Zlatan, Neymar, Robben, Suarez and Iniesta. The reason I’m using their surnames is because you actually know who these players are. 

Now, I know sports pages and nostalgia go together like Shearer and Sutton, even so, the thoughts of an underwhelming Kylian Mbappe being anointed the best of the best is enough to make you lament the days of Ronaldinho, Kaka, and Redondo. 

There’s not much we can do about it, save for pray that the aforementioned Yamal actually grows up to be a player that dominated games he plays in, as opposed to what he currently does, which is contribute flashes of teenage brilliance every now and then for Barcelona and Spain. 

Maybe we were spoiled. Maybe we expect too much, but there’s no denying the bar for greatness is as low as it's been for a lifetime.

Dunbar still humble after double stage Vuelta victories

There are few more exciting sights in sport than a sprint finish at the end of an epic stage of a grand tour, but one of them is watching an Irishman grind out a win like Eddie Dunbar did on Saturday. For the second time in ten days, Dunbar was first past the post for his Team Jayco-AlUla. His pursuit of Pavel Sivakov with five kilometres to the finish on the final climb of this year’s Vuelta to Picón Blanco was as enthralling as any dash for the line. His eventual victory was comfortable for those of us watching, if brutal for the man himself. Despite the rare air he now breathes as a double stage winner, his humility remains intact: I’ve had good times and I’ve had bad times, and it’s all part of the process. There’s going to be more ups and more downs, that’s just the way life is – I have learned that throughout my career. Moments like this don’t come around too often, and I’m just looking forward to sharing them and celebrating them with friends and family.”