Navigating having your father at the helm can be 'awkward' says Gavin O'Shea

Gavin is straight up in admitting that he didn’t want his father Pat coming in as Crokes manager for the 2016 season.

Tue, 22 Oct, 2024 - 22:35

Eoghan Cormican

The almost 20-minute interview was only 20 seconds old when Gavin O’Shea made reference to “Pat”.

Having been asked to explain the origins of the very specific conducting role he plays for Dr Crokes, Gavin replied that when “Pat” returned as manager in 2016, he took him out of the inside line that he sporadically frequented and repurposed him at No.11 where the full-time brief was to control and tie the play.

“Pat”, of course, is Pat O’Shea. “Pat” is an All-Ireland winning Kerry manager. “Pat”, to Gavin, is dad.

But “Pat” is never ever referred to as dad down around the Crokes base on Lewis Road. The relationship down around Lewis Road is very different to the one they enjoy away from Crokes and the four white lines.

Gavin is straight up in admitting that he didn’t want Pat coming in as Crokes manager for the 2016 season. He must have been the sole Lewis Road cardholder opposed to the appointment.

While still trying to establish himself in black and amber and still trying to shake his peripheral selection status, young Gavin didn’t want dad at the helm.

“As you could imagine, it’s not easy when your father is over a team. It’s an awkward situation.”

As it transpired, he needn’t have worried.

“There would have been a lot of heated arguments and I would have been getting scalded [at training] more than anyone else at that stage,” Gavin recalled this week.

“It certainly changes as you get a little older. He probably values my role in the team a little bit more and appreciates what I bring. There are a lot of younger fellas that are getting the bark at this stage, not me. I’m grateful for that.”

That 2016 season ended halfway up the Hogan Stand the following St Patrick’s Day. Gavin was the centre-forward in an All-Ireland winning Crokes attack that housed such roll-off-the-tongue names as Colm Cooper, Kieran O’Leary, Daithí Casey, and Brian Looney.

Not part of the starting attack and having to be content with bench impact roles were the very-soon-to-be household names of Tony Brosnan, Micheál Burns, and Jordan Kiely.

Gavin knew he had to justify his selection more than others. He had to prove he was more than Pat O’Shea’s son. He had to prove wrong the opponents whispering in his ear that only for daddy he wouldn’t be starting.

“I remember I went to America for a summer because I just wasn’t enjoying football and was really unconfident within myself. He came in then in 2016 and a lot of people were probably thinking, Jesus, this is a big call from him to put me in there, to put so much trust in me, and I started every game that year going on to win an All-Ireland.

“I’d like to think it was proven right that he played me. And I would have said to him from the start – and I know he wouldn’t have – I wouldn’t have stepped on a pitch if I knew that I wasn’t playing for the right reasons. That was never the case. He did have faith in me.

“But I did feel that pressure [to prove myself] being honest about it, because you hear people talk, people might say something to you in a game, why they think you’re starting. I’ve heard it all.

“I know a lot of it might only be a bit of mind games or sledging, but there was, not that doubt at the back of the mind, but echoes that I was hearing definitely.”

Pat returned as manager for the 2024 season. While now long established in black and amber, Gavin admits to again being anxious about the appointment.

“There were a lot of rumours floating around at the time of different management teams who were potentially coming in. Everyone was kind of asking me, ‘is he coming in’, and I would totally stay out of any of that.

“I could have found out if I wanted to, asking him what’s the story, what does he think, but I wouldn't have for the life of me gone near him.”

Pat has them back in the decider. If Dr Crokes are to bridge a six-year gap on Sunday to their most recent Bishop Moynihan Cup success six years ago, the manager’s son and his conducting role will be central. His football brain he attributes to dad.

“My strengths are more from a tactical point of view and smartness, and a lot of that is developed from being around him for so long and watching football with him. It’s not a case you are just watching a game, you’re discussing a game and why is a fella making this sort of a run. So it’s very in depth.

“We do have a nice, relaxed relationship, it’s not football, football, football, but when you are watching a game, you are picking things up.”

Being Pat’s son has done him no harm at all.