Ex-Kildare player Lynch questions mindset of current management amid Lilywhites' poor 2026

September's County Board meeting was held at Cedral St. Conleths Park Photo: Pic: Evan Treacy/Inpho

Ex-Kildare player Martin Lynch passionately questioned the mindset of Brian Flanagan and the current management amid the Lilywhites' poor 2026 campaign.

Clane clubman Lynch - part of some of the most successful Kildare sides - argued at the September County Board meeting that goals set by management and the county board need to be loftier than just getting out of Division 3 and reaching a Leinster final, rather that those should be the bare minimum. 

As reported by the Kildare Nationalist, Lynch reached for memories of his 1997 team getting beaten well by Dublin and how an alteration of mindset brought a change under then-boss Mick O’Dwyer.

He outlined three key stages in the evolution of a team's mindset: “Hoping, believing and knowing.” 

That last part, "the knowing," is where they actually found success under O'Dwyer's guidance. 

In direct response to Kildare chairman Mick Mullen confirming the aforementioned 2026 goals, and arguing that getting to Division 1 needed to be at the top of Kildare's list, sooner rather than later, Lynch said: "It has to be 'we’re going to win the Leinster final,'” he said. "Not get to it.

“He (Brian Flanagan) needs to tell those boys they’re going to win a Leinster final."

Meanwhile, as criticism mounted around him and the senior football setup, Mullen said that former county star Flanagan, in year two of a four-year term, "recognises that 2026 was not his best year".

Mullen also noted Flanagan will retain the services of lead coach Davy Burke, and that while Aidan O'Rourke and Daryl Flynn have stepped away, Damien Hendy will remain involved.

Flanagan is expected to finalise any further appointments before they are brought before the November County Board meeting for ratification.