Sort of on this topic, but 'retrospectively' if you get my drift, I read this passage in Mick O'Dwyer's autobiography last night. I'm not the greatest fan of Micko's media shennanigans, or his 'cute hoorism' but you'd still have to wonder. Any thoughts?
(My highlighting of extremely 'eyebrow raising' comments)
Offaly caused me quite a bit of grief as a player and manager too so it would have been ironic had I ended up there, a possibility which also emerged in late 2006. I was approached about the job, and met a few county board officials to discuss things. I was quite interested at the time because I always admired Offaly football but they took too long to get back to me. By the time they did, I had already agreed to join Wicklow. I don't know why it took Offaly so long because if they had come back earlier I would have given very seious consideration to taking over. Pound for pound, Offaly have been the highest achievers in the country since the early 1970s and deserve enormous credit for winning so many All-Irelands in football and hurling off such a small population. They're struggling of late to maintain the incredibly high standards they set for themselves, but Offaly have always been capable of re-emerging pretty quickly which is a great tribute not only to their capacity to produce good players, but also to their self-belief
Shane Gavin. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.
Jaypers, I never knew Micko was in the frame.
Credit to him if he doesn't hold a grudge the way people like Spillane do against Offaly.
By all accounts he went into serious depression after the '82 final.
It wonder how things would have panned out if he managed us?
I would say the commitment from the players would have been more and we would have had a bit more tactical knowhow on the line.
I also would like see an experienced manager come in but would they be interested in us ?
sean boylan would be my favourite - even though I hate Meath, I always admired his methods and getting teams organised, fit and hard to beat ( apart from us in 97 and 00 !!)
I think he'd be interested in one more cut at something too. He's only a spring chicken in comparison to Micko
Training could be held over the Meath side of the county Edenderry / Geashill - a long trip for the West County side players, but sure Matt Connor would be delighted to collect them all and give them a lift by all accounts !
I'd also like to see young club managers get involved as selectors / mentors to gain further experience for the future and possibly with a view to taking over in time.
!!)
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