Galway GAA discussion thread

What has Kevin Walsh done to show he's capable of managing us? Not much in my opinion, yet loads of people seem to think he's the man for the job. To be honest if Mulholland was willing to stay on I'd have given him another year, although his lack of any defensive plan whatsoever was worrying.

At least we've been in Croker the last 2 years and got used to the place again. Whoever the manager is, I hope he's in early and puts the team on a serious conditioning plan and toughens them up mentally. Too many soft lads in that team.

For me Mulholland's time in charge was at best mixed but to give him his due he came into it at a difficult time and helped to manage the transition somewhat. He blooded a lot of new players (some others fell through the cracks) and in fairness the younger players seemed to play for him.

I also respect him for taking a stand against the lads drinking. Losing Duane and Concannon was a blow, Duane especially given the defensive woes but this sort of f##king around has been going on in Galway for too long. For me it was better to lay down the law and let lads know that you are either committed to the cause fully or not at all.

Having said that I think our style of play was very naive and there seemed to be a few players who were un-droppable or kept re-appearing despite failing time and again. In terms of conditioning and professionalism we were miles behind. He probably didn't have the resources other counties had but all the same I think we didn't make the sort of progress we needed in terms of defensive setup and in the forwards the movement was non-existent.

I suppose its a case of be careful what you wish for though. I don't think we could have progressed much further under him given our style of play, lack of conditioning etc. but who will improve things? Not sold on Kevin Walsh as of yet but had some good days in charge of Sligo and seems to be doing well with Micheal Breathnachs.

Don't really see anyone else within the county for another few years at least. Looking outside, who is gettable and who would help us adapt to the modern game while not losing our strengths? There are candidates out there but doubt we'll be in a position to look too far from home.

Whoever comes in the setup has to get more professional and we need to give this panel every chance of closing the gap and in time competing against the top teams.

Galway have a big opportunity here and a big decision to make.

They need a man who has the head for a professional setup that can bring this team to the next level and improve them over the next few years.

They have been to CP twice now in as many years, going one step further this year than last, and regardless of the final score v Kerry it was a huge learning experience.
I would see it as similar to Mayo's situation in 2011.

Connaught will be a bit more open next year and Galway would play Mayo at home of they meet, so the opportunity to win Connaught band get beyond a QF is very much there.

But they need a professional guy who will develop them just like the likes of Mayo, Donegal and Dublin have developed in the past few years.

I don't know who that person is, but he's not Kevin Walsh or an out of county mercenary.

I don't have any insight into the inner workings of Galway football and maybe there's a man in there for the job that I have never heard of, but looking in from the outside the only obvious candidate is Walsh and I'd be amazed if they went for anyone else that is known outside the county. For what it's worth I think Walsh is underrated and the quality of the Sligo team he managed is massively overrated. He took them about as far as anyone could have done, although they left a Connacht title behind them in 2010 by losing to a poor Roscommon side.

Lively game so far. Johnny Glynn has started to come into the game, Padraig Brehony has showed very well. Cathal Mannion has done well in patches but defensively Galway look a bit of a shambles. Wexford have some classy forwards but really their scores are coming far too easy in many cases. The goal was very poor defensively.

Don't know does it matter hugely who comes through this as can see neither backline containing Clare in the final but a win would be a welcome boost all the same.

Earlier in the day, the ladies footballers had a good win over Monaghan, started slowly but came into the game well and finished strongly. Some of the younger players look top quality. Don't know will they win the All-Ireland this year but at least they avenged their defeat to the same opponents last year which should give them confidence ahead of the semi-final.

Both set of backs look poor although I think Galway's look slightly worse. Might be enough to swing the game Wexford's way despite Brehony's heroics.

And is it just me or does Kirwan seem to be giving Wexford frees a lot easier?