Mick O'Dwyer to take charge of Wicklow

sgthighway

Well according to Patmacs post on GAA Football Rankings; Wicklow are the worst team in the Country. I don't know if they are but they are getting Mick O'Dwyer to manage them. Will he have success or will they get "milled" by Dublin?

blackbelt

A bit harsh to rate Wicklow as the worst but I would definitely rate them above Tipperary,Waterford and Kilkenny and Antrim.

Mick O Dwyer has his work cut out for him but we could see a Paidi O Se story with Westmeath happening with Wicklow but I wouldn't hold my breath.

kaimera

Must be the money...hard to know if he's in it for the challenge or not.

I can't see Wicklow challenging for a title in 2 years...stranger things have happened tho.

cashback

Has this been officially announced? Haven't seen it anywhere yet.

It's a tough post for any manager. Micko's motivational powers are legendary but can he unite the men of East Wicklow with the lads from West Wicklow?
It's a big ask but I wouldn't mind seeing them do well. They've always had great club sides.

sgthighway

My source is Hoganstand Magazine......not a post but proper publication. I didn't say they were the worst someone else did. Sure when would Galway ever be playing Wicklow? How would I know; hence the post. They are not far from Dublin hence I thought they would have a few blow ins.

Flukey

I saw it in the Sunday Indo. He did say in the past that Tipperary is a team he'd like to manage. The team he should manage though is Kilkenny, and get them their 4th Leinster title. Maybe first he can get Wicklow their first.

peacekeeper26

If an official announcement is made confirming this, then I wish good luck to Mick O'Dwyer in his task.

I still however will be following my home county GAA team - Dublin

Gobán Saor

Maybe slightly off-topic but Uachtaráin CLG, Nicky Brennan has identified the paying of salaries to managers as an issue and a problem for the association. On the other hand Liam Hayes was on the radio Friday night saying that weaker counties could never improve unless they could attract a top class manager and it was virtually a 60 hour a week job to do it right and so the manager need to be paid. I can see where they're both coming from. But I think the idea of managers going to other counties is a big part of the problem. Why? Well, if it's ok for managers to transfer to another county (for pay) then it's going to be hard to hold the line against players doing the same. The GAA has always had a strong concept of loyalty to your club and your county and "transfers" at any level are frowned upon and generally unpopular and seen as against the spirit of the association. I think it should be the same for managers - and yes I know my own fellow Kerrymen are the worst offenders! Or put it another way, wouldn't Wicklow be better off investing in one of their own - there must be good managers at club level in the county?

Dapos

Gob&#225 wrote: »

Maybe slightly off-topic but Uachtaráin CLG, Nicky Brennan has identified the paying of salaries to managers as an issue and a problem for the association. On the other hand Liam Hayes was on the radio Friday night saying that weaker counties could never improve unless they could attract a top class manager and it was virtually a 60 hour a week job to do it right and so the manager need to be paid. I can see where they're both coming from. But I think the idea of managers going to other counties is a big part of the problem. Why? Well, if it's ok for managers to transfer to another county (for pay) then it's going to be hard to hold the line against players doing the same. The GAA has always had a strong concept of loyalty to your club and your county and "transfers" at any level are frowned upon and generally unpopular and seen as against the spirit of the association. I think it should be the same for managers - and yes I know my own fellow Kerrymen are the worst offenders! Or put it another way, wouldn't Wicklow be better off investing in one of their own - there must be good managers at club level in the county?

I disagree with this post. Where i do believe players shouldn't transfer to other counties as it could result it good players in counties with poor result being grabbed up i don't think it applies to managers. Wat is the problem with a manager like micko who once managed one of the greatest teams ever goign to a weak county like Wicklow?? If he can lift the profile and interest of wicklow football then the game benifits greatly. Also i couldn't see the best teams grabbing other managers as there will be a huge interest in that county (kerry managers in kerry, cork in cork etc).

StupidLikeAFox

When Micko took over in Kildare in the late 80s sometime, they lost their first match to KILKENNY. He went on then to bring them to one of the top teams in Ireland in the late 90s. Also thought that if he had another year or two with laois he would have brought them further again.

Not sure if Micko could do that in Wicklow, but looking forward to seeing how he gets on. Would like to see him do well with them for the sake of Wicklow, micko himself and the game in general.

ergo

this is the best news I've heard in a long time!

as a long suffering Wicklow fan who manages to make it to any league game that I possibly can (but has been difficult with no car etc) and all the championship games (and there aren't generally many... :rolleyes: ) when I saw the Sunday Indo yesterday I nearly jumped up and danced around the room, the misery of that Cyprus game was long forgotten........

but on mature reflection, am wondering, even as a Wicklow fan, is Micko mad?. I nearly feel sorry for him to be honest, taking on this task, as delighted as I am at the thought of the possibilities ie. actually winning a championship match ( a single match, not the championship, not going to go overboard now!) *tries to remember last championship game we won..../goes misty eyed : can only recall the defeat of Kildare in 1990....*

then again, there are some very talented players on the scene, and not being closely involved with any club any more I can't claim to know all the politics and in-fighting and east/west stuff but it's undoubtedly been a factor down through the years. Sure the year Rathnew won Leinster I think they only had 1 player on the panel the following summer

and we've had all the best managers WIcklow clubs have to offer down through the years and nothing much happened

nearly getting past Kildare in 2005 (6 points up in 2nd half to lose by 2 in the end) was as close as it's been for us

getting hammered by Carlow this year was a new low (I mean hammered now, Carlow aren't a bad side but traditionally the games between us have been close as neighbours etc and this was really a new low)

as Micko said today when he was unveiled:

"We're starting at a low base and I'm hoping that we at least win two or three league games this year. We're not setting any targets; we know that we want to improve the standard and level of fitness. Then after that, we might do well in the league - but doing well in the championship will be our priority"

and with Kevin O' Brien (our only ever All-Star) on board as selector this will be an interesting time for Wicklow

patmac

Defending my rankings again, Wicklow were the worst team in Ireland this season bar Kilkenny with just one Division 2 win in the league and nothing else. Over a five year period only Waterford have performed worse than them so they have been pretty abysmal with no championship win in four years. Micko saw the potential in Laois with great underage teams been ruined by infighting amongst clubs and united them to a Leinster title of which it was alleged he got a big bonus for. Wicklow football is also famous for in and outfighting amongst clubs so Micko should come in and unite them and they could do well.

Flukey

You are contradicting yourself in the first sentence there. It is like saying: Kerry were the worst county in the country this year, bar everyone else. Kilkenny, not Wicklow, were the worst team. I'd love to see Kilkenny being managed by Mick O'Dwyer. Of course the Kilkenny County Board, one of the most incompetent in the country, have failed to approach him, or indeed any decent manager. They should all be sacked, and replaced with a county board that are willing to do the job they are supposed to do.

Wicklow had a very good team back in the early 90s. After the great Dublin/Meath saga in 1991, Meath's next opponents were Wicklow. The match ended in a draw. Had Wicklow won, and they should have, people would have put it down to Meath being tired after their four matches with Dublin, which of course would have been rubbish, and would be to undervalue that Wicklow team. Meath of course won the replay.

patmac

Flukey wrote:

You are contradicting yourself in the first sentence there. It is like saying: Kerry were the worst county in the country this year, bar everyone else. Kilkenny, not Wicklow, were the worst team.

Jaysus your getting very picky, the reason they weren't rated is as you say is their county board can't be bothered with them but thats for another thread.

Kojak

blackbelt wrote:

Mick O Dwyer has his work cut out for him but we could see a Paidi O Se story with Westmeath happening with Wicklow but I wouldn't hold my breath.

If I'm not mistaken, Westmeath had won a few Leinster and All-Ireland titles at under-age level before Paidi came in. AFAIK Wicklow don't have near that amount of under-age success.

If this appointment had happened about 2 years ago, then I would say that Wicklow could surprise some people and, if all going well, possibly could win a Leinster. Back then the Leinster was wide open, whereas now it looks like Dublin are to reign there for a few years, IMO.

Mushy

as delighted as I am at the thought of the possibilities ie. actually winning a championship match ( a single match, not the championship, not going to go overboard now!) *tries to remember last championship game we won..../

Remember that Kildare match about two years ago? So close but yet so far. Had them on the shelf but let it slip. At least that might not happen with Micko. Wicklow arent even the worst team in Leinster, if they could just finish other teams off. A bit of discipline from Micko and things should be looking up. Im sure the interest of football will be raised in the county at least.

His first duty will be the Intermediate final this Sunday. Two lads from my club, Ashford, are playing in it and have played for Wicklow so Im sure he might be there to check them and many others out. Can only seeing some positives coming from this appointment even if it is only one win.

ergo

patmac wrote:

Defending my rankings again, Wicklow were the worst team in Ireland this season bar Kilkenny with just one Division 2 win in the league and nothing else.

there was an article in the Sunday Times on this yesterday which pointed out some things I had meant to

ie. that of all our (Wicklow's) National league losses last year, we lost 3 games by 1 point and 2 by 2 points or something along those lines so the bigger picture might not be as bad as the final table suggests (yes indeed bottom of the 2B table)

another thing re the underage success, well the year Westmeath had their U-21 breakthrough I think they only beat our under 21's by 1 point or maybe after a replay, we pushed them very close so there was and is talent there and sure having Micko is like having 16 men (even if he is 70!)

blackbelt

Yes Westmeath had some underage success but I was referring to senior success.While the underage teams can lay some foundation for the senior team in years to come,Westmeath had never dominated Leinster at senior level which had been dominated by Dublin and Meath before that.