Greatest Football GAA Manager of the last twenty years

Mr. Incognito

1. Micko- Laois, Kildare, Wicklow- enough said. Probably footballs gretest ever manager
2. Micky Harte, he has rebuild his team every year and when not hampered by injuries has gotten his tactics right nearly every time. Built Tyrone football
3. Jack O Connor, 04,05,06 Three all ireland finals, won two. 09,10 All Ireland sucess and a loss to Down. Looking like another final at least

4 and 5 removed to keep the haters happy.

DoctaDee

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

1. Micko- Laois, Kildare, Wicklow- enough said. Probably footballs gretest ever manager
2. Micky Harte, he has rebuild his team every year and when not hampered by injuries has gotten his tactics right nearly every time. Built Tyrone football
3. Jack O Connor, 04,05,06 Three all ireland finals, won two. 09,10 All Ireland sucess and a loss to Down. Looking like another final at least
4. Kieran McGeevney- Kildare before, Kildare after, most unlucky and has arguably the best team behind Cork and Kerry in Ireland at this stage.
5. 5. Seamus McEnaney -Monaghan and Meath

4 & 5 really ? they will ensure some debate ... take them out and stick in Joe Kernan

Kojak

John O'Mahoney deserves a mention. Should be ahead of McGeeney and McEneaney in your list imo.

Won a Connacht title with Leitrim in 1994, which to a county of its size, is like winning an AI. Also won 2 All-Irelands with Galway in 1998 and 2001 (should have had a third in 2000, but that's for another day). Admitidly, didn't get a huge return from his second stint in charge of Mayo (got a Connacht title or 2, but never cam close to winning Sam).

dcr22B

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

1. Kieran McGeevney- Kildare before, Kildare after, most unlucky and has arguably the best team behind Cork and Kerry in Ireland at this stage.
2. Seamus McEnaney -Monaghan and Meath

Jesus Christ, are you taking the piss with these two?

Plenty of other managers who I would list ahead of them in the previous 20 years:

- Joe Kernan
- John O'Mahony
- Sean Boylan
- Eamon Coleman
- Pat O'Shea
- Conor Counihan

They've all won All Irelands whereas 4 & 5 haven't won a single provinical title between them!

dcr22B

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

1. Kieran McGeevney- Kildare before, Kildare after, most unlucky and has arguably the best team behind Cork and Kerry in Ireland at this stage.
2. Seamus McEnaney -Monaghan and Meath

Jesus Christ, are you taking the piss with these two?

Plenty of other managers who I would list ahead of them in the previous 20 years:

- Joe Kernan
- John O'Mahony
- Sean Boylan
- Eamon Coleman
- Pat O'Shea
- Conor Counihan

They've all won All Irelands whereas 4 & 5 haven't won a single provinical title between them!

keane2097

Mickey Harte AINEC.

plasmaguy

Hmm does that include the Boylan and Morgan eras?

1. Mickey Harte, not just at senior level but club and underage level and given that Tyrone had no tradition unlike Kerry of winning All Irelands. In ten years he has turned Tyrone from nobodies to genuine contenders every year.

2. Micko - outstanding manager, and motivator.

3. Johno - Done wonders with 3 different counties, and his Galway teams were as entertaing as any who have played the game. But the game had moved on when he took over Mayo a second time.

4. Joe Kernan - Again took a team to AI success which had underachieved for years. Also good at club level.

5. Jack O'Connor - helped by the fact he inherited a golden generation of Kerry players who could win AI's no matter who was the manager. I wonder how well he would do managing other counties.

davegrohl48

In terms of achievements with players at his disposal I think Luke Dempsey deserves a mention. He has never had a top team (I believe) but has often made his squads over achieve.
Many have done much less with more talent at their disposal.
I believe it was him took Eire Og to All Ireland club success and his methods were ahead of their time.

Mr. Incognito

4 and 5 are a bit iffy alright but I'll explain.

I had considered Kernan but with the team at his disposal 1 All Ireland was a poor return.

Same with Conor Counihan, although Cork have improved and made the breakthrough their squad is simply awesome and the tactics beat them this year against Kerry trying long high balls and short kick outs when they had midfield won, if they had played correctly from the start they would have won handy.

Kildare went from a Division 3 side to a team that are competing for All Irelands and you can see the improvment year on year. Okay- they have won nothing and I'm sure my knowledge is useless on other counties managers but that's the debate.

McEnaney's Monaghan were a class team by any yardstick and came within ten minutes of dethroning Kerry. They have turned over Armagh and Tyrone at their best but were never consistent enough as they simply did not have the player depth

dcr22B

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Kildare went from a Division 3 side to a team that are competing for All Irelands and you can see the improvment year on year. Okay- they have won nothing and I'm sure my knowledge is useless on other counties managers but that's the debate.

Kildare were an NFL1 side when McGeeney took over and were relegated in his first year in charge. 3 years on they're still there. Beaten by Wicklow & Louth and twice by a 14 man Dublin in 4 Leinster campaigns. Have never gotten over the finish line when playing a big knock out game in those 4 years either.

I wouldn't have McGeeney near my top 10 of the last 20 years let alone 4th!

rpurfield

putting banty and mc geeney ahead of sean boylan and john o mahony is a complete farce if you ask me.seanie has 4 all irelands with another three finals as loser too.hes got three national leagues too as well as 8 leinsters and even the centenary cup!!o mahonys got two all irelands and leitrims first connaught in years on his cv.i think they blow the other two out of the water to be honest.

DoctaDee

This thread is headin the way of some others over the last few days .. I'll flush !! .... leave Kildare out of it other than under Micko and preserve its integrity

Fr Tod Umptious

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

4 and 5 are a bit iffy alright but I'll explain.

I had considered Kernan but with the team at his disposal 1 All Ireland was a poor return.

Same with Conor Counihan, although Cork have improved and made the breakthrough their squad is simply awesome and the tactics beat them this year against Kerry trying long high balls and short kick outs when they had midfield won, if they had played correctly from the start they would have won handy.

Kildare went from a Division 3 side to a team that are competing for All Irelands and you can see the improvment year on year. Okay- they have won nothing and I'm sure my knowledge is useless on other counties managers but that's the debate.

McEnaney's Monaghan were a class team by any yardstick and came within ten minutes of dethroning Kerry. They have turned over Armagh and Tyrone at their best but were never consistent enough as they simply did not have the player depth

Ah for God's sake.
Kildare have not contented All Ireland's under McGeeny.
They got to one semi final.

McEnaney's Monaghan have done less.

I'll put a shout in here for John Maughan even though I cursed him from a height many a time in Croke Park but here are his achievements

Won Munster with Clare, fair enough it was a bad Kerry team but it was huge for a small footballing county like Clare

Brought Mayo to three All Ireland finals between '96 and '04, fair enough he did not have the tactical ability to finish it off, but its far more the the two mentioned above have managed or will manage if you ask me.

bruschi

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

4 and 5 are a bit iffy alright but I'll explain.

I had considered Kernan but with the team at his disposal 1 All Ireland was a poor return.

Same with Conor Counihan, although Cork have improved and made the breakthrough their squad is simply awesome and the tactics beat them this year against Kerry trying long high balls and short kick outs when they had midfield won, if they had played correctly from the start they would have won handy.

Kildare went from a Division 3 side to a team that are competing for All Irelands and you can see the improvment year on year. Okay- they have won nothing and I'm sure my knowledge is useless on other counties managers but that's the debate.

McEnaney's Monaghan were a class team by any yardstick and came within ten minutes of dethroning Kerry. They have turned over Armagh and Tyrone at their best but were never consistent enough as they simply did not have the player depth

Jason Ryan has done more with Wexford than McGeaney has with Kildare but you wont hear me saying he has been one of the top 5 for the last 20 years.

Sligo were closer to beating Kerry, but again, you wouldnt be calling for Kevin Walsh to be nominated for such praise.

Rain Over Me

Not one of the greatest football managers of all time, but I would like to give recognition/credit to Johnny Evans, current Tipperary manager, what he has done with our underage structure to see results such as our minors and u21s do so well, and also the work he has done with our senior team means Tipperary football will only grow stronger

rossie1977

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I'll put a shout in here for John Maughan even though I cursed him from a height many a time in Croke Park but here are his achievements

he set us back about 5 years :mad:

1.micky harte - this is an easy choice, his success at minor, under 21 and senior over the last 15 years is incredible for a county that were not considered one of the big 5 before he took the job

2. john o mahoney - winning a connacht with leitrim in 1994 (beating galway, mayo and roscommon on the way), 4 all-ireland finals (winning 2), played a major role in building st bridgets roscommon to be the force they are today in club football

3. sean boylan - great career with meath, 4 all-irelands, another 2 finals, meath haven't had the same mystic about them since he left

sendit

DoctaDee wrote: »

This thread is headin the way of some others over the last few days .. I'll flush !! .... leave Kildare out of it other than under Micko and preserve its integrity

Why one of the people named McGeeney is manageing Kildare

nice_guy80

only three contenders really

Sean Boylan
Mickey Harte
Jack O'Connor

you'd have to say that O'Connor has had the most natural talent available
Harte has brought a lot of Tyone's talent through
Boylan made the most from what the county provided him.

So I'd have to say Sean Boylan!!!

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

John O' Mahony should have won more than 2 AIs with that Galway team IMO. We had some of the best forwards of the last 20 years, a very solid midfield and an excellent defence. Add to that his record with Mayo (the 2nd time) and I don't think he should be included.

Mickey Harte is by far the best IMO, no one comes close. Micko and Jack O' Connor to complete the top 3.

Old_-_School

I'd say Jack O'Connor. In 5 years of managing Kerry he won 3 All-Irelands and 3 National leagues.
He won another 2 All-Irelands and 1 National League in his role as selector when Páidí Ó Sé was manager.
He was manager of the U21s when they won the All-Ireland in '98.
He was a very successful manager in various school's teams. In total he has won approximately 20 All-Irelands in his managerial career.

The_Kew_Tour

Jack O Connor close second be Harte

harpsman

Pete Mc Grath and Brian McEniff

gaelic cowboy

rossie1977 wrote: »

he set us back about 5 years :mad:

to be fair ye were gone crazy with eejits like Dolan turning in smashing performances one day an then heading for beer the next.

He was right to drop him in my view.

Best manager in last twenty years is Mickey Harte, he won less than Kerry but then Kerry won a few handy ones from 97 on, in fact till they beat Cork they had only beaten Mayo and Galway to win Sam

Mountainlad

Rain Over Me wrote: »

Not one of the greatest football managers of all time, but I would like to give recognition/credit to Johnny Evans, current Tipperary manager, what he has done with our underage structure to see results such as our minors and u21s do so well, and also the work he has done with our senior team means Tipperary football will only grow stronger

I don't think John Evans deserves much credit for the underage success Tipp are enjoying at the moment. IMaybe the u21s though I'm not sure exactly how involved he was despite being there on the face of things. Certainly he didn't do much for the u15s, u16s and u17s last year (who are now minor munster champs and in an all-ireland semi). He did well enough at the start of his Tipp tenure, but they haven't really progressed of late, albeit they have been considerably hampered by emmigration.

S. Goodspeed

I'd over look Jack O'Connor as the "greatest" manager of the last 20 years for the simple fact that he has had unbelievable players at his disposal. A flawed argument I admit. Even Paidi O'Se turned out quality teams when he was in charge. Jack is a great manager though.

Micko has been an above average manager at best over the last 20 years. He gets paid (allegedly) a lot of money to come into under acheiving leinster counties, gets the hype band wagon rolling, gets a couple of half decent Leinster championship runs going and then leaves and the team quickly goes back to sh*te. Obviously what he did with Kerry was great though outside the 20 year window.

Still can't believe "those two" were included on the ops original list so just gonna ignore them...

For a truly great manager I'd expect someone who has taken a county from nowhere, delivered unprecedented success in the form of Sam and stayed on to fight through the inevitable hard times and bounce back even stronger. On this basis Mickey Harte has to be a contender, year after year they have challenged unlike the other ulster teams armaghs, downs and Derrys that blow jot and cold each year.

I'd say it's a choice between Mickey and Sean Boylan (meaths second greatest ever manager after banty...). Granted his first two in a row winning team was more than 20 years ago but he took Meath football from nowhere, won two sams then lost to down in another after 10 hard games in the season. His greatest acheivement was possibly bringing a new team out a year after a hammering by the dubs and winning another Sam. Then 3/4 years later with effectivley another brand new team he won another. He is also credited by Tyrone and Armagh as giving them a blue print for how to play (although we should probably hold that against him!) Also who can forget his dismantling of Kerry in 2001?

The only negatives with him are probably the Down and Galway finals when they went in heavy favourites and didn't really show up. Then again Mayo were probably the better team in 96(?) when he masterminded victory so he partly made up for it. It's a shame that non football people tried to tarnish his reputation by labelling his teams "dirty". They were hard, determined but no dirtier than any other team at the time.

If Tyrone win Sam this year I'll give it to Harte otherwise it's got to be Sean Boylan.

oicherider

There is Micko.. And then there is Micko.. And Micko again..

Somewhere along way after that there are other managers..

ontheditch2

Sean Boylan for me. Just a genius of a manager, rebuilt several times to be competitive.

daddydick

For me it is simple, Mickey Harte. He has an aura of brilliance and dignity in everything he does. Success at club level with Errigal Chiaran, minor and U21 level and also of course at senior level with three All Irelands.

Honestly don't think anybody even comes close to him.

After him I would have Jack O'Connor but as has been mentioned, what a group of players he has had at his disposal.

Don't buy into the Micko thing as much as others (sorry - just from talking to players who have played under him in different counties and it seems that he is hyped above what he actually is) and that is not taking away from the man at all - a legend of the game. He certainly has longevity but is nowhere near as good a manager as Harte.

Johnny Evans - not in the league of the above two - he's a spoofer and takes credit for all the success underage of Tipperary when he has damn all to do with it. What annoyed me was Clonmel (could have been Cashel?) winning an All-Ireland schools B last year and Evans going on in the paper about coaching them. Turns out he took one training session throughout the entire year!!!! Not enough credit is given to club and underage managers for the success of club teams and to credit Evans with Tipp winning the U21 last year and minor this year is just wrong. The players didnt just get good when he turned up a few years back!!

Stinicker

Jack O'Connor is clearly the best manager in Ireland since Mick O'Dywer hung up his boots.

Jack has took Kerry to three finals in a row under his tenure of 2004-2006 and upon his return to Kerry in 2009 took a written off Kerry team back to the All-Ireland and won it. During Jack's times with Kerry he has won Three All-Ireland's, Three National League titles and Five Munster titles. In 2004,2006 and in 2009 Kerry won both NFL and All-Ireland in the same year.

Mickey Harte is a good manager but he is nowhere near as good as Jack, his best follow up achievement was a 2009 semi-final achievement and he has never taken Tyrone to two finals in a row.

But then again why argue with idiots who think 3 All-Irelands > than 5 in a decade I suppose when the ignore facts and are blinded by jealously and begrudgery.

plasmaguy

oicherider wrote: »

There is Micko.. And then there is Micko.. And Micko again..

Somewhere along way after that there are other managers..

But in the last 20 years?

Even in his heyday, was there really that much competition from consistently good teams? Even Dublin played in fits and starts in that era.

He done a great job with Kildare, but then again, I'd say Micky Harte done a better job with Tyrone.

He had some success with Laois and Wicklow, but it wasn't that sustained, and they are still in division 4 if memory serves. So its been a mixed bag for Micko in recent years.

But I'd love to see him manage a stronger county again. There's only so far you can take the Wicklows of this world.

I wonder would he take the Cork job if it ever came up?

daddydick

Stinicker wrote: »

Jack O'Connor is clearly the best manager in Ireland since Mick O'Dywer hung up his boots.

Jack has took Kerry to three finals in a row under his tenure of 2004-2006 and upon his return to Kerry in 2009 took a written off Kerry team back to the All-Ireland and won it. During Jack's times with Kerry he has won Three All-Ireland's, Three National League titles and Five Munster titles. In 2004,2006 and in 2009 Kerry won both NFL and All-Ireland in the same year.

Mickey Harte is a good manager but he is nowhere near as good as Jack, his best follow up achievement was a 2009 semi-final achievement and he has never taken Tyrone to two finals in a row.

But then again why argue with idiots who think 3 All-Irelands > than 5 in a decade I suppose when the ignore facts and are blinded by jealously and begrudgery.

As a complete independent who is not 'blinded by jealousy and begrudgery' I can honestly say that I think Mickey Harte is a better manager than Jack O'Connor.

With regard to these 'idiots' that you speak of, I think we/they are all aware that 5 is a bigger number than 3. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out those applied maths.

Your logic of All Ireland victories just doesn't win the argument for you. How do you know that someone like Jason Ryan in Wexford isn't actually a better manager than Jack O'Connor? He might never get the chance to compete at that level but you can't just dismiss him because he hasn't coached an All-Ireland winning team.

The attitude of a good proportion of Kerry people stinks. The cheek of us even suggesting someone as a greater manager than Jack O'Connor. 'Idiots' the lot of us.

T2daK

me

sendit

daddydick wrote: »

For me it is simple, Mickey Harte. He has an aura of brilliance and dignity in everything he does. Success at club level with Errigal Chiaran, minor and U21 level and also of course at senior level with three All Irelands.

Honestly don't think anybody even comes close to him.

After him I would have Jack O'Connor but as has been mentioned, what a group of players he has had at his disposal.

Don't buy into the Micko thing as much as others (sorry - just from talking to players who have played under him in different counties and it seems that he is hyped above what he actually is) and that is not taking away from the man at all - a legend of the game. He certainly has longevity but is nowhere near as good a manager as Harte.

Johnny Evans - not in the league of the above two - he's a spoofer and takes credit for all the success underage of Tipperary when he has damn all to do with it. What annoyed me was Clonmel (could have been Cashel?) winning an All-Ireland schools B last year and Evans going on in the paper about coaching them. Turns out he took one training session throughout the entire year!!!! Not enough credit is given to club and underage managers for the success of club teams and to credit Evans with Tipp winning the U21 last year and minor this year is just wrong. The players didnt just get good when he turned up a few years back!!

You could say the same thing about Harte really that he had great players at his disposal aswell.

Jack O Connor has had success at Under 21 and schools football aswell.

Johnny Evans is a bit over rated as a manager. He had great success with Laune Rangers during the 90's but they had a great team with great players Mike Frank, the Hassett's etc. He managed Kerins O'Rahilly's before Tipp and had no success despite them have some very good player Tommy Walsh and the likes.

He did well to get Tipp to Div 2 infairness and lads leaving etc didn't help eather

sendit

daddydick wrote: »

As a complete independent who is not 'blinded by jealousy and begrudgery' I can honestly say that I think Mickey Harte is a better manager than Jack O'Connor.

With regard to these 'idiots' that you speak of, I think we/they are all aware that 5 is a bigger number than 3. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out those applied maths.

Your logic of All Ireland victories just doesn't win the argument for you. How do you know that someone like Jason Ryan in Wexford isn't actually a better manager than Jack O'Connor? He might never get the chance to compete at that level but you can't just dismiss him because he hasn't coached an All-Ireland winning team.

The attitude of a good proportion of Kerry people stinks. The cheek of us even suggesting someone as a greater manager than Jack O'Connor. 'Idiots' the lot of us.

Whos to say that Jason Ryan isn't a better manager then Micky Harte why just say Jack O Connor?

Mountainlad

daddydick wrote: »

Johnny Evans - not in the league of the above two - he's a spoofer and takes credit for all the success underage of Tipperary when he has damn all to do with it. What annoyed me was Clonmel (could have been Cashel?) winning an All-Ireland schools B last year and Evans going on in the paper about coaching them. Turns out he took one training session throughout the entire year!!!! Not enough credit is given to club and underage managers for the success of club teams and to credit Evans with Tipp winning the U21 last year and minor this year is just wrong. The players didnt just get good when he turned up a few years back!!

It was the highschool in clonmel.

Agree completely.

However, to me Seán Boylan is the best manager there has been in football (or certainly that I know of). What he did with Meath, Meath and Meath again was incredible stuff and he's a very likeable personality on top of it (of course I don't know him personally, nor should personality be a contributing factor in determining who is the best, but hey, when I much prefer that Messi is considered the best soccer player in the world ahead of Ronaldo because Ronaldo is a fagg*t)

mattser

Boylan by a country mile. Superb motivator, got the very best out of every player on his panel, and did ok with the aussie rules too. On top of that, a decent man who never had a bad word to say about anyone.
A class act.

teednab-el

Micky Harte is the best I've ever seen.

daddydick

sendit wrote: »

Whos to say that Jason Ryan isn't a better manager then Micky Harte why just say Jack O Connor?

Nobody is to say he is not a better manager...it's completely open to debate. IMO Harte is the greatest but that is only my opinion and I am not trying to ram it down anyone's throats or tell anyone they are wrong for thinking otherwise.

My point was that just because you have won 5 All Irelands as the previous poster argued (he has in fact only been manager of 3 of these) it doesnt automatically make you the best manager.

Not taking anything away from Jack O'Connor here who I think is an absolutely brilliant manager - it's the Kerry attitude that he HAS to be the greatest manager which has annoyed me somewhat.

J Cheever Loophole

Stinicker wrote: »

Mickey Harte is a good manager but he is nowhere near as good as Jack, his best follow up achievement was a 2009 semi-final achievement and he has never taken Tyrone to two finals in a row.

But then again why argue with idiots who think 3 All-Irelands > than 5 in a decade I suppose when the ignore facts and are blinded by jealously and begrudgery.

You're getting confused. The title of the thread is 'Greatest Football GAA Manager of the last twenty years', not 'Most Successful Football GAA Manager of the last twenty years'. This is something you appear not to understand, unless of course you're simply 'blinded by jealously [sic] or begrudgery'.

As for the debate itself, it would be Boylan for me, as over the period in question he had to oversee the break up of a great team and build again, which he successfully did, taking another two All Ireland titles. The only one who would come close would be Mickey Harte, IMHO.

D'Agger

Mickey Harte. Game over.

davegrohl48

You may be right Paulie C but to expand.
I think Mickey Hartes shown he can spot players than can do a job where others wouldn't have tried it especially in the full back position, he's moved forwards into the backs, and backs into the forwards.
He also seems to be a good squad/man manager as any trouble in the camp is short lived. He's not an authoritarian, he trains Tyrone very smart.
When Tryone won their first Ireland they trained collectively twice a week for most of the year, but did more conditioning work on their own time and played no challenge games.
I think the key was trusting his players to train on their own time, he fitness tested them anyways and anyone not pulling their weight would be spotted.
He allows them have an odd drink, but doesn't want to hear about guys being out till late because they're only drinking soft drinks.
Alot of managers are draining their players mental energy by overworking them. You can't train hard if you're mentally drained from work, football, homelife.

D'Agger

davegrohl48 wrote: »

You may be right Paulie C but to expand.

I'd say definitely :pac:

keane2097

PaulieC wrote: »

I'd say definitely :pac:

Throw enough shit at a wall...

:pac:

SSK

In the last 20 years it's Mickey Harte by a massive distance. 3 All Irelands with a county that had never won one before, having almost single-handidly driven the core group of players from minor to U21 to senior winning All Irelands at every grade. All this while having to deal with a number of tragic obstacles along the way.

Jack O'Connor would be number 2. He may have had great players to work with but to win All Irelands in two different terms as manager takes something a bit special. He also showed great managerial ability by recognising where he teams were lacking and making decisions accordingly (Donaghy to full forward, bringing back Mike McCarthy etc)

In this time frame Pete McGrath, John O'Mahony and Sean Boylan all won 2 All Irelands and all could claim to be number 3 on the list. I'll go for McGrath, purely because he won 2 All Irelands coming out of Ulster when the Ulster Championship was at its peak. I would argue that the Derry team of that era had at least as many top quality footballers but they only got it done once.

In an all time context though Boylan is a very, very close second to Micko imo.

Sean Boylan for me and I say that as a Dub. He was an extraordinary manager. Mickey Harte a close second and the great cajoler Micko in third.

Clareman

For me it has to be Sean Boylan, he guided a number of teams through, as with Kayroo, Mickey Harte is a close second.

If there was a competition for the best manager never to win an All Ireland I'd give John Maughan the title.

davegrohl48

I dunno, Maughans selection policies bordered on the insane at times. We don't need to go over those old dying embers again but the evidence is there.
Gary Ruane was at his peak in 96/97 and was left on periphery of panel. Years later he's holding Peter Canavan to one point even though Ruane had lost a little of his pace.
Kevin Staunton was unused in that era.
Kevin O'Nell was injury free several years not played.
It just all seemed a bit too comfortable once you got on the panel. Once you were in you stayed in.

K-9

1. Mickey Harte
2. Sean Boylan.

3. John O'Mahony.
4. Pete McGrath.
5. Brian McEniff. (Biased obviously)

Little between Boylan and Harte, if Tyrone win this year I'd say he's definitively better.

O' Mahoney speaks for itself.

McGrath brought back Down with no qualifiers and Donegal, Derry and Tyrone in the same province, Dublin and Meath outside it.

McEniff brought an average enough Donegal team to an AI SF in 03 when nobody wanted the job the year before. Donegal's first Ulster Title without McEniff was this year.

O'Connor after that but the obvious question mark is Tyrone.

unknown13

Mickey Harte without a doubt. 3 All Irelands in 5 years plus a rake load of Ulster titles aswell.

Micko hasn't done much since he got Laois a Leinster title in '03.

davegrohl48

Mick O'Dwyer has made Wicklow football stand up and give a decent account of itself. They were being beaten out the gate far too easily for years. He got the best out of them.
You measure a managers abilities by how much he makes his squad play to their full potential, using fitness, tactics, man management, short term goals, long term goals etc.

SSK

While I appreciate that Boylan is one of the greatest of all time, if people aren't rating Jack O'Connor highly because of the players he had at his disposal then surely Boylan should be similar considering he had the likes of Geraghty, Ollie Murphy, Giles, Fay, McDermott, Martin O'Connell, Flynn, Hayes, O'Rourke etc. at his disposal during the nineties/early 00's (not all at the same time obviously). I would consider all of those players to be among the elite players of their generation.

I'm not trying to diminish his record, but I think it's too easy to write off JOC's achievements by saying he had great players, when other managers had similar resources to work with.