Flanagan's Ball

With the official county board approval confirming his appointment, maybe time to draw a line under the previous regime and focus on the present and the future:

from Tommy Callaghan's article in the Leinster Leader:

While Brian Flanagan and his new managemente team of Kildare senior football team have not yet began the process of talking to players, he, Flanagan, believes that the feed-back he has received since his appointment has been positive and encouraging.

Meeting with the local press this evening, Wednesday 4 September, the manager said he feels there is a "real energy and want to see things moving in the right direction and from that point of view it has been a good couple of weeks,"

The maanger added that he has not begun the process of contacting players but once Round 3 of the SFC is over in two weeks time that process will begin; adding that "we have been watching a lot of players; watching a lot of games in the championship so we have indeed been very busy."

Going through his management team the Johnstownbridge man confirmed that Aidan O'Rourke will be the Lead Coach; Damian Hendy, Assistant Coach and Daryl Flynn selector.

On the S&C side Neil Walsh (Santry Clinic) will lead that; Dean Ryan Asst S&C; on the analysis side John Buckley (IRFU) will lead the performance analysis team; Kay Timmons who has been with the U20s for the past few years is going to support; and Steve Sheerin will be staying on as analyst.

On the nutirition side of things Laura Keely will be remaining on;as will Breffni O'Donnell as phyio; Owen Gallagher as the team doctor while Emer Fogarty will be the sports psychologist.

The Johnstownbridge club man said that while "we all know we have had very good success in Kildare at under age, the challenge has been transitioning those players into senior county players and I believe a lot of that step-up is around athletic conditining and strengthening in general and that area was always going to be a huge importance to me in fulling out the backroom team.

The manager added that "I worked with Neil in 2016, had a very good realtionship with him since and I know he is very well regarded."

When asked if he was intending to hold 'trial' games he immediately said "no, the reason is that time is of the essence now but we feel that as a management, we have a very, very good handle on what is happening out there,

"Damian has been involved with the minors over the past few years; I have been involved with the U20s and know the players that are out there and what is coming through while Daryl is currently a selector with Moorefield so all three of us would have a very close eye on the club championship; we have gone to an amount of club games from junior, intermediate and senior level and we will continue to do that.

"I think the greatest trial that any player can play is with his club; if you play against your peers it is all on the line, and we will see that in the next number of weeks; that is the trial, fellas competing agains each other; so we won't have open trials.

"We will start with an extended squad, in our around the fifty mark and work with that but all based on what we see in the next couple of weeks.

Link to Off The Ball interview this morning

https://www.offtheball.com/podcasts/otb-am/off-the-ball-breakfast-louise-quinn-kildare-manager-brian-flanagan-yhtbt-w-quinny

Here’s that longer read I mentioned on the other thread. Would appreciate if people don’t copy and paste the text here. It’s not behind any paywalls.

https://www.kildare-nationalist.ie/a-deep-delve-into-brian-flanagans-first-interview-as-kildare-manager_arid-30662.html

jimmers wrote:

Link to Off The Ball interview this morning

https://www.offtheball.com/podcasts/otb-am/off-the-ball-breakfast-louise-quinn-kildare-manager-brian-flanagan-yhtbt-w-quinny

He spoke brilliantly. And seems to have a common sense approach as well as knowing his stuff. Let's hope he does a great job.

Yeah good interviews and gave the right answers i trust he will want to do his talking on the pitch rather than in media..... his biggest task is making a bunch of players that have consistently not performed buy into what he is trying to sell or he will need to get ruthless and that's going to be the most interesting part for me, i think he has it in him.... and he just might need time and a bit of patience. Cill Dara Abu

Best of luck to brian and the management team. Really looking forward to getting behind them for the long haul.

What's the first thing you would do if ye were in Brian's shoes ? Not a loaded question , just interested to hear supporters views.

Clubman wrote:

Best of luck to brian and the management team. Really looking forward to getting behind them for the long haul.

What's the first thing you would do if ye were in Brian's shoes ? Not a loaded question , just interested to hear supporters views.

What he's just been doing really. Engage openly with the Kildare GAA public. Been seen out attending GAA games at all levels.

Communicate. Be accessible. Sell the Kildare GAA brand to Kildare.

The last regime was beyond awful. It really really was. I really hope he organises fundraisers and events that engages the fans, builds comradery with the players.

Because the last few years I don't get the impression many of the players have enjoyed playing for Kildare and would do anything to win.

Clubman wrote:

Best of luck to brian and the management team. Really looking forward to getting behind them for the long haul.

What's the first thing you would do if ye were in Brian's shoes ? Not a loaded question , just interested to hear supporters views.

Get 25 guys committed to Kildare GAA that can complete physically for 70 minutes.

As somebody who threw my toys out of the pram the night Brian Flanagan was announced as nominee for senior manager I have to say I've been highly impressed by what he has had to say since his ratification.

He's hit all the right notes and highlighted the areas that we have all identified as major weakness. I was also heartened to hear him highlight the relationship with Maynooth University and it's importance to our underage development.
We could be in for some exciting times. We can only live in hope. The proof, as ever, will be seen on the football field...
Here's to a successful and progressive 2025

Clubman wrote:

Best of luck to brian and the management team. Really looking forward to getting behind them for the long haul.

What's the first thing you would do if ye were in Brian's shoes ? Not a loaded question , just interested to hear supporters views.

1 Get a highly qualified coach
2 Get a highly qualified head of s and c
3 With these in place, get players excited about committing
4 Get to club championship, do some interviews, create positivity while emphasising improvement will take time

Exactly what he’s done. I’m willing to stay patient for the full four seasons and not over react to bad results that will inevitably come

Its all very encouraging I have to say. To be fair to him, its a cracking job to get in my opinion. New ground, talented young players and division 3 as a platform to work from. He seems to have good backing and i love that he wanted the 4 year deal to see the project through.

All sounds really good and if we are being honest, the most optimistic ive been in 10+ years.

He knows his stuff and the soundings of the players (Alex Beirne for eg) is good.

Best of luck to him, we need to back him

Very optimistic too, but we all have to give him space and time to get on with it. I am saying now that I am 100% behind him and his decisions for the next 3 year's minimum, hopefully longer.

In the modern game communication is so so important and I think what we see in these interviews is that he has that and I'm sure it translates to the players.
Getting all lads involved, talking at a fundraising event, etc all need this too.

The backroom team is laid out with roles explained too and fitness can go a long long way in Div 3.
There will still be plenty of bumps as I'm sure there will be a turnover of player's, but I hope we all stick with the set up.

He was at the Ellistown Ballykelly match last night, unlikely to be any county players ready for next year at it but welcome to see him showing an interest in the Junior Championship.

If younger lads around the county are decent club men think there's a chance of getting spotted that is a great thing to build on.
Also what he said about playing club being a measure of you os brilliant.

If I was county board chairman, I would have tried EXTREMELY hard to get Malachy O'Rourke with Flanagan as number two to take over in a few years, but that's ideal world scenario. Think Flanagan is an excellent coach, and I'm satisfied that unlike the last couple of years, the team will be (1) be conditioned like an inter-county side and not a pub team and (2) have a tactical approach that's not 30 years out of date. If we come up short, well, we'll just have to admit we're not at the required level and try something else.

Division 3 not bad place to start, although I know from long and painful experience that Kildare teams often play to the level of the opposition, so I won't be surprised if the whole campaign turns into a dogfight. As ever, there is huge potential in Kildare. I feel like since McGeeney reinvigorated Kildare football – increasingly with distance, letting him leave looks like a historical debacle on a par with letting Tompkins & Fahy go – there is a generation of fans who want to see this through and win another senior trophy. I feel like I have to see it through until we win another one!

I'll tell you this, I've been watching Kildare for 40 years and we've never had such a wealth of underage talent – again as we know from painful experience, doesn't guarantee anything. But having players with ability not a bad starting point... As always with Kildare managers, a big challenge for Flanagan will be getting a mental and physical hardness in the team. Glenn completely failed which was very disappointing but Flanagan has assembled a decent backroom team.

Also, I like (a) Flanagan's impassivity on the line (Glenn's histrionics again woefully out of date) and (b) emphasising that we actually DO have a history and identity. Ironically, for me, Glenn's 1997-2000 had a lot of the elements Kildare teams should always have – a good mix of urban and rural, stylists and hard bastards, who always played with pride and especially revelled in sticking it to Dublin.

As ever, bring on the new season...

Any word of a friendly with Armagh in the new Conleths?

It’s time for a serious clear-out of senior squad. The 2010 minors / 2013 U21s have had their day. Unfortunately, Kevin Feely is the only player from that cohort who fulfilled his potential. They join the 1965 U21 AI winners as the generation who squandered the most talent, a dubious mantle, but Christ knows they had enough bites of the cherry. Div 3 is the perfect time for a new look.

If everyone was available for first league game, I’d go with something like...

O’Neill

Mark Maguire
Mark Dempsey
Houlihan

McDermott
S Ryan
K Flynn

Feely
Masterson

Beirne
McCormack
Robinson

Kirwan
D Flynn
Hyland

Subs

Cormac Barker
Harry O’Neill
Archbold
Sargent
James McGrath
Shane Farrell
Luke Killian
Brian McLoughlin
Aaron Browne
Eoin Bagnall
Eoin Cully

As I say, huge clearout of the older lads but not a single one of them can complain. They’ve been historically woeful the last couple of years and we’re all sick looking at them.

13 of your starting 15 was/is on the 2024 panel. Not exactly the massive clearout of the senior squad you are looking for.

Sorry, 12! Robinson was there in 2023.

The ship has sailed for Aaron O'Neill to be our number 1 at this stage. Back in 2018 he was raw but with huge potential. From there he needed to start specialising especially on his shot stopping but he ended up outfield for his club and not getting enough game time for Kildare.
Even things like his phenomenal kick outs for the u20s never were really replicated for the seniors.
It's a pity because with the right set up he could have been great for us.

I don't know about that. He is 26. Still relatively young in the goalkeeper position.

Kildare98 wrote:

It’s time for a serious clear-out of senior squad. The 2010 minors / 2013 U21s have had their day. Unfortunately, Kevin Feely is the only player from that cohort who fulfilled his potential. They join the 1965 U21 AI winners as the generation who squandered the most talent, a dubious mantle, but Christ knows they had enough bites of the cherry. Div 3 is the perfect time for a new look.

If everyone was available for first league game, I’d go with something like...

O’Neill

Mark Maguire
Mark Dempsey
Houlihan

McDermott
S Ryan
K Flynn

Feely
Masterson

Beirne
McCormack
Robinson

Kirwan
D Flynn
Hyland

Subs

Cormac Barker
Harry O’Neill
Archbold
Sargent
James McGrath
Shane Farrell
Luke Killian
Brian McLoughlin
Aaron Browne
Eoin Bagnall
Eoin Cully

As I say, huge clearout of the older lads but not a single one of them can complain. They’ve been historically woeful the last couple of years and we’re all sick looking at them.

I won’t name which players but some of those players aren’t even the best at their clubs

Remember the player against laois that went for a ball he was never winning, only to watch it bounce over his head, resulting in a goal? I do. Anyone who witnessed it (granted not many) won’t forget it either.
The same player’s idea of a legal tackle has earned many yellow, black cards and scoreable frees. Standing out in the odd club game doesn’t mean you’re county standards.

Jaysus lads I’m not stopping anyone picking their preferred squads & starting 15s - if you have alternative choices, fire away!