Managerial speculation, the 1982 Offaly side’s 30th anniversary celebration and Bert Trautmann all feature in this week’s final Hospital Pass.
The managerial merry-go-round
It’s the time of the year when the managerial merry-go-round starts turning and managers who have seen their team’s summer end consider whether to put themselves through it all again next year.
There’s been three high-profile managers’ futures debated in public today.
Kildare county board chairman John McMahon has spoken to The Evening Herald and he seems keen to have Kieran McGeeney stay on after their quarter-final defeat to Cork.
“There is most definitely not any rush to get things sorted. We need to give people time to digest the result [against Cork last weekend]. The result was the result and it was a huge shock to everybody but we will all take a bit of time.”
He didn’t sound averse to McGeeney staying on though judging by this quote: “We’re not talking about months here, we’re talking about weeks, but Kieran McGeeney is not a quitter.”
It remains to be seen if Kildare stalwarts Dermot Earley and Johnny Doyle will call it a day or not.
McGeeney’s former Armagh teammate Justin McNulty is the subject of similar speculation in Laois.
He had got stick for his side’s early exit to Longford in the Leinster Championship but turned it around and nearly beat the All-Ireland champions Dublin in the quarter-finals last week.
Laois chairman Brian Allen said: “I think he has still something to offer the team, he has been building them up over the last two years and I think he can take them to the next level.
“People are very happy with the way the team turned around. The performance in Longford was not the true reflection of the work the team had put in. We are utilising our strengths now and we were able to compete with the best.”
Meanwhile, after a disappointing year in hurling for the Dubs, their county board chairman Andy Kettle is hoping Anthony Daly will stay on.
“If he is willing to talk to me I think I am in with an even chance of convincing him to stay on,” Kettle said.
“I hope to sit down with him Sunday or early next week.”
Offaly ’82 side to commemorate win… in Kerry
There’s rubbing it in and then there’s rubbing it in.
In Kerry they’re still smarting over Seamus Darby’s goal denying them their five-in-a-row All-Ireland Championships in the All-Ireland final of ‘82.
Well the Offaly side are going to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their greatest victory… in Kerry.
Offaly in ’82
According to the Hogan Stand website, they’ve organised an anniversary celebration which will take place in Tralee next February. They will meet up with members of the defeated Kerry team in the Kerins O’Rahilly’s clubhouse too. They will also have a meal together and fit in a round of golf, so let’s hope none of the Kerry lads have been waiting for revenge and it passes off okay…
Break Ya’ Neck?
And finally we leave you with the obligatory Colm Parkinson story.
We haven’t had a story on our favourite Newstalk analyst and former Laois star for a while but he’s never going to stay out of here for too long. Like most punters, @Woolberto has been tweeting about the Olympics and he wasn’t convinced that American sprinter Manteo Mitchell broke his leg and kept running in the 4x400metre relay race last night.
That prompted this exchange between himself and Star GAA correspondent Peter Sweeney on the subject of legendary Man City keeper Bert Trautmann:
Trautmann and Mitchell, show us a doctor’s note.
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