In Monday’s Hospital Pass, we consider two venerable managers who aren’t thinking about Sunday afternoons on the couch just yet.
Derry manager John Brennan wasn’t beating around any bushes after Sunday’s Ulster final against Donegal.
There was one man he wanted to talk to, and that was referee Maurice Deegan. And he didn’t just want to talk to him – he wanted something a whole lot more invasive. He wanted to get inside his brain.
The source of Brennan’s ire was the penalty decision which turned a stalemate of a game in Donegal’s favour, but what he should really have been angry about was that his goalie didn’t hit Murphy hard enough to put him off his game.
All Devlin seemed to do was wake him up: the Donegal captain smashed home the penalty, then set up points for Colm McFadden and Michael Hegarty and slotted another one himself to give his side an unassailable advantage.
But Brennan wasn’t for turning. “How can you legislate for us having two penalty claims and getting none?” he said. “And our goalkeeper comes out, their forward runs into him and gets a penalty? Try and get inside that man’s brain. I would love to get inside his brain. Try to ask him if there’s something in Portlaoise that I don’t understand in Derry.”
We feel for you, John, we really do. You’re 69, you’re in your first year managing Derry and until the penalty decision you were in with a great chance of delivering a first Ulster title to the county in 13 years.
When you’ve reached 69 years of age, you’ve earned the right to lose your patience. Not that anyone should need an excuse to lose their patience with referees.
Never-ending Micko
In Aughrim on Saturday night, we saw the end of an era. Mick “Micko” O’Dwyer sent Wicklow out for an All-Ireland qualifier replay against Armagh, two goals from Jamie Clarke gave victory to the visitors and Micko’s time as Wicklow manager was over.
Micko is six years older than John Brennan and already has more than 35 years of management experience.
He’s helped to litter Co Kerry with All-Ireland medals, he’s brought Kildare and Laois out of the wilderness to provincial titles and he’s lifted Wicklow from third-rank no-hopers to a side which focuses the minds of any team in the country, particularly in their own little den in Aughrim.
And now it’s all over. Or is it? No, just when we thought Micko might get ready for Sunday afternoons with remote control in one hand, hot drink in the other and a tartan blanket across his knees, it seems he might not be for retiring just yet.
“It would be pretty hard to leave football, no doubt. I’m going to take a good rest and think about it and I’ll let ye know then. I’ve plenty of time and I can watch games now.
“Of course, you have to be a bit mad to be involved. I am a bit mad and that’s the reason why I am in it and as long as the legs and the body will work for me, I’ll keep going – you never know.”
Alex Ferguson has it easy compared to our Micko. As they might say in Waterville, fair play to ya, Dwyer, boy. Keep her lit.
