CARLOW FOOTBALLER DARRAGH Foley backs his former coach Ger Brennan to be a worthy successor to Mickey Harte when he takes the reins in Louth next season.

The former Dublin defender was appointed to the position this week after Harte vacated the role unexpectedly to become the new Derry manager.

The two-time All-Ireland winner has assembled an impressive backroom team which includes DCU professor Niall Moyna and former Down All-Ireland winner James McCartan. 

Foley worked with Brennan when he was a head coach for then-Carlow boss Niall Carew during the Covid times of 2020 and 2021. Those were challenging seasons when direct contact between teammates and coaches was heavily restricted, but even with those tight parameters, Foley learned a lot from Brennan.

“I really enjoyed working with Ger,” he tells The 42 after Brennan’s ratification as the Louth manager this week.

“He’s a very professional man, very detail-orientated around training. You can see with the backroom team he’s brought in there is really strong. Mickey Harte is a hard act to follow but he’s very much a player’s man as well, which is great in the modern game.

“I think that was clear from day one when he came on board. You could see he was a very ambitious man, and that was even from his playing career. He was a real leader in that Dublin team that kickstarted the drive for success. It was only a matter of time before he got a role as manager. Louth are lucky to have him on board.”

The job that awaits Brennan in the Wee County will be considerable. Harte guided the team through a progressive period in which they  have jumped from Division 4 to Division 2 while also reaching a Leinster final for the first time in 13 years during the 2023 campaign.

However, Harte left in somewhat acrimonious circumstances in recent weeks, leaving Louth fans feeling disappointed at the work that still remained under his management.

More growth will be expected of Louth when the Brennan era gets underway.

“Ger will be under no illusions that this will be a tough act to follow. But I suppose Ger would back himself and that’s the best trait to have. Mickey Harte has done unbelievable work them in getting back-to-back promotion but Ger will back himself to be the fresh voice that maybe they might need to kick on again.

 ”It’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out when Ger gets his first taste of management in the inter-county game. He’s played under very successful managers in Pat Gilroy and Jim Gavin so I’m sure he’s taken bits and pieces from those guys as well.”

Touching on Brennan’s coaching philosophy when he was with Carlow, Foley said:

Darragh Foley getting to the ball ahead of Ger Brennan. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

“He comes from St Vincent’s which is one of the biggest clubs in the country, and a very successful club. What he always used to say to us was to get on the ball, look forward and try to use the kick-pass as much as possible. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve been chatting to him but I presume that still is his thinking. We weren’t really defensive under Ger. He just wanted us to get forward but he might look at it differently now with different personnel available to him. He wanted us to express ourselves, get on the ball and make things happen.

“I marked him once or twice down through the years. He was a tough opponent and an extremely good man marker and reader of the game. That’s something he’ll bring into his managerial career as well.

“Centre-back is a main position and a lot of successful managers come from that background so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.” 

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