GALWAY MANAGER KEVIN Walsh reckons Jim Gavin was ’100% right’ to refuse to conduct broadcast interviews after Dublin’s Leinster semi-final win, and hit out at personal attacks on players via ‘trial by television jury’.
Annoyed by the coverage that Diarmuid Connolly received in the aftermath of Dublin’s win over Carlow and Connolly’s subsequent 12-week ban for pushing an assistant referee, Gavin reignited the row by declining the customary television and radio interviews afterwards.
And although Walsh says he might not have taken a similar stance, he thinks Gavin was right to back his player who come under attack by ‘amateur journalists’.
“He is 100% right to protect his players. There are places for those things to be dealt with, whether it is a yellow card or a black card or whatever. Not trial by television jury. I believe he is right in what he is saying to protect his player,” said Walsh.
“It is up to himself to decide what type of stance he takes. I’m not saying that’s the stance that I would be taking but, at the same time, he is right to protect his players.
“That allows the amateur journalists, if you like, to have another bounce and whack out stuff for another few weeks. To be honest, the less I say the better. That’s why I don’t say too much, because I’m not going to be out there making headlines for people who want headlines.”
Walsh has history in this discussion and was annoyed by the criticism he received on The Sunday Game from former Sligo player Eamonn O’Hara shortly before Walsh’s stint as manager of Sligo came to an end in 2013.
Following on from Sligo’s championship loss in London, O’Hara called for Walsh to step down from the role and criticised his training methods. Afterwards Walsh labeled O’Hara’s critique as ‘unbalanced’ and ‘unfair’.
And while he declined to comment on that specific row with O’Hara, he urged analysts to remember the amateur player behind the jerseys before they launch ‘personal attacks’.
“I’m not even going to comment on my own situation because I am not going to play tennis with someone who wants to play a game of tennis. That’s why I wouldn’t comment at the time and I’m not going to say any more about it.
“But, yeah, there’s a person inside that jersey who is working really hard and while constructive analysis is absolutely perfect, if somebody knew exactly the deep coaching and the deep things that would affect a team and were qualified to do that on television, they would do it, and that would be good analysis.
“It’s not about personal attacks. There’s rakes of room for good analysis that isn’t being carried out. Maybe in the future that will happen.
“I’m not talking about myself, I’m talking about players. I’m here, I’ll have to take the flak that comes with it.
“I suppose even coming into Galway in the first place changing the style and different things to compete was probably tough. It was tough for nine months and I’m sure I got plenty of slating for it because it takes time to develop.
“But if you go after something you believe in and you know will work, you do that and you stand by it. If it fails, it fails. What I’m saying here is the players inside the jersey that put their lives on hold need to be given the respect because there’s a person inside the jersey.”
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“Because there is a person inside the jersey” alright Kevin, calm down a bit. This Connolly saga is now like a soap opera. He broke the rules, it was highlighted, he was suspended, he appealed, his manager made a long winded statement playing the sob story card. Nonsense stuff at this stage.
@Kieran Campbell:Gavin is so right , and what isn’t said is often more intriguing than what is , what happened , happened, and it should have been allowed to run its Cource , fair enough the pundits can point it out, but it’s not their job to adjudicate on it. We keep talking about our amateur status , heaping faint praise on the efforts of the players , but know this , Pat Spillane is far from an amateur , he is handsomely rewarded for his punditry , he is a professional, so to arrive with a prepared , researched attack on Connolly , forcing it into the headlines , was so unprofessional it smelled of an agenda, ” SMART MAN WANTED, not too smart ” … fair play to Dolan and Brolly for calling him out on it.
Fair play for sticking up for your players when every muck savage and his granny went after Connolly because he’s a dub that’s the plain simple truth of it.
3 in a row here we come
@The metropolitans: Do the crime and you’ll do the time. Good to see the rules affecting Dublin and Connolly for once.
@The metropolitans: it’s hilarious that when you try and abuse the rest of Ireland by labelling them much savages, you also insult every person in Dublin who doesn’t happen to live in the city, the irony would be lost on you though, I fear!
@The metropolitans: Just because you say that’s the plain simple truth doesn’t mean it is. The Dubs are pretty good at going after players from other counties themselves.
@Hugh Jass: Keith Higgins…..
@Ollie Watson: What’s he got to do with my comment?
@Cathal Golden: Your so intelligent. Muck savage is reference to everybody that is not from the county of Dublin. Just for clarity.
@The metropolitans: The Dublin P.R machine went into overdrive last year whining about Lee Keegan and before the league final this year about Kerry’s so called dark art’s,and now their crying when the shoe is on the other foot,
Double standards.maybe you need to get out of the concrete jungle for some fresh air.I’m sure you’d be made feel very welcome by us muck savages.
I all JIM has done is reignited the whole thing, he’s like a child of course there was going to be major coverage of this because of who the offender was and the team he played for.Go manage Leitrim if it annoys you that much jimbo
What exactly is it that Spillane or O’Rourke said that is so unfair?
I’ve watched the segment on the Sunday game a few times now. I can’t see the fuss.
The GAA is in a bit of a conundrum here. They are “amateur” as an organization and the coaches want people to ease off on “amateur” athletes who are people behind the jerseys yet the GAA have thousands pay to attend games, have highly paid administrators, and have accepted millions from RTE and Sky to broadcast and critique the games. You can’t have your cake and eat it.
Not to mention inter county coaches from Dublin on 6 figure salaries (how that is paid is another matter entirely)…
@Leo Erah: hahaha inter county coaches from Dublin on 6 figure salaries? So we’ve coaches earning more than 100k a year? Care to back that up with proof??
@Ciara Baines: Dunno what you’re laughing at there Ciara alot would be on high 5 figure “salaries” with things like cars provided also. Not beyond the realms of possibilities that the richest county by far pays more than others.
@Hugh Jass: I’m laughing because it’s ridiculous to suggest any coaches in Dublin earn over 100k a year. We get some ridiculous exaggerations here but that one takes the biscuit.
Ciara it’s well established that Ger Cunningham is earning 100k coaching the Dublin hurlers. Sure he’s commuting up and down from cork and has no other job with a wife and family to support at home. It’s pure naivety on your part to think these guys aren’t on this kind of money. There are some big club coaches in cork earning 30k a year. Amateur me hole.
@Leo Erah: ‘Well established’? Ah well then it must be true. Again, care to back those statements up with proof?
@Leo Erah: Where are revenue, We all know there are club coaches all around the country on 5 figure sums and many earning between 50 – 100 thousand as inter county coaches. The GAA turn a blind eye but where are revenue when it comes to taxing. I know for a fact 2 years ago when Mary I won their first Fitzgibbon cup the coach was on 30,000.
@Ciara Baines: sorry Ciara you are right. Cunningham is a closet Dub who was unlucky enough to have to grow up and play with cork all his life. He gave up the day job and is doing the commute every week with the only compensation being the love for the blue jersey of Dublin…meanwhile in other news brexit has just been cancelled.
@ktsiwot: agreed! In an era when every contractor and sole trader is being squeezed by revenue the GAA are getting away scott free!
@Ciara Baines: You don’t need proof you just need to be involved with any club with an outside manager to know how much they are being paid. Considering the amount more time spent and higher level county managers operate at its not ridiculous to suggest they get 3 or 4 times a club managers fee at least. Get out from under that rock will you. If Revenue ever went after the GAA I’d say it would be a bloodbath!
Reflects very poorly on Dublin people as a whole with these appeals for compassion at a repeat offender common criminal.
@Rochelle: what you’ve done there is gone in too strong. If you’d been a little more subtle you’d have got a nibble.
Lesson learned.
I think Gavin is 100% correct and fair play to Dolan and Brolly for calling out Spillanes obvious premeditated attack on Connolly. Spillane and ORourke do this sensationalist nonsense to paper over the complete lack of actual analysis on games, methods and tactics, because they have no idea whats going on. Like Cyril Farrell on the hurling, all they have are soundbites and buzz words!!…Connolly deserved hes suspension, but as said in article it should not have been trial by pundit!
Ah christ I’m sick of this, everyone getting heated up over shag all , Connolly done a stupid thing as he is inclined to do, big deal, if Dublin dont win the All Ireland it wont be because he didnt play for twelve weeks , it will be because they are beaten by a better team on the day . I hope thats not the case as they have given me plenty of enjoyment over the years, Pat and Colm have to play to their audiences, they were no angels on the field when they played the game but i remember no public outcry then. Can we all wind in our necks and sit back and enjoy supporting your own county and good luck to all .
Another show of Dublin arrogance…………….
“I mightent of done the same ” but I’ll lick Jim’s ass anyway
Can’t wait to hear big pats reaction next donkey Donahy screams in the refs face or clothes line someone. And as for brolly the hypocrite he’s responsible for the black card after he went after that other stocking from Tyrone. Dubs for Sam after hammering Kerry on their way