GAA ANALYST JOE Brolly says he expects Dublin “to play better next year” and retain their All-Ireland title following the departure of manager Jim Gavin.

Gavin steps away after seven years at the helm which ended with an unprecedented five-in-a-row in 2019.

The Round Towers clubman succeeded Pat Gilroy as manager of the Dublin seniors ahead of the 2013 season, having previously guided the U21s to All-Ireland titles in 2010 and 2012.

Brolly commended Gavin for the culture of humility that he instilled in the Dublin squad, but added that the players will still be determined to defend the Sam Maguire without him in 2020.

“It’s part of a healthy balanced lifestyle with the Dubs,” Brolly told Off The Ball.

“I don’t think they are going to have any difficulties with motivation.

In fact, I think that next year they’ll probably play with greater freedom. And I fully expect them to play better next year and to win the All-Ireland next year.”

Brolly continued by cautioning that Dublin’s era of dominance is coming to an end, and expects that Kerry is the team that is most likely to derail them.

“I think Kerry’s time is coming,” he said.

“That five-in-a-row of minor All-Irelands and with David Clifford set to become one of the greatest ever Gaelic footballers.

“I don’t know if you saw his ludicrously outstanding and sometimes hilarious performances in the Kerry championship this year but all you could do was clap your hands in delight.

Kerry are coming there is no doubt, and Dublin I think will certainly win next year, possibly the following year but I think that that will probably be it then because other teams are going to start to catch up.”

Remarking on the timing of Gavin’s departure, Brolly said he wasn’t shocked to see him step down given that the five-in-a-row has now been accomplished.

“What does six-in-a-row mean?” he said.

He also commented on the other community and charity projects that Gavin is involved in. Brolly says he has no doubts that the Gavin will be able to continue working on them in the future.

When asked if he considers Gavin to be the greatest manager of all time, the Derry native responded:

“I find those discussions sort of trivial. What you can sort of say is he came into a group where [Pat] Gilroy had established a serious culture where the boys’ feet was on the ground.

“You can see the culture in the group is [one of] grown-ups. They’re given autonomy. It’s not one of these bully environments. You can see that the way they perform on the field.”

Meanwhile, Dublin legend Ciarán Whelan believes that Gavin’s exit is a huge blow for the county.

“He owes absolutely nothing to Dublin football,” he told RTÉ Sport, ”what he has achieved is just incredible, over his tenure to lose just one championship match.

It’s a massive loss really because that expectation had build over the last few weeks that he was staying on, that he was planning for next year.

“There was no hint that he was going to go at this point.” 

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