THE NEW CORK senior ladies football manager is driving to Limerick when the phone rings. Joe Carroll is happy to have a quick chat en route to a match, where his UCC college team are in action this evening.
It has been a whirlwind few days, to say the least.
There was a county senior championship final defeat on Sunday. Carroll’s Éire Óg side lost their fourth consecutive decider. A free-kick shootout was required to separate themselves and Aghada.
Then on Monday night, news of his appointment to the Rebels hot-seat began filtering out.
“Delighted to get it and to get the opportunity,” Carroll tells The 42.
“Losing the county final with Éire Óg was terribly disappointing, the way we lost it as well. [The Cork job] was a bit of a boost and it has been a bit of a boost trying to get things organised as quick as we can before 1 December, it is only around the corner.
“We’re looking forward to it, I have a good management team and hopefully the thing will go well.”
The 2022 All-Ireland winning minor manager has assembled a stacked backroom as he succeeds Shane Ronayne at the helm.
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From 10-time All-Ireland champion Valerie Mulcahy to Munster club winning manager James McCarthy, Carroll runs through the lot.
“I have brought in three of my own management that I had with me at minor level and they’re also with me in UCC: Ann Walsh (FLO), Tadgh Buckley and Anne O’Grady.
“Then I’ve James McCarthy, who needs no introduction to anybody. Castlehaven manager last year, when they won the county and Munster championships. Wealth of experience and a great football coach. I also have Valerie Mulcahy, who has huge knowledge for the girls as well, having been involved in it and winning so many All-Irelands with Cork.
“Brian McCarthy from West Cork — he’s heavily involved in ladies football for years and knows that the lie of the land hugely. Fionn O’Shea is coming in as high performance coach. Fionn is involved with several teams in Cork, he’s been involved at underage level with Cork GAA teams and he’s had a lot of success, especially with Castlehaven. Paul Cronin is coming in as well as S&C on the ground to assist Fionn, and Lisa Crowley from Éire Óg is our goalkeeping coach.”
The next few weeks will be hectic, with preparation and planning in full flow. Pitches and players must be organised, along with testing, training and meetings. There will be many more car journeys like the one Carroll is currently on. A long road ahead.
The management team’s collective familiarity with Cork ladies football is an immediate advantage, across the underage, club and college scenes. Six 2024 county panellists are starting for UCC in tonight’s game, Carroll notes, with others out injured.
“It’s going to be very, very busy, but when things settle down a small bit and we get our schedules made out, everybody will know where they are and hopefully it will be a small bit easier then,” he says.
Valerie Mulcahy is in Carroll's backroom team. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“The league is early enough, in January, 26 January I think, that’s not that far away. You’re only back on the field on 1 December so it’s a short period of time.
“We have a lot, a lot of work to do.”
The Rockchapel clubman means that in a wider sense, too. Cork will operate in Division Two of the National League for the first time since 2003, and an immediate top-flight return is among the early goals set out.
Building the panel is another. Division Two football may be a disadvantage in one sense, Carroll says, but in terms of running the rule over players, it could be beneficial.
There’s no talk of All-Irelands on this call, but no doubt that will come. This is Cork ladies football, after all.
It’s step-by-step for now. League first, championship thereafter. And at this stage, pre-season above all else.
“One of our main focuses at the very start is aiming to get back up to Division One again,” Carroll concludes.
“We have to be careful, there’s a few very good teams down there as well. Galway, Donegal… we’re going to get nothing soft. But at the same time, hopefully it won’t be as hard maybe as playing Division One teams who are more seasoned than some of the teams in Division Two all the time.
“We look forward to that. We’ll take it game at a time and see what we can do.”
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Cork appointment 'boost', stacked backroom team and targetting top-flight return
THE NEW CORK senior ladies football manager is driving to Limerick when the phone rings. Joe Carroll is happy to have a quick chat en route to a match, where his UCC college team are in action this evening.
It has been a whirlwind few days, to say the least.
There was a county senior championship final defeat on Sunday. Carroll’s Éire Óg side lost their fourth consecutive decider. A free-kick shootout was required to separate themselves and Aghada.
Then on Monday night, news of his appointment to the Rebels hot-seat began filtering out.
“Delighted to get it and to get the opportunity,” Carroll tells The 42.
“Losing the county final with Éire Óg was terribly disappointing, the way we lost it as well. [The Cork job] was a bit of a boost and it has been a bit of a boost trying to get things organised as quick as we can before 1 December, it is only around the corner.
“We’re looking forward to it, I have a good management team and hopefully the thing will go well.”
The 2022 All-Ireland winning minor manager has assembled a stacked backroom as he succeeds Shane Ronayne at the helm.
From 10-time All-Ireland champion Valerie Mulcahy to Munster club winning manager James McCarthy, Carroll runs through the lot.
“I have brought in three of my own management that I had with me at minor level and they’re also with me in UCC: Ann Walsh (FLO), Tadgh Buckley and Anne O’Grady.
“Then I’ve James McCarthy, who needs no introduction to anybody. Castlehaven manager last year, when they won the county and Munster championships. Wealth of experience and a great football coach. I also have Valerie Mulcahy, who has huge knowledge for the girls as well, having been involved in it and winning so many All-Irelands with Cork.
“Brian McCarthy from West Cork — he’s heavily involved in ladies football for years and knows that the lie of the land hugely. Fionn O’Shea is coming in as high performance coach. Fionn is involved with several teams in Cork, he’s been involved at underage level with Cork GAA teams and he’s had a lot of success, especially with Castlehaven. Paul Cronin is coming in as well as S&C on the ground to assist Fionn, and Lisa Crowley from Éire Óg is our goalkeeping coach.”
The next few weeks will be hectic, with preparation and planning in full flow. Pitches and players must be organised, along with testing, training and meetings. There will be many more car journeys like the one Carroll is currently on. A long road ahead.
The management team’s collective familiarity with Cork ladies football is an immediate advantage, across the underage, club and college scenes. Six 2024 county panellists are starting for UCC in tonight’s game, Carroll notes, with others out injured.
“It’s going to be very, very busy, but when things settle down a small bit and we get our schedules made out, everybody will know where they are and hopefully it will be a small bit easier then,” he says.
“The league is early enough, in January, 26 January I think, that’s not that far away. You’re only back on the field on 1 December so it’s a short period of time.
“We have a lot, a lot of work to do.”
The Rockchapel clubman means that in a wider sense, too. Cork will operate in Division Two of the National League for the first time since 2003, and an immediate top-flight return is among the early goals set out.
Building the panel is another. Division Two football may be a disadvantage in one sense, Carroll says, but in terms of running the rule over players, it could be beneficial.
There’s no talk of All-Irelands on this call, but no doubt that will come. This is Cork ladies football, after all.
It’s step-by-step for now. League first, championship thereafter. And at this stage, pre-season above all else.
“One of our main focuses at the very start is aiming to get back up to Division One again,” Carroll concludes.
“We have to be careful, there’s a few very good teams down there as well. Galway, Donegal… we’re going to get nothing soft. But at the same time, hopefully it won’t be as hard maybe as playing Division One teams who are more seasoned than some of the teams in Division Two all the time.
“We look forward to that. We’ll take it game at a time and see what we can do.”
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joe carroll Ladies Football LGFA Meet the new boss