HE KNOWS WHAT lies ahead.
Or at least, what the script says, even though it has yet to be written.
In the All Ireland quarter finals, a couple of teams are due to get hockeyed and ran out the gate. Last year it was the turn of Tyrone against Kerry (11 points), and Mayo against Dublin (12 points).
This year, Louth are being eyed up as the side who might be in for a tough time, meeting Donegal on Sunday for their third game in three weeks.
The manager Ger Brennan knows both sides of it however. And in a hastily-arranged, yet nonetheless unusual and appreciated press conference on the week of the match, he outlines how to make sure it isn’t just a big occasion for Louth and their supporters by leaning into his experience as a Dublin player.
“I suppose starting off my career, we used to get the crap kicked out of us at the quarter-final stage by Tyrone or Kerry, or Cork,” says Brennan.
“We thankfully managed to break through eventually during my own playing career.
“With that experience and familiarity, and the experience of the management team, there is a wealth of knowledge there of how to emotionally manage the group and how to ensure that they’ll be as fresh physically and mentally as possible with the seven-day turnaround when they take to the field at Croke Park at a quarter past one.”
Louth football was marooned in division four when Mickey Harte and Gavin Devlin arrived in a shock managerial appointment. They rose all the way to third in division two last year. With the departure of the Tyrone duo, many felt a slow slide into obscurity was ahead.
While they survived in division two this year, they produced a series of tough performances and showed they weren’t out of their depth. They lost to Donegal by five points in Ballyshannon, but were well in the match until Jack McKelvey’s goal arrived on 50 minutes.
Since the league, they have shown their best performances have come in championship. Losing the round robin game to Kerry had the feel of a contest that they wrote off. Either way, they are in Croke Park for the weekend the marathon comes around the turn on the final lap.
“The way you go about that really is you have to acknowledge the achievement of the group,” Brennan says.
“I think they are…incredibly…I’d say they’re the most successful Louth team in 67 years, when you look at it in black and white. That’s obviously a huge achievement for this group and for a county like Louth.
“So that has to be acknowledged and you have to harness that energy and put it into your preparations then. Even though (I’m) not playing anymore, even just with the backroom team and chatting to guys yesterday, fellas are emotionally drained after the weekend and the two games on the bounce. It does take a bit of time to get over it.
“Then, as a player, physically, that load, that demand on the body, to be playing week after week and to eke out the results, they’re going to need a good few days to come back down and take to the field refreshed for the weekend.”
While this might be his first intercounty posting, he has significant experience so far as coach with Carlow and manager of UCD. He also brings a lot of knowledge with the likes of Dr Niall Moyna in his backroom team.
Unusually for a manager in the week of a game, he is entirely composed and relaxed. After the win over Cork last weekend, there was no alcohol ban enforced. Nor was there a manic and performative race to get some recovery work done.
“For me, management is about people, making connections and getting to know the county board, the ground staff, the full-time administrative staff in the county, and listening to their experiences. Listening to see how things can be improved and then after reconnaissance between the players and some of the groups I’ve mentioned you formulate a plan,” Brennan explained.
“It’s a simple as that and you look at what’s good about a set-up and you have your own ideas about where things can be improved. You gradually make those changes if they are needed.
“If they are not needed, don’t change it but you can make tweaks to improve the group and improve Gaelic games in the county. I’m a fairly relaxed individual; I’m fairly comfortable about how much I put into any project I’m involved with; it will either work out or it won’t.
“I’m always open to learning and that’s a culture and a philosophy that has trickled down to the group themselves, the openess to be okay with being wrong, being okay with making mistakes, and then having an honesty and a human connection between each other whereby you are looking to progress things forward and communicate in a special way that isn’t personal but performance related.”
