FORMER LEITRIM MANAGER Terry Hyland says that Leitrim’s decision to give a walkover to Fermanagh “didn’t come as a massive shock” considering the size of the county and the turnover of players in the current squad.
Hyland was in charge of the Connacht side from 2019 to 2021, leading Leitrim to promotion from Division 4 in his first year in charge and a league final against Derry which was the county’s first Croke Park appearance since 2006.
Leitrim achieved promotion to Division 3 last year, but had already been consigned to the drop before conceding to Fermanagh last weekend.
Advertisement
“It didn’t come as a massive shock to me,” Hyland says. “The difference is the playing population and the club size. They’ve had a turnover of 19 players from last year to this year. That’s massive, and when you put that into a county the size of Leitrim, you can see the serious problems that it causes.”
In explaining the cause of their walkover, Leitrim released a statement which outlined that they had just 13 players who were fit to fulfil the fixture. Along with injuries in the camp, Leitrim were also without six U20 players who had a Connacht championship match against Galway this week.
Additionally, the statement referred to the timing of the current management team. Steve Poacher was appointed to the position at the end of October, following the controversial departure of Mickey Graham who stepped down after just two months in the position. He was announced as a new addition to the Galway backroom team shortly after.
Hyland says that convincing players to commit is a challenge for every manager, but stresses that buy-in is particularly difficult to achieve in a county like Leitrim. Hyland says there was a maximum of 10 players who were based in Leitrim during his three-year term, most of which were students.
“There’s always a percentage of lads who will get involved in county set-ups and different things happen. Work, where you’re living – they all affect you. When you’re looking at the likes of Leitrim, they’re either in Dublin or Galway. Leitrim is their home but it becomes a satellite to them because most of them are working away from home. So, there’s a lot of factors that bleed into getting lads to commit to county football.”
In the wake of Leitrim’s walkover, manager Steve Poacher told Off The Ball that “sub-standard behaviours have been accepted” in the years before he took over. Hyland declined to respond to that remark, stating that he is not aware of the “ins and outs” of the current situation.
He does suspect, however, that Leitrim made the walkover call in order to prioritise the underage players who will form the backbone of future senior squads.
“I don’t know all the ins and outs. It’s only what I see in the media and what you see sometimes are not the facts
“They probably made a conscious decision in Leitrim that their underage development is where they need to start up. You have to look after young people and let them develop, and then come on to play at senior level.
“If you concentrate on underage, it’s a slow process. Most county chairmen are there for five years, and they want to see something happen on their term. I’m not cutting at chairmen here but if you want to progress a county to be consistently at a higher level, you’re probably looking at an eight-to-ten-year window. But human nature is all about now.”
Related Reads
Who's going up and who's coming down? The final day Gaelic football permutations explained
Tyrone win in Donegal to give themselves a puncher's chance of staying up
Monaghan on verge of Division 1 return as promotion race approaches thrilling finale
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
'It didn't come as a massive shock to me' - Ex-Leitrim boss on Fermanagh walkover
FORMER LEITRIM MANAGER Terry Hyland says that Leitrim’s decision to give a walkover to Fermanagh “didn’t come as a massive shock” considering the size of the county and the turnover of players in the current squad.
Hyland was in charge of the Connacht side from 2019 to 2021, leading Leitrim to promotion from Division 4 in his first year in charge and a league final against Derry which was the county’s first Croke Park appearance since 2006.
Leitrim achieved promotion to Division 3 last year, but had already been consigned to the drop before conceding to Fermanagh last weekend.
“It didn’t come as a massive shock to me,” Hyland says. “The difference is the playing population and the club size. They’ve had a turnover of 19 players from last year to this year. That’s massive, and when you put that into a county the size of Leitrim, you can see the serious problems that it causes.”
In explaining the cause of their walkover, Leitrim released a statement which outlined that they had just 13 players who were fit to fulfil the fixture. Along with injuries in the camp, Leitrim were also without six U20 players who had a Connacht championship match against Galway this week.
Additionally, the statement referred to the timing of the current management team. Steve Poacher was appointed to the position at the end of October, following the controversial departure of Mickey Graham who stepped down after just two months in the position. He was announced as a new addition to the Galway backroom team shortly after.
Hyland says that convincing players to commit is a challenge for every manager, but stresses that buy-in is particularly difficult to achieve in a county like Leitrim. Hyland says there was a maximum of 10 players who were based in Leitrim during his three-year term, most of which were students.
“There’s always a percentage of lads who will get involved in county set-ups and different things happen. Work, where you’re living – they all affect you. When you’re looking at the likes of Leitrim, they’re either in Dublin or Galway. Leitrim is their home but it becomes a satellite to them because most of them are working away from home. So, there’s a lot of factors that bleed into getting lads to commit to county football.”
In the wake of Leitrim’s walkover, manager Steve Poacher told Off The Ball that “sub-standard behaviours have been accepted” in the years before he took over. Hyland declined to respond to that remark, stating that he is not aware of the “ins and outs” of the current situation.
He does suspect, however, that Leitrim made the walkover call in order to prioritise the underage players who will form the backbone of future senior squads.
“I don’t know all the ins and outs. It’s only what I see in the media and what you see sometimes are not the facts
“They probably made a conscious decision in Leitrim that their underage development is where they need to start up. You have to look after young people and let them develop, and then come on to play at senior level.
“If you concentrate on underage, it’s a slow process. Most county chairmen are there for five years, and they want to see something happen on their term. I’m not cutting at chairmen here but if you want to progress a county to be consistently at a higher level, you’re probably looking at an eight-to-ten-year window. But human nature is all about now.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Leitrim GAA Messy Situation Steve Poacher Terry Hyland Walkover