GAA legend reveals ‘obvious frontrunner' to be Dublin boss after Dessie Farrell exit as well as two ‘left-field' options
The
Sky
Blues are on the hunt for a new boss after
3
Aaron Kernan backed Ger Brennan to be the next Dublin manager
3
Dessie Farrell stepped down after Dublin's defeat to Tyrone in the All-Ireland quarter-final
Credit: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile
3
Ger Brennan won the Leinster SFC with Louth
Credit: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Farrell lifted Sam Maguire twice during his six seasons in charge.
But consecutive quarter-final losses and a Leinster semi-final defeat to Meath capped a disappointing year.
Meanwhile, Brennan led Louth to a first provincial crown since 1957 in May and Kernan reckons the St Vincent's man is ready for the Dubs job.
The former Orchard hero said: 'He would be the obvious one for me. The
reality
is the success he had with Louth was really just to build Ger's CV.
Read More on GAA
'I am sure somewhere down the line that he would have loved to have a go at the
Dublin
job.
'It may have come a year or two sooner than what he expected but he is the obvious one.
'Maybe Declan D'Arcy, but he is more of a coach. He seemed to build a brilliant rapport with those Dublin players while he was there.
'And maybe a left-fielder in
Jason
Sherlock
or something like that there — but he is more of a coach rather than being the main man.
Most read in GAA Football
'I would think Ger would be the frontrunner at this stage if he was to step away from Louth.'
Kernan is still
Kerry
.
'Lots of fight' - RTE GAA pundits react to Sean O'Shea's 'very interesting' interview after Kerry dethrone Armagh
The Kingdom raided the Orchard to KO the All-Ireland champions with a 0-32 to 1-21 victory at
And the foundations for the win were laid during a second-half spell which saw Kerry score 0-14 in 15 minutes.
Kernan gushed at 'awesome' Kerry and admitted Kieran McGeeney's men had no answers to the Kingdom's press on the kickouts.
He said: 'Those 15 minutes, 14 points to none. Just how much were you cleaned out on kickouts?
'You would have to give huge credit to Kerry in particular because this is the one area everyone was saying that Armagh had an advantage in.
'They were incredible, really well organised and really ruthless.
'There's just no coming back from 14 points to no score in 15 minutes.
'That blitz from Kerry was a real statement.'
Kerry will march to Croker for their All-Ireland SFC semi–final against Tyrone on July 12 at 5pm which follows the Tailteann Cup final at 2.30.
Donegal's last-four tie with Meath has been penned in for Sunday, July 13 at 4pm after the All-Ireland JFC decider at
FIXTURES
: Saturday July 12: All-Ireland SFC Semi-Final; Kerry v Tyrone, Croke Park, 5pm, Live on RTE/BBC. Tailteann Cup Final;
l AARON KERNAN was speaking exclusively as a
Gaelic Games
ambassador for
BoyleSports
.
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It was Farrell who invited the greater sympathy, visibly choking with emotion as he spoke about leaving behind players who he came to know first as boys and has now left them behind as aged veterans, but there is little need for tears to be shed on his part. All he truly lost last weekend was a game of ball, one that was not gravely consequential for a couple of reasons. Firstly, even if Dublin had beaten Tyrone, the road ahead would likely have been short, although it may have stretched slightly if Con O'Callaghan recovered his full fitness. Simply put, Dublin were not good enough to win the Sam Maguire. - Legacy - More significantly, failure is not something that can be pinned on Farrell. He now stands only behind Jim Gavin and Kevin Heffernan in the pantheon of Dublin's most successful managers, which is not a bad place to be. When you consider that this was a job in which many believed he was set up to fail, inheriting a team that had already planted its flag on the five-in-a-row summit, that he squeezed two All-Irelands out of a sated team and a stalled production line was, in many ways, a stunning achievement. Deciding to stay with the team for a final season as a line of generational talents left was as much a final act of care as a declaration of ambition. Advertisement The future of Dublin in the short term is uncertain, even if Ger Brennan's announcement this week that he was stepping away from Louth will invite many to fill in the obvious blank. Thing is, Dublin football's pressing need is less about finding a manager for its showcase team and more about weaponising its huge resources, financial, coaching and, above all, playing numbers, to ensure a flow of high-end players which right now is not there. 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Ger Brennan has prospered where others faltered - he's earned shot at Dublin job
We haven't heard from Ger Brennan yet on the exact reasoning behind his decision to quit Louth, so we can only surmise for now. The likelihood is that, at the very least, he was leaning towards leaving before word emerged on Saturday evening that Dessie Farrell was vacating the Dublin job. Indeed, there's every chance that he may have left Louth regardless of Farrell's intentions. But, however it's all come about, now that there is an opening and Brennan is a free agent, drawing a line between the two is irresistible. Brennan, who turned 40 on the day he announced his Louth departure, will almost certainly be approached by the Dublin county board and, given the dearth of other credible candidates, you'd imagine that the job would be his if he wants it. Yet, it's a reflection how he has done in Louth that the role he is leaving is, strictly in footballing terms, arguably more appealing than that to which he is now being strongly linked. Louth have just won the Leinster title and appear to have enough talent emerging from underage teams to kick on from here. Dublin, meanwhile, are being weakened year on year by retirements, a trend that will likely be maintained this coming winter. And, clearly, the emerging talent is not sufficient to sustain them as a serious force at the back end of the Championship for now at least. But then Brennan has proven himself adept at confounding such perceptions. When Mickey Harte jumped ship to Derry two years ago, the room for further improvement in Louth appeared minimal and, indeed, the likelihood seemed that they would drop out of Division Two and lose further ground on Dublin in Leinster, having been beaten by 21 points by them in the 2023 provincial final. Brennan was taking over from a man who had essentially told the players that juice wasn't worth the squeeze, yet he managed to galvanise them and harness the momentum that had been built under Harte to take Louth to a higher plain again. They were competitive against Dublin in last year's Leinster final and reached the All-Ireland quarter-finals for the first time. This year they won the provincial title for the first time since 1957. There was almost an inevitability about their struggles in the All-Ireland series on the back of such a historic breakthrough, and maybe Brennan, after two full-on years, couldn't summon the energy to take one step back in order to take two forward in reinforcing the side so that they could really challenge beyond Leinster. But the prospect of managing his native county would surely reinvigorate him. Often, managerial appointments owe as much to timing as anything else, and Brennan is hot right now. He may not be when it comes around again. So many ex-Dublin footballers have struggled when managing outside the county, effectively blowing their chances of landing the big job. But Brennan has prospered and has now earned his chance.
