Ger Brennan has prospered where others faltered - he's earned shot at Dublin job

Irish Daily Mirror

3 days ago

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.