Diarmuid Connolly Dublin verdict on Ger Brennan, Robbie Brennan, Declan Darcy

Irish Daily Mirror

a day ago

Diarmuid Connolly doesn't believe Declan Darcy will put his neck on the chopping block again for the Dublin job - and he can't see Jim Gavin returning either.
And Connolly says Meath manager Robbie Brennan would be an ideal candidate to replace Dessie Farrell, with his knowledge of Dublin club football.
But he can't see Dublin being able to prise Brennan away from a Meath side he has guided to this weekend's All-Ireland semi-final - even if they wanted to with Brennan recently laughing off the odds on him going to Dublin as "not a good price."
Connolly says Darcy '100percent' has the credentials for the job, while his former Dublin and St. Vincent's team mate Ger Brennan is the early favourite for the post.
Brennan guided Louth to a first Leinster Championship since 1957, but has recently quit the Wee County hot seat. Connolly said: 'Gerry's a really good man manager. He's always with a smile on his face.
'I also wouldn't take away from the backroom team that he has around him. Like Niall Moyna has been with us with Dublin through the years with Pat Gilroy and with Vincents in our successful years.
'Him putting together training sessions and the sports science behind all of that. Ger Brennan, I doubt he'd be overawed by the job at all.
'He's the sort of guy that can walk in anywhere and fill the room. Even talking to guys that are working with him in UCD, he's a really good guy to have around.
'He's a good motivator too. That Louth team hadn't won in a long few years.
'He brought them to success. I thought it was a bit left field, maybe leaving so early. Maybe he could have given another season with Louth.
'But obviously his contract was up. Look, if he's the man for the job, I think everybody should get behind him. He probably will need a couple more coaches to come in with him.
'Especially guys that know club football a little bit better. To be honest, from looking in from the outside, there wasn't any underage managers coming through that you'd say, 'Oh yeah, he's nailed on.'
'You'd have to look to Ger Brennan in that sense, because he had success at the level we're talking about.'
Connolly was impressed with Robbie Brennan's work when he was with Kilmacud Crokes as they landed Dublin and Leinster three-in-a-rows and one All-Ireland.
'For me, probably Robbie Brennan would have been front and centre in that conversation,' he continued. 'I know Dec Darcy has been put in the loop.
'Johnny Cooper has been put in the loop. He's (Robbie Brennan) the guy that had success in Dublin with Kilmacud Crokes - won them All-Ireland club medals.
'Now we see what he's doing with Meath. Whether they can pull him away from Meath, being a Meath man, you just don't know. It may be hard, especially with the success they've had this year. He's a guy who'd know Dublin football from the ground up."
On Declan Darcy, Connolly said: 'Declan Darcy 100percent has the credentials. I worked underneath him for 5 or 6 years. He's really, really diligent in his approach to training.
'He was a defensive coach under Jim for a long, long time. I don't think there was any man on that defensive team that had a bad word to say about him.
'He's a really good motivator. His trainings are very intense, but they're very specific to what we were trying to do at the time. He's a real deep thinker on the game.
'I think he's working with Leinster rugby at the moment as a performance coach. That'll tell you the measure of the guy.
'I think what happened with him after Jim was he went in with a ticket to take the next job before Dessie Farrell - and didn't get it.
'Whether he's going to put his neck on the chopping block again, I don't think so.
'Maybe the rumour is because he's been there previously and he's still working in this sphere that he could be a potential (candidate) for the job. But by all accounts, I don't think he'd be interested.
'I'd be very surprised if Jim Gavin came back into that fold, especially with what he's done in the past.
'But again, you can never say never, but I'd say that'd be way left field if it was to happen.'
Connolly reckons Ger Brennan might have 'first refusal' on the job.
'I haven't spoke to the man myself, so I don't know whether that's true or not.
'The Dublin County Board knew that Dessie Farrell was going to step down, so they have had a lot of time to maybe do something in the background.
'But they've been very tight lipped about it so nobody really knows what is going to happen."
Diarmuid Connolly was speaking exclusively to BOYLE Sports as a Gaelic Games ambassador ahead of the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals