McShea's Say: New manager Paddy Carr deserves his shot at Donegal glory

On Monday, I had a good yarn with Donegal’s new senior football team manager, Paddy Carr, who lives in Ardee, Co Louth.

He was quick to tell me that it is only a two-and-a-half-hour drive to Donegal’s excellent new training centre base in Convoy.
Our discussion was very much of a general nature but the one thing that was crystal clear is that Paddy is looking forward very much to his new role, and I believe that when someone likes their job they are usually very good at it.

He has spoken to the people who will make up his back room team and he hopes to be in a position to name those individuals who will become involved over the next few weeks.

This weekend he meets with his players and will put in place his plans for the new season, which begins in late January. I did mention to him that many countries have very large numbers involved to back up their manager.

I feel these numbers are too top heavy, cumbersome and don’t necessarily deliver great results. And I was pleased to hear his answer where he alluded to information overload.

When asked what he would consider to be a successful first year at the helm of Donegal football he answered that the key thing for him was to have his players physically, mentally, and psychologically in top condition.

That was because he believes he has a very skilful group of players to work with, he is confident that there is serious potential in the group.

I did agree that there is much potential in the squad he will inherit, while pointing out that arguably the three best footballers in the country are David Clifford, Darragh Canavan and Dublin’s Con O’Callaghan, even though O’Callaghan had an injury disrupted season.

I mentioned to Paddy that those three players had one thing in common, all three play at full-forward for their county.
It’s still the position where quality footballers wreak havoc on opposing defences.

While it would be inappropriate to in any way influence a manager’s train of thought, I believe that if Michael Murphy wears the number 14 jersey for Donegal next season it could go a long way to making Paddy Carr’s first season a memorable one.

I sense that Paddy has clearly resolved to make a success of his role as manager and will infect his players with his own exuberance. His energy, optimism and enthusiasm combined with a shrewd footballing brain will, I hope, bring the desired result from his players.

My sense is that Carr will be sensitive to the needs of the team, both tactically and psychologically, and that he will be very much his own man.

While there is no limit to the possibilities of tactical subtlety and motivation, when your team takes the field, this is where too a manager’s most basic task lies. He must put the correct team on the pitch to start with.

Getting the best out of someone calls for a close knowledge of him both as a man and as a player. We all hope that Paddy Carr gets the best out of his players and hits the ground running in January.

The fund-raising dinner for Sligo University Hospital, in Sligo, last Friday night, was an outstanding success with over three hundred in attendance.

Seamus Darby, the Offaly forward who scored the most iconic goal in All-Ireland final history when he thwarted Kerry’s drive
for ‘five in a row’ in 1982, will be forever remembered.

Seamus played for Offaly in their semi-final against Donegal ten years earlier and he has an incredible memory as he remembered practically every kick of that match.

We were joined by Tommy Lyons, the former Dublin manager, and both men agreed that the game in its present guise is unattractive. 14 men behind the ball has impacted on the skill levels and requires urgent rules revision.

It was no surprise to hear them agree that the hand passing that has afflicted modern football, along with passing the ball back to the goalkeeper, makes for awful viewing and will have a negative effect on attendances in the very near future. It is impossible to disagree with those sentiments.