Daragh Nolan, 19 Apr
Kildare team boss Glenn Ryan has been around long enough to know, and
realise, exactly what is at stake on Sunday as his team travel to
Netwatch Cullen Park, Carlow, and a tilt with Oisin McConville's
Wicklow in the quarter-final of the Leinster Senior Football
Championship.
It is, of course, a Leinster SFC like no other in the history of the
GAA.
This year Leinster means Leinster, nothing more, nothing less.
Win it and that is that.
Over.
Finito.
Lose it, and depending on a multitude of other factors, and a team
either starts out on an All-Ireland path or into the Tailteann Cup.
No ifs.
No butts.
No excuses.
The Tailteann Cup came into vogue last season and was won by Westmeath,
a win that guarantees the Lake County participation in the All-Ireland
Series regardless of how they perform at provincial level, or indeed
League level as far as that goes.
The Tailteann Cup has been described as a real step forward, an
opportunity for lesser counties to play in their own All-Ireland
series.
However, practically every county tries to avoid it all costs.
Playing in the Tailteann Cup is, in many respects, a sign of failure, a
sign that a county is not good enough to mix it with the top teams.
Now of course the fact that barring four, five or at a stretch six
counties, the rest have probably not a snowball chance in hell of
winning the Sam Maguire.
But that does not stop counties from dreaming.
Stop counties from hoping.
Stop counties from suggesting that despite their league form, despite
the poor displays in recent times, despite not having won the Sam
Maguire in God knows when, they still want to be in there with a shout,
competing with the best, and so on.
Talking to Kildare boss last week one got the feeling that despite a
hugely disappointing league performance, winning just two games but
they were vital games, at vital times, wins that ensure Division 2
status was preserved.
But despite that the manager admitted that their (Kildare) form has
been so disappointing, that they are certainly not in a position to
take Wicklow (promoted from Division 4 to Division 3 this season) for
granted.
Is there any talk amongst the management group, of indeed the players
of The Tailteann Cup?
“No talk of Tailteann Cup, just as there is no talk of the Sam Maguire;
talk throughout the League and I have said this a couple of times, we
purely went from game to game, after getting two good wins and we
certainly know our form isn't concrete enough to be able to take any
game for granted, so the focus now at the moment is purely on Wicklow,
our focus has to be on that game and we will see after that.”
What do you think of Wicklow, the league form and their win over
Carlow?
“They are well set-up; coming in with huge momentum behind them; did
well to get out of Division 4 and battle their way through it; very
competitive display against Sligo in the League final; would have been
very easy for them to take their eye off the ball against Carlow but
they had a slow enough start but came out very comfortable winners so
they have a system of play; work very hard for each other; they won't
give a damn what we do they will continue to do what has worked for
them over the last number of months and try to impose as best they can;
they are set-up to give a real good performance.”
Are Kildare in a better place today than say they were a month or so
ago?
“I wouldn't be here if I didn't think that” laughs Glenn, adding “it
has been tough but players deserve huge credit, and I'm not saying that
to try and plamause them; they came in every night and did exactly what
was asked of them, and more, and tried to get things right themselves;
there was no toys thrown out of the plan.
“We all knew and were aware we were playing football that we did not
want to be playing; we all knew we were better than we were showing; we
all knew there were performances that were not acceptable but every
night came in here (training) there was massive effort on their part to
try and get it right, and maybe at times trying too hard; but it was
the chicken and egg, the one thing that was going to get us out of the
hole we were in was wins and thankfully the two wins at the end and as
I often say when you are beaten no one cares who beats you and equally
when you win nobody cares who you are beating once you are winning; we
won our last two games, particularly the last one.”
That game against Meath was hugely significant said the manager, adding
“there was a lot of pressure on us that day from a Tailteann Cup and
the Sam Maguire perspective, but also to sign off at St Conleth's Park
in a manner that left people with a good memory as opposed to the two
previous games, they took all that on board; a lot of pressure.”
LEAGUE
Finishing the league off with two wins, two vital wins at that, must
have given everyone a huge boost, both from a moral point of view but
also from a training perspective?
“It was good to finish off the League with two wins, that certainly
made preparations easier and certainly not the same difficulties we had
coming into training prior to that; those difficulties were simply
about trying to improve the mood; improve moral; so good to get those
wins.
“Having said that It certainly was not through any lack of effort that
we found ourselves in the position we were in; we had done a hell of a
lot of work during that period even though you might not have thought
that but there was a huge amount of effort put in and that work is
still there, it is banked and hopefully when the time comes it will
come together.”
Maybe too much effort?
“Definitely a case when things not going your way and you're not
playing as well as you should be, there are things that go wrong that
are probably multiplied, if you were winning those same things might be
going wrong but they would not be rearing their heads; you may not be
looking at them and you certainly put everything under the microscope
when you are not getting the results; maybe over analyse to a certain
degree but it is difficult, you are looking for answers and you are not
getting the answers;.
“I wouldn't say it was too much work but you are looking at things and
everything just seems to be going wrong; those things could have been
going wrong last year but because you were winning ...”
NEW FORMAT
It's very stressful; doesn't allow you to enjoy a whole lot, laughs
Glenn.
“You are constantly looking over your shoulder; the result down in
Clare did not go our way; but everything is still in our own hands; and
really what we said throughout the league and that is simply look at
and take everything game by game; if we win our games no issue.”
The new format is “not giving us a chance to promote our games the way
they should be; to the biggest factor out of this is the teams across
the water; our season is condensed into a short period; yet fellows can
play here and then go across the way to play and then come back and
play with their club.
“In fairness you will only find out the pros and cons of this new
format at the end of the season; I wouldn't be against trying stuff; if
something isn't or hasn't panned out the way it was hoped; they (Croke
Park) should be prepared to make changes immediately rather than wait
for Congress to come around every couple of years and drag it out that
way; I would't be mad about saying too much of the system at the moment
because it might look we are trying to pave a way for ourselves but I
do think there is something there that needs to be looked at as regards
to the provinces.”
Choosing a panel of 26 for that opening game and then the staring
fifteen, that can't be easy?
“In some ways it is very similar to the start of the League, you would
like the players to think they are starting with a blank canvas, but
because fellas played in the league does not mean they are going to be
automatic for the start of the championship, at the same time you want
consistency there as well, to create consistency in the panel for
fellas to believe and know if they are performing well out on the
training pitch they are given the opportunity as well and you are
trying to get that fine balance.
“We know it is going to be difficult initially to pick a panel of 26
and then to pick the starting fifteen; choosing the initial 26 is
probably more difficult because fellas are being left off who have all
put in a massive effort but that is just the nature of the thing.”