In recent years the manager's position at inter-county level has become more and more high profile with people like Mickey Harte and Mick O'Dwyer now household names in Ireland. However, with great power comes great responsibility and with that comes even more pressure.
Bainisteoir's these days last shorter time than older generations and just like English soccer teams across the water - county boards now want instant success. With that in mind, I spoke to Tyrone manager Mickey Harte about how he feels about the never-ending managerial merry-go-round that is currently taking place in our country.
All-Ireland winning Tyrone manager Mickey Harte has called for counties to ‘wake up and smell the coffee’ after an alarming amount of managerial casualties since the inter-county season ended.
To prevent the GAA managerial merry-go-round getting any worse, Harte, who has annexed Sam Maguire three times in his seven years at the helm, reckons teams should instead look to gradually improve and measure success in different ways.
“I suppose it’s now aping the professional era over in the Premiership, where managers are just hired and fired.”
“If people are measuring success by winning the All-Ireland - then there is going to be a lot of casualties. There can only be one winner each year, so people need to wake up and smell the coffee and look to succeed and progress in different terms, rather than cups alone,” he said.
Harte admits the media’s influence is growing and any man coming into inter-county management should be wary of this and be ready to deal with it in order to stay at the helm.
“It’s become more professional. Managers need to be aware that when they are going into a position, it’s not just about the football and the success on the field – it’s about handling the whole media circle and that can get to some people if they are not aware of the impact that it can have,” added Harte.
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