Erins Isle’s Michael Seavers replaces Sean Shanley as new County Chairperson
The thousands of Dublin supporters anticipating the beginning of a new era are hoping that not much will change under the guidance of Dessie Farrell. And while Jim Gavin’s boots will certainly be tough to fill, the Dublin County Board have every faith their new Senior Football manager will continue the success in the capital.
With little time for preperation, new Dublin County Chairperson Michael Seavers expects Farrell to hit the ground running.
“Dessie is well qualified.” Seavers told the Times last week.
“With him it will be a case of man managing, because of the ability of the guys. He does recognise that they are super athletes, and they are so humble. He’ll just build on that culture that Jim and his backroom team have.”
Clock ticking on a brand new era
With just over a month until the beginning of the 2020 National Football League, time is at a premium. And there’s still little indication of who will join Farrell’s backroom team for the season ahead, and beyond.
“We have a lot of the professionalism and methodology in place from Jim’s time, and we don’t see a need to break it up.”
“From talking to Dessie he doesn’t see [the need] to either. We take all of the things that are going to make us better, and I don’t think there will be much alteration to what is already there – if it’s not broken why fix it?”
“We’ve had discussions with Dessie about what he wants in the background. We have offered our expertise. And we aren’t going to be, and we never have been, a county that puts restrictions on somebody. We trust him to do the job.”
Charting a not too dissimilar course
Farrell, a Na Fianna club man and former GPA chief is well schooled in Dublin’s development plan as he was a massive part of it for many years. He’s worked hands on with a large percentage of the current Senior panel. That experience at Minor and U21 level, and his relationship with those player stands him in a very good position. But it will be a challenging season, continuing the legacy of his predecessor.
“It’s a hard act to follow; that page is now closed. Dessie followed the same apprenticeship that Jim followed, with All-Irelands at U21 level.”
“He told us in our discussions with him that the pain of losing the Minor Final to Tipperary in 2011 is as good a learning curve as it was for the senior footballers with Donegal.”