|
A very dark day for Dublin.
LimerickKid84 (Limerick) - Posts: 28 - 30/11/2019 22:25:32
2252400
Link
0
|
|
Replying To catch22: "Akin to Ferguson going at Utd.
I think this all but guarantees Kerry next years AI.
They are the champions in waiting really and while Gavin and Cluxton were there they were always second best. It's there's to loose now imo." Ferguson was holding the United ship together. Things might not have fell apart so soon if they got like for like replacement in and didn't appoint a clueless chief executive in Ed Woodward.
Dublin are a well run team from top to bottom. I'd expect Dessie Farrell to be Galvins replacement and it should be a smooth transition leaving Dublin very much the team to beat once again next summer.
Speaking of beating them the best time to play Dublin will be in the early part of the league and I'd fancy kerry and Mayo to win those games, the latter never lost in league or championship under Gavin i believe.
The_analyser (Roscommon) - Posts: 3742 - 30/11/2019 22:29:39
2252401
Link
0
|
|
All the best to Jim in the future. He served his county well. I don't think this will slow Dublin down a whole pile as the Bounce they can get from a new manager can bring a new energy. I don't expect a mass exodus either . I'd still have Dublin at the top with Donegal second and ourselves third. Cork are a coming force as well.
Themall1916 (Kerry) - Posts: 98 - 30/11/2019 22:31:41
2252402
Link
2
|
|
Well now,
A mixed day for Dubs yesterday, Jim could stay forever with Dublin and everyone would be happy, but any one who knows anything of the man knew hat would be his way. Are people shocked, i dont think so, people are more surprised by the timing and most had made the assumption he was staying on as the winter stretched on.
In typical Jim fashion he waited for his players to do have their victory lap O Gara and Borgan and i think the most surprised will be the players.
So mixed feelings for most yesterday, no point lying i'm gutted that Jim is gone and we will miss him, but at the same time to, just so utterly thankful and privileged to lived through this historic era with the Dubs, the teams he built were fantastic and the beautiful football they created was a joy and not something ever seen in football before in my opinion.
Jim was a genius and make no mistake Dublin are going to miss him. Football will miss him to, in many ways he revolutionized the game, he showed the world how to beat the blanket and he was the architect of the quick kick out and the importance of kick outs with Cluxton. He made players better, he coached them in different positions creating hybrid players who could play in any line.
He was speical in the sense that he believed in youth and always put his truth in them, you see many counties persevere with the likes of Tommy Walsh and Andy Moran. Any other manager would have persevered with legends like Bernard Brogan, Paul Flynn etc, but Jim always nurtured young talent and gave the Con O Callghans, Brina Howards, Jack McCafferys and Ciran Kilkennys their time over legends. No other manager would ever do that in my opinion over Jim.
The where do you start with record one, championship loss ever and that was when Dublin were just getting on the road in his tenure. He architected the total and under dominance of Football for over a decade, record after record fell, almost every county of note in the country beaten over his time.
So for me there are a few reasons why he decided to leave, one being there is just nothing left to achieve, he could sit at Dublin for the next five years and keep producing, but there isnt a county that hasnt been bet, a record of note that lies outside of Dublin, there just in the challenge to continues. He and his team ends the era virtually unbeaten and peerless as this era ends. That will stand forever in GAA.
Another reason is i know he hates the new rules and i also think that was a factor. The advanced mark in particular, the game will become less creative and imaginative more stop, start and bit more dumbed down for the next few years, i really think Jim doesnt want to be a part of that.
I also think he has earned the right to focus on his young family and joy some the fruits of his profile. He will miss Dublin he has been involved in the set up since 2003.
If im being honest i think, its the end of phase 1, as he is still a very young man and i think he will be back again in 4 or 5 years for another stint.
As for Dublin, i suspect we will go back and be mere mortal footballers, i definitely seeing us regressing under new management as Jim was special. So it will lead to a more exciting Leinster and Championship and other counties will win a few now. We cant be greedy most counties has ever experienced what we have these years and everything ends, wed back Jim over success any day. So if the cycle is ending so be it, but we will still be there with the Dubs.
I tend to think the standard Dublin are playing at now will drop and we will drop down to Mayo, Tyrone, Kerry Donegal, Galway etc. But what a team we created, what a manager that built it and what times we gave us.
Go raibh maith agat Jim,
We will see you in a few years.
Dublin Legend.
TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 01/12/2019 10:10:54
2252431
Link
5
|
|
Nice Piece by O Rourke:
So the king has abdicated, and in a manner fitting his character too. Not after the All-Ireland when emotions were high. That was a day which belonged to the players and Jim Gavin would never do anything to upstage the men who had made history.
There were straws in the wind though. He walked around the pitch and waved to the crowd and his father sat in on the press conference. This was very unlike Jim Gavin. He did not just talk about the players always being centre stage, he practised it and gave low-key a different meaning.
At the time I thought it must be the end, but with the passing of time I thought the lure of more glory had consumed him to the point where another year on the treadmill became too appealing. We should have known better. He gave the signals and being a calculating man decided that a grey day in winter was the time to say farewell. Far from the bright lights of the championship and before any games had started. He would never want to be a distraction but probably did not realise the volume of written and spoken words his departure would generate.
This departure back to private citizen by Jim Gavin is in the same league as the resignation of a towering political figure, and in some ways demonstrates the lack of men of his calibre who enter public service. Gavin would have made a great political or business leader. There would certainly have been high standards in high places. The next general election will probably see many offers for Gavin to top the poll in some constituency.
Jim Gavin is one of the most influential figures the GAA has ever produced and we are lucky in this great organisation that there have been many people of honesty, integrity and vision.
He was selfless in his commitment to Dublin and the list of honours is beyond compare. Yet it was all achieved with modesty and understatement. Many men who have achieved far less in life have felt the need to lecture the great unwashed on every aspect of society. That is not Gavin's style.
Maybe our opinionated masses would find the Gavin message too simple. Get the right people, support and empower them, but above all ensure high standards. We all laughed when he continually commented in press conferences about the process and humility and the honour of representing Dublin. He kept saying it because he believed it. It was every young footballer's dream in Dublin to put on a blue jersey in Croke Park and he had the honour of managing them.
Every manager stamps his team with at least some of his own personality. In that respect we have been fortunate that Dublin players seem to understand the bigger picture. They are men of substance. While football has at times been shocking in terms of entertainment, Dublin continue to be a beacon of hope that the game can be something greater than some of the pressures life sometimes brings. There is joy in their play.
They smile before games and play with discipline, but also look as if football can be enjoyed, not endured. These players do not talk about sacrifice or what they are missing out on in life, their motto is of gratitude, about being able to play, the fun of meeting their friends for training and their love and respect for the game and the traditions of the GAA.
It is a far cry from the GPA. In many ways these Dublin players, many of whom are the greatest who have ever played, are one step up from lads kicking around on a public park with their jumpers for goalposts. It is never a sacrifice. That is down to Jim Gavin's philosophy of what the GAA is about.
In many respects, too, the Dubs are an all-powerful, destructive force. Jim Gavin has built a dynasty but also a monster which nobody in the GAA knows quite what to do about. John Costello put the infrastructure on the ground through full-time coaching in clubs and primary schools. There was a need for a man lacking in ego but with a far-sighted approach to move it on. Pat Gilroy started the engine and Gavin has poured on extra coal, adding more and more class players on the way. Without Donegal's intervention we would be talking about 10 in a row for the Dubs.
Yet for all Gavin's modesty, there was an iron fist in the velvet glove. He was more facilitator than dictator but did not shirk tough decisions. Michael Darragh Macauley had to sit uncomfortably on the bench for a long time in this year's All-Ireland final replay. Bernard Brogan saw hardly any action all year. There was no sentiment and never an attempt to justify his decisions.
He leaves Dublin football in rude health. Every part of it sees young boys wearing Dublin jerseys in summer. It is just fantastic for the GAA that it is so popular in the most affluent of places and perhaps the struggle going forward in Dublin is to colonise working-class areas. When I was student in Dublin in the 1970s football was not flourishing anything like it is now. Thanks to the Heffo era and now Jim Gavin it is the game of every creed and class.
Jim Gavin's management style of player empowerment was never more evident than in the last 10 minutes of this year's drawn All-Ireland final. A point and a man down they pushed up and turned over the ball several times.
In the end, Kerry were hanging on, but it showed a group of players who decided on the pitch that fortune favoured the brave. Jim Gavin would have been proud of that.
Things will not be the same now for Dublin. They will never have the comfort of seeing Jim Gavin on the line, completely unflustered no matter what the storm. Perhaps now their greatest player, Stephen Cluxton, might decide to hand in his gun too. There are others who may also think that a new manager might not be what they want at this stage of their careers. For sure the Dubs are more vulnerable without him, but the calibre of players who have matured under him are still far superior to those in any other county. You can count Kerry in that. So don't hold your breath on the Dubs being beaten next year.
Jim Gavin's record of leagues titles, Leinster Championship wins and All-Ireland titles is unlikely to be equalled in the football world and we will surely miss the word 'process', which was a staple diet of his press conferences. He maintained his dignity at all times and he always reminded me of Kipling's words in the poem, If: 'If you talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with kings, nor lose the common touch . . . if all men count with you but none too much". That might sum him up.
The future may see him back as Dublin manager. After all, he is still quite young. 'God forbid', the rest of the country might say.
For now, though, the chances are that he will be at club training on a Saturday morning helping out with an underage team. Without a Dublin tracksuit on too. That would be much too flash. And he would see that role as just as important as patrolling the sideline in Croke Park.
A man of honour and distinction. Even all your sporting foes salute you.
TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 01/12/2019 11:16:40
2252443
Link
8
|
|
Fair play to Jim and my god what a manager. He owes Dublin nothing now but cant help but think he will be back at some time in the future.
For the mean time I wonder whats next for Dublin and what bearing this has on the AI for next year. Anyway Congrats to Jim he could retire now and go down as one of the greats, but looking forward to seeing what he has in store
boman11 (Antrim) - Posts: 237 - 01/12/2019 11:36:13
2252444
Link
1
|
|
Replying To Themall1916: "All the best to Jim in the future. He served his county well. I don't think this will slow Dublin down a whole pile as the Bounce they can get from a new manager can bring a new energy. I don't expect a mass exodus either . I'd still have Dublin at the top with Donegal second and ourselves third. Cork are a coming force as well." You'll be a while waiting for Cork to become a force at senior level again. First they have division 3 football to deal with.
Donegal aren't ahead of Kerry, last two years they failed to reach All Ireland semi finals
Gaa_lover (USA) - Posts: 3337 - 01/12/2019 11:43:50
2252447
Link
0
|
|
Great manager, it take a great personality to keep the squad of players he had happy.
Would love to see him in top role in GAA in the future.
tommy132 (Mayo) - Posts: 600 - 01/12/2019 13:14:15
2252458
Link
2
|
|
Replying To TheUsername: "Nice Piece by O Rourke:
So the king has abdicated, and in a manner fitting his character too. Not after the All-Ireland when emotions were high. That was a day which belonged to the players and Jim Gavin would never do anything to upstage the men who had made history.
There were straws in the wind though. He walked around the pitch and waved to the crowd and his father sat in on the press conference. This was very unlike Jim Gavin. He did not just talk about the players always being centre stage, he practised it and gave low-key a different meaning.
At the time I thought it must be the end, but with the passing of time I thought the lure of more glory had consumed him to the point where another year on the treadmill became too appealing. We should have known better. He gave the signals and being a calculating man decided that a grey day in winter was the time to say farewell. Far from the bright lights of the championship and before any games had started. He would never want to be a distraction but probably did not realise the volume of written and spoken words his departure would generate.
This departure back to private citizen by Jim Gavin is in the same league as the resignation of a towering political figure, and in some ways demonstrates the lack of men of his calibre who enter public service. Gavin would have made a great political or business leader. There would certainly have been high standards in high places. The next general election will probably see many offers for Gavin to top the poll in some constituency.
Jim Gavin is one of the most influential figures the GAA has ever produced and we are lucky in this great organisation that there have been many people of honesty, integrity and vision.
He was selfless in his commitment to Dublin and the list of honours is beyond compare. Yet it was all achieved with modesty and understatement. Many men who have achieved far less in life have felt the need to lecture the great unwashed on every aspect of society. That is not Gavin's style.
Maybe our opinionated masses would find the Gavin message too simple. Get the right people, support and empower them, but above all ensure high standards. We all laughed when he continually commented in press conferences about the process and humility and the honour of representing Dublin. He kept saying it because he believed it. It was every young footballer's dream in Dublin to put on a blue jersey in Croke Park and he had the honour of managing them.
Every manager stamps his team with at least some of his own personality. In that respect we have been fortunate that Dublin players seem to understand the bigger picture. They are men of substance. While football has at times been shocking in terms of entertainment, Dublin continue to be a beacon of hope that the game can be something greater than some of the pressures life sometimes brings. There is joy in their play.
They smile before games and play with discipline, but also look as if football can be enjoyed, not endured. These players do not talk about sacrifice or what they are missing out on in life, their motto is of gratitude, about being able to play, the fun of meeting their friends for training and their love and respect for the game and the traditions of the GAA.
It is a far cry from the GPA. In many ways these Dublin players, many of whom are the greatest who have ever played, are one step up from lads kicking around on a public park with their jumpers for goalposts. It is never a sacrifice. That is down to Jim Gavin's philosophy of what the GAA is about.
In many respects, too, the Dubs are an all-powerful, destructive force. Jim Gavin has built a dynasty but also a monster which nobody in the GAA knows quite what to do about. John Costello put the infrastructure on the ground through full-time coaching in clubs and primary schools. There was a need for a man lacking in ego but with a far-sighted approach to move it on. Pat Gilroy started the engine and Gavin has poured on extra coal, adding more and more class players on the way. Without Donegal's intervention we would be talking about 10 in a row for the Dubs.
Yet for all Gavin's modesty, there was an iron fist in the velvet glove. He was more facilitator than dictator but did not shirk tough decisions. Michael Darragh Macauley had to sit uncomfortably on the bench for a long time in this year's All-Ireland final replay. Bernard Brogan saw hardly any action all year. There was no sentiment and never an attempt to justify his decisions.
He leaves Dublin football in rude health. Every part of it sees young boys wearing Dublin jerseys in summer. It is just fantastic for the GAA that it is so popular in the most affluent of places and perhaps the struggle going forward in Dublin is to colonise working-class areas. When I was student in Dublin in the 1970s football was not flourishing anything like it is now. Thanks to the Heffo era and now Jim Gavin it is the game of every creed and class.
Jim Gavin's management style of player empowerment was never more evident than in the last 10 minutes of this year's drawn All-Ireland final. A point and a man down they pushed up and turned over the ball several times.
In the end, Kerry were hanging on, but it showed a group of players who decided on the pitch that fortune favoured the brave. Jim Gavin would have been proud of that.
Things will not be the same now for Dublin. They will never have the comfort of seeing Jim Gavin on the line, completely unflustered no matter what the storm. Perhaps now their greatest player, Stephen Cluxton, might decide to hand in his gun too. There are others who may also think that a new manager might not be what they want at this stage of their careers. For sure the Dubs are more vulnerable without him, but the calibre of players who have matured under him are still far superior to those in any other county. You can count Kerry in that. So don't hold your breath on the Dubs being beaten next year.
Jim Gavin's record of leagues titles, Leinster Championship wins and All-Ireland titles is unlikely to be equalled in the football world and we will surely miss the word 'process', which was a staple diet of his press conferences. He maintained his dignity at all times and he always reminded me of Kipling's words in the poem, If: 'If you talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with kings, nor lose the common touch . . . if all men count with you but none too much". That might sum him up.
The future may see him back as Dublin manager. After all, he is still quite young. 'God forbid', the rest of the country might say.
For now, though, the chances are that he will be at club training on a Saturday morning helping out with an underage team. Without a Dublin tracksuit on too. That would be much too flash. And he would see that role as just as important as patrolling the sideline in Croke Park.
A man of honour and distinction. Even all your sporting foes salute you." Excellent article by O'Rourke.
Now that Jim has gone we are at last receiving some unbiased commentary from those who were previously reluctant to do so. Fair play.
Fionn (Dublin) - Posts: 3724 - 01/12/2019 13:25:28
2252461
Link
4
|
|
I've only just been reading about all the work that Gavin continued to do at underage level when still managing the dublin seniors. It's great to hear. A real gaa man
galwayfball (Galway) - Posts: 1678 - 01/12/2019 15:59:55
2252490
Link
3
|
|
Replying To Mickhiggins: "I would imagine that in a set up as well organised as Dublin that those who needed to know were well aware of gavins intentions and the process of succession has been well and truly decided upon." Totally agree, this was no shock to the people who need to know.
arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4895 - 01/12/2019 16:21:54
2252497
Link
2
|
|
Dublin county board seem to be surprised that he's gone but somehow I doubt that. What a man. Did it all.
Donegal_abroad (Donegal) - Posts: 1319 - 01/12/2019 19:02:55
2252523
Link
1
|
|
Replying To Gaa_lover: "You'll be a while waiting for Cork to become a force at senior level again. First they have division 3 football to deal with.
Donegal aren't ahead of Kerry, last two years they failed to reach All Ireland semi finals" Cork have all the tools required to come out of division 3 and they could very well beat us in the Munster semifinal. Donegal had a lot of injuries this year as well and when they get those lads back they'll be a dangerous outfit and I think ahead of us physically . Our last league game will be against Donegal in tralee so that should give us a chance to measure up.
Themall1916 (Kerry) - Posts: 98 - 01/12/2019 19:31:01
2252527
Link
2
|
|
A class act from start to finish and his Dublin teams produced some beautiful football. Jim Gavin has left quite a legacy.
Kingdomson (Kerry) - Posts: 244 - 01/12/2019 20:07:03
2252537
Link
2
|
|
There is word going around that he is taking up a new job in Brussels hence the reason for the late annoucement.
Not sure if true or not
witnof (Dublin) - Posts: 1604 - 02/12/2019 10:36:48
2252626
Link
0
|
|
Replying To witnof: "There is word going around that he is taking up a new job in Brussels hence the reason for the late annoucement.
Not sure if true or not" My understanding is that he has a significant promotion opportunity within Ireland, something that doesn't come around very often. Wishing him the best in his future personal & professional life.
greysoil (Monaghan) - Posts: 965 - 02/12/2019 14:36:25
2252714
Link
0
|
|
Replying To Fionn: "From rte website:-
And another RTÉ football analyst, Kevin McStay, described Gavin's team as "saviors" of the game. "At a time when football was under pressure from the defensive approach of many teams, Dublin in many respects were the saviour," he said. "They took it on in their own terms and they figured a way around it (defensive blanket) mostly through really good footballers, athleticism and, above all else, the one thing that Jim stood for was teamwork, hard work, honesty of effort."
Says it all really....!" Even Tomas O Shea has finally admitted the same:-
"By winning playing on the front foot, Dublin under Gavin did more than anyone to lead the game away from defensive football."
Fionn (Dublin) - Posts: 3724 - 03/12/2019 13:26:05
2252929
Link
2
|
|
Replying To Fionn: "Even Tomas O Shea has finally admitted the same:-
"By winning playing on the front foot, Dublin under Gavin did more than anyone to lead the game away from defensive football."" You just replied to your own post jimbo. :-)
KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 03/12/2019 14:39:53
2252942
Link
2
|
|
Replying To KingdomBoy1: "You just replied to your own post jimbo. :-)" Still waiting for your reply on the other thread. No smoke without fire and all that.
MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13704 - 03/12/2019 14:49:11
2252944
Link
8
|
|
Replying To KingdomBoy1: "You just replied to your own post jimbo. :-)" Yeah sure I did kid
Whatever you say
Generally speaking more often than not complete unfounded rubbish
jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20600 - 03/12/2019 15:08:38
2252947
Link
5
|