Laois have the talent to emulate Donegal – all they need now is the right manager

“That these lads will get such a fucking shellshock next Saturday evening that we’ll put them back on their fucking arses for fucking 10 years”

We can add prophet to Paudí Ó Sé’s long list of attributes; it’s now 12 years and counting that we’ve been on our arses in Laois.

I’m not going to lie - We are a strange bunch in Laois. I hear people say we always blame the manager, but we’re very quick to spot a bluffer. When a manager is established as a bluffer, players tune out. Some leave the panel, others stay and complain. But one thing is for sure, results suffer.

Liam Kearns often spoke of trying to understand the psyche of Laois players. I don’t think he ever did. I still don’t fully understand it. But I do know the players are desperate to work hard under good management structures. They are desperate to succeed. That perception is not out there, unfortunately.

I arrived into a dysfunctional senior squad at 19 in late 1997. Away matches were used as drinking sessions – and not by the younger, immature players. It was the senior members that burned the candle at both ends. That was the culture back then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aByPOgJgjv8

Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result. We always underestimated Westmeath and they usually beat us. When Paidí talked about putting us back on our arses, he might have sensed that.

I have the unenviable record of losing to Westmeath in a Leinster minor final after two replays, a Leinster Under-21 final after a replay and a Leinster senior final after a replay. On all three occasions we were favourites, on all three occasions we lost.

Micko gets a lot of credit for turning our fortunes around in 2003 but the players were there. He didn’t turn water into wine but he did change the culture. The media lazily referenced the hammering we took from Meath the previous year as a reference point for our improvement in 2003. That was misleading. We drew with the Dublin in Croke Park under Tom Cribbin in 1999. We were on the rise we just needed direction.

Things had reached rock bottom under our previous manager Colm Browne. His boring, drill sergeant style of management alienated a lot of the players and morale was low.

One day I was told not to laugh at training. I felt like I was at school so I responded by laughing and messing even more than I usually would.

My natural instinct is to rebel against that type of leadership. I was the same in school. Teachers I didn’t respect were given a tough time. For my Leaving Cert year my business studies and Irish teachers refused to teach me. I studied both alone outside the principal’s office.

Browne also discouraged me from shooting with my weaker foot. I was moved from wing back, where I’d played all my football until that point, to full forward and immediately began practicing with my weaker side in training. I remember scoring two points in Croke Park against Offaly with my left and celebrated both by waving over at Browne with a smile. What do you think of my left now, Browne? We didn’t get on.

I was difficult to manage if I wasn’t managed properly. Liam Kearns, now doing a great job with Tipperary, managed me properly. He got two good years of commitment out of me.

I think Kearns' timing with Laois was unfortunate. He came right after Micko who had six or seven of the panel spoilt rotten. It’s no secret he had favourites who would get special treatment. You would have to see it to believe it. Some were actually paid by benefactors to play with the county during his spell. You couldn’t make it up. Kearns treated all of us as equals, which was a breath of fresh air for me but alienated some of Micko’s favourites.

Micko got a massive commitment from all of us – we just asked him, in his last year in 2006, could we do weights. Every other team was doing them but he refused. He wrote in his book that we tried to dictate training – we didn’t. We just asked for a similar professional set up to that of our rivals – Dublin, Tyrone and Armagh.

Mick Lillis resigned as Laois manager on Monday to bring the manager count since Micko to five in 10 years. Just like 2002 when Browne left, Laois are at rock bottom again. Relegated to Division 3 with the worst defensive record across all four divisions, they only beat two teams all year – an Armagh team in disarray and Wicklow, who subsequently lost to Carlow. Mick simply had to go.

So who will manage Laois now? Is it an attractive job?

My answer to the latter is a definite yes.

Remember where Donegal were before McGuinness took over? They were hammered by Armagh in the qualifiers. They were no hopers, an embarrassment. They only man that wanted the job was McGuinness and the rest is history.

Laois underage results have been awful in the recent past, until the minors this year, but the senior team is still backboned by the All-Ireland-winning minor team in 2003. Colm Begley, Mark Timmons, Cahir Healy, Niall Donagher, Brendan Quigley and MJ Tierney are all quality players. Those lads are all 31 next year. They are running out of time.

Add the Leinster-winning minors of 2007 like John O’Loughlin, Donie Kingston, Conor Merideth, Kieran Lillis and Conor Boyle and you can see the high level of players there are to work with in Laois. And I haven’t even mentioned Kevin Meany, Darren Strong and Evan O’Carroll yet.

That group of players has everything - size, speed, scoring ability, man markers, fielders and finishers. It is an attractive job. In a lot of ways it’s the perfect job. When a county hits rock bottom the only way is up. Leinster finals and All Ireland quarter-finals should be the ambition. Who knows what can happen then.

After I watched Clare beat Roscommon at the weekend I spoke with Brendan O’Brien, a journalist with The Irish Examiner, also from Portlaoise, and we spoke about was what a missed opportunity this year was for Laois. We had Clare beaten only to allow them rally and score five unanswered points to win by one. That was with Laois not going well. Imagine what a good manager and the right set-up could do.

I hope the Laois county board looks for the right man to replace Lillis, not the cheapest option. I know money is tight but get out there and raise the money and go for the best. Sell the job to him, offer him the support he needs. Time is running out for us in Laois.

Only James Horan can save us now.

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