Flano's first 100 days
Missing out on the Sam Maguire Cup was a blow but Brian Flanagan has number of positives to focus on as he prepares for the Tailteann Cup Photo:©INPHO/James Crombie
Flanagan will have set promotion back to Division 2 at the first time of asking as his immediate goal, followed no doubt by a Leinster Final place once the draw pitted Kildare on the opposite side to Dublin.
While they fell short on the latter goal, gaining promotion while embedding a number of young players and returnees was no mean achievement.
The Kildare set-up had run aground in the final months of the previous regime with players lacking confidence and management all out of ideas. Losing to an ordinary Laois outfit in the manner they did was as a new nadir for the county.
And so, while the promotion campaign was far from perfect, and Flanagan had luck on his side in edging out Clare on scoring difference having lost to both the Banner and Offaly, it was still a promotion built off five decent wins. If they had lost the first two and won the final five it might have felt a lot more positive, though the final loss to Offaly was deflating.
Newbridge Home form was critical to the promotion campaign and to be successful Flanagan will recognise the need to make the new Cedral St Conleth’s Park a fortress. Three league wins and a championship success over Westmeath is a good start in that regard.
As manager of the under-20 All Ireland winning side it was no surprise that Flanagan called up a significant number from his underage teams and some have staked claims for lengthy futures in the senior jersey. Colm Dalton and James McGrath were among the standouts, alongside Callum Bolton, Ryan Burke and Harry O’Neill who already had some game time under Glenn Ryan. Cian Burke has been solid in goal more recently.
Easy to forget Alex Beirne is only 24 years old but the Naas man reached the 50 game milestone against Louth and his scoring return of 2-43 from ten games averages at 4.9 points per game. Along with Dalton and Bolton, Beirne’s direct running and determination to make things happen has been a real bonus for the new manager.
Anyone who had contact with Flanagan in previous roles would have been taken with his communication skills and whereas the previous regime at times struggled to provide clarity as to what was going wrong, the Johnstownbridge man’s post-match interviews have generally been insightful and illuminating, within the natural boundaries any manager would deploy.
No one would have expected perfection and there’s a definite sense of a ‘work-in-progress’. Rome wasn’t built in a day. As Kildare face into a very winnable looking Tailteann Cup group, which features Tipperary and Sligo along with Leitrim, we’d imagine Flanagan is pondering some or all of the following “work ons”.
Easier said than done. Kildare did prevail in tight affairs against Sligo and Westmeath but will be disappointed with how they failed to see out the Clare game from a good position and how they ran out of steam both times against Offaly. Then of course there was Louth in Tullamore where a huge second half effort brought us level, but it was the Wee County with the composure to kick for home and finish the job. Events in Portlaoise later that day and the subsequent All Ireland draws mean Kildare will rue that one that got away for a long time.
It has been said in recent weeks that Kildare are still playing old-style football and while that isn’t entirely fair as their build-up play has improved and they certainly played their most direct and penetrative football of the year in the opening quarter against Louth, with kick-passing into forwards in space and accurate shooting. And yet, Kildare seem reluctant to take on two-point opportunities, which so often this year have been the differentiator in matches. Louth’s three, including two into the wind, belied Flanagan’s assertion that the breeze caused Kildare not to attempt more of them, but it has been something of a theme throughout the year. There are players there who can kick from long range (Beirne, Bolton, McCormack and McLoughlin spring to mind) but they need to seize the opportunities when they arise.
Easy to forget that Flanagan is new to senior inter-county management, but he has shown himself to have some work to do on some facets and one of the tactics teams have deployed to good effect against Kildare has been the deployment of attacking wing backs running, often untracked, from deep. Craig Lennon made hay the last day, but Flanagan had surely been forewarned by Cormac Egan’s performances in the Offaly games.
Goalkeepers will feel they have been handed a poisoned chalice with the new rules. No more sorties upfield performing quarter-back duties, no pass backs etc etc. As regards restarts they’re often left with no option but to belt long to midfield into a crowd scene where luck dictates the outcome as much as skill. But Cian Burke has shown some variation, helped by those out the field, with his kick outs against Louth after being predictable against Westmeath and Kildare will need to further develop a few different strategies for winning primary possession.
No one wanted to be in the Tailteann Cup but now that we’re there it raises the inevitable question. Does Flanagan now accelerate the influx of youth into the squad? Does it mark the end for long-serving stalwarts such as Mick O’Grady, Daniel Flynn and Niall Kelly? We don’t expect Flanagan to throw away the baby with the bathwater but there will certainly be more opportunities for the younger players with already talk of a couple of development players coming in to join Niall O’Sullivan who made his first appearance on the bench against Louth. Opportunity knocks.
Kildare play Leitrim in the first round of the Tailteann Cup on Saturday 10 May at 5pm in Cedral St Conleths Park.
