Mickey Ned O’Sullivan criticises Kingdom approach to appointing Éamonn Fitzmaurice’s successor
Former Kerry captain and manager Mickey Ned O’Sullivan has criticised the county board executive for attempting to “micro-manage” the appointment process to find Éamonn Fitzmaurice’s successor.
O’Sullivan had selectors imposed on him when he took over from Mick O’Dwyer in 1989 and he fears the board executive are showing a distinct lack of trust in the new man to put the best team together by doing it themselves.
“When I was appointed in Limerick (in 2005), the county chairman said, ‘You’re the boss, you appoint people you respect and people that respect you and you know the expertise.’ The dynamic is very important here. You need people that you are going to need to be able to work with.
Ultimately, the manager must be a good manager and a good leader but a good manager knows the people he can work with.
“When I was appointed in Kerry in 1989, I was cook and chief bottle-washer. I had to wash the jerseys and I was given four selectors that the clubs appointed. Times have moved on and it’s a manager of expertise that you need now. If the chairman is going ahead with putting a management group together that is something he is micro-managing and he is not respecting the manager’s ability to get the best team in place.
“Now, if I was in a position to manage I would know who is best at strength and conditioning. I would know who is the best coach, I would know who is the best medic, best physio, best sports psychologist, and statistician. The different areas of coaching like goalkeeping, I would know who is best at what but above all I would know who I would be able to work with and I would respect them.
“If a chairman comes along and micro-manages me he is not empowering me, he is not showing confidence in my ability to get the best team possible. Those are the reservations I would have.”
Of the names being linked to the role, O’Sullivan is impressed but he is worried that not enough faith is being placed in them. “They’re all good, quality people but I would like to see them get their own team together. What the county board is showing them is that they don’t have the confidence in them to have the connections or the ability to put the best team together.”
County chairman Tim Murphy has stressed it is the will of the clubs to appoint a management team en bloc as opposed to an individual.
O’Sullivan believes the make-up of the selection committee — Murphy, county secretary Peter Twiss, development officer Eamon Whelan, and coaching officer Terence Houlihan — is wrong.
Four members of the county board executive were appointed to the selection committee. In my opinion, it should have been the chairman, a HR person and two football people.
Autonomy to lead is vital if a manager is to be successful, insists O’Sullivan, recalling his five years with Limerick.
“When I was in Limerick, I got people in who were better than me in every aspect. My job was to manage expertise, my job was to provide leadership and set a vision and to empower them and not micro-manage.
“I got Cian O’Neill his first gig as strength and conditioning. I got Donie Buckley and Mickey McGeehan as coaches because they were the best in the business. All I had to do was stand back and let these people work and I knew I could work with them because I respected them.
“If a chairman comes along and says to me, ‘This is a team you have to work with’ it’s a difficult one because you don’t know what the dynamic is going to be and the dynamic is everything and there must be mutual respect.”
O’Sullivan’s recollection of his time as Kerry manager is not a particularly joyous one.
“It was very difficult because the selectors at that time had no involvement in the training. They came along, picked the team and they were politically appointed. The majority would be looking at the next election and they picked a political team.
“They were there to pick the best team but in a lot of cases they didn’t know the form of the players and certainly there was a danger that you could be saddled with some political selection who was looking after certain people.
That’s human nature, unfortunately. You hadn’t a management team, you were the coach and the physical trainer and you did everything.
“The whole thing now, you’re looking at a good manager of people who knows his football, has a vision and can motivate players and can handle a good management team and has good PR skills because the supporters are very important. You also have to manage the county board who are the most difficult of all because they are political animals.”
