Brian Flanagan, his hopes and aspirations with Kildare

He may have only been ratified at Tuesday evening's Co. Board meeting last week but the amount of work carried out by new manager Brian Flanagan, already has been extensive and indeed impressive.

Apart from his immediate team of Aidan O'Rourke (Lead Coach), Damian Hendy (Assistant Coach) and Daryl Flynn (selector) he has already put together an impressive list of highly qualified people.

On the S&C side Neil Welsh (Santry Clinic) will lead; Dean Ryan Asst S&C; on the analysis side John Buckley (IRFU) will lead the performance analysis team; Kay Timmons who was with the U20s for the past few years in support; and Steve Sheerin will be staying on as analyst.

On the nutrition side of things Laura Keely will be remaining on; as will Breffni O'Donnell as physio; Owen Gallagher as the team doctor while Emer Fogarty will be the sports psychologist.

The Johnstownbridge club man said that while "we all know we have had very good success in Kildare at under age, the challenge has been transitioning those players, young, talented club players, school footballers, underage players into senior county players and I believe a lot of that step-up is around athletic conditioning and strength and conditioning in general and that area was always going to be a huge importance to me in filling out the backroom team.”

The manager added that "I worked with Neil in 2016, had a very good relationship with him since and I know he is very well regarded by the players, I was very keen to get him on-board and he was very keen to get back involved; he has always had an affinity for Kildare GAA, he was very happy to come on board.

“My sense of it is that in Year 1 when we have an extended panel in particular; it is a big challenge for any one man to take on so Dean Ryan is a man Daryl (Flynn) would know very well working with him in Moorefield and I have got to know him (Dean) over the past 12 to 18 months; he has huge experience from AFL to horse racing, swimming, athletics, GAA to rugby and as a Kildare man very, very keen to get involved.”

Long time ambition
Was it a long-time amition of the Johnstownbridge man to take over Kildare seniors, especially after the success of the U20s?

“It has been for the past 12-18 months, I came into Kildare in 2016 with Cian O'Neill who gave me an unbelievable opportunity at that stage in my career at that stage, I was only 29 going on 30 and didn't have a huge amount of experience and I soon realised I needed to go back, gain more experience which I did.

“I stood back got involved at club football, underage, college football, underage with Kildare and maybe two years ago I got momentum and I felt this was becoming a real thing for me again and I could start focusing on the Kildare senior team, whenever it would come up; no great rush but I felt last year that when ever the opportunity would come up, whether that be a year, 18 months, two years or whenever that I would go for it.

“Since than I have been keeping a very close eye on what was going on in Kildare from schools to underage, to senior, keeping an eye on players and planning for when this opportunity would come up.”

A four year term, somewhat unusual, but a long term view?

“The four year term was very important to me” added Brian, adding “ and when I was interviewed I very much wanted that, it was very important that the Co. Board felt I was the right man for the job and that they saw it as the way I saw it and I do believe it will take four years to get the team to the point where they can compete against the very best teams in the entire country; as a mangement we understand the steps that we need to take to get there but it will take that time line and I was very keen that the time not be less than the four years.”

So what kind of a plan and ambition are we looking at?

“In Year 1 the most fundamental thing is to ensure we have the very best players available to us; fit and healthy when the match day comes; get the best players, make sure they are interested, committed and then to create a culture amongst that group that will serve us much better in Year 2, Year 3 and so on.”

The manager added that “we won't be prioritising any one competition over the other, at this stage there could be some movement in the way the season pans out and the order the various competitions will be played; we want to be more than competitive whether that is the Leinster Championship, Tailteann or Sam wherever we happen to find ourselves, the league; I know everyone will look at Division 3 and we will as a management, as a very tangible, realistic goal; we want to be promoted but we want to be patient with this team; we will be transitioning players and we are going to have a new team and a new group.

“There is a good chance there will be a lot of new faces and if that is the case that doesn't come without risk and if we hit one or two wobbles along the way then I am ok with that ; so in Year 1 absolutely the league is something we go after but as long as we make inroads in terms of the team, the connection and everything else we are trying to build, we will be happy enough.”

TRIALS
When asked if he was intending to hold trial games he immediately said no, the reason is that time is of the essence now but we feel that as a management, we have a very, very good handle on what is happening out there.

“Damian has been involved with the minors over the past few years; I have been involved with the U20s and know the players that are out there and what is coming through while Daryl is currently a selector with Moorefield so all three of us would have a very close eye on the club championships; we have gone to an amount of club games from junior, intermediate and senior level and we will continue to do that.

“I think the greatest trial that any club player can play is with his club; if you play against your peers it is all on the line, and we will see that in the next number of weeks; that is the trial, fellas competing against each other; so we won't have open trials, we will start with an extended squad, in our around the fifty mark and work with that but all based on what we see in the next couple of weeks.”

Both Damian (Hendy) and Daryl (Flynn) said they were very proud, and excited to becoming involved.

Damian said that a huge amount of work has gone into football in Kildare over the past number of years, from underage level all the way up; I have a grá for Kildare football, I want to see us being competitive and when the opportunity arose I was very honoured and proud to get involved.”

Daryl (Flynn) that it was a huge shock when he got the call from Brian but like Damian “it is a huge honour and privilege to be getting involved; I have been supporting Kildare ever since I stopped playing; involved with Moorefield seniors this year and at underage and really looking forward to the step-up; the games will come quick and fast; looking forward to meeting the players and when you not playing football you miss it greatly, miss the dressingroom so really looking forward to getting involved in it.”

“The manager added “I think we need to be patient; we need to build something that is resilient, robust as a team that can take bad days and move on; that can take bad moments in a match and overcome them; players of that of that type of mentality, players of that character that will keep going regardless of what is put in front of them.”

There is no denying that if Brian (and his management) can bring the same enthusiasm, the same hunger, the same belief to the team that they have between them, then hopefully the bad days of Kildare will quickly be a thing of the past.

We live in hope.

As ever!