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Former Monaghan manager Gabriel Bannigan has criticised the county board for reneging on their initial support despite the team reaching the Ulster final. Bannigan alleges the board shifted their stance after the loss to Louth, demanding a more 'high-profile' coach rather than backing his chosen candidate, who he believes is well-qualified. This perceived lack of faith led to his decision to step down.
THE DEPARTING MONAGHAN manager, Gabriel Bannigan, has criticised the Monaghan county board and some senior players that he believes were behind his ousting from the role.
Speaking to Off The Ball, Bannigan accuses the administrators of going back on their support for him to continue in the role, after reaching the Ulster final and losing to Armagh in injury-time, before a shock exit to Louth in the All-Ireland quarter-final.
“I sat down with the county board about six weeks ago,” said Bannigan. “I got unanimous approval and 100% support to go ahead and strengthen my backroom team. “…I went back and sat down a couple of weeks ago with the same people from the county board, and it was very clear to me that the goalposts had shifted. ” Bannigan continued, “What I mean by that is that suddenly it didn’t matter who I brought back.
I was told specifically in terms of the coach I arrived back with weeks ago, that it wasn’t a big enough name for some people. It’s not about big names in my opinion, never was. It’s about hard work. It’s about people with the right attributes, focus, and skillset.
“It’s about people who are going to add value, work hard and be a really good fit within how I want it to operate as a management team. Advertisement “We were a kick of a ball away from winning the Ulster final. We were a kick of a ball away from being in the All-Ireland semi-final. So, it’s not as if everything in the house needed to cleared out, and we needed to build a new house.
We didn’t.
“Other views seemed to have changed and the reaction I got to the man that I was talking about was that it wasn’t a big enough name. Now, this is a super guy, great coaching experience. The right profile, progressive, hungry, ambitious, and a lot of silverware to back that up.
” Bannigan said that he told the county board he expected them to back him, only to be told that they wished Bannigan could add more coaching talent to his backroom.
“So, I went off and had a few more conversations. The following Monday, I got a phonecall to ask how I was getting on and I said, ‘I’m close. It’s going to take another couple of days. ’ And the pressure was coming on then that we need to bring this to a head.
And I said I could only do so much.
“I had a follow-up meeting with that guy, the second person I was talking to, on the Wednesday, and that went extremely well. But another couple of things happened on that Wednesday, specifically, I got a follow-up phonecall asking where I was at? I said I had a meeting that afternoon and that it was looking very positive.
Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO “Basically then, the guys – and this is where the forcing of the hand came – the county committee had met the night before and decided that myself and whoever I was bringing forward was going to meet the full panel the following Monday evening, and present our wares for want of a better way of putting it, which I thought was ridiculous. ” WIth Rory Beggan after the game against Mayo.
James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO Bannigan also made the point that he was led to believe that some more experienced players had a role in his eventual removal.
“I was aware of the fact that two older players did make contact about six weeks ago to say that they thought a clean slate was required. So, a new management team. The county board was aware of that. But the county board mandated me and said they didn’t want a change of manager, and they mandated me to do what I did,” said Bannigan.
“That changed over a period of time. When I specifically asked one of the county board members who rang me last Tuesday, when he made a comment that some of the senior players want a clean slate, I said, ‘Senior players? ’ There’s an awful lot of players letting me know how much they want me to stay. Can you be more specific than that?
’ “And he said, ‘Well it might be more accurate to say some of the older players in your panel. ’ And this was not news to me because two years ago when I was going for the job, a couple of these same characters tried everything possible to try and make sure that I didn’t go for the job, or get the job.
“What is clear to me is these voices, which are small in number, managed to influence people in charge. When I spoke to one of the county board last week about this particular matter, I said, ‘What about the rest of the panel who are so happy with how things are going and want the management team staying in place? They absolutely do not want a change of manager.
’ “The answer I got back was, ‘Gabriel, unfortunately, those voices are not shouting loud enough. ’ “The reaction from some of the players over the last week was, ‘We didn’t know. If we had known that we needed to ring up the county board and tell them how happy we were, we’d have been doing it. We didn’t know this was going on. ’” * With additional reporting from Sinead Farrell.
Monaghan GAA Gabriel Bannigan County Board Ulster Final Coaching Appointment
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