GEAROID Adams has urged the Antrim County Board to give the new senior football management team a five-year stint and believes the squad needs to be better resourced to reach its potential.
Joint managers Frank Fitzsimons and Adams walked away from the job after it was announced that the county board sought nominations from clubs for the post.
Aidan O’Rourke, Lenny Harbinson and John McKeever are contenders to become the next Antrim manager.
Antrim suffered relegation back to Division Four and lost back-to-back Championship games to Donegal and Sligo this year .
Despite these poor results, both Adams and Fitzsimons were faced with a serious rebuild at the beginning of the 2017 season and were forced to flood the squad with young players.
Even though he was disappointed at not being retained in a joint managerial capacity for 2018, Adams said the bigger picture was continuing to nurture the current group of players and giving the next manager time to get the best out of them.
“Financially, there are massive constraints placed on Antrim football,” said Adams .
“The biggest surprise was when [Carlow manager] Turlough O’Brien tweeted about the Carlow set-up where they had an 18 or 19-man managerial set-up and they were playing in Division Four this year and had a good year.
“We were playing in Division Three and we had a managerial team of five or six. Again that highlights the difference.”
The St John’s man added: “I think there was a bit of romanticism among the new county board – they kept using the phrase GAA volunteer, and they had one of the best in Frank [Fitzsimons].
“But I would bet money on this that we were the cheapest backroom team in the country. Provision needs to be put in for the next management team so that the players have the best possible chance of success.
“There should be no constraints over the amount of nights you train, there should be constraints on where you train, there should be no constraints over the amount of help that’s given to players because it is full-time now.
“Some people on the county board think: ‘You don’t have to do all this training’, but you do. It’s changed.”
Adams represented his county at all levels from the age of 16 and was part of Liam Bradley’s backroom team several years ago.
He became joint manager with Fitzsimons last year. The footballers gained promotion out of Division Four but endured back-to-back Championship defeats to Fermanagh and Limerick .
In 2017, they were relegated on the last day of the season following an injury-time equaliser by Longford at Corrigan Park . Donegal dismissed them in the Ulster Championship before they exited the Qualifiers to Sligo .
Injuries to key players – Kevin O’Boyle, Kevin Niblock, James Laverty and Mark Sweeney – didn’t help Antrim’s cause while several experienced players couldn’t commit to the squad this year.
“I think the next manager should have a four or five-year stint. Two years isn’t enough. I didn’t want to leave after two years. I wanted it to be a longer process.
“I would say to the men in charge: don’t expect miracles overnight; give the new management team a bit of time and give this young team, with a few experienced players, the proper finances behind them to be best they can possibly be.
“Antrim needs to be reorganised and restructured in a way that isn’t just set up for the next management team - but is set up for the next 10 or 20 years.”
Adams acknowledged the thankless work the county board does for Antrim GAA, commenting: “It’s a role where you don’t get any thanks, and I understand that.
“I’m not here to put the boot into the county board; I’m here to give my viewpoint. It’s a hard job.
“The amount of historic debt they’ve had to deal with and all the messing about over Dunsilly and Casement Park has impacted on their vision on developing football.
“I think they’re doing the right thing to create a separate identity [review committees] to try and push football and hurling on, but it needs to be for the long term.”
Throughout the year, there was a perception among the footballers that the county hurlers were receiving preferential treatment but Adams rejected the notion.
“We talked about this and some of the footballers felt that the county board was more concerned with hurling matters than football matters.
“I don’t think the footballers got treated any differently to the hurlers but there was a concern the majority of people on the county board were more interested in the hurling than the football. But they weren’t treated any better.”
With over a dozen players making their senior debuts in 2017, Adams hoped that none of the new recruits would slip through the net under a new manager.
“An Ulster Championship win could be a few years away because there is no magic wand and it is going to take a bit of time to get these young boys through to becoming seasoned county players… I think this group could get back into Division Three and consolidate their place for a year or two and then maybe make a push for Division Two…
“You don’t want to lose players that came through this year and there are maybe a few players I would know from the schools set-up who might be a wee bit young but will be good in a couple of years, whereas a new manager mightn’t see or know of them.
“It’s important the new manager has patience and the people around him have patience. I also think it would be a good idea for them to talk to some of the more experienced players to get their take on things.”
While Adams expected “bit more loyalty” from the county board he leaves the post with no bitterness.
“I enjoyed working with Frank. There were never any arguments or any bickering. We worked well on the line together…
“There is part of me feels relieved that I’m away from it but I feel there is a sense of some unfinished business. If I go and get more experience and come back at a later date so be it. I’ve a few offers but I have to be mindful I’ve four kids at home too, so we’ll see what happens.”
