GAELIC GAMES/News round-up: Offaly have decided to move away from the pomp and ceremony that is bound to accompany their midland neighbours Westmeath throughout the year, by naming Galway man Gerry Fahey as their football manager for 2004.
If the previous manager Paul O'Kelly's short stay in the role is anything to go by Fahey shouldn't expect to be given too much time either. From the start the pressure is on, as only a one-year term is in place.
Yet although he isn't exactly coming into the most cordial of situations Fahey is undaunted by the task ahead: "There is always pressure at this level. The one-year term is not cast in stone. It is understandable that they have to take care. The position will be reviewed at the end of the year."
After the manner in which O'Kelly was pushed from the job, the county board have been anxious to fill the void, but the search for a high-profile replacement was not the route county board chairman Tommy Byrne elected to go.
"We have tried it with high-profile people before, and it doesn't necessarily work out," said Byrne.
In this regard he may be referring to the former Offaly hurling manager, Michael "Babs" Keating. That relationship ended sourly when Keating retired just weeks before an All-Ireland quarter-final in July 1998.
Then, like now, the replacement was a surprise, as the announcement of Michael Bond as Keating's replacement caught many off guard.
"We didn't go around the place interviewing everybody," Byrne continued. "We hope he will bring the side that bit further."
Fahey wasn't the first name Offaly approached either, as another Galway native, Brian Talty, was offered the job initially. However the former senior football player and Dublin under-21 coach turned down the post, due to his association with Parnells in Dublin.
Fahey isn't exactly a household name but he still comes in with a reputation as a very capable trainer.
As a player, he played at under-21 level for Galway, in 1981, before moving into coaching at a very young age. He earned an early reward as part of John Tobin's backroom team that helped Galway to the minor All-Ireland championship in 1986. This role involved him in the development of eventual senior stalwarts like Kevin Walsh and Thomas Mannion.
A garda by profession, Fahey's reputation as a trainer was solidified by the Trojan work he put in for the Oranmore-Maree club.
After building up their underage structures, he went on to lead the club to the senior county final in 1996, only to be denied glory by the brilliance of Carraroe's Seán Óg de Paor.
At the end of that year, he was named as Val Daly's right-hand man in the senior Galway set-up. However, this appointment was short-lived as defeat to Mayo promptly ended their championship aspirations (no backdoor back then), on a grim day in Trim. Then before Daly even got comfortable John O'Mahony was appointed to peplace him.
For Galway, the rest is history. O'Mahony delivered Sam Maguire in his first year, leaving the Daly-Fahey stint just a distant memory.
However, Fahey continued to train, both hurling and football, and he was even short-listed for the senior hurling post in Galway after Noel Lane's departure last year.
His most noteworthy achievement to date was as trainer of NUIG in their march to Sigerson Cup glory this year, beating the Dave Billings-trained UCD in the final.
Selectors have yet to be announced. Fahey will meet the panel next week, but he intends to train the team himself for the year. He also sees his appointment as a fresh start for Offaly.
"What has gone before here is nothing to do with me. I have no agenda and the slate is clean.
"I want to meet the chairmen of all the clubs and I intend doing so next week. The most important thing is that the players are playing competitively.
"I see this competition coming from the players playing for their clubs."
He may not have the stature of Páidí Ó Sé, in name and reputation, but their obsession with Gaelic football ensures that the two latest management appointees do have some common ground.
