New Derry boss Paddy Tally: 'You don't go to Kerry for the holidays or scenery'
New Derry boss Paddy Tally is in it to win it whether it's Tyrone, Down, Galway, Kerry or Derry. Tally also says the preseason competitions should have been given a reprieve for one season as a testing ground for the new experimental rules.
New Derry boss Paddy Tally says the pre-season competitions should have been retained this year as a testing ground for football’s experimental rules.
But the Tyrone and Kerry All-Ireland winning coach would have no issue if they were scrapped next year.
A move at a recent Central Council meeting to have the likes of the McKenna Cup, O’Byrne Cup, FBD League and McGrath Cup reinstated narrowly failed.
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The competition had been cancelled for a year at the previous Central Council meeting in move to protect player welfare, which was backed by GAA President Jarlath Burns and promoted by the GPA.
GPA chiefs want November to become a ‘zero contact month.’
But the advent of the Football Review Committee’s (FRC) new rules, including the solo and go, the two point scoring arc and having to keep three players inside both 65s at all times, led to calls for a reprieve for the preseason competitions.
Tally told Derry GAA: “It’s a pity it’s (McKenna Cup) not on this year above all years. Managers come and go every year and they use the McKenna Cup to see what’s out there.
“It would be lovely if we could do that, but also with the advent of the new rules, it would have made sense to allow those competitions to be played this year under the new rules to prepare you for the start of the League.
“I think they have missed a trick there. I’d have no fear if next year they wanted to let the competitions go. Fair enough, but this year would have been a good year to keep it on.
Tally says the new rules mean squads will change as managers look for different types of players.
“It changes the way you think about the game,” he said. “The new rules are going to place different demands on positions and the type of players you need in certain roles within the team.
“Of course you are going to look at different players. You can’t go back and base your selection on what was there before because this is a new game.
“We will be studying that closely to work out what is the best way to go forward but definitely there will be changes because of that.”
Tally has “no issue” with the December 7 date for a return to collective training for inter-county teams. He continued: “I think it’s actually time for players to get away from training. We need to allow November.
“This time of year is the only time of the year they are going to get off. Players in a season might get six to eight weeks of a break at the very most and then they are back into the cycle again.
“If we don’t afford them an opportunity to regenerate now, you are not going to get it in January and you can’t give it to them later on in the year. This is the time for the players to enjoy that time.”
Tally went on to say Derry football was in its “healthiest state for a long time,” and said that he was in the county to win.
“I have very high personal ambitions in life in terms of sport. I have always liked working at the top level.
“That’s why if an opportunity comes to go work in Kerry, you go there to win. You don’t go to Kerry for the holidays or scenery.
“You do the hard yards, make that travel to ultimately be successful. Otherwise, why do you do it?
“You don’t take this job (Derry) on other than to win. On a personal level, winning is the key to being a manager at this level but that’s a way down the line.”
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