Managers don’t often say anything.
A lot of them talk in fluent nothing – experts at concealing everything but filling the silence and giving reporters a few lines, without actually saying anything.
Ask them about their team or their players and you’re having a laugh.
But Roscommon joint manager Kevin McStay spoke with honesty and openness in the aftermath of their All-Ireland exit to Clare on Saturday. Asked by Colm Parkinson on SportsJOE’s GAA Hour podcast about why he chose to play Niall Daly and Cathal Compton in midfield rather than more natural, more physical options, McStay offered the truth.
Kevin Higgins came back from shoulder reconstruction surgery in May whereas others like Ian Kilbride, Cathal Compton and Tom Corcoran were struggling with injury but the like of Cathal Shine just didn’t make the cut.
“Cathal Shine didn’t reach the condition required of him to play midfield. Cathal knows this, we’ve spoken to him about this,” McStay told SportsJOE.
“They’d run out of puff in the modern game, playing midfield. You have to be very athletic and aerobically very strong.
“We played a midfield of David Keenan, Niall Daly, and Ian Kilbride for most of the league – three of them are half backs, that’s their positions. But we played them there because they were the ones that were fit and could chase their men up and down the field and play ball up and down the field.
“All the other lads just weren’t available or weren’t fit to play. And that was only league football. I’m being honest here, I’m not dissing anyone. We know Gary Brennan is going to be favourite to win a 50/50 so we have to take a short kickout. It’s something we have to fix.”
McStay admits that it will be one of the key aspects they will look at ahead of next year.
Listen to the full brilliant interview with the Roscommon manager below. Skip to 26:55 for the in-depth chat about the county’s midfielders (23:37 for the whole McStay interview).
