“He knows how to raise the temperature.”
Jamie Clarke reveals what it was like to have Oisin McConville as a manager, as the two went from being teammates, to having a player/manager relationship at Crossmaglen.
McConville’s status speaks for itself really, easily one of the best forwards to have ever graced the game for club and county. The sharp shooter has won everything there is to win in the sport.
The GAA pundit has an unbelievable trophy-haul of 16 County Armagh club championships, 10 Ulster club championships, and a mind-boggling six All-Ireland club championships.
His inter-county wasn’t too bad either as he starred in the Armagh team that won the county’s only ever All-Ireland title in 2002, scoring a goal in the final, and picked up seven Ulster titles alongside two All-Stars along the way.
The Crossmaglen legend since made the move to the media, where he’s been on just about every podcast going, and did punditry for both RTE and the BBC.
Now he has made the shift to inter-county management, guiding Wicklow to promotion from Division Four, and winning a game in the Leinster championship.
Before that however, he managed his own club Crossmaglen, and had to coach young players that he used to play with, including the star forward, Jamie Clarke.
Clarke has also made the transition into the world of podcasts, and has featured exclusively on the GAA Hour, where he tells us what it’s like having McConville as a manager.
“Oisin was in with John McEntee, and Castlebar beat us by a point in that All-Ireland semi-final, but from my point of view, Oisin was somebody that I always would have looked up to, so I always had that respect, so it didn’t really matter what he was saying.
“You would be surprised with his tactical analysis on the game, and I think the more that he’s in that managerial role, and the process, the better he will get at it.
“I can imagine it’s not easy to go to somewhere like Wicklow, and take on that team, but you can see the progress they have even made already.
“It wasn’t a great result for him at the weekend, but with Oisin, he would be quite motivational in terms of what he says, he will always have a nugget and always have a good story that you can relate to in some capacity.
“He knows how to raise the temperature, and obviously he played with a system, but he had the attitude that if you couldn’t get into the game, then go and get into it, take responsibility for it.
“He wouldn’t be so structured in his approach, he wants you to play ball, he wants you to go and get involved. He would provide a platform for the players to go on and excel, and try to play with the shackles off.”
Related links:
- Why parts of Armagh’s performance ‘frustrated’ Jamie Clarke
- Jamie Clarke says some players played into ‘keepers hands’ with their penalty technique
- Jamie Clarke disagrees with Lee Keegan and Paul Flynn’s point on Tyrone
