Driven out by delusions and derision

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: Keith Dugganargues John Maughan's departure, the mean jeers ringing in his ears, should not be viewed as the definitive image of Roscommon football

IT HAS been the grimmest week of all for the Fianna Failers among Roscommon's GAA constituency.

Reeling from the news their football manager had abruptly resigned after a comprehensive defeat to Westmeath, they turned on the radio on Wednesday morning to learn the leader of the country was following suit.

John Maughan allowed himself a black laugh at the notion he was starting a trend. But whatever about the wildlife instinct at the heart of Irish politics, it has been an ugly week in Irish sport too. What happened in Roscommon suggests a mean and angry spirit is festering in the heartland of the GAA.

"Angry people," Maughan mused when reviewing his extraordinary last hour as manager of Roscommon. The events of the day have been well documented: another nervous display by the young home team, a comprehensive 1-14 to 0-6 victory for Westmeath accompanied by sustained and hostile volleys of abuse directed at not only Maughan but anyone that moved in the dug-out.

"One of our substitutes warmed up and he got abused. And if I heard "take off that useless so and so once, I heard it 100 times. That useless so and so is a human being who works his socks off at training and is trying his best, with his parents and family watching on. It is not pleasant to see and hear your players being subjected to that by angry people with no idea of what the reality of the situation is."

Delusion would appear to be at the heart of the discontent in Roscommon and it is reflective of an increasing restlessness and reckless demand for success in counties. In a radio conversation with Eamon Dunphy, former Liverpool player Graeme Souness spoke candidly about his days managing Newcastle United, wondering aloud as to precisely where and how the Tyneside masses had convinced themselves they were an elite club.

Although he worked there, it genuinely baffled him. The English football city is a far cry from the Primrose County but the mob culture scenes witnessed in Kiltoom are also alien to the presumption that GAA grounds are family orientated in mood.

Maughan is the fourth manager of Roscommon to leave under a cloud and the vacant post hardly looks like the most attractive proposition. The hammering Roscommon took against Armagh - 4-20 to 0-8 - understandably stung the pride of Roscommon football people and the public anxiety for a result placed what proved to be intolerable pressure on a young team when they hosted Westmeath.

The restructuring of the National League has transformed the spring competition from its slumbering state into a competition of near manic intensity, with counties desperate to avoid the plunge to lower divisions. However bleak Roscommon fans believed their season to be, they only had to cast an eye to Division Three to see that Sligo, the reigning provincial champions, are fighting their own relegation battle.

Longford manager Luke Dempsey recently made a forceful point about the negative energy created by associating league form with the right to play in the All-Ireland qualifying series. The toughness of league competition is illustrated by the fact Dublin, probably the second favourites to win the All-Ireland, are playing second-tier football. It cannot help Roscommon's cause they visit Parnell Park this weekend.

Maughan had been made aware a posse similar to that which gathered at Kiltoom was planning a visit to the capital with the intention of causing further disruption from behind the wires. It is widely believed a popular and hitherto well-regarded GAA website entitled StolenSheep had become a rallying point for individuals intent on getting rid of the manager.

As they listened to the jeers and derision outside the dressingroom last Sunday, Maughan told members of the county board his resignation would be forthcoming if requested. He was assured by the players and board they still wanted him to be in charge but as he drove home to Castlebar, he felt he had reached a point where carrying on would be futile.

"This wasn't just a recent development. The heat came on last year during the promotion race. A journalist in the county called for my head to the chairman of the county board in the stand before a match in Tullamore. 'If Maughan loses, he has to go', words to that effect. That gentleman ran across the field to embrace me after we had beaten Offaly and were promoted. You have this cesspit of ugliness and negativity permeating across the system.

"Add to that the failure on the pitch to win games and suddenly you have a concoction here you don't even have to set a match to. My main concern was I didn't want to leave the players, who have worked so hard. I was going to be heaved. I know the next county board meeting was going to be ugly and I didn't want to wait for that. I didn't want to put the county chairman through that."

Maughan went into the job with open eyes. When he was approached by a Roscommon delegation, he says he was "painted a picture that in no way hid the reality". Tommy Carr, his old friend and former manager, warned him it would be no picnic. He felt his brief was to try to wipe out a culture of irresponsibility and in a stark move, he opted not to call upon the services of Roscommon's most feted senior men when selecting a panel for the new season, a controversial decision of which he claims to have "no regrets in the slightest".

Roscommon struggled at senior level but had a wonderful odyssey at minor level when the 2006 team, under Fergal O'Donnell, led a campaign that ended in an All-Ireland final replay victory over Kerry in Ennis. Eleven of those players lined out for the under-21 team in a win over Sligo in the Connacht championship last week. That promise increased the public impatience with the senior team.

"The minor title was a brilliant achievement but the reality is that a lot of these guys need time to develop as footballers and as men," Maughan says. "They are meeting matured teams. Now, there is no doubt if you look at my record from a business perspective, it is not healthy. It is a results-driven business and I cannot stand here with any degree of authority on the back of my record."

But his ambition was to build a new platform for Roscommon football. The idea Maughan could do some kind of Pied Piper act and charm the Primrose men back to the halcyon days of the early 1940s - or 1980s - was ridiculous. Now that he has walked, Roscommon are left in a worrying position.

"Roscommon always had a tradition of being very competitive and because of that expectations are high and at the moment unrealistic," says Seán Kilbride, who played with both Roscommon and Mayo. "Even on our worst days, we were able to field teams that would prove difficult to beat. Because of the population in Roscommon, the trend tends to be that we can produce strong teams only every seven to 10 years.

"There had been a problem with underage development up to a few years ago when there was an initiative taken that was the first real attempt to address the need to bring young players through with the tactical awareness and physical attributes. Tony McManus, Séamus Heyden were the coaches involved and I think Fergal O'Donnell would acknowledge his outstanding achievement was helped by their work. That is the future of Roscommon and not just that team. Behind them is another exceptional management team - Gary Wynne and Tom Ryan and others. They are bringing good young players along.

"So that is in place now but it will take several years to bear full fruit. To me, the big problem is from this moment to that point. John knew what he was taking on here. He came in at a transitional period before the underage policy could provide players at senior level. Many managers with his achievements would not have taken Roscommon on because they would have considered their stock too valuable. And I know the quality of his selectors. I know the level of abuse was severe and it was intolerable.

"The vast majority of Roscommon supporters are genuine. I believe the players over the three-year period were very committed and happy despite a lack of provincial success and were in no way involved in his removal. There was a rump of supporters in the county who organised a putsch or heave to remove Tom Carr. And that same group did not welcome John Maughan, even though the vast majority of people would have welcomed him."

Roscommon's All-Ireland football double victory in 1943 and 1944 remains one of the most enduring and remarkable stories in GAA lore. It established the notion of the county as having a substantial football tradition. Even in the worst years, people could call into Jimmy Murray's bar and touch the football from that 1944 match, suspended from the wooden roof, a memento from Ros's day that will outlast all of that fine team. The bright days since have been seldom but notable.

"Roscommon never had a good team all the time," says Kilbride. "There has always been a gap between one exceptional team and the next. Look at the Connacht finals - 1980, then in 1990, we won it again in 1991 and the next one was in 2001. That is the record. I believe the reason for that is the underage system has not been developed but that is addressed now and we can look forward to being competitive. And I believe if this group could have got through the league, they could have had a good run in the championship. That is my belief. But it will take patience."

That quality is at a premium in contemporary Ireland. It was to the latent tradition Maughan was drawn when he agreed to manage Roscommon. His phone rang constantly on Wednesday from friends whose intentions to wish him well were frequently overruled by their excitement at the extraordinary machinations in Leinster House. An old team-mate of Maughan's had this to say about Roscommon: "You had to be better than them by 10 points just to beat them by one point."

That was how Maughan saw it too. "Roscommon teams had a hardness and a toughness about them, a never-say-die attitude that was part of their character. Has that disappeared?"

That remains to be seen. Maughan might have located that resilience, given time. Now, the task falls to someone else. It will be a miraculous achievement if a primarily young squad whose confidence has been shot by the events of the past few weeks can wring anything out of the current season.

Maughan's departure, with the mean jeers of a faceless crowd ringing in his ears, should not be regarded as the definitive image of Roscommon football. But this has been a sorry episode and if it has proved anything, it is that the Roscommon players and management merit applause just for showing up in Parnell Park tonight, the result be damned.

"You have this cesspit of ugliness and negativity . . .