GAA: INTERVIEW TOMÁS Ó FLATHARTA:KEITH DUGGAN talks to the Kerry native and former Westmeath manager who is confident his Galway team are showing signs of progress

FORGOTTEN SCENES for a half-remembered league: a dull day in Tuam Stadium and Galway heavily beaten by Mayo. Disquiet among the crowd and black headlines to come in Monday morning’s newspapers. Another loss for Tomás Ó Flatharta: Galway football in crisis. Etc etc. The Kerry man emerged from the dressingroom quickly that day, said his few words and left the ground, seemingly unperturbed by the fuss.

Now, with the “real” Mayo game looming large in his imagination, Ó Flatharta nods as he recalls that gloomy Sunday.

“Look, our goal at the beginning of the year was to improve on a daily and weekly basis. Certainly, Mayo beat us out the gate that day and we were disappointed with that and one or two other results as well. But we have steadied the ship and moved on a small bit. I have no control about what anyone says or writes about. What was important was that we worked away in here. I was delighted with that. We knew the reality of the situation and we just kept our focus and got on with it.”

When the former Westmeath manager took over the Galway job after Joe Kernan’s controversial departure, one of the first tasks was to plan a master training schedule which made an allowance for the staggering 11-week gap between the conclusion of the league and Sunday’s match. Galway have the dubious honour of being the last team to appear in this summer’s championship.

Tailoring the training regime with that in mind was critical and although Ó Flatharta’s period began with three league losses on the trot, the graph saw a radical upswing towards the end of the league. The turning point arguably came on a sunny day in Pearse Stadium when the All-Ireland champions came to town and got caught up in a really entertaining game played in front of a noticeably small crowd. They lost but they were moving well.

“Yeah, I think the Cork game may have been the start of it. It does take time to get used to a game plan and the first time it may not work but you have to stick with it. I feel that in that game we did start to play. Our under-21s were going well and we did well in Armagh, so you could see the progress towards the end of the league, which is preferable to winning one or two early on and then going the other way.”

Ó Flatharta’s appointment came at a time of high anxiety for Galway football. Kernan’s first year at the helm ended in disappointment. His subsequent departure led to many opinions on what needed to be done next.

Ó Flatharta proceeded to canvass football men in the county about their views on what needed to be done in the county and then spoke to various club members.

He said the main message he took from those conversations was it was pointless looking back at what Galway had achieved over the last decade – and also dwelling on the missed opportunities.

Instead, they concentrated on getting on with things, fielding inexperienced teams at times and working through the tumultuous early league games until spring arrived, when the squad was strengthened by several members of the All-Ireland winning under-21 side and the return of Pádraic Joyce.

“It seems when the media talk about Pádraic Joyce it is as if he has been around since 1903,” Ó Flatharta laughs. “But what do I think of him since I came here? Obviously I had seen him play before and seen how skilful he was and that. But when I came in first, Killererin and St James’s were still involved in the club championship and I told the lads that I didn’t want to see them until those competitions were finished.

“St James were into February. Pádraic joined up with the squad in January. We were out on the field and he was up in the gym there. At seven in the morning, he would be in the pool working with the rehab lads. But we kept him off the pitch with his back injuries and his knee injuries until he was ready to go. I didn’t mind if he didn’t play any league games but he was keen to get back.

“We all see what he does on the field but what I am impressed with is the work he does outside of that. He really pushed himself and he wants more and more and more and goes off himself doing his own thing.”

Joyce will be at the heart of things in Castlebar but Seán Armstrong’s cruel luck with hamstring injuries continues and Michael Meehan is only beginning to play football again. Ó Flatharta agrees the 11-week gap has not been ideal and believes it is an issue the GAA will have to address. But that is for another day; right now, he is just relieved they have reached a defining point of the season.

“I think it is going to be a super occasion. There is always a big national interest in the game and it is going to be a big challenge for us. It is unfortunate for Seán and Michael but you always look at the positive side and go with what you have. This is a great challenge for me, getting Galway and working with these lads.”