The ever-expanding shape of football

There have been changes in media demands, training demands and in all accepted parts of preparation. In 1989, training was mostly confined to the training field. The question of diet and nutrition was only in its infancy and the whole area of psychological preparation was new.

Fitness placed less intensive demands and is more scientific now. Then there was frequent emphasis on working out on hills and beaches, an approach not in fashion at present. Players 11 years ago got a break from the end of November until the end of January. They were expected to keep in some sort of shape, but there were no specific individual programmes for gym work in December.

Now that's changed because counties are planning for the championship earlier and earlier. As that began to happen and teams came back earlier and organised challenge matches in January, the provincial councils got the idea of slotting in the secondary competitions at the beginning of the year.

Physical preparation never stops at this stage. Eddie O'Sullivan, who's the assistant coach to the Irish rugby team, is my fitness adviser and the programme runs right through the holiday period. There's a week off around Christmas and that's it.

This has implications for diet and lifestyle and players these days have to take on board all sorts of advice that wouldn't have been part of preparations in the 1980s. What happens away from the training field is in many ways more important than what happens on it.

Even this year we had three players in Australia at the start, but they were all training on their own and Michael Donnellan was playing soccer which involved training with Galway United.

Sports psychology was almost a dirty word in 1989. There was an impression of men in white coats. Nowadays, it's an accepted part of preparation and modern sport emphasises the importance of mental fitness as well as physical.

I feel that the area needs attention, but doesn't necessarily need headlines, but it's still part and parcel of what happens in preparing a team.

One big difference between managing Mayo in 1989 and now is that I live in Mayo. Not being resident in Galway two years ago meant that I was insulated against the worst of the hype, whereas 1989 was Mayo's first All-Ireland final in 38 years and in the week and fortnight leading up to the game there were 2,000 people at training.

Galway was different. It had been 32 years since the county won an All-Ireland, but, in the meantime, there'd been hurling success, under-age success and a number of final defeats for the footballers. Getting to an All-Ireland wasn't such a big deal until the gap was bridged. The hype waited until we won the All-Ireland.

Media is the one element that has really changed in 11 years. Back in 1989, the local radios were only getting started. I remember the live commentary on the Connacht final that year was only set up the day before and there was hardly any other radio coverage. Otherwise, it was just local papers and national media and that was really just RTE and the three national papers.

Two years ago, there was a noticeable increase in local radio coverage. There's about two or three stations covering most counties or bits of the county. The popularity of the games is reflected in the Irish editions of the tabloids and the number of papers now attending media events.

Even this year there's been an increase. There's two television stations and, for the first time that I've noticed, the dot coms are involved. I've done interviews, which looked to me like television, but which I'm told are for broadcast on the Internet.

My initial instincts in 1989 would have been to adopt a very protective approach to the question of media coverage, but I now feel a team should go with the flow. It can be a problem if certain players get caught up in the coverage and go looking for it, but, in general, I see it as part of what goes on in the build-up to a match.

The length of a year for a football team varies. In 1997 when I started we had three weeks done by the time Mayo played in that year's All-Ireland. Two years ago it was different. After winning an All-Ireland there's no serious training until January. That's a bit of a Catch 22. Winning an All-Ireland decreases your chances of holding on to the championship.

There's so much involved in a success like that for the players, such intensity in celebrations and social obligations that there was no point in returning to training. Physically it would be ideal to start again a few weeks after the All-Ireland, but mentally it would be impossible. Everyone's on automatic pilot.

The difficulty in Mayo in '89 was that, while we hadn't won the All-Ireland, the celebrations went on as if we had. The players' determination was there, but the fallout was the same as if we had won and yet we'd none of the advantages of a success.

In the week before an All-Ireland, the players only meet once. They try and relax. It's important that all players have to do is play, so it's important that there's people to organise everything for them.

You really need a separate team to look after everything for the team, the buses, the schedule, what to do at the hotel. Every moment of Saturday and Sunday has to be planned. At the moment we haven't got the clar an lae from Croke Park.

My view of the manager's role is that it must co-ordinate the bits and pieces which go into a weekend like this. When everyone's going in the one direction, the chances of success are much better.

In an interview with Sean Moran