Emmet Moloney writes for the 'The Irish Farmers Journal' and is a former sports columnist with 'The Kerryman'.

Of course managers are getting money. Everybody knows that. What’s the problem? asks Emmet Moloney...

As Declan Kidney has found out, the life of a manager or coach is not always a charmed one. Kidney, the architect of the Grand Slam and various Heineken Cup wins, is now in the line of fire. It had to happen. It always happens. All political careers end in failure and the same could be said for coaches, too. Of course, Kidney is not finished and will lead Ireland to more glory, but he is not infallible. He never was. Neither is he the man being painted in some media circles and on barstools around the country as a poor, indecisive coach.

It is the fickle sporting environment that we live in. Win and you’re a genius, lose and it’s all your fault. Balance is rarely sought and rarely given. And this applies in most codes. Thick skin is a pre-requisite for those who enter the managerial game.

GAA managers are no different. In fact, it can sometimes be worse because a GAA manager is hearing it from his own. There was a reason Steve Staunton was defended by Co Louth. He was their native son and they have longer memories. National politicians are sometimes afforded that local consolation (see Michael Lowry, and, no doubt, John O’Donoghue). But the GAA manager who is hounded out of his position usually suffers at the hands of his county men. And that’s tough to take. You’d wonder is it worth it.

According to Paraic Duffy, it is, because he wants to, and I’m quoting the press release here, “tackle the issue of payments made to managers”. Duffy isn’t the first high-ranking GAA official to broach this subject and he won’t be the last. Whether he, like a few others have done in the past, is merely paying lip service to this thorny topic, only time will tell. I have only one question for Paraic Duffy: what’s the problem?

If county boards, sponsors or supporter groups want to compensate a man for the time he spends preparing their team, what’s the problem? I don’t see or hear any clamour for this practice to be discontinued. I fail to see how it is corrupting the association or infringing on its rules. The taxman isn’t breaking down any doors so obviously no laws are being broken. Amateur association, you say? Catch a hold of yourself. If we (rightly) pay tax-free expenses to numerous players, referees and officials, why not managers?

Let’s get down to some realpolitik here. Most inter-county managers get in the region of €200/€300 a session. There might be three in a week and a match thrown in. For seven or eight months a year, a manager can make in the region of €5,000 a month. Good luck to them, I say. For that, he gives up three or four hours a night, three or four nights a week and the guts of a day at the weekend, too.

If he is travelling that can mean more. That’s time away from his family and on top of the day job. And his life isn’t really his own. Wherever he goes, the job will follow him. The reason he receives such a decent remuneration? His expertise. Of course there should be a value put on that. By the way, if a county board doesn’t think so, then it doesn’t have to pay. It can get someone else. No-one is putting a gun to their head.

The current system doesn’t appear to be broken. Managers receive expenses which are not taxed or declared. So do selectors and players. Supply and demand is dealing with the situation quite nicely. Paraic Duffy’s main concern is based around the amount of money county boards are spending on the preparation of these teams. It is a valid concern. An army of backroom men and women, physios, masseuses, doctors, statisticians, kit men, sports psychologists, etc all have to paid for – not to mention meals, weekends away and drinks at the bonding sessions! Throw in the manager’s expenses on top of that and you see the bills reaching a couple of hundred thousand euros.

Paraic needn’t worry. That can’t continue because the money is no longer there to bankroll it. Economics will rein in the county boards. The pasta might go back to being a sandwich, the gear might be left over from last year and if you want a rub, you might have to wait till you get home. Cue the next Cork strike!

Managers will continue to be paid because there will always be somebody prepared to pay them. If Paraic Duffy’s committee locks one door, don’t you worry, another one will open.
Now to a different subject but one I believe Paraic Duffy will have to deal with soon. I’ve been to about 10 hurling matches over the past few weeks and a worrying trend is developing because of the helmet rule. It appears that the stick is now being used when any “aggro” develops between players. Where once the macho nonsense was a hand in the face, the helmet means the head is out of commission. So the butt of the hurley is used to dig into ribs and worse. There is nothing worse than seeing a player use his hurley as a weapon against another player. It is viewed as the lowest act on the playing field but we are going to see more of it now.

In olden times, at the first sign of a row, players would drop the hurley and wade into each other. Now what can they do? A fist into the side of a helmet could break your hand! The helmet rule is a good and sensible one, but it will lead to new crimes on the field. Referees need to be on top of these and the authorities have to bring in some new rules governing “interference” with other players’ helmets. An automatic yellow should ensue.

Just you watch, a couple of Sundays into the championship and The Sunday Game panellists will be using the slow motion camera to highlight someone getting his helmet pulled down split seconds before the ball arrives. Let’s deal with that. And let’s not begrudge a manager getting a few extra pound. It’s because they’re worth it!

To catch Emmet's latest column, get 'The Irish Farmers' Journal' every Thursday...