A quick GAA riddle. When does a county want to see their manager lose a game? When they're double jobbing, of course.
This weekend, two recently installed inter-county managers have big club championship games to look forward to and it’s fair to say support will be thin on the ground from their newer fan bases.
All-Ireland champions Glen, under the tutelage of new Tyrone boss Malachy O’Rourke, face Lavey in a Derry football quarter-final while recently installed Meath boss Robbie Brennan is hoping to bring Kilmacud back to a fourth straight Dublin final when they face Na Fianna.
Managers taking county jobs while still committed to a club is nothing new, but the above duo are one and two in the Andy Merrigan betting meaning that, if the house has it right, it could be another three or four months before one or even both can give their sole focus to their new positions - so some Meath and Tyrone fans won't cry too many tears if they lose out.
Incidentally, third in the All-Ireland ranking is Kilcoo, where it’s worth noting that a different type of double jobbing is occurring. That’s because Down boss Conor Laverty is in the pretty unique position of continuing to line out for the Magpies - mostly making cameos off the bench - as they chase a 12th county title in 13 years next weekend when they face old adversaries Burren.
Laverty has been able to combine those two roles easily enough for the last two seasons, but in the case of O’Rourke and Brennan, things may get more complicated if their anticipated success continues, although reports suggest that they will be taking different approaches.
Brennan, it is rumoured although not confirmed, will be stepping down as Croke’s boss this month, either after a semi-final loss this weekend or regardless of the result in the county final.
O’Rourke, by contrast, is expected to last the distance with Glen no matter where - or more importantly, when - that journey takes him. He has an experience to call on there at least, watching his club Errigal Ciaran win an Ulster title in 2002 and go close to an All-Ireland final appearance in the months after a certain Mickey Harte was named as Tyrone manager, and that didn’t work out too bad badly for the Red Hands that season.
Less obvious concerns included officials potentially being influenced subconsciously knowing that it would be better for their county if a team was beaten and the potential of searching for weaknesses in players you’ll be working closely with possibly in a matter of weeks.
Perhaps it’s another consequence of the new split-season model, but it seems inevitable that county-club managerial crossover will be something we must get used to.
Derry’s seemingly never-ending search for Harte’s successor touches 90 days on Sunday. It’s become a saga.
Before the split-season came into play though, their last five permanent managers – Rory Gallagher, Damian McErlain, Brian McIver, Damian Barton and John Brennan – were appointed between 31 August (McErlain) and 22 September (Barton) and none of those felt particularly late.
With the county season wrapping up much earlier now, the race to appoint is starting earlier too meaning that managers still in the heart of club county championships are coming into view when the crossover used to apply almost exclusively to managers still involved in provincial club campaigns.
And what of the impact of those who have double jobbed?
For a number of high-profile cases, a surprise defeat has arrived hot on the heels of the county announcement.
In 2022, John Hegarty was announced as Wexford’s new manager just a few weeks before his Shelmaliers side suffered a shock county final loss to Castletown.
In 2014, Jim McCorry’s appointment as Down manager didn’t seem to cause too much of an issue as Kilcoo followed it up with wins over Mayobridge and Burren to take county honours, but there was surprise Ulster preliminary round loss in Newry to a Clontibret side that played most of the game a man short.
Two years later, Mattie McGleenan was named as Cavan’s new manager and his time with Scotstown came to an end less than a week later as they were beaten in Ulster by Kilcoo. The result itself was not a surprise, but having that announcement on match week could only have been a distraction.
There’s been success stories too, and none more so than Kerry’s Pat O’Shea.
In November 2006 he was installed as the Kingdom’s boss while still in charge of Dr Crokes.
The feet in two camps didn’t hamper him too much as he brought Crokes all the way to the All-Ireland final where they lost a controversial replay to Crossmaglen – who played on with 15 players despite John McEntee picking up two yellow cards – with that game in Portlaoise taking place in April, five months after his appointment.
It didn’t hold him back though as another five months after that, Kerry were blitzing Cork in the first all-Munster All-Ireland final.
Last season, Greg McGonigle was Armagh women's manager as well as manager of the Clann Éireann club in the Orchard County.
Despite appearing to be in direct conflict, it didn’t impact on-field performances as Armagh won a first-ever Division 1 title and Clann Éireann won Ulster for the first time too.
And it’s not just limited to football.
Tom Mullally has managed the Carlow hurlers and Naas for the last number of seasons and has enjoyed success on both fronts.
Indeed, on one day crisp January day in 2022, he guided the Kildare side to the Leinster Intermediate title in Newbridge and a few hours later was helping Carlow to a Kehoe Cup win over the Lilywhites.
New Dublin hurling manager Niall Ó Ceallacháin is another walking in the same shoes as O’Rourke and Brennan with Na Fianna looking good to retain their county title with a semi-final with St Vincent’s looming.
It’s Na Fianna’s footballers up first this weekend though and undoubtedly there will be extra eyes on their game, and Meath eyes at that. The same for O’Rourke during Glen’s encounter with Lavey with Tyrone fans set to take more than a passing interest.
The life of a double-jobbing manager, it’s a real riddle.
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