We want people who want to be here says Leitrim manager Poacher

Steven Poacher is pointing Leitrim towards what he believes is a bright future but the Green & Gold’s new manager only wants people who are fully committed to the cause, in spite of a demoralising 2-17 to 0-10 defeat at the hands of Clare last Sunday in Ennis.

Speaking to the Observer after the game, Poacher’s first words were those of pride and then defiance: “There were nine that made their debut there today and three 18-year-olds on the field there at the end, Coxsy and Paul and Eanna, great lads. That's the future. We knew Division Three was going to be tough. You come down to a place like Ennis, this is a team that took Kerry to the pin to their collars last year.

"A lot of experience in the team, the likes of Eoin Cleary and Keelan Sexton back, Ikem  at half-back, really good footballers, big Eamon Tubridy in goals there, they’ve a lot of experience in their team, just probably more experience than what we would have. We knew that this was going to be a tough assignment but the bottom line is the positives in that first half were unbelievable. We just made so many silly little mistakes and that just comes with experience, you learn. There were a lot of things that we did well in the first half.”

And the Leitrim manager only wants the fully committed on board: “It's going to be a learning curve and it's going to take time, and I just hope that people in Leitrim realise that these are the men who are putting their shoulder to the wheel. These are the men who are representing their county because they want to be here, and that's the big thing. 

“We don't want people that don't want to be here - we want people that want to be here. We want people that are going to be here to try and build something. The difference between the top teams and the lower counties is the turnover of players - you need to have a consistent group of players that drive a consistent level of S&C, drive a consistent level of standards, and hopefully we're going to get there.”

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An interesting insight into the way the Leitrim manager thinks is his disdain for post match huddles on the pitch after games: “We don't hang about on the field because I don't believe in huddles. I think the GAA is the only sport in the world where people feel they have to have a huddle at the end of the game. 

“I like the sanctuary of the changing rooms, that’s our place, that’s our sanctuary. As a group, that's a special place there. The changing room is important. We just had a quick conversation, and we just told them that we're really proud of their efforts and we know that there's no time for sitting about and licking wounds.”

It won’t be a quick fix but Steven stresses the need for patience and time: “When you look at the physicality of some of those lads out there today in the Clare team, and you look at the physicality of some of our younger boys, and they've a wee bit to go. They're probably year one or year zero, as I would call it, in an S&C programme. 

“That takes time. It doesn't happen overnight. It's going to take time. We know this year is going to be difficult, we know it's going to be but we want to be competitive. We want to try and instil a level of belief into the lads. We want to try and give them a platform and a structure that maybe will make them competitive. It's going to be difficult, we know that."

The Leitrim boss stressed his pride in his young players who took to the field: "I'm proud of every one of them because they're a good bunch of lads. They're a good bunch of young men. There's parents in the stands here today that have travelled down to Ennis and they're proud to see their children playing for Leitrim. That's the most important thing. I said to them in there too, they're just trying to create their own wee bit of history and make their own wee legacy or whatever. That's what you're trying to do."