Canavan appointment has to be about more than unity

Paul Cassidy on Thursday • Published 8 Dec 2011 09:30 0 Comments

National newspapers have recently described the role of Fermanagh manager as being "one of the most demanding roles in football".

Having finally indicated his interest in taking the post, the appointment of Peter Canavan to Fermanagh senior manager was never really in doubt despite other candidates having greater managerial experience.

Another paper said that Canavan had "inherited a monumental headache".

Whatever way you want to look at it the major aim of the appointment was to unite Fermanagh on and off the field. Everybody would agree that Fermanagh is much too small to have separate camps as we did last year and not to have all its footballers available for selection to the county team. I'm certain the County Board will be glad to put last year behind them and move on with fresh impetus steered by one of the greatest Gaelic footballers of all time.

Peter Canavan is a winner and always has been, be it at club or county level. His management experience is obviously limited but he has already steered his home club, Errigal Ciaran, to league success in 2009.

So realistically, what should we expect from the new management team in its three year tenure? The McKenna Cup should merely act as an experimental exercise to select his squad for the 2012 National League and then the real business will begin.

However the fixture against Tyrone in the McKenna Cup should now have added interest. The National League throws up seven fixtures, four away and three at home, revenge over London away in the opening League fixture would go a long way to abolishing the pain of last year's defeat and ultimately promotion would be a realistic target, given the quality of opposition in Division Four, definitely new territory for Peter Canavan.

However we can never lose sight of the limited resources Canavan will have to work with but I am sure that the squad will benefit from his vast experience and his squad will be physically and mentally ready for the campaign ahead. The new regime will certainly enjoy great support from the Fermanagh faithful and with a few good performances this support will only grow in numbers.

What should our expectations be for next year's championship? Down were All-Ireland finalists in 2010 and although we will have home advantage, it is still an extremely difficult opening fixture. Fermanagh's National league campaign will obviously dictate the confidence levels going in to the game but if we get a creditable performance with total commitment and passion, who knows what we will get from the game.

I think that we should be realistic and only expect to see gradual progress in the year ahead and look upon this appointment as a three year plan. Over the last number of years Fermanagh has seen the stars of 2004 leave the county scene one by one and must now build a new squad to compete with the best in Ulster.

Four players who played against Armagh in the Ulster final three years ago did not make themselves available for John O'Neill but hopefully Canavan will have all these players back on board along with other fresh talent throughout the county.

Peter Canavan is only too aware of the size of the task facing him, but of all people, he should be better equipped than most to recognise new talent and give it a chance, we wish him and his team every success.

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