Louth's “Total focus is on Offaly” says boss Devlin

By the time Louth senior footballers arrive in Tullamore for their National Football League, Division Two, opener against Offaly on Sunday afternoon, the headlines may already have written themselves.

Gavin Devlin’s first National League campaign as senior boss begins with an immediate edge of facing Offaly and former ally Mickey Harte.

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Devlin believes the new rules have turned kick-outs into one of the biggest battlegrounds in the game.

When speaking ahead of the first round tie, he said: “Kick-outs were always important, possession was always important, but now it's just taken on a new level of importance, particularly with the new rules.

“I think the kick-outs, both for and against, is a major chunk of the game now, where you want to get hands in your own possession, and you want to steal as much of the opposition's.

“I think that if you lose that battle, I compare it to chips at the poker table, just because you have all the chips doesn't mean you're going to win the game, but you certainly want the chips.

“Kick-outs are one element of the game that we work a lot on in the training field. You can have all the plans in the world in your own kick-out, but it's what the opposition throws at you, and how aggressively they go.

“It's about being able to adapt and see where the space is, and clever movement, and probably in one brain, the whole team, where two or three movements create one pocket for Niall (McDonnell) or Tiernan (Markey) to play the pop into.

“It's a lot of moving parts in kick-outs, and a lot of nuances, but that's a challenge, I think, particularly with the new rules. You've got to be really on it in kick-outs.

“That's one element of the game that we certainly pride ourselves on in the training field, and what we go after.”

Slow starts

He admits Louth’s slow openings last year were costly, but says it all comes back to preparation.

“In terms of slow starts, I think everything comes from the training field, and there's games at times where you've got to be patient. No one goes out with plans to start slow.

“Sometimes, it's happened to me many times in the past, where you look at your watch, and things aren't going well here. There's 15 minutes gone or 20 minutes gone, but it's riding that wave and knowing that you can overcome that.

“You don't ever want to go there. You don't ever want to have a slow start, but if it does happen, it's not the end of the world.

“You can ride that storm and find the solution to it, and know that momentum can change very, very quickly. Fast starts, for me, it comes from the training field.

“It's how you work. It's how you do your work. Preparation is key to that. Obviously, against Offaly we'll be trying to get a fast start.”

Goalkeeper

Devlin says the modern keeper’s job has never been harder or more important,

“The goalkeeper now is so, so important. I feel even now, with the new arc and the opposition attackers going for two-pointers and trying to double their money.

“Particularly at this time of the year, the ball tends to drop short, and it's that real dangerous area between the six-yard box and the goal line.

“The competent being able to come and communication levels where we can come and take that ball or give your fullback a good early call as well.

“That's another element of the game that's so important now. Whether you're watching the Ulster Club Championship or whatever, there seems to be a lot of balls dropping in that six-yard box.

“It's dealing with those and then with the new rule as well, with the goalkeeper, where you can't play a one-two anymore. When he's in possession, and he gives the ball, that's him out of the script, and you go by the halfway line.

“Now, he's not that release valve anymore. I think when he gets the ball in his hands and the first opportunity, he's got to do something really clever with it.

“The goalkeeper is a massive part of the game now, and I think it's really interesting for the goalkeeper now.”

Division Two

He warns there are no soft landings in Division Two and points to how quickly the margins can punish teams.

“Well, I think that's the evolution of a team or, in Louth’s case here, the evolution of a journey over the last number of years”, he said.

“I think to be fair to the boys, over the course of the last five years, every single year, they've been getting progressively better and been making jumps.

“So, I think we've got to continue that trend. Yeah, so we'll be looking for an evolution and a spin of the wheel again in terms of progression.

“I don't think there's any good in treading water and standing still. So, we're trying to get that balance where we don't want to throw the baby out of the bathwater because they've been doing things fairly well and good.

“So, we've got to look at what they're doing well and how we can just make small changes and then look at other parts of their performance that we can try and get more gains from. Yeah, look, that's sport.

“We're looking at how we can try and close the gap in the teams that are ahead of us, but at the same time, being very, very careful with the teams that are perceived to be below us, and they could come very quickly and close that gap on us and try and surpass us.

“So, it's a game of cat and mouse all over. I think the lines are so small. I don't go past anyone more than Down last year.

“For me, Down had an unbelievable Ulster Championship campaign, and it was very, very competitive in the All-Ireland Series as well, but yet they got relegated from Division Two.

“Obviously, we all want to be playing our trade in Division One, but Division Two is so, so competitive, and you only have to look at Armagh as All-Ireland Champions and Donegal, even Derry, going back-to-back Ulsters coming from Division Two.

“Dublin won the All-Ireland in Division Two. So, Division Two is a real, real competitive environment. So, the difference from playing from one game to the next is very, very fine margins. I think everything is relevant. I think none more so than your conditioning and your speed.

“I think there's a gap there, and it's very apparent when you see the two teams matched up against each other, particularly in the day in question you spoke about against Donegal that day in Ballybofey.

“I think there was just a serious gap physically in the conditioning end between the two teams. That's a gap that needs to be bridged. And that won't happen overnight. That's a constant drip, and that's just years of work and adaptation in the gym.

“When that's not at the level that it should be, then all of a sudden that doubt creeps in, and your mentality maybe isn't in the place that it was in the previous game. From the five or six teams dining at the very top table, there is a gap to the teams underneath them.

“And they don't stand still either. They're always adding and growing and improving as well, and they're always moving the dial. We've got to be really, really at it to try and close that gap.”

Offaly's Harte

Devlin expects the game to have a championship edge and accepts the Harte storyline will run.

“I think the first National League game in any campaign is notoriously tough. It's played almost like a championship feel about it. We'll not be able to dodge that bullet.

“Whatever the media or the people in the public domain make of it, me and Mickey going at it head to head, we won't be able to control that.

“But look, 70 minutes won't affect me and Mickey's relationship over a 20-plus year campaign stand with each other as a player or an assistant manager with him. We're very, very close. I suppose on Sunday for that 70 minutes, there won't be too much talking.”

Under-20s

He sees Louth’s 2025 under-20 success as a major signal of progress and a pipeline for the future.

“The under-20s in 2025 had a super campaign, winning the Leinster Championship and going to an All-Ireland final. That's unique here in Louth. I think that in itself tells a story.

“There's players there that we need to be looking at. If they're not ready right away, we need to be investing in them and making sure that one day, very soon, they will be ready.

“That's good. Young boys, from my previous experiences in Tyrone, one thing and another, young boys bring a real freshness and a real vibe and energy about the place.

“I always love that, whether as a player or a coach. I love that, where there's that variation of the older players to the middle, guys just playing three or four years until the young up-and-coming lads.

“I love that blend in a team. It's great to get them in. They're plying their trade really well so far. It keeps everyone on their toes, the young boys.

“Maybe it takes the older boys to show them, the younger boys as well, that there's a gap from under-20s to seniors. This is the gap, and this is how we go about our business.

“There's a real good vibe about the whole thing at the moment. The under-20s are a great wee bunch. I think we brought something like six of them in at the moment.

“There's more to follow. It's just integrating them in a way that they don't feel rushed or pushed. It's just finding that balance with them.”

Then and now

Devlin says he hasn’t tried to reinvent himself, but he’s clear that nobody survives in management without evolving.

“We spoke earlier about the team and the evolution of the team. Every year, from year to year, I never would try and be anyone else. I'd like our players to be themselves, but the best version of themselves.

“I'd be pretty much the same as that. But you must evolve as a person. In this game of ours, you can't stand still, because if you stand still, as we spoke about, the teams ahead of you are just marching on.

“The teams that are perceived underneath you are just creeping up and getting level with you or passing you. To keep that evolution going, you've got to be changing, you've got to be evolving.

“I think that's what I love about the game and this job the most. You're always going to look out for new ideas and new things, and how you can get that across to your players.

“Incentivise them and motivate them in a way that they want to come in here to Darver on a nightly basis and stretch the fabric of their being to be the best version of themselves. I enjoy all that, and I'm really looking forward now to start this National League.”

Success

For Devlin, the only target this season is the next test, the next slog, and the next performance.

“I genuinely know it's cliché, but I don't look at things the way down the track, and I know other people do. As a supporter myself and in other sports, I'm all the time thinking about what can we achieve in one thing or another.

“But in this game, literally, it's on a nightly basis. It really is. My total focus is on Offaly on Sunday and getting the team prepared to go out and suffer and give absolutely everything in that game and try and get a performance that can win that game.

“Once that game is over, my focus will turn straight away to the Cork game. I think that in itself looks after all that.

“If I can get a bunch of boys to jump on a bus and go down to Tullamore and give absolutely everything for 70 plus minutes and take the good with the bad, roll over the punches, know that everything's not going to be perfect.

“Know you're going to have to suffer for moments in the game, but to stay the course, don't bend the knee, keep suffering, keep bleeding, it's an arm-wrestle, and stay in the fight.

“They do that from the first minute to the last minute, but we'll accept the results. Everything's about learning and growing, the next game, the next game.

“For me, that's my focus. If I can tick those boxes and my team tick those boxes, we'll accept the results, whatever happens at the end of it.”