Devlin: There's plenty of quality in Louth

New Louth GAA senior football manager Gavin Devlin is deep in the rebuilding process as he leads the Wee County panel into a fresh era as he arrives in a group that ended their Leinster famine.

He said: “That's what we've been at now, from when we came back a number of weeks ago, that's been the job where I inherited Ger Brennan's squad, and I worked with that from the off.

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“It'll be through the course of the next number of weeks, and we have a few challenge games organised right up to the O’Byrne Cup, so at the moment all we have is names and a WhatsApp group.

“I don't have a panel as such as of now, and I won't have that until a few days after the O’Byrne Cup's over, so that's where we're at.

“We're integrating names, and our WhatsApp has been busy with players in and out. Even to this moment, there have been players in, and there's players out.

“So yeah, that's where we're at the stage of the season, that's what the stage of the season's for, is to find who's willing to come on this journey with us.

“The players, it's just a new regime, a new metrics, a new era, so it's up for grabs to new people and then the guys that's currently there, are they willing to stay the test and continue to be here, so it's all those questions and all those answers we're trying to find out at the moment.”

There is no such thing as transition without loss, and Louth’s panel is no different.

“Well, I suppose the two big ones are Bevan (Duffy) and Andy (McDonnell), they both have retired, and they've been unbelievable servants for us.

“I'm sure the county board will do something in the near future for the two guys; they were brilliant servants for Louth for many, many years.

“Even when I came in five years ago, the two guys were wondering would they stay or stay without Bevan and Andy and lo and behold, they stayed on and got their Leinster medal.

“So that was a brilliant way to leave it, and by looking at the two boys, the physique that Bevan's in and watching Andy in the club championship, they probably still could offer something.

“But this day had to come eventually at some stage, so it is now, and they've retired, so we'll move on from that, but yeah, they're the two big ones at this stage.

“Dan Corcoran's gone travelling, so Dan's out for the season, again, the door's always open for Dan.

“You never know when you go out of these places that you think it's greener on the other side, and you're there a few weeks, and you want to come back home.

“So we'll have our fingers crossed on that, but we'll continue to go on ahead and see what's there for Dan.”

The question of recalling former players naturally arises, and while Devlin has kept communication lines open, circumstance is proving the decider.

“We've been in touch with Niall (Sharkey), and Niall's been in for a few sessions and one thing and another, but again he's tied up with work.

“He has big work commitments in Dublin, one thing and another and the schedule that's in place at the moment, it just wasn't right for Niall, so Niall has stepped away.

“Callo (Eoghan Callaghan) is in at the moment, so again, he's just come back from club duty, so he's involved, but he hasn't really been here yet.

“We're looking forward to the next few weeks seeing Callo up close and seeing if this is for him right now, all those decisions that he made.

“Again previously when I was here with Mickey (Harte), Callo was involved in the squads and in terms of the nuances of the game, he's got all the skill sets.

“He has a good overview of the game, and when he gets in possession of the ball, and what he wants to do with it, it's easy for everyone to see.

“There is a big step up from club level to inter-county level in terms of every other aspect and your conditioning and your strength work, so he's come up through the levels in that, and that will be the asset for Callo.”

As the new regime opens its doors, enthusiasm among the squad remains strong.

“I have to say, from when I came in five years ago with Mickey, the response has been awesome. Rarely have you ever contacted someone, and they say that playing for Louth isn't an aspiration of theirs.

“From underage, the minors, the under 20s, there's just a real energy about Louth at the moment, and they're particularly senior level as well, how couldn't there be.

“So it's trying to keep that attraction going and trying to keep evolving and improving, but no, the take-up in the squad has been excellent so far, it's been brilliant.

“The problem is it's a numbers game, we can only keep a certain number of players, and that's on us now as coaches and the management team, we have to narrow that down, unfortunately.”

Louth’s club championship has been another source of Devlin’s optimism, though it too adds to his selection headache.

“The club championship, we were ever present, Peter Dooley got to nearly all the games, and there's quality out there in every game you go to see.

“I thought the standard in the club championship was right through at all levels. It was excellent, but it is a numbers game.

“You look at the squad that I inherited from Ger, and apart from Andy and Bev, who walked away, everyone was consistent and stayed on.

“Then the ones that jump out to the club championship and then the numbers start to go up, so yeah, look, it's not a bad problem to have, but there's plenty of quality in Louth.”