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WATCH: New Louth manager Pete McGrath on his plans and Fermanagh exit

Outside of the leading counties like Dublin, Mayo, Kerry and Tyrone, there has been a fair bit of...
Newstalk
Newstalk

20.26 28 Sep 2017


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WATCH: New Louth manager Pete...

WATCH: New Louth manager Pete McGrath on his plans and Fermanagh exit

Newstalk
Newstalk

20.26 28 Sep 2017


Share this article


Outside of the leading counties like Dublin, Mayo, Kerry and Tyrone, there has been a fair bit of managerial change as the annual post-championship merry-go-round goes into full swing.

One of the changes is in Louth where Pete McGrath has been appointed manager after his time in charge of Fermanagh came to an abrupt end.

As he begins planning for his Louth tenure, he joined Nathan to discuss that as well as what happened at the end of his Fermanagh spell. 

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WATCH: New Louth manager Pete McGrath on his plans and Fermanagh exit

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

"I have to say the four years I spent there I thoroughly enjoyed. The season that just ended was very, very difficult because when you see the records, you will see that our championship match against Mayo in 2016 down in Castlebar and you compare the personnel who played that day with the personnel that played in the championship this year, there's no resemblance," he said.

"The number of players that we'd lost to emigration, to premature retirement, injuries had a big, big impact on the results in the season just ended.

Fermanagh Manager Pete McGrath ©INPHO/Presseye/John McVitty

"But I'm not going to dwell on Fermanagh. I had four great years there and the players were brilliant. The management team I worked with was excellent and the Fermanagh people couldn't have been kinder, more supportive or enthusiastic."

McGrath added that he's moved on, although he admitted that in the wake of his exit, he was "for a number of weeks, I was disappointed, a bit disillusioned I suppose but you have to look to the future".   

"It ended, okay, not the way we all wanted it to end but it did end," he added.

Now firmly focused on Louth, the challenge is to lift a county that lost to Meath in the Leinster quarter finals and then losing to Longford in the first round of the qualifiers.

"First of all, I have to go in there and familiarise myself with the players, the talent and the potential," he said.

"The people I met and the people I talked to were very enthused by what's coming on and what's currently there. Over the next couple of months, whenever we get a panel set up, get talking to the players and set our targets and have a good positive environment where the players want to engage and where they want to be a part of it, we'll push on."  


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