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04 AIB ALL-IRELAND SENIOR CLUB FINAL 2014 THE MAYO NEWS TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014 Managing expectations Success has followed Pat Holmes throughout his management career MIKE FINNERTY INTERVIEW SOLID. Reliable. Honest. Hardworking. Successful. These are just some of the qualities that we’ve heard attributed to the Castlebar Mitchels senior squad over and over again since they regained the Moclair Cup last October, and began the epic odyssey that has taken them all the way to Croke Park next Monday. They are characteristics that seemed to be lacking from the Mitchels senior set-up for many of the last 20 years, but they have been restored, slowly but surely, since Pat Holmes accepted the club’s offer to take over three years ago. Solid. Reliable. Honest. Hardworking. Successful. Remind you of anyone If ever a team reflected the personality of its manager, then surely this Castlebar Mitchels outfit is that group. During the course of a lengthy conversation with The Mayo News ahead of the All-Ireland Club Final, Pat Holmes mentions words like ‘hard work’, ‘accountability’, ‘honesty’ and ‘maximising potential’ time and time again. They are the qualities he displayed during his playing days with both clubs and county, and which have stood him in good stead during his stellar managerial years with the Mayo seniors, county U-21s and Castlebar Mitchels. His track record is second to none in this part of the world. A National League title, an All-Ireland U-21 championship, and county and provincial wins at club level the standout moments. So far, at least. But to understand where Pat Holmes has brought Mitchels from as a manager over the last three years, it’s worth recalling some of the events that shaped him as a footballer. He enjoyed a fine playing career with Moygownagh, St Jarlath’s College, Tuam Stars, Castlebar Mitchels, Cavan Gaels, Westport and Mayo. Highlights included a Hogan Cup medal in 1984, a Mayo SFC medal in 1993, an All Star in 1996, and seven Connacht Senior Championships. But it’s his thoughts on the two matches that arguably defined the careers of a generation of Mayo footballers — the 1996 and 1997 All-Ireland Senior Finals — that are most revealing in terms of his managerial philosophy. “When you look back on those finals you look back with regrets,” he admitted. “We maximized our potential in certain regards in those years, but in other ways we didn’t. “We were naïve. With a bit more cuteness, and being a bit more streetwise, we would have won at least one of those. “Other years Mayo got to All-Ireland Finals and they just weren’t good enough to win them. But any year you get to a Final and you don’t win it, you have to look back with regrets. 1997, in particular. “In ’96 we played close to our potential but in ’97 we didn’t play at all. The biggest regret I have about that year was our mental attitude going into the game. “Because we were there in ’96 I think we started to believe that we were going to win it in ’97. We got caught in the hype and lost our real focus on our job on the day. “We paid a big price for that.” As an aside, you wonder if winning an All Star in 1996, after tying down Meath’s Graham Geraghty in both the drawn and replayed finals, was any sort of compensation in hindsight “It’s a nice honour. I wasn’t blessed with the most natural talent so I had to work hard to play for Mayo. “So, from that point of view, it was nice recognition, but that’s all it was. You don’t think back and say, ‘I won an All Star’. “It was nice but nothing more. My biggest regret was ’97 because I believed we were good enough. We should have learned from 1996.” BECOMING A MANAGER ONE month after retiring from intercounty football in 1999, Pat Holmes was appointed manager of the Mayo senior “The biggest thing you look for within a group is honesty” team. He was 33 years of age. During his three seasons in the job, he led Mayo to a National League title for the first time since 1970, but the Connacht Championship title eluded him. On mature reflection, he believes that those three years were the best of times and the worst of times. MF: Do you ever regret taking on the Mayo job PH: If I was in that same situation again, would I take it on I don’t honestly know. It’s a hard one to answer. I had absolutely no experience at the time, I’d never managed anything. The reason I took it was I was single, I felt it was a massive challenge, and I felt the opportunity may not present itself again. I just decided after a bit of mulling over that I’d have a cut at it. When you’re that age you don’t weight up the consequences as much. You don’t have as much fear. Looking back, I was too inexperienced for the job really. To add to that I was also managing a group of players that I had played with only two months earlier. MF: How would you sum up your time as Mayo senior manager PH: We were coming into a period of transition. We’d contested All-Ireland Finals in 1996 and 1997, and got to an All- Ireland semi-final in ’99, but that team was coming to a transition stage. These things go in cycles. When you lose players of the calibre of Liam McHale, these guys are irreplaceable in a lot of ways. We won a National League title but the biggest regret is being beaten by a last minute goal in a Connacht Final [2001], after having Ray Connelly sent off in the wrong. We never recovered from that, it took the soul out of us. But you just had to learn from those experiences.” THE SECRET OF SUCCESS AT The Mayo News/O’Neills Club Stars awards last December, ‘Manager of the Year’ Pat Holmes went out of his way to ensure that Shane Conway, Alan Nolan and Jimmy Killeen were acknowledged for the parts they have played in Castlebar’s success story this season. The quartet seems to complement each other, and the results speak for themselves. Players too have bought into Holmes’ masterplan over the last 12 months. His approach may sound simple, but it’s extremely effective. MF: What do you do as a manager to get the best out of the group you’re working with PH: The biggest thing you look for within a group is honesty. You try and get fellas to realise their own goals, set group goals, and get guys to take collective responsibility. Rather than because somebody has asked them to take responsibility, they have to take responsibility because they want to. This group is very good at that. You’re more a co-ordinator than anything. It’s the lads that do all the work, and everybody is bringing something to the group. I’m just one cog and I’m no more important than what the 31 players do, or what Shane, Alan or Jimmy does. MF: What part of management do you enjoy most PH: The greatest sense of enjoyment is when you see players going out and performing well. When they’re performing towards the maximum of their ability, when they’re playing at the right tempo, the right intensity. When they’re playing as a team as a unit, with no egos. Every time you go out, you’re looking to improve on the things you did the previous day. MAGIC MOMENT Mayo joint managers Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly celebrate after the final whistle in the 2006 All-Ireland U21 Football Final. Pic: Sportsfile
THE MAYO NEWS TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014 05 PAT HOLMES ON. . . GOING BACK TO COLLEGE I had worked with Ulster Bank for 26 years but had reached a crossroads. The big thing for me was the amount of travel involved with work. I was gone, some weeks, three nights a week. I was doing a huge amount of miles, a huge amount of travel. There was no prospect of that reducing. When you spend 26 years in financial services, you’re very experienced in that area but your scope is very narrow. So doing an MBA broadens your horizons. I have no plans afterwards, I’ll see where it takes me. MITCHELS’ DEVELOPMENT ONE of the things I took great satisfaction from was against St Brigid’s. . We took a line ball, which was disputed by them, and in a split second Alan Feeney had got the ball and kicked it up along the line to Niall Lydon. Maybe two years ago we’d have been watching the argument, or getting involved in it. But Alan had no interest in that. He had the ball gone, 35 yards up the field, and we ended up getting the free for the equalising score at the end of normal time. THE ALL-IRELAND U-21 WIN THAT was a great day, when you think back on it. But you always look at the present. Winning a National League in 2001 was brilliant at the time, winning the All-Ireland U-21 was brilliant at the time, but they’re history now. Now you’re in the moment again, and you think that this will be the biggest one if the team realises their potential. WORKING TOGETHER Castlebar Mitchels manager Pat Holmes, centre, is pictured with selectors Alan Nolan, left, and Shane Conway, during a press night ahead of next Monday’s AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Club Championship Final. Pic: Sportsfi le “Winning the All-Ireland U-21 was brillant at the time, but it’s history now” If you’re playing during a season you should be improving as you’re going along, if you’re winning games. That’s what you’re looking for, and to cut down on the unforced errors. People will always make mistakes on a football pitch, that will always happen, but you have to try and cut those down to a minimum. MF: That template has been very successful for you as a manager. What is your definition of success PH: Success for me is getting the best out of the group, getting players playing to the absolute limit of their ability. Obviously we all have goals, to win competitions, but if you can get players to prepare as well as they possibly can, and to play to their absolute maximum every time they go out, or as close as is humanly possible, then, for me, that is success. If your team maximizes its potential then the chances are that they’re going to beat teams that haven’t maximized their potential. That gives great satisfaction. MF: What would success be on March 17 PH: To play as close to our absolute potential as we can. To improve on our performance against Croke’s by 5% or 10%. If we can do that, then we can’t do anymore. MF: How big of an achievement would it be to win this PH: I don’t think of it like that. The important thing for us is to try and improve on what we did against Dr Crokes. All I’m thinking about is preparing for March 17 and making sure that the players are focused on the game. FACTFILE Name: Pat Holmes Age: 47 Born: Moygownagh Lives: Westport Occupation: Masters of Business Administration (MBA) student at University of Ulster, Jordanstown Did you know Pat played at midfield for Castlebar Mitchels in the 1994 All-Ireland Club Final defeat to Nemo Rangers. EARLY DAYS Pat Holmes is pictured during his first season in charge of the Mayo senior team in 2000. Pic: Sportsfile QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS Q. Best Mayo footballer you played with A. Ciaran McDonald was a superb talent. And Liam McHale was probably the most under-rated footballer when he was playing. Noel Connelly was a great leader. Q. Toughest opponent A. Graham Geraghty in ’96. You strained every sinew marking him. My focus was 100% on stopping him that year. In ’97, my focus, and the team’s focus, wasn’t right and I think maybe that’s why I didn’t play well in ’97. . Maurice Fitzgerald is a fabulous footballer but my focus wasn’t right. Q. Proudest moment as a Mayo footballer A. The fi rst time I got a Mayo senior jersey was a challenge game against Roscommon in Ballinlough in 1987. I was playing with the likes of Willie Joe Padden and TJ Kilgallon, my childhood heroes. Q. Last book you read A. I don’t have time to read [laughs]. Q. Last film you saw A. It was probably something to do with Peppa Pig!
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