When the name of Paul Bealin was put to clubs for ratification at last week’s fractious County Committee meeting, no delegate proposed him. After a period of embarrassing silence, Bunbrosna delegate Eddie Newman questioned the manager’s record.
It was explained that a very “professional” setup was in place and that all players had given great commitment to the manager this season.
Alan Coyne of Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall asked how much it cost for the management team in the past year. Sean Sheridan (Chairman) said it costs between €40,000 and €50,000 a month for football and hurling. He did not have a breakdown for the football management as all expenses have yet to be tallied.
Mick Mannion (Garrycastle) pointed to a disappointing year, but Mr Sheridan said Division 1 was going to be difficult, especially with a small panel of players. Mr Mannion felt no progress was made by Westmeath, referring also to the poor championship run. He claimed the management team did not have the backing of the clubs or the players.
Terry O’Dowd of Mullingar Shamrocks was very critical. “We have made absolutely no progress at minor, U21 or senior. We didn’t even win a first round of a championship; we have five schools playing in the Leinster ‘A’ Championship and cannot put a minor team together to win a first round. There was nothing positive for supporters,” he declared.
He said €200,000 was spent this year, but Westmeath got poor value for it. And against Louth in the Leinster Championship, the players’ heads dropped when the game was there to be won.
O’Dowd said Paul Bealin publicly criticised the players for a lack of leadership in the wake of that Louth defeat, but many supporters wondered where the leadership was on the sideline.
O’Dowd also claimed the body language of the players in the defeat by Cavan (Qualifiers) suggested there was a problem.
Sean Sheridan felt the claims about lack of progress were unfair and reminded delegates that the minor footballers had reached the Leinster final in 2013.
He insisted there was a lot of positive work done at minor level and felt it was wrong to blame the manager, Paul Bealin, for the senior players’ failure to perform.
Athlone’s Niall Lynch felt it’s about what’s wrong rather than who’s wrong. A petty blame game would not solve the problem, but Athlone feel it’s time for a new manager, a fresh regime, he said.
Sean Kenny (Tubberclair) agreed, saying that minor and under 21 structures have to be looked at.
“The County Board have to look at the backroom team and it will have to have a knowledge of Westmeath football,” he said.
Sean Sheridan insisted a selector with a good knowledge of Westmeath football was put in place to work with Paul Bealin. He said he and Vice-Chairman, Ken Eades, had searched inside the county for a manager prior to Bealin being appointed, but a lot of people declined.
TRACK RECORD
“What did Paul Bealin do wrong,” he asked, to mutterings from the delegates, some of whom suggested that he’d failed to win a competitive game all season.
Niall Lynch insisted it was not an attack on Paul Bealin, while Seamus McLoughlin (Moate All Whites) said the management was very negative in 2014. Ballinagore’s Seamus Ennis felt the “holy trinity” would not be successful in Westmeath. He said clubs are letting their hearts rule their heads and that it doesn’t matter who’s in charge of Westmeath as the talent is not there to be successful.
There were groans of disapproval for Mr Ennis’ remarks, however and Niall Lynch suggested a more positive approach is crucial.
Tom Hunt (Mullingar Shamrocks) said a manager with a proven track record was sought last year, but Sean Sheridan said Westmeath couldn’t afford some of the potential managers they spoke to.
Christy Gorman (Coralstown/Kinnegad) said the high number of defeats Westmeath suffered wouldn’t be accepted even at club level. “Why shouldn’t we change?” he asked.
Alan Leech of Killucan wondered what Paul Bealin would do differently if reinstated. “I don’t know,” replied Sean Sheridan, suggesting he may have learned from 2014.
At this point, Liam Gavin proposed that a committee be set up to appoint a new manager. This was seconded by Eddie Newman.
Aidan Davitt suggested someone with recent inter county football experience should be part of the committee to find a new manager. The same should happen with the hurling manager.
Pat Reilly then proposed that Paul Bealin be ratified for another year. It was seconded by Joe Martin.
Richie Higgins (Caulry) was unhappy that the proposal came from the top table rather than club delegates. Sean Sheridan insisted the proposal was in order.
Seamus McLoughlin (Moate) then proposed that Bealin not be reappointed and it was seconded by Richie Higgins. Amid disorder, Des Briody (Killucan) suggested Paul Bealin could be interviewed by the committee, but Sean Sheridan dismissed that as unfair.
Aidan Davitt urged the chairman to use just a show of hands, describing it as a beaten docket. “You can sense what’s in the room here,” he observed.
“You’re not pushing him yourself, chairman, as you did with Hanley and a few others,” he quipped.
He was asked to withdraw the remark, but Davitt refused. “You backed Brian Hanley to the hilt; we (hurling clubs) decided we wanted him replaced, but you came out here and the football people shoved it down our necks,” he declared. The delegate felt having a vote would not be a good idea and would, he felt, be ‘washing dirty linen public.’
After a vote for a secret ballot was defeated, a show of hands saw Paul Bealin ousted on a 37-12 vote. Only one delegate from each club was permitted to vote and, to add to the drama, those who couldn’t vote were asked to leave the room while the vote took place.
Sean Sheridan thanked Paul Bealin for his commitment to Westmeath in the past year and was clearly disappointed that clubs hadn’t given the former Dublin footballer more time.
“The amount of work that man put in (was huge). We didn’t get success; I’m as disappointed as he was about that,” said the chairman.
“He was gone after the Louth game only for me and there’d be no need for a vote here tonight. He was so disappointed after the Louth game. The amount of work he put in to train Westmeath, hail, rain or snow, was unbelievable,” he added. Mr Sheridan felt clubs need to be more realistic going forward.
“Whoever Westmeath gets they’ll have a big task on their hands. And I hope this time next year that we’re not here debating it again. We had a good man here three or four years ago in Brendan Hackett; we didn’t want him. We didn’t want Pat Flanagan. Now we don’t want Paul Bealin…” he noted.
The chairman called for a united approach going forward. “Let’s go out and look for a man and hope Westmeath can stay in Division 2, and do well in the Leinster Championship,” he said.
