London senior football team manager Michael Maher. Photo by Eóin Noonan Sportsfile
By Cian O’Connell
Since taking charge of the London senior football team Michael Maher is used to embracing challenges. Simply, that is the nature of the role.
As a new inter-county season commences the opportunity to compete in the Connacht FBD League is welcome for London, who are well accustomed to dealing with a high player turnover rate.
On Sunday the University of Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome provides the backdrop for London’s clash against Mayo.
Round Towers clubman Maher is delighted that London make return to the FBD ahead of the upcoming Allianz Football League campaign. “We have probably got the toughest opponent we could have got in the hat,” he says.
“It is great to get a definite game, the problem we've had in the last couple of years is we have looked to try to get a challenge game, but everyone else is in pre-season competitions.
“So, the board approached Connacht about going into the FBD to guarantee us a game, we have got Mayo, and we will see what happens this weekend. It is great to have a game to look forward to at the beginning of January.”
Utilising the time spent in Ireland effectively is precisely what Maher intends to do with his selectors and panel. “The 26 will be more or less picking itself,” Maher explains.
“That will be the only game we can get by the nature that we couldn't travel with anymore to get a game. The weekend will be fly in on Saturday, play Mayo on the Sunday, and back Sunday night from Dublin.
"We will pack in as much as we can over the weekend, it is a great chance for us to get one to ones with players, to do a little bit that way.
Michael Maher remains in charge of the London senior football team for 2024. Photo by Eóin Noonan Sportsfile
“We will do a small bit of tactical meet stuff and some video analysis work, we will maximise the time we have got with the lads this weekend. Ultimately, it is great to get a game and no better game to get than against the National League Division One winners from last year.”
London’s approach has been tweaked for the upcoming games, strength and conditioning programmes implemented with new panel members. “We have a lot of changes made, we have got 15 from last year, so we will have a fairly fresh squad,” Maher replies.
“Part of that was just the nature of London football, some of it was by design, we felt we needed to freshen things up, to bring the age profile down slightly.
"We've been able to do collective gym sessions, previously it was remote. We have tried to improve in all the areas that we can improve.
“John Doyle has come on board in our backroom team, we are looking forward to the new season. It was a tough old year last year, we were hampered by injuries and unavailability during the league.
“We just could never get going, we finished the year fairly strong in the Tailteann Cup. We will try to draw on the positives from that last six weeks, to carry them through into this season.”
The 2022 Allianz League featured three victories ensuring momentum was generated. Maher is fully aware of the value and confidence wins supply for London. “We had a terrible league last year, we got a fair smacking from Sligo in the Connacht Championship,” Maher reflects.
“We regrouped, we changed some things, we freshened up the panel. The Offaly game was always going to be tough because we had six weeks without any game. We put up a really strong performance against Cavan, only lost by six, they were favourites for the Tailteann Cup at the time.
"Then we drew with Laois, we should have beaten them. The great thing was up until 20 seconds to go in the Laois game, we were qualifying for the knockout stages of the Tailteann Cup.”
London face Mayo at the University of Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome on Sunday. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach Sportsfile
Being ready for the Tailteann Cup in the summer is Maher’s mission. “Only for a last punch of the ball, a fisted point we were going through,” he says.
“So, it just shows the merits of the Tailteann Cup, you can have an indifferent league campaign, a tough provincial championship, get your act together and still be in with a chance of playing knockout football in the summer which is what every county should be looking forward to.
“It was a tough year last year, the year before that was nearly a polar opposite. We had a great league, we had no injuries or unavailability for any reasons.
“So, I guess we have experienced the real highs in '22, we certainly experienced the lows in '23. We've tried to pick out the good and the bad of both years, to piece everything together. Hopefully we will have a positive league campaign this year, to see where we are come championship time.”
Division Four in the Allianz Football League will be packed with tests for London. “We are under no illusions, we are playing Wexford in round one, I think they are going to be a real force to be reckoned with this year,” Maher says.
“Again, their preparation will be night and day compared to ours. They will have had challenge games, O'Byrne Cup, they will probably have five times the amount of match practice that we will have had coming into January 28. We always take the first few games at face value, but the performance is everything.
“The way it has worked out this year, we have some tough games in the middle block, and we finish with Waterford and Carlow, which are both going to be tough opponents going into the championship.
“The first few games I still think we will be finding our feet, I don't think you'll have many teams with a 50 per cent new group on their senior county panel, which we have. We will still be finding out what our best combination of players is up until round three or four.
“After we can't have any excuses about not being match fit, all eyes will be on Wexford after this weekend on January 28, we will see what that brings.”