John Evans planning big with Roscommon

By Arthur Sullivan

Roscommon manager John Evans was in confident form following his side's Division II final victory over Down at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon.

Report: Roscommon storm to Division II glory

The Rossies' 1-17 to 0-15 win over Down gave Evans' side their third piece of silverware in the space of 12 months, following a Division III title win last April and an FBD League title win in January, and the Kerry native did not hide the scale of his ambition for the county when pressed by journalists afterwards.

"The whole idea is to get to the top," he said. "It'll take a couple of years."

By the top, does Evans really mean 'the top'? Roscommon will play in Division I next season alongside the likes of Kerry, Dublin and Mayo, and Evans believes if Roscommon can establish themselves as a top tier side for a few seasons, they can compete for All-Ireland senior titles before long.

"If we can stay in the first division for three to four years, if we can stay there the first year - you can really believe me now when I say it's consolidation for the first year - if we can stay there the first year and prepare properly...," Evans said, making it quite clear what he felt his side were capable of.

Roscommon are a county with a fierce football tradition, but it's over 70 years now since their last All-Ireland title win in 1944. However, with a host of underage success achieved over the last decade at minor and U21 level, Evans believes they will soon be capable of competing for the top prize.

"There is no other way," he said. "Absolutely. I have gone through every team. There is a lot of them and they will be losing a lot of star players over the next two, three, four years. We will be growing in stature."

He felt Roscommon performed very well in the second half after a "damp squib" of a first half against Down, but he feels the key now is how his young team deal with having won two finals in successive years at Croke Park.

"It's how we handle this now, that's the next thing," he said. "It isn't about the championship yet. We are in the championship - we've had three savage weeks of training - hence we had six guys out (missing) there, David Keenan, Enda Smith, Mark Nally, Mark Healy, these guys, and of course Seán McDermott. Six guys missing off that team who have played in the league and they are six athletic, good players.

"If we keep pushing each other hard in training, then certainly we will certainly be ready for the championship."

Roscommon face London in Ruislip in the Connacht quarter-final on May 24, and while Evans clearly has big plans for the summer, he tried not to look beyond that game. "Let's beat London first and take it one game at a time," he said.

Evans took over Roscommon at the end of the 2012 season, and he expressed his delight at the success he has brought to the Connacht side since taking over.

"It's smashing, it's wonderful," the former Tipperary manager said. "Roscommon have been starved of success and it's brilliant to see a smile on their face. The biggest problem we have now is to try and calm them down a small bit and say 'one step at a time'. It's really how we cope with this now, that's the big question."

He repeatedly emphasised the youth of his panel and the importance of nurturing those young players, explaining that he deliberately held back the news that young Roscommon Gaels forward Cian Connolly would start the game, so as to "protect" him. Connolly kicked five points in a solid display, and Evans says there is now very strong competition for places in the team.

Roscommon narrowly missed out on promotion from Division III in 2013, Evans' first year in charge, and he says they changed a lot of things after that first season. The manager says Roscommon's progression is in line with what he intended in his plan to restore them to greatness.

"Gay Sheerin (selector and legendary former Roscommon goalkeeper) visited my house two years ago and we are bang on where I wanted them to be. Now you might say that is far-fetched but it is not - that is exactly where we wanted to be.

"This was a year into the job. We had lost out on nine points and I think 10 (points) got promoted. I said then, 'Look lads, we are hanging around'. We actually changed an awful lot of stuff after the first year.

"We moved to Athlone, to Mullingar training and then it presented itself last year in so far as we won Division III. Then we brought in the likes of Joe Sweeney, a proper goalkeeping coach. Gary Wynn, a defensive coach, Liam Kearns in as a forwards coach. And you could see the goal (against Down) came off that kind of play again.

"So we've been adding strenths to our management and to our team and you could see that today."

It was refreshing to hear Evan speak so openly and honestly about his ambition for Roscommon, and it is rare to hear a manager from a county outside the obvious 'elite' to talk about winning an All-Ireland. The Killorglin man also told an interesting anecdote from his past which showed his distaste for limiting your ambitions with a team.

"I remember one time about 25 years ago I walked out of an AGM of a team, Knocknagoshel (a rural club in Co Kerry). They had gone from Division 5 to 4 to 3 and they wanted to stay there. I wanted no part of that (mindset)..."

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