Mull is giving little away

Dara Bradley

THE newly appointed Galway senior football manager, Alan Mulholland is keeping his cards close to his chest and is not rushing into finalising a panel for the 2012 National League and All-Ireland championship campaigns.

The Salthill man, who succeeded Tomás Ó Flatharta in September, said he will not be publicly announcing an official list of players that are in his new squad until he has to – at the start of the National League campaign next Spring.

Mulholland told Sentinel Sport that he wished to avoid November stories of ‘winners and losers’ and insisted that the squad was still a work in progress.

The former U21 and minor All-Ireland winning manager said he has told some players from the previous panel that they are “no longer part of my plans”. However, Mulholland declined to identify the Galway players from the 2011 season who don’t feature in his future squad make up.

Mulholland said the GAA’s ban on collective Winter training means that it is not necessary to finalise a squad so early in his tenure. Although Mulholland refused to comment when asked about named individual players, it is understood efforts may be made to coax Killererin and former Galway attacking ace Nicky Joyce – who didn’t feature this year – back into the fold.

His cousin, Galway legend Padraic Joyce – the Tribesmen’s best player by a country mile this season and last – may also need to be convinced to hold off on retiring and remain on for another year. Joyce owes Galway football nothing at this stage but he would be an extremely valuable addition to a squad that will be largely young and experienced at senior inter-county level.

Mulholland said the entire U21 All-Ireland winning squad that defeated Cork in the semi-final and Cavan in the decider earlier this year have been given a programme of gym work and training for the next two months before collective training resumes.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.