Football legend Joyce now aiming to win All-Ireland title as a manager
By Eanna O'Reilly
WHEN Pádraic Joyce was announced as manager of the Galway senior footballers in the winter of 2019, he made no secret of his ambitions for the group and for Galway football.
As a two-time All-Ireland winner during his own playing career, Joyce immediately targeted a return to the glory days when the Tribesmen competed as a serious force for championship honours. Within three seasons, Joyce has brought Galway back to the top table and now finds himself one game away from becoming an All-Ireland winning manager.
The status of the Killererin man as a legend of Galway football is already guaranteed, as one of the most gifted players of his generation during the late 90s and noughties. To deliver an All-Ireland as manager and end a 21-year wait for the Sam Maguire would see him immortalised in the annals of football.
Like all great managers, Joyce has adapted to the modern game and the changes in approach since his own playing days. While much has changed within county panels, the Galway boss still looks back fondly on the days when John O’Mahony inspired Joyce and his teammates to success in 1998 and 2001.
‘‘Things are an awful lot different in terms of how we prepare, the different people involved now and what you’d be doing to get an edge. Things like having performance coaches, sports psychologists, and people like that, they bring a lot to the table, but there certainly wasn’t anything like that in my time!’’
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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