It has tonight been confirmed that Paddy Tally is set to become the new manager of Down's senior football team. Prized as an instrumental presence in Kevin Walsh's backroom team at Galway, the Tyrone man will now depart the role for his first undertaking in inter-county management.
Tally appointed as Down Senior Football Mgr
Down GAA County Board have ratified Paddy Tally as the new manager of their Senior Football Team. The Galbally man will take over the reins from Eamonn Burns who stepped down from the position after the county's championship campaign pic.twitter.com/ilAw5X979Z— Official Down GAA (@OfficialDownGAA) August 23, 2018
Amid confirmation that Tally is set to take on the role with Down, it has been reported that Benny Coulter, Gavin McGilly and Stephen Beattie will make up his three selectors.
Paddy Tally appointed as the new @OfficialDownGAA Senior Football manager. Benny Coulter is a selector along with Gavin McGilly and Stephen Beattie. #GAA #DownGAA
— Paul McIntyre (@PaulMcIntyre14) August 23, 2018
Having earned a famed reputation for his ability in a coaching capacity, Tally had previously worked with the county under James McCarten in a similar role.
Enjoying tremendous success with Tyrone in the early 2000s, three-time All-Ireland winner with Tyrone highlighted what set Tally apart; "He’s a brilliant coach, has a background in sports science and was using sports psychology before it was fashionable."
During his spell with Galway, the Tribesmen reached the National League final, secured another Connacht championship and made their way through to the Super 8 series only to be defeated by Dublin in this year's All-Ireland semi-final.
Despite his effectiveness, Tally has come in for criticism during his spell with Galway. Singled-out by certain analysts as the catalyst for Galway's defensive approach under Walsh, Joe Brolly recently lamented the legacy Tally left in Derry during an episode of The Throw-In podcast.
I hope he doesn't leave the same legacy he left in Derry. He came to Derry and turned us into a Tyrone style defence unit. Half of our tear were instructed not to shoot. We became extremely robotic, we lost all our flair and players very quickly became very disenchanted. We very quickly dropped down through the divisions into Division Four and (Derry) are getting ready to play London next. In the winter time those solid defensive units can perform well and Galway look like they have done a lot of work on that. But what we have learned over the past 6/7 years is that come the summer that doesn't work.
