Jim
wants Magpies to keep flying higher - 14/12/2003
By TERRY McLAUGHLIN
Tuesday December 2, 2003
Down Democrat
IN football management it always
pays to have the courage to take the long-term view
– no matter how difficult it is at times to convince
others.
Kilcoo manager Jim McCorry is the kind of man who
knows how he wants his teams to play the game. He
also knows that in every squad and every club there
is always going to be a set of circumstances unique
to a particular set of players.
A fortnight ago, after nearly half a century the McCorry
philosophy paid rich dividends for Kilcoo when they
collect the Casey Cup to make their achievement as
being the winners of the Down Division One title.
For a club and for a set of supporters that had waited
so long a piece of elusive senior silverware it was
an occasion of emotional joy.
For the players and management, while they celebrated
and basked in the glory and the congratulations, it
was much, much more however than winning a single
trophy.
The real significance for Kilcoo, argues Jim McCorry,
is that as players the Kilcoo team has been able to
get rid of a huge monkey off their collective backs.
“They can no longer be described
as being not good enough to challenge for the biggest
prizes. They are no longer bit players on the bigger
stage. “Over a long and hard season they have shown
that they have the resilience and the staying power
to take on and beat the very best that there is in
Down football. “Self belief is vital in sport. These
Kilcoo players have made their own yardstick of success.
They know that they have lived up to their potential
this season. “Now they have to look at raising the
bar even higher, of going even further. Football is
all about setting new standards and of working constantly
towards achieving those standards.”
The message spelt out by McCorry,
and his superbly balanced backroom staff at the club,
has been simple but it has been constant.
And it is that the difference between achieving success
and being among chasing pack is the ability is to
maximise the positives while at the same time navigating
the negatives.
Over the years Kilcoo was always regarded as a club
that produced fine football players.
But they were players that lacked the physical cutting
edge and height needed to compete with the increasing
demands of modern football. It was impossible for
Jim McCorry to distil a fresh genetic pool of football
potential. The art of successful football management
however is being able to draw up a tactical blueprint
that focuses on the positives at all times. By adapting
those circumstances McCorry, along with men such as
Sean Johnston and Mark Kelly and Paddy Fettis and
Joey Devlin was able to develop the necessary tactics.
With the total support of the players
they proved that they were capable of forging the
core strengths of the playing pool, its fitness and
speed and passion and pride into key elements in the
search, and for the ultimate delivery of success.
Above everything else however the strategy embarked
upon by Jim McCorry required a combination of patience
and courage. The Kilcoo manager, while stressing that
criticism from the sidelines is part of the package
that comes with football management, knew that at
times over the past couple of seasons there was a
certain sense of frustration coming from sections
of the club support.
“It always takes time to implement a new way of playing
and of getting players to adapt to different methods.
It is hard to switch to a new playing pattern and
to respond to a new way of approaching the game.
“The supporters get used to seeing certain players
come through the ranks at underage and identifying
them as having certain strengths. When that pattern
is changed, sometimes not very successfully at first,
it’s hard to understand and to accept.
“Congratulatory pats on the back can so easily become
knives in the back. That is the nature of football,
no matter where you are.
“But as a management team we knew
how we wanted the players to operate. The players
were always kept informed and were able to take part
in the discussions that were part of the evolving
team pattern.
“All along the way we knew that we had to play a waiting
game, we had to see the long term picture.”
When Jim McCorry came to Kilcoo two seasons ago it
was seen as a major coup for a club that wanted, and
deserved to part of the Down elite. As a coach and
a manager his track record was superb, combining solid
technique with inspirational motivational skills.
Success at both county and club level were there for
all to see. The Rostrevor based McCorry had been the
boss of Armagh football between 91 and 95 before switching
to club management with Drumgath.
In his first year with the Drums he led to promotion
play-off success in Division Three, ironically with
victory over Kilcoo. The next progression up the ladder
in Down football was when McCorry took over the role
of Mayobridge manager. During his four seasons with
the Sky Blues he was able to fashion and mould together
a group of already superbly talented players into
a team unit capable of believing strongly enough in
their own ability to win a senior championship after
decades of disappointment.
In his four years with the Bridge, McCorry brought
them to a senior decider in his first season before
eventually enjoying the sweet taste of back to back
championship and league doubles.
The hallmark of all teams under the helm of the quietly
spoken McCorry is their ability to play to a flexible
pattern and being adaptable as individual players.
Above all else however Jim McCorry and his mentors
have been able to make the Kilcoo players know that
success has to be continually worked at, despite the
inevitable disappointments that are part of the football
frame.
It is remarkable to reflect that at one time in their
league campaign Kilcoo were rooted in the bottom four
on just 13 points, alongside Longstone, Clonduff and
Liatroim.
There were those inside and outside the club that
felt that unless McCorry was able to pull off a spectacular
result his tenure was going to be cut short as team
manager.
The pressures never got to Jim McCorry. “I knew the
position we were in was a false one and that the players
had the ability and the drive to get themselves back
on track. “If I have learned one thing from my years
in football its that it is always better to look at
situations through a half full glass rather than a
half empty one.”
The positive turning point for the Kilcoo season came
in the opening round of the championship when the
magpies turned on the style to send a hotly fancied
Burren tumbling out of the competition. And even though
the same Kilcoo team suffered a six goal drubbing
in the next round at the hands of the Bridge, the
same calm and methodical approach to the result that
McCorry has always shown, steadied the collective
club nerves.
“That result, and the circumstances of the goals,
was simply a one-off. Things didn’t go our way, obviously.
“But these things happen in sport. It’s how you respond
to set backs, it’s how you look at yourself and your
overall performance, not just in the context of a
single one off match that really counts. “My players
showed that they had what it takes by knuckling down
and by refusing to let that disappointment cloud their
entire season. “Their reward was coming through the
top four play-offs to beat Castlewellan in the final
match of the season. “My reward was to see just how
much pent-up emotion was released by that successful
campaign. It was impossible not to be moved by the
tears of joy that at the final whistle.”
Jim McCorry is convinced that Kilcoo
can build and develop on the foundations cemented
by the wining of the Division One title. “There is
definitely the potential in this squad and with the
players coming through the system, to mount a serious
and effective challenge for the championship. “It
is impossible to put a time limit on when that ultimate
objective is realised or whether or not I will be
the man in charge at that particular time. “But Kilcoo
have shown that they can get monkeys off their back.
Now they have to show that that have broad enough
backs to carry a championship.
“From what I know of a unique set
of players and a very special club, I am convinced
that they can carry that through.”
