PADDY CHRISTIE fears that GAA chiefs could fall foul of the law of unintended consequences if pre-season fixtures are axed permanently.
Following a decision taken by Central Council, competitions such as the McKenna and Walsh Cups will be suspended on a trial basis in 2025.
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It comes after a call for their removal was passed with 90 per cent of the vote at last October’s Gaelic Players’ Association AGM.
Stating that the playing of games in early January increases the ‘cumulative demand on players across the calendar year’, the motion was submitted by the GPA’s National Executive Committee for the benefit of player welfare.
But Christie, who stepped down as Longford boss in July, insists that pre-season fixtures will simply be replaced by challenge matches.
He said: “The first thing that management will do is organise two games in early January.
“You’ll play on a night that’s agreeable to two counties but you’re still going to be playing matches.
“If you’re not going to do that, you’re probably going to run the crap out of fellas in a mucky pitch in the middle of nowhere.
“How does that do anything for player burnout?
“You can’t tell me that’s somehow a better option than playing what’s ultimately a competitive match, which is why fellas want to be involved in the first place.”
During his two-year reign, Christie led Longford to back-to-back O’Byrne Cup triumphs.
He also has managerial experience with DCU, as well as being a member of the Tipperary backroom staff when they were crowned Munster champions in 2020.
Christie told SunSport: “I understand the concerns over burnout, especially with the Sigerson Cup happening at around the same time.
“Having been involved at club, county and colleges level, I’d like to think that I can see all sides of it.
“But I just don’t see how this serves any purpose for counties like Longford especially.
“There are so many things that make the gap bigger, with the strong teams getting stronger.
“This will probably be another one of them.
“The Dublins and the Kerrys won’t be at all bothered about this.
“For a Longford or a Tipperary, those counties don’t get an awful lot of big days.
“And I know the O’Byrne Cup and McGrath Cup are far from big days in the grand scheme of things.
“But even though we didn’t get hugely carried away with it, it was still nice and it still meant something to Longford to win those two O’Byrne Cups.”
TOUGH JOB MADE TOUGHER
The vacancy left by Christie in Longford will be filled by former Mayo Under-21 boss Mike Solan, who is set to take the reins on a three-year term.
Yet Solan and his peers in inter-county management will have to wait until December to begin their preparations for the new year in earnest.
With pre-season competitions removed from the schedule, the return-to-training date will now be pushed back.
And Christie said: “If the new Longford management can’t start officially training until December 1 or whatever it is, they’ll only get three weeks because Christmas and New Years will interfere.
“And then only a few weeks later you’re playing National League, which is the bread and butter for all the so-called weaker counties.
“There are just so many blocks being put in the way of these counties.
“The gap is widening all the time and this thing just makes it harder.
“From the point of view of keeping players engaged and having something to work with, what’s the carrot to stay playing?
“Because it’s certainly not Leinster Championships or All-Irelands.
“The O’Byrne Cup wasn’t the be-all and end-all but I just felt that it gave us something to work around and get our season going.
“The intentions were good with this decision but it just seems so counter-productive.
“Like a lot of these things, people mean well but it’s the law of unintended consequences.
“I don’t know if people actually realise what they’re doing when they go down these paths.
“To call the implications disastrous would be a bit strong but you could certainly foresee negative ramifications.”
