Multiple Dublin All-Ireland winning boss Jim Gavin says the return of Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion to the capital set-up is “not a simple plug and play.”
McCaffrey (28) has returned to the Dublin squad after missing three seasons, while Mannion (29) has sat out two. The duo won a raft of Sam Maguires with five-in-a-row winning boss, Gavin, before he walked away at the end of the 2019 season after six All-Ireland wins.
Gavin, speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, compared it to the shock return of Diarmuid Connolly in July 2019 for the five-in-a-row triumph. He said: “It’s great. No more so than when Diarmuid (Connolly) came back, I’d rather be looking at him than looking for him.
Read next: Why Jack came back - and can Dublin's flying doctor be as good as before?
“How well they integrate will be up to them. It is a big ask. It’s not a simple as plug and play if I’m honest. A lot of water has gone under the bridge.
“Time waits for no player. That’s what I learnt during my time as Dublin football manager, but it’s great to have them.
“Yes on the pitch, whether they start or finish games, it’s great for the management team to have that option.
“But probably moreso off the pitch, they are two phenomenal men, real rounded characters and they have contributed immensely to the collective culture, the environment that they have and the values of that Dublin set -up.
“It’s a good news story.”
Meanwhile, Gavin, the chair of the Dublin Assembly, says he has no interest in running for mayor of the city.
“I would be interested in the Dublin football job maybe but those times have passed me,” he joked.
“I had a great time with that. That has gone by me and I’m glad I got the opportunity.
“Politics, let’s be clear about it, no. I am an aviation professional.
“I have a great team in the irish aviation authority. I really enjoy my time there, so the answer is no.”
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