Gavin admits Dublin need to strike better balance between attack and defence

The season is dead but Jim Gavin still visits the grave off and on, and he will for a while to come. The end for Dublin was shocking when it came, the defeat to Donegal leading, he says, to "a few days of self-pity and self-indulgence".

And, no, he didn’t go to last Sunday’s final.“I watched it on TV. I gave my tickets to people who would get more enjoyment from it, just to be honest about it.”

With a month to reflect, the biggest upset of the football season has been, in turn, a major learning experience for the Dublin manager. Gavin has spent every day of his reign in charge of the Dublin footballers extolling the virtues of attacking football. And while it’s not a philosophy that he’s prepared to turn his back on, he admits that Dublin will have to strike a better balance in the future.

“On a personal level, I accept full responsibility for that performance,” said Gavin, speaking at a promotional event for team sponsor AIG. “And I accept full responsibility for the philosophy and for the way Dublin play their football, for the attacking style we play, and sometimes for the vulnerability that it brings and the unpredictability of it.

Mixed record

“I’ve managed Dublin teams for eight years now and I’ve lost more than I’ve won. And with this particular group, the senior squad, they’ve done pretty well. We look at it by competition so if you go through the National Leagues, the Leinster competition and the All-Ireland competition, they’ve won five out of six.

“So one result doesn’t affect my resolve or the players’ resolve. One result won’t change the core philosophy of how Dublin play football. But it’s been a learning experience, that’s for sure. And it’s about trying to get that balanced approach in the future.

“The performance wasn’t balanced in relation to the game and we got ruthlessly punished by a very good team who exploited it. That’s for me to go away and learn from.”

For all his eagerness to bring culpability down upon himself, Gavin rejects the analysis that held that, on the day, Dublin were too inflexible against Donegal.

“I learned in military college 25 years ago from a guy called Carl von Clausewitz, [THE THEORY]that your plans will never survive first contact with the enemy,” he said. “Whatever plan any manager has going into a game, he has to be adaptable with it.

“It wasn’t a matter of Plan A and Plan B; your strategy has to be adaptable as the game evolves. There are certain matches you can dictate and certain ones you can’t.

“We changed things in the game, we brought certain players on, we created chances in both halves, but they weren’t taken. That’s just sport. The goals came at the right time for Donegal and they are a very, very good team.

“It was disappointing because we had such a good season before that. But the better team won on the day. We’re disappointed for the loss but we’ll bounce back. There’s a great resolve amongst that group and a great resolve among the management team.”

What would Gavin do differently, given the chance to play the game again tomorrow?

Attack mode “I would get a better balance between defence and attack,” he said. “We have a core strategy of attacking football. I accept the responsibility that the vulnerability

that expression brings was exploited. But I wouldn’t stray away from that philosophy. It’s getting the balance between defence and attack.

“I have always adopted the approach of aspiring to win getting a performance in the game. That has always been my core philosophy. My players would know that. That won’t change. What I need to do and what we need to do is get that balance between our attacking philosophy, which is quite strong, and our defensive one, which needs to be worked on.”

Gavin also said he'd been to visit Jonny Cooper after the Dublin cornerback suffered a knife attack on Friday night on Dorset Street in the city.

“Yeah, he’s recovering. I went in to see him on Saturday morning. It’s obviously been very traumatic for him.

“Just like to say thanks for the amount of supports and messages Jonny has got. He’s been overwhelmed by them.”