By Irishexaminer.com,John Fogarty
Copyright irishexaminer
“Games are more entertaining. I’ve definitely watched more games myself this year. I heard Jason Sherlock saying it a few weeks ago that the impact of the goal is a little bit negated by the two-pointer and he’d like to see maybe a four-point goal to give teams more incentive to go after goals. And I don’t think that’s a bad suggestion to be honest, especially with the two-pointer now. The impact of the goal is reduced a little bit.
“The other bit I probably would question is I don’t generally like seeing goalkeepers coming up taking frees and I think it slows the game down. And I don’t want to add more to the officiating side of things, but I think a shot clock would be a good thing or a limit on the time from when a free is given for it to be taken, and I’d like to see more outfield players taking on that responsibility.
“I don’t like the slow run-up to take a free from a goalkeeper. The essence of the new rules was to speed the game up, and it has done that and there’s obviously tap and go, which keeps the ball moving. But I just think the time taken over frees is a little bit slow and relying on someone to come up from goalkeeper to do it.”
Shine has heard it being said more than once that it was high time Roscommon appointed a native manager but he disagrees as much as he is fully supportive of new boss Mark Dowd having worked with him previously.
“I wouldn’t really buy into that. I think you get the best person for the job and it’s as simple as that. I’ve had primarily Fergal O’Donnell in the years we’ve had success. I was with Kevin McStay and Fergal O’Donnell in 2016 as well. We had John Evans, who was excellent.
“They all brought different things to the table and they all had their own ideas about how we should play. I wouldn’t side either way in terms of inside or outside manager. Once the manager is coming with high standards and a good structure for preparation, that’s all I really ever wanted – to make sure we were doing as much as possible, that we could achieve and win games.
“Now Mark Dowd, I think, was the best candidate either way. The fact that he’s a Roscommon man just adds to it, that he’s a passionate Roscommon man. But he has a good record and he was probably the best person available and the guy who wanted the job.”