THE New York senior football team has a new manager for the visit of Galway on October 9. (Didn't we write this last week!)

News over the weekend was the appointment of Seamus Smith, who is a familiar face at Gaelic Park over the years. He can be seen commentating on Sundays as he shares the chore with Mike Cassidy. He has also been involved with Donegal in past championship seasons.

The selectors will be announced this week.

Certainly New York football needs to get a semblance of balance and continuity in place, and this past two weeks will not have helped. Paddy Kearney, who was the manager for the last year which included games against Wicklow, Leitrim and Boston, stepped down to be replaced for what must be the shortest stint as a manager ever. Fergus Daly (Tyrone) had six days at the helm before the delegates of the New York GAA decided that Daly was not given the job correctly.

The association needs to get behind Smith and support him as much as possible in this, New York's time of need. It must be asked, however, what are the qualifications required and needed at this point or at any point?

Managing is a fickle business, with different attitudes, players for the summer and home-based training schemes, and of course selections are all major tasks at hand for any. For men available in New York, if one looks at the season gone by, a clearer picture emerges.

Here are some of the prime candidates. Kerry with Paddy O'Connor in charge won the Senior A title, Cavan had Mike Reilly for a B championship with Leitrim winning the Ned Devine Knockout Cup. Willie Lowry was the General there.

Pat Scanlon brought Cork to the senior semifinal, Seamus Sweeney is the man in front of Four Provinces, with a senior win in 2007 and a B runners-up this year.

Down had Ciaran Fearan in his first year go all the way to the Senior A final. Pat Ryan was at the helm for St. Raymond's when they reached the final of the Junior A division.

The Astoria manager (Eugene Kyne) had his team poised for a semifinal slot after beating last year's champions before the season was curtailed, while Fergus Daly won the Junior A KO title and the Junior A championship. Armagh had Tony McFaul as they played in their fifth semifinal in a row.

All had very successful seasons in the grand scheme of things, as there can only be a small number of title winners. Some of the men not involved this year or in lesser roles with clubs in New York are Frank Brady, Mike Brosnan (Leitrim), Connie Molloy (Donegal) and Lawrence McGettigan (Donegal).

O'Connor is gone back to Ireland by all reports, but he did a heck of a job with the Kingdom. All the others warrant mention.

Kyne and Molloy were two who put their names forward at the start of the year for the New York post when Paddy Kearney won the job, while Lowry and Scanlon were selectors with Kearney since January.

However, that the job was given to Smith, or Daly for that matter, is not really the point now. Certainly Daly's success in the last three years was unparalleled. A Junior A title and Senior B title with Down followed by a clean slate of wins at the Junior A level this year. No losses this season, one last year, and just one the year before, and that's unbelievable.

Galway is still coming at any rate and they will be a hell of an assignment. Our preview next week will give an in-depth look at the Tribesmen, with an interview with manager Liam Sammon also included. Suffice to say he is sending a quality squad with at this time of writing, just the bare minimum staying in Ireland due to work and college commitments.

There are players in New York at the moment who certainly deserve a shot at the task at hand, with all hopes that they will accept their invitations to come in. Players who this scribe would like to see on board would include the following but is not limited to them.

Without reaching them one does not know of their availability, but one would certainly hope that they would be invited and given the opportunity. Kerry have Declan Griffin, Niall Corbett, Eoghan O'Mahoney, Anthony Glacken and Dermie Foley. Leitrim has the O'Connors - Adrian is a must - Robbie Moran, Dan Doona, Aiden Power and Donal Hartnett.

Astoria has Sean Munnelly, Gary Cornyn and Alan Foley, Pa Ryan is injured and may not be available.

Pat Mahoney, Nicky Dineen, Dennis McCarthy, Derek Courtney and Paddy Harrington from Cork. The Garvey brothers, Thomas McGovern and Andrew Donaghue (St. Barnabas), Tadgh Lynn, Kevin Smith, Brendan Reilly and Tomo Smith (Cavan).

Conor Hunter, Lonan Maguire, Kevin McGeeney and Declan Freeman (Armagh). Dermot Keane (Mayo), Barry McElduff, John Kelly, Gary Reilly and Ryan Canavan from the all powerful Tyrone team.

Rockland's Steven Spellman would be helped immensely by the experience. Dennis Kilkenny, C.J. Molloy and James Huvane are more men who will learn from the game.

Donal Broderick (St. Ray's), Michael Travers (Roscommon), Vinnie Gavin and Kieran Bergin (Offaly), Mark Kelly, (he should start) Mark Dobbins, Brian Murray, Fergal Shannon (Down).

Mike Higgins, Barry Quinn, Liam O'Donnell and Michael Grimes from Four Provinces round out the 50 players to start with. Not all will arrive but a panel to develop.

A team along these lines would certainly give cause for optimism. Kelly, McCarthy, Lynn or Power, Foley, Corbett or Kevin Smith, Griffin or Moran (yes, Moran in a defensive role), Munnelly or Garvey, Mahoney and Adrian O'Connor, with Quinn, Gavin and Ronan Garvey ready to pounce in when needed. John Kelly, Doona, Dobbins, Freeman, Higgins, Dineen, Have McGovern, McElduff, O'D, Hunter, Tomo all ready as first sub options up front.

The talent is here if we finally settle down to the task at hand. If one is looking for time to get ready for Galway you have nothing, but as Paul Newman (RIP) once said, "Sometimes nothing is a real cool hand."