Paul Hegarty Resigns

[harps1954]

FINN HARPS PRESS RELEASE

Finn Harps Football club wish to announce that Mr. Paul Hegarty has stepped down as Manager for Private and Personal reasons with immediate effect.

The board of Finn Harps have asked James Gallagher to assume the role of manager for an initial interim period and James Gallagher has agreed to take on the role, again with immediate effect.

Mr. Derek Wilkinson, Chairman of Finn Harps, stated: As Chairman of Finn Harps and on behalf of the club I want to place on record our sincere thanks to Paul Hegarty for his contribution to the club over the years and anyone who knows Paul knows that his commitment to Harps was wholehearted and unstinting. We wish Paul and his family well in the future.

Mr. Paul Hegarty stated: I would like to thank everybody who gave me the opportunity to manage Finn Harps. I wish the Club all the best for the future.

Ends

[mediahack]

Just been annoucned that Paul Hegarty has parted company with Harps citing personal reasons!!!! James Gallagher assumes control with immediate effect!

[Rovers fan]

Personal reasons:D

[Longfordian]

I'm sure he'll be sadly lamented up there.

[carrickharp]

Some good news at last for the club, now it's time for the board to reform.

[Mr A]

Personal reasons:D

I have reason to believe that this is genuinely the case.

[Magicme]

The Curse of Monaghan United strikes again. Just the thought of losing to us has made a manager resign.

[OneRedArmy]

Good work Agent Hegarty. Mission completed. ;)

On a more serious note, sorry to hear it's for personal reasons.

[Sam_Heggy]

Great news for the club on a footballing front.

Its just unfortunate that is was due to personal problems.

[Olander]

Personal reasons:D
He woke up to a sheep head in his bed and finally got the message :)

[Rovers fan]

I have reason to believe that this is genuinely the case.

Oh right:o

[dcfcsteve]

Personal reasons:D

He realised he's sh!t, and took it personally.....

[A N Mouse]

He realised he's sh!t, and took it personally.....

Meanwhile, we wait in hope for you to have such an epiphany :)

[sligoman]

Disappointing news:(.

[dcfcsteve]

Meanwhile, we wait in hope for you to have such an epiphany :)

Like all Derry people - I realised I was sh!t young.

I just had the sense to get out afterwards.

So what's your excuse...? :D

[Mad Moose]

He realised he's sh!t, and took it personally.....

Your one time assistant manager. Perhaps thats where it all went wrong. He clearly didn't learn very much from his time there.

Sadly the resignation has come a little late in the day. He may well have killed the club and this might well be him pressing the eject button in advance of entire combustion of the club for which he is very much responsible.

[dcfcsteve]

Your one time assistant manager. Perhaps thats where it all went wrong. He clearly didn't learn very much from his time there.



We had the good sense not to let him be anything other than an 'assistant'.

Harps on the other hand...... :o

[Hairy Bowsie]

Sadly the resignation has come a little late in the day. He may well have killed the club and this might well be him pressing the eject button in advance of entire combustion of the club for which he is very much responsible.

Sorry to interrupt this game of one-upmanship by Derry and Harps fans with an actual contribution but while certainly not knowing the in's and out's at Harps, i do find it hard to believe that one man is solely responsible for the possible demise of a club like Harps.

Now i may be wrong, as i said, i'm not sure of all that went on so could someone actually tell me what went so wrong that it's got to this and why the finger is being pointed at Hegarty?

[Mr A]

Obviously it's not just his fault, the board are hugely culpable for letting it happen. But he did demand and receive a very large budget last year (when everyone was on a high following promotion), and then squandered it on total wasters and D1 players. Had he been any kind of a manager he should have been able to keep us up and had we actually played a bit of football I think we'd probably have balanced the books. He also was involved in some unsavoury incidents and kept some distasteful company that most Harps fans where aghast at.

[passerrby]

Your one time assistant manager. Perhaps thats where it all went wrong. He clearly didn't learn very much from his time there.

Sadly the resignation has come a little late in the day. He may well have killed the club and this might well be him pressing the eject button in advance of entire combustion of the club for which he is very much responsible.

are things that bad really

[A N Mouse]

Like all Derry people - I realised I was sh!t young.

I just had the sense to get out afterwards.

So what's your excuse...? :D

Your 'original' joke may have been funny two year ago when some bloke was making a sharp exit from the Brandywell.

But frankly I find it offensive. Higgsy is a gent, and if he says its personal reasons then you can believe it. Despite your apparent knowledge of everything, I believe you to be ignorant of many facts in this case - including, seemingly, the high regard which many Derry supporters still have for the man.

[wonder88]

Really sad if Harps go out of business, and as someone else has pointed out it is unfair to blame it all on Hegarty, although he seem like a useless manager going on some of the players he signed. Time has come for clubs to be realistic in what they pay players. It is unbelieveable what some, who would not be nowhere near conferance standard get paid in Ireland, and to think that someone at Bohes thought Sean Connor was worth 3grand a week, crazy. Unless wages are sorted out the league will always be in crisis and no progress will be made.

[DaveyCakes]

A bad manager, not matter how bad, isn't going to destroy a club in the space of a year and a half unless the club is already on very shaky foundations.

[cestlavie]

Will be missed like a hole in the head

[dcfcsteve]

Your 'original' joke may have been funny two year ago when some bloke was making a sharp exit from the Brandywell.

But frankly I find it offensive. Higgsy is a gent, and if he says its personal reasons then you can believe it. Despite your apparent knowledge of everything, I believe you to be ignorant of many facts in this case - including, seemingly, the high regard which many Derry supporters still have for the man.

And the award for taking themselves far too seriously goes to..... :rolleyes:

"Frankly" - you need to dry yer eyes, cheer up, and not take a joke too seriously..... :o

[dcfcsteve]

A bad manager, not matter how bad, isn't going to destroy a club in the space of a year and a half unless the club is already on very shaky foundations.

Agreed.

To paraphrase South Wales's finest musical combination, Goldie Looking Chain :

'Managers don't kill clubs, Boards do.....'.

[Mr A]

Very true, but managers with their own 'guardian angel' + some blind followers on the board can do one hell of a lot of damage.

[dcfcsteve]

Very true, but managers with their own 'guardian angel' + some blind followers on the board can do one hell of a lot of damage.

Indeed - but that just proves the point.

The buck stops with the Board, as they're the ones who hold the purse strings and make the financial decisions.

It's difficult to take threats of clubs disappearing from LOI football all that seriously though, as we hear them so often these days and most never transpire. That said - I hope Harps make it through this, as they're my second team. Though I still think the club would have a better future if it moved to Letterkenny... :)

[Sam_Heggy]

Is it coincidence that Reynolds is leaving Derry and Hegarty quits Harps all in around the same space of time?

[corkharps]

Is it coincidence that Reynolds is leaving Derry and Hegarty quits Harps all in around the same space of time?
Are you implying that the Health service is better in the North?

[Mad Moose]

are things that bad really

Well in short yes. Nobody would ever have predicted things would get so bad. The board gave Hegarty an astronomical budget of 1 million for last season and in doing so really stretched the club in terms of what was actually available. I remember the time Roddy Collins went for the job a few seasons ago and he asked for a million. How we laughed. There is no way a rural club could sustain such a level of budget however wonderful the support. The season failed spectacularly. Hegarty took in some of the worst imaginable tripe such as Austin Friel and Kevin Ramsay while gambling on buying the injured Gary Beckett who came and left without soiling his boots. The fans voted with their feet and continue to do so and without the revenue you can hardly pay to keep the show on the road let alone manage debt.


As in 1999, 10 years on the club is facing a long battle to control a dept. The economic climate was more favourable then. 10 years on the country is in deep recession and nowhere more so than in the North West which only ever had the shadows of economic prosperity cast upon in in any case. Whether the club can be saved is anybodys guess. Its not going to happen until the current board are outsed and that may take longer than eventually removing Hegarty actually took. To little too late maybe.

[Sam_Heggy]

Are you implying that the Health service is better in the North?


Yes, why, what do you think I was saying? ;)

[pól-dcfc]

Is it coincidence that Reynolds is leaving Derry and Hegarty quits Harps all in around the same space of time?

I think so. I can't imagine that we have the money to employ an assistant.