GAELIC GAMES:WHEN THE Tipperary County Board sub-committee sits down to begin the selection process for a new senior hurling management team there won't be any easy solutions.
As usual, the name of Nicky English, who managed the county for four years at the turn of the last decade and won the 2001 AllIreland, will be advanced. But he lives in Dublin and career demands have prevented his taking on any further inter-county commitments. He is likely to be approached but is unlikely to be in a position to oblige.
Ken Hogan, who managed the county to the under-21 All-Ireland last month and who also has great experience at senior level both as a selector with English and as manager in 2003-05, ruled himself out yesterday in interviews on several radio stations.
“That’s one thing I haven’t contemplated,” he said. “I’ve been there and worn the T-shirt. I was delighted to be involved with the under-21s this year and certainly I won’t be throwing my hat in there.”
Hogan’s coach Tommy Dunne has also been mentioned in connection with the succession. Captain of the 2001 All-Ireland winners, Dunne was highly regarded in his role with the under-21s.
It was noted that the team, featuring five of the senior All-Ireland winners, had been coached to play in a similar style to the senior team and Dunne would have provided an obvious option had Sheedy stayed on and had to find a replacement for coach Eamon O’Shea.
But the Toomevara man would be a novice at this level even though his All-Ireland pedigree also includes the 2007 minor championship when he worked with another highly-respected former player, Declan Ryan, who has also been associated with the vacant post.
Tipperary will be aware of the need to get the appointment right, as the 2001 team were unable to maintain their high standing in the game after English’s departure in 2002, taking four changes of management and eight years to regain the MacCarthy Cup.
The departure of Sheedy and his management team in the weeks after winning the All-Ireland is unusual, but by no means unprecedented. In the past 15 years four managers have gone out at the top, two in football and two in hurling.
Interestingly, the two most recent hurling managers, Cork’s Donal O’Grady (recently appointed as manager of Limerick) and Liam Griffin of Wexford who stepped down in October 2004 and 1996 respectively, were replaced by members of their own management team – John Allen and Rory Kinsella.
Current Kerry football manager Jack O’Connor stepped down from his first appointment with the county four years ago in the aftermath of winning a second Sam Maguire in three years, and in 1995 Dublin’s Pat O’Neill opted not to accept re-appointment after the county’s All-Ireland success.
