McGlinchey jumped when asked to answer Déise call

Tom McGlinchey did not recognise the number on his phone. On the other end was then Waterford chairman, Tom Cunningham. The offer was to take charge of the Waterford senior footballers.

McGlinchey didn’t need to be asked twice.

McGlinchey’s last foray into top flight management was in 2003. In the interim he’d overseen the Limerick minor and U21 teams and enjoyed a successful spell with Ballylanders back in 2007. But the hope was always there of a return to the big time and the bright lights. News of McGlinchey’s appointment surfaced late October, a virtually unknown figure in Déise circles. Hardly surprising given it had been 11 years since he patrolled the sidelines of Thurles and Croke Park as Tipperary bainisteoir.