Larry Ryan: Brian Barry-Murphy enjoying the circle of life, whatever the score

Sat, 30 Jan, 2021 - 07:00

In this dispiriting stretch, when it’s all getting a bit old, you could lose sight of the richness every week brings, even in the less celebrated corners of the sporting world.

Far away from familiar melodrama of crisis and hysteria and banter at the top of the Premier League, in some outpost it is all happening. The full circle of life is drawn and coloured in.

Ten years ago, Brian Barry-Murphy met Liam Mackey of this parish in a Euston Station cafe and revealed Jimmy had urged him to take his coaching badges. The Jimmy being, of course, his dad, the great JBM.

Brian was not too far from the end, he figured, of what he described as a ‘journeyman’ career. One his old managers at Preston, David Moyes, had helped him make sense of.

“I never had any real big money from football and I always kinda thought I could have been working in an ordinary job. I never really thought I was a Premier League player. I didn’t think I was that kind of class.

“I thought playing in the Championship was brilliant. Moyesy used to bring me in at the end of a season and say: ‘Your greatest asset is your attitude toward the game — you play as if you really enjoy it.’”

In the same chat with Mackey, Barry-Murphy admitted he once tried to duck, a little, the ‘Son of Jimmy’ tag. Perhaps it even tilted him towards soccer, rather than GAA, and a life out of an imposing shadow.

Maybe so, but every time Barry-Murphy the manager pops up on a round-up package from English football’s lower reaches, you hear his father’s even nature.

That kind of class. Poise and dignity in victory and loss.

The Cork accent still potent in his search for positives. Never blaming his players.

“My excitement at working with this group going forward is only tempered by the initial disappointment of what happened in the last minute of the game. I think we’re in a brilliant place as a squad.”

Barry-Murphy has been the boss at Rochdale for almost two years. Gaffer at Spotland, now the Crown Oil Arena, a ground ubiquitously described as homely. The town is almost the size of Cork, if you could imagine Cork tolerating a place like Manchester 10 miles up the road, hogging the attention.

The club holds the distinction of having played the most seasons in the English Football League (93) without either reaching the top two tiers or dropping out altogether.

Treading water in League One, you could say, though if your business is staying afloat you may as well develop an elegant stroke.

And Barry-Murphy has gained a rep as a stylist.

In 2010, when he was playing under then Rochdale boss Keith Hill, Barry-Murphy told Mackey that whenever any Spanish team came to England he’d go watch them.

Last season, The New York Times called Rochdale “a mill-town Barcelona”, profiling Barry-Murphy among the lower league managers influenced by Pep Guardiola and Marcelo Bielsa.

And hearteningly, the man who wants to play Spanish football sees no contradiction in surrounding himself with Irish players. Last week Jimmy Keohane scored two at Gillingham to celebrate his 30th birthday. They have Stephen Dooley, Joe Dunne, Jimmy Ryan. The fans tell you they struggle defensively when Eoghan O’Connell and Paul McShane are injured.

Man City’s goalkeeping prodigy Gavin Bazunu is mixing wonder saves with inevitable growing pains.

It’s not smooth sailing. After Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to Oxford United, BBC counted 47 goals in their last nine games, asking if ‘Dale are “the great entertainers in English football”.

Only one brought a win, over Wigan. Fans, suffering remotely, are a touch restless, though the boss is rarely directly in the firing line.

Mainly, they crib about tight pursestrings and sold talent — a club staying afloat, but unlikely to swim any channels.

It can break managers, the randomness of lower league results. After Rochdale overcame Bolton and Barry-Murphy's old mentor last season, Keith Hill seemed close to meltdown. “I am sick to death of being criticised… Press. Opinions. Everybody is tweeting…”

But Barry-Murphy sounds like he’s still really enjoying it. “Like the longest rollercoaster ride you’ve ever been on,” he told The Totally Football League Show, which endorsed the Spotland experience: “Fun is in short supply in the world at the moment, but if you’d like something to lift your spirits and provide some uncomplicated entertainment, we can recommend Rochdale.”

Even as they stumble towards the dropzone, energising fans now is 17-year-old Kwadwo Baah. On social media, they revel in his trickery and observe, sadly, this will be a brief thrill.

On Wednesday, The Athletic reported a bid from West Ham and Moyesy — riding high on the rollercoaster again.

Juventus and Bayern Munich are said to be ‘monitoring’ things.

Rather than lament the inevitable, Barry-Murphy revels in one of sport’s electric joys — polishing a jewel, steering someone on a road that could go anywhere.

“People think sometimes I’m not telling the truth when I say the position in the table doesn’t concern me. I get the biggest buzz of my coaching career from seeing the likes of those players, just to be a tiny part of their journey.”

If it all goes to plan for Baah, he’ll remember the start of his trip. At Dale, meanwhile, they will never forget the week’s big hero, who has completed his journey.

On Thursday, the club confirmed ‘superfan’ David Clough, who passed away last year at 78, had bequeathed them his entire estate. In this world away from Premier League billions, it will buy them an air-conditioning system, a ceiling for the club lounge, and a new scoreboard, hopefully ready when fans return.

This week they talked about how Clough had steered many a journey with love, fostering children with his wife Dorothy. And they figured he’d raised more than half a million in his life for the club, cycling the town selling scratchcards.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say that the contribution made by David is equal to any legend — player or manager or official — of the club,” said chief executive David Bottomley.

The Cork contingent will undoubtedly have been reminded of Finbarr O’Shea, Cork City’s famous superfan in the flat green cap, who passed away last week amid such a warm flood of tributes.

Around Rochdale, meanwhile, the gallows humour has already kicked in, recommending the scoreboard has a warranty because it will be kept busy. That it should cater for double figures, just to be safe.

But whatever the score when they look up at it, whenever people can gather again, they will smile and remember how every life can leave the world behind a richer place.

The response to the 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙚 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝘾𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙞𝙚 fundraising effort has been incredible 👏

In under 4⃣8⃣ hours, the total already stands at over £4,000 🙌

Keep sharing and see how you can donate 👇#RAFC
— Rochdale AFC (@officiallydale) January 31, 2021