Just an ordinary man

It’s the kind of voice you hardly hear anymore in inter-county hurling management.

The others might still retain their regional accents and occasionally let their frustration slip past the veneer of unflappability by talking of Red Cow roundabouts, maor foirne bibs and referee conspiracies, but there’s still something polished, refined, worldly about them.

Michael Ryan is a throwback, a mix between D’Unbelievables’ Timmy Ryan, Limerick’s Tom Ryan and Derry’s Eamon Coleman with his strong west Waterford accent, ruralisms and unabashed pride and joy in being his native county’s senior hurling manager. Whereas Justin looked and acted like a movie star and Davy was a rock star, Ryan is, by his own admission, just “an ordinary man”, nothing special, nothing grand.