In the Lyons den

WHEN you first individually meet with the three members of the original Clare management triumvirate, the men who orchestrated the breakthrough in 95, the most striking thing about them IS their individuality.

Meet Ger Loughnane and you come away thinking, ah yes, that’s why Clare overcame all the crippling psychological barriers that had barred their progress over the years. He is forceful, passionate about Clare, and has a fanatical belief not in his people’s superiority over everybody else, but in their equality. He’s got mesmeric eyes that instantly engage, lock their audience, so that when he speaks, you understand - yes, those lads were hypnotised. Ger Loughnane was indeed the Messiah, and all the rest were followers.

Then you meet Tony Considine, and that theory is blown to smithereens. If anything, Considine is an even more forceful personality than Loughnane. Each is intelligent, eloquent, but Consodine is more physical, a striking figure, all coiled energy, every word accentuated, energised. So now you’re thinking, okay, there were two of them in it. Until you meet Mike McNamara.

Mike MacNamara was the physical trainer, and he’s the biggest of them all, in every sense. A former life in the trenches of rugby very obvious while his booming voice, made for the barrack square, worked equally well on the wide open fields of Crusheen on a cold winter’s night, Mac is the very epitome of the drill sergeant.

So now what can you think? How could three such strong, forceful and massively independent personalities have ever worked together, let alone do it with such harmony? Yet it happened.

Seven years on, how everything has changed. When you first meet individually the members of the current triumvirate, the contrast with the originals couldn’t be more striking.

Up front, Cyril Lyons could hardly be more different to Ger Loughnane. He’s quiet, retiring, speaks almost in a whisper so that at times, in his after-match press conferences, you’re straining to hear. The impression is of a man who would struggle to gain the confidence of any group of players, let alone a battle-hardened group of All-Ireland-winning warriors. As for his two lieutenants, after over a year together, even in hurling’s tight circles, many are still asking, John who? Louis who?

Yet, after just two years, Cyril Lyons, John Minogue and Louis Mulqueen have between them turned around the fortunes of a Clare team that had begun the inevitable descent that follows after reaching a pinnacle.

Their achievement in reaching the All-Ireland semi-final this Sunday, against Waterford, is hugely impressive. So, let’s get to know the other two, the men behind the man.

Like Cyril Lyons, John Minogue is in his early 40’s, in fact, was a contemporary of the current manager in their Clare playing days. “I played U-21 for Clare for two years and had little success there too”, he grins, not bothering to mention winning the senior county, then following that with Munster and All-Ireland success.

“Got back into the inter-county scene then in 2000, when Loughnane came calling. He had come earlier too, in 94, but I didn’t bite, and he went for Tony Consodine and Mike Mac - the rest is history.” And he laughs again. How tales can twist. “A lot of teams under my belt, a bit of success there - more to come, hopefully.”

The ’more to come, hopefully’, refers to the big one, the senior All-Ireland and, unlike times past, no-one is writing off Clare’s chances.

So, what are the new roles? If Mac was the training-ground motivator; Consodine the facilitator, the shrewd sideline man, Loughnane the glue, the leader, the driver, the absolute, what are the new roles?

“We do everything - we abuse each other,” laughs Mulqueen. “I collect the sliotars anyway,” interrupts Minogue, before Mulqueen turns reasonably serious.

“What we have is that we work together as a unit, we talk things through. In training, everyone has a part to play.

“We’ll come together for the selection, for tactics and technical things. On the day then, we’re linked to Cyril through an ear-phone and walkie-talkies, talking to him throughout the game, and that’s a great advantage.”

Minogue is the quiet one, but he too has a hugely successful Harty Cup and All-Ireland winning coaching career behind him at St. Flannan’s, where he works as a teacher. That combined experience is a huge asset to Cyril Lyons, and this latest innovation, where the manager patrols the sidelines while Mulqueen and Minogue observe from high up, all connected through walkie-talkie and ear-phones, is working very well.

“It’s so much better up in the stands,” says Louis. “In Croke Park the last day, it was like watching a game of chess unfold. Last year, we were criticised for not making the moves against Tipperary, in Cork, but honestly, I couldn’t see anything from where we were, and every time I got up to have a look, I was being pulled back by a steward.

“But since then, we’re doing it right.”

Indeed they are, and the proof is in Croke Park this weekend. Waterford are a team that themselves have made all the right moves on and off the field this season, and this will be a cracker. But regardless of result, the new triumvirate of Lyons/Minogue/Mulqueen have made their mark.

In managing to continue getting top performances from the old guard while successfully introducing fresh blood, they have maintained Clare’s new position at hurling’s top table. Achievement enough, on its own, but not, be assured, enough for these three.