Gilroy happy to play tinkerman role

WHEN Paul Caffrey stepped down as Dublin manager last summer, it was hard to escape the feeling he was bringing the curtain down on more than just his own career.

From the moment Caffrey took charge in November 2004, he placed his faith in a core of players that blemished their achievement in capturing four successive Leinster titles with consistent failures on the bigger stage.

A frequent criticism during the Caffrey era was that the Dublin panel was akin to a closed shop, an impression given some credence by the fact that ten of the players who started the 2005 Leinster final did likewise four seasons later.