Counihan’s decision to commit a huge relief

WHEN news broke yesterday that Conor Counihan would be staying on as Cork senior football manager, there was a sense of relief, and not just in Cork.

If Counihan had decide against a return that would have made it two out of two All-Ireland winning managers walking away just as they’d reached the summit.

We’re all aware that handling an inter-county team is difficult at the best of times; if both of the men having the very best of times with the job couldn’t accommodate it, who could?

The England football manager’s position is often referred to as the impossible job. It looks like senior inter-county management is getting as tricky, and that’s without the compensation of Fabio Capello’s £6 million (€6.8m) per year.

THERE are differences between Counihan and Sheedy. The Tipperary man had served a couple of seasons as manager of the county minor side, and going back a decade, with the Tipperary intermediate team. That’s a long time on the managerial treadmill.

Though Counihan worked with then-Cork coach Larry Tompkins as a defence coach back in the late nineties, it wasn’t front-of-house and he wouldn’t have had to shoulder the media burden, for instance.

He was in line to take over from Tompkins in 2003 but was passed over in favour of Billy Morgan. In retrospect that may have been a blessing in disguise for Counihan, as it’s unlikely that he would still be involved at the very highest level if he had received the bainisteoir’s bib seven years ago.

There are also similarities between the pair. When Sheedy took over Tipperary the county hurling side was in disarray after Babs Keating’s second coming as manager. Sheedy revolutionised the Premier County’s approach, promoted promising youngsters and blended them with revitalised experienced players who’d fallen out of favour under the previous regime, such as Eoin Kelly and Brendan Cummins.

Counihan also took over in unpromising circumstances. Cork football was emerging from the Teddy Holland strike in February 2008 and many have forgotten the county side was facing relegation from Division 2, having forfeited games in the National Football League, but Counihan got the team to avoid the drop in the remaining matches.

Cork had disappointed hugely in the previous year’s All-Ireland final against Kerry but under Counihan they beat Limerick with late goals in the 2008 Munster semi-final, and came back from eight points down to beat Kerry in the Munster final.

Even this year both men had to overcome strong criticism, much of it within their own counties. Cork destroyed the Premier County in the first round of the Munster hurling championship and Sheedy had to listen to much unfair commentary about his side from within Tipperary, comments which were forgotten when his side swept away Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final.

Counihan was also heavily criticised when Cork lost the Munster football final in extra-time in Páirc Uí Chaoimh to Kerry, while the contrast between his side’s swashbuckling attacking style of last year and this season’s pragmatism drew plenty of ire from the sport’s aesthetes.

His adroit use of his full panel, however, helped Cork put Dublin to the sword thanks to a disciplined performance in the All-Ireland semi-final, while the Leesiders’ experience was vital in edging out Down in the decider.

MAN-MANAGEMENT is an interesting point of comparison between the two men. While Sheedy is credited with integrating five U21s into the Tipperary senior starting senior 15 – there are three more on the panel – Counihan’s handling of personnel has drawn kudos by focusing on the other end of the age spectrum. The preparation and management of veterans like Nicholas Murphy, John Miskella, Anthony Lynch and Graham Canty has been tailored to each individual, and all have benefited as aresult.

Some were starters who had to adapt to an impact substitute role, for instance, while others were starters who didn’t start a game this season. Others still had niggling injuries which disrupted their preparations but were too important for the team to discard out of hand. While some of those players have yet to commit to a return to inter-county fare next season, it’s understood that Counihan’s plans for 2011 are central to their planning.

Yesterday’s news will make those decisions a lot easier.