The Coach’s couch

Tom Ryan: Former Limerick and Westmeath hurling manager

Bravest coaching call, any sport?

“The first thing that comes into my mind is situations that have happened between managers and players. The Charlie Carter controversy sticks in my mind. To keep Carter on the bench was a big call by Cody and when he left the panel there was pressure on Cody. But I think that stood to Cody, as you saw by the team’s performance with Carter gone. I also think of Jim McGuinness in Donegal and what he did with Kevin Cassidy. One thing’s for sure — I don’t look at his style of football as brave — but it was a bold thing to drop Cassidy off the panel.”

One free to win it, one player to take it (not one of your own players)?

“I’m thinking of two men — Henry Shefflin and Eoin Kelly. They are two of the finest free-takers ever in the game and I’d be looking at them because of their power and consistency. I know I can’t pick one of my own players but Gary Kirby has to be mentioned. Kirby was just a superbly consistent striker of the ball. ”

Greatest pressure free you’ve seen, hurling and football?

“I only have to look back at last year’s All-Ireland football final and Stephen Cluxton’s free. It was one of the biggest calls of all, a goalkeeper having a kick to win an All-Ireland. It’s the stuff you dream of. Cluxton had everything you want in a free-taker. It couldn’t get any more vital than that and everything was riding on it. He withstood the pressure with a brilliant finish.”

The best ref around? Why?

“I’d always be very concerned about the standard of refereeing. I’ll only address hurling referees here because I wouldn’t like my comments about football ones to be put down! We have a few top referees in hurling. Barry Kelly and Brian Gavin are two of them and then young James Owens is doing well coming down the line. The referees this year aren’t as whistle-happy as they were last year and I was concerned about the amounts of frees being given and the referee becoming more important than the match itself. How has it happened? I don’t know but it has happened and I’m not complaining. Gavin can handle all the top matches and made the right calls. He has plenty of experience — we’re lucky to have him and Kelly.”

Managerial challenges: Keane and McCarthy in Saipan. Who was right?

“Not only was McCarthy totally right, he was also left out to dry by Keane. I was disgusted with Keane’s behaviour. Having been a manager and a player, I thought it was a disgrace what Keane did. I’d have huge sympathy for McCarthy, especially with how the support seemed to grow for Keane. In my opinion, Keane concocted the whole thing.”

Who’s the most underrated sportsman in Ireland?

“Tommy Walsh doesn’t get the respect he deserves. I’d put him down as one of my great sportsmen. He’s an unbelievable athlete and a fantastic hurler. He has every attribute you want in a hurler. To have shown such consistency and ability as an amateur player is remarkable. But that’s the character he is.”

The ugliest moment in sport?

“Lucky enough, we haven’t had a whole lot of bad moments in the GAA. The ugliest one in recent years for me was the night of the Lansdowne Road riot in 1995. It was the lowest of the low and it was hard to associate that with sport. I can also remember going to a game between West Ham and Arsenal in Upton Park with some friends when I was in London. It was the 80s, Christmas time, and the violence was shocking. There were some police, so many alsatians — it was like a Gestapo job.”

An extra ticket falls into your lap for your favourite sports event — what sportsperson would you bring along?

“An All-Ireland would be one of my favourites occasions, of course. I would bring Dave Mahedy. I’d be a great admirer of his.”

The biggest sports tearjerker of all time? Why?

“I’m not a great man for tears and don’t usually associate tears with sport. The one experience I know was a tearjerker for Limerick people was the 1994 All-Ireland final against Offaly. You could call it a kick in the arse as much as a tearjerker! I didn’t shed any tears over it nor did I lose any sleep because of it. Sport, to me, is sport. It’s done and it can’t be undone. You can try and make up for it. It’s a pity we never got the chance to.”

The worst choke of all time?

“I’d have to be fair and restrict it to my own experiences. We did choke in the 1997 Munster semi-final against Tipperary. It’s something I still can’t explain. I’d always be good to analyse thing but that’s a defeat I could never get my head around.”

The one player in any sport you’d love to coach?

“It’s a question I would have often thought and spoken about. I have a very hands-on approach in coaching and would love to work with the likes of Joe Canning. But Richie Power of Kilkenny would be the player I’d have on any team and would love to see in training. ”

The one player in any sport you’d hate to coach?

“I wouldn’t like to coach Paul Galvin. His whole demeanour would be something I wouldn’t be able to manage. I’d find it difficult to deal with him, the off and on-field activities and the side issues.”

Your dream selector, not counting your former ones?

“I’d have him as a manager preferably but Brian Cody would be the man. How could I pass over him? The man has done everything and keeps coming back. I know I’m not supposed to talk about former ones but the best selector I ever had was Michael Cosgrave in Westmeath. He was just top-class, a marvellous individual and a great hurling man.

The one sports moment you wouldn’t wipe from the VCR?

“That would be an easy one — Ciarán Carey’s point in the 1996 Munster championship. It was the score of the century yet never got the credit it deserved. It wasn’t featured in the scores of the year or the decade which was ridiculous. He wasn’t known for scoring but nobody was going to stop him that day. It was an unbelievable match. Clare were Munster and All-Ireland champions. There was no backdoor. Lose and you went home to brood for months!

The one sports moment you’d visit if you had a time machine?

“I’d have to go back to Ballybrown’s first county championship title, beating Doon. Sean Bennis was playing with me, we were two points down, and with the last puck of the game he scored a goal from a 70. You couldn’t imagine what that was like. I would never want to forget and would love to be back there just to savour again what it mean to the club and an aging team. We had come so close in the four years before, losing finals and semi-finals. It was a magic moment.”

The one sports moment that’s more overrated than any other?

“The Thierry Henry situation in France a few years ago. It was totally exaggerated, all that cribbing and crying about an excuse for losing. If I was to go back over all the incidents that went against me, especially our goal in the 1996 final which was the most legitimate goal ever scored in Croke Park, I’d have a list a mile long. We made nothing about that. You just move on from these things.”