Cuthbert surprised at early Cork call

New Cork football manager Brian Cuthbert has admitted he had not expected to be given the chance to lead the county at such a young age.

The 38-year-old was named as Conor Counihan’s successor in October, but in an interview in the 2014 Cork GAA Yearbook which comes out on Monday, he acknowledges his age, and the fact he had not played senior for the county, could have counted against him.

A good spell with the Cork minor side and then experience as a selector with Counihan in the year just gone have helped to prime him, though.

“First of all, I’m younger than what would have been regarded as the age-profile for Cork managers in the past, and then I didn’t have the same playing pedigree of my predecessors,” he said.

“Someone’s standing as a player counts for a lot in Cork and in terms of getting the job, being an inter-county player of high ability provides an immediate buy-in for a manager settling in.

“I was lucky that I got a chance with the minor job in 2010 and we got to the All-Ireland final. While we didn’t win it there was a lot of edge-of-the-seat stuff and we played well at times.

“In 2011, we came up against good Tipperary and Dublin sides but I felt I did a decent job overall and that I might get a shot at the U21 job at some stage after that. It didn’t work out like that but again I was fortunate that Conor asked me to come in as a selector.”

While Cuthbert will have to plan without the retired Graham Canty, Alan Quirke, Noel O’Leary, Paudie Kissane, Alan O’Connor and Pearse O’Neill as well as Ciarán Sheehan, who has joined AFL side Carlton Blues, he does not feel their absence will make Cork uncompetitive.

“Well there’s always likely to be change when a new manager comes in, it’s probably easier to make a break,” he says.

“It’s a situation where the view countrywide is that we’re starting from scratch, but internally we know that we have good footballers and we’ll do our best to prepare them in the right way.

“If you look at it, there were six or seven players who made their championship debuts in 2013, so really the rebuilding began this time last year. Right now, you couldn’t say what the 15 players for the championship will be, and I think that’s a good thing.”

Meanwhile, Cork hurling manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy — also interviewed in the yearbook — is reluctant to class 2013 as a success for the Rebels, but believes that the signs are encouraging for the future.

“I’d hate to be accused of claiming success after a year when you didn’t win anything,” he said.

“I’d be slow to do that but you’d have to say that it was relatively successful. We made it back to an All-Ireland final for the first time in seven years and the players made great progress.

“Obviously, it was a pity to go so close only to lose but hopefully we can learn from that in 2014.”