Tommy Dunne joins Tomàs Mulcahy's Glen Rovers backroom team

CORK CLUB MANAGERS: Tommy Dunne has joined Tomàs Mulcahy's Glen Rovers backroom team as coach. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The club managerial scene in Cork has been spiced up by the arrival of a couple of hurling heavyweights from outside the county for the 2024 season.

Tipperary’s 2001 All-Ireland winning captain Tommy Dunne has joined Tomás Mulcahy’s Glen Rovers backroom team as coach.

Having done two separate stints as Tipperary senior coach, including the county’s 2019 All-Ireland winning season, Dunne brings a wealth of sideline experience to a Glen Rovers team chasing an instant return to Cork hurling’s top table.

Following relegation last September, 2024 is the first time in 99 years that the Blackpool club will not be part of Cork’s premier hurling championship.

Another All-Ireland winning coach, Seoirse Bulfin, is the new man at the helm in Charleville. Bulfin, a member of the 2013 All-Ireland winning Clare management, succeeds former Limerick hurler Mark Foley.

Foley called time on his three-year involvement with Charleville following last year’s county quarter-final defeat to St Finbarr’s.

Speaking of the Barrs, Ger Cunningham has added former Cork manager John Allen to his backroom team as the Togher men attempt to recapture the county Cup. Their 2023 title defence came a cropper at the semi-final stage.

The Barrs have still to appoint a new football manager ahead of the 2024 season. A couple of names have been mentioned, such as Brian Roche and their 2018 county championship winning manager Ray Keane, but no white smoke has yet to emerge.

It is coming up on three months since 2021 county championship winning manager Paul O'Keeffe vacated the Barrs hotseat.

St Finbarr’s are the second member of Cork football’s big three to undergo change during the off-season, with Robbie O’Dwyer, son of Micko, succeeding Paul O’Donovan at Nemo.

Former Cork hurler Martin Coleman Jnr is the new coach of the Douglas senior hurlers, while former Kerry forward John Tweek Griffin has taken the reins of Senior A outfit Carrigtwohill.

Not surprisingly, both of last season’s premier senior hurling finalists, Sars and Midleton, have unchanged managers going into 2024. Winning manager Johnny Crowley was in the first year of his second stint as Sars boss, while Micheál Keohane was in his debut year as Midleton manager.