Former Cat Ronan backs Shefflin to lead Kilkenny but admits group of doubters remain

iFormer Cats forward Adrian Ronan is very much of the mind that the Ballyhale Shamrocks man is the best placed to guide The Cats.

New Kilkenny manager Henry Shefflin. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Former Kilkenny forward Adrian Ronan says Henry Shefflin is the right man to lead the county while acknowledging his appointment won’t be universally applauded in the county.

Ronan knows there remains a group of people who disagreed with the 10-time All-Ireland winner’s three years in charge of Galway, but he is very much of the mind that the Ballyhale Shamrocks man is the best placed to guide The Cats.

“There is a cohort of people who will cast a bit of doubt because of his travels, not that that’s a cohort of people I necessarily agree with,” Ronan told KCLR’s hurling podcast. “I’m firmly in the camp that this is a good move for Kilkenny, a good move for Henry.

“It’s a transitional period in Kilkenny hurling. After the weekend, maybe all is not so bad with what Galway did to Cork. They did it to us in the league and the championship this year and they’ve done it to Cork, so we have to recognise Galway as a very good team.

“Kilkenny and Henry have a huge challenge because there is a transitional period here. There are probably a number of players who will maybe decide they have had enough, they may decide they want to travel, they maybe decide they have given enough to Kilkenny hurling.

“Henry might have big decisions to make and looking in from the outside will want to bring in a lot of fresh, new blood into the group and he’s had some of that with the U20s in the last year. He knows hurling inside out, he knows club hurling inside out so it’s a welcome appointment.”