'He was a bit of a hothead': John Kiely's calm has been years in the making

Richie McCarthy says the Galbally man has changed his ways down through the years and performance coach Caroline Currid has been an influence.

Limerick manager John Kiely. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Former Limerick defender Richie McCarthy claims manager John Kiely used to be “a hothead”.

McCarthy, who played for three seasons under Kiely between 2017 and ’19, says the Galbally man has changed his ways down through the years and performance coach Caroline Currid has been an influence.

“When he came into the set-up, initially he was a fella who was a bit of a hothead and I hope he would not mind me saying that. He tried (that method) to get as much out of the panel.

“He has really calmed over the years. He has really concentrated on what the players want to hear instead of this big speech at the start of the day. Like, we want to hear about what is going well and where we need to target.

“He gives you subtle information on what is going well, like where we are losing puck-outs and which areas we need to improve in. That is where Paul Kinnerk comes in as well. He does his bit on the board to see what we need to work on.

“He (Kiely) has really calmed over the years. He was very vocal at the start. That has a lot to do with Caroline who spoke to us and listened to what we wanted to hear. But at the same time when he needs to lose it, he does – but it is only when he has to.” 

The Kilfinane man says performance analyst Seánie O’Donnell deserves more credit than he receives. 

“I just think he's the best at what he does. For example, in 2018, we played Carlow in the qualifiers. No offence to the Carlow goalie but he (O’Donnell) just said, ‘He's prone to a high ball going in. He could possibly make a mistake.’ And I say within 10 minutes in the match, he fumbled the ball and got a goal from it.

“Nickie (Quaid) does hours and hours with him alone, because he really targets that in puck-outs. It's our puck-out, it's our possession and we want to keep out of that.” 

McCarthy feels the template Kiely has created will ensure Limerick remain competitive when he elects to leave. 

Limerick manager John Kiely celebrates after the game with Caroline Currid with Cathal O’Brien in 2021. Pic: Tommy Dickson/Inpho

“Even if John walks away in the morning, Limerick will be a success because of the professional set-up. We might not have had those structures over the years, but there is a foundation there now which means we know what we have to do to get to a Munster final or an All-Ireland final. We will always be there or thereabouts.” 

Meanwhile, ex-Galway forward Jason Flynn says an All-Ireland win for the county would show hurling is in a good place.

“There's probably been better seasons, but it has been good. It's been interesting to see Galway get to a final. It was similar last year with Tipp as well.

“It's always nice to see a new team get to a final and if Galway win that will be four different winners over the last four years and that's good for Ireland. It's good for every other county as well.” 

Richie McCarthy and Jason Flynn were speaking at the launch of the limited-edition MacCarthy Cup-inspired KFC buckets that will be available in stores in Limerick and Galway.