Our new hurling columnist says the pressure is on the Rebels to deliver in 2015
Jimmy is as cracked about the dogs and coursing as myself. He keeps a couple of greyhounds every year, which Michael O’Donovan trains. I’m sure Jimmy would love to train them himself but the hurling season only grants you so much licence as a manager.
He had a right good dog, ‘Backstreet Boy’, that was well ahead in a Derby qualifier final in Borrisoleigh at Christmas but the dog broke down when leading easily.
He had another qualifier beaten in the first round of Clonmel but he’s like myself now, waiting for that dream dog to come along again to make your pocket jingle and your spirit crackle like electricity.
Because of the madness and crowds in Clonmel, we only spoke for about 90 seconds. The conversation ranged from who we thought would win the Derby and the Oaks to Jimmy’s quick-fire summary of Cork’s Waterford Crystal Cup campaign — but I was still buzzing for about 10 minutes afterwards.
Jimmy was one of my heroes growing up but he has this infectious personality that draws people to him. Walking back to take my vantage point, you knew you had met someone special. It’s easy to see why lads desperately want to play for him.
In the iconography of Cork’s sporting legends, Jimmy is up there with Christy Ring and Jack Lynch.
That kind of God-like status will always insulate you from a fair share of shelling but it won’t prevent some of the shrapnel from lodging in your skin. Looking across the hurling landscape now, a few managers are under pressure this season and, being in his fourth year, you could slip Jimmy into that category.
Reading Anthony Nash’s comments this week, the group were clearly stung by the comments of some former players after last year’s All-Ireland semi-final collapse.
Cork won a great Munster championship but the Tipp defeat defined their season. Cork were just flat but that meltdown is not supposed to happen to Cork in Croke Park. With the way the Cork public thinks, another year without an All-Ireland title might make it difficult for Jimmy to stay in the position.
Nobody will be more aware of that than Jimmy. He mulled over coming back. He knows what’s required in Cork. They think differently to most other counties. Winning Munster was huge last year, but it’s all about an All-Ireland now.
Jimmy’s legacy in Cork is secure. He has won All-Irelands as a player and a manager. Jimmy won’t be feeling the pressure to win or risk having his name blackened in Cork but this is still a big year for him.
It’s an even more pivotal one for the players. They can’t have any more excuses about serving apprenticeships or the heavy workload of dual players.
They have everyone they want. Paudie O’Sullivan is back fit, Aidan Walsh has picked the small ball and his positioning at No.7 is both exciting and intriguing. The draw in Munster has been kind to them. The Cork public expects.
The spine of the team have been around a while; Anthony Nash, Shane O’Neill, Steven McDonnell, Pa Cronin, Patrick Horgan.
They will have been hard on themselves over winter. Injuries, along with finding the captaincy a burden, have held Pa Cronin back but he needs to stand up now. So does Horgan, who had a poor county semi-final and final with the Glen.
He needs to show he is one of the top forwards in the game. Yet all the players know what is expected and I fancy them to have a rattle off the All-Ireland.
Jimmy has shaken up the backroom team. I heard in Clonmel that the players are happy with Mark Landers as coach. I know Mark from my time in the bank years ago and he’s an ambitious guy. He will want to put his own stamp on this team because I’m sure he sees himself as a future manager.
Jimmy is Jimmy. He won’t change his approach. The Cork public know as much, so they will load most of the pressure onto the players.
Landers is a former All-Ireland winning captain. Seánie McGrath and Johnny Crowley are still on board. The attitude of the Cork public will almost be, ‘How many more big names do ye want?’
When I was in my third year with Dublin, and even into my fourth year, I would often quote to the lads the Ewan McColl song, ‘Schooldays Over’, made famous by Luke Kelly and The Dubliners. “Schooldays over...
Time to be getting your pit boots on... Time you were learning the pitman’s job And earning a pitman’s pay.”
That should nearly be Cork’s attitude this year. “Hi, it’s time to roll up the sleeves now and get it done.”
Tipp took their name last August and now Cork begin the road to reclaiming it. They won’t restore it tonight but statements can be made. I wouldn’t underestimate the other crowd, despite their rookies, but I fancy Cork to make a first statement.
After six years of patrolling the sidelines in squelching spring muck, I’m looking forward to joining the Clare throng again as just one of them.
The last time I was in Pearse Stadium, Galway leathered the Dubs in last year’s opening league game. With Galway, nobody knows what they’re going to do on any given day but being down Joe
Canning and Conor Cooney definitely hands the advantage to Clare.
When I was Dublin manager, we were always conscious of making Parnell Park a fortress and I know the lads will be desperately anxious to maintain that status.
Tipp have been a bogey team for the Dubs but Ger Cunningham will have the lads wound up for the challenge and I’m expecting a real battle and a tight game.
At this time of the year though, nobody really knows what to expect.
Even Kilkenny are a little uncertain about themselves for once, given all the bodies they are down.
Yet they are still the hare that all the dogs want to turn.
