FORMER DUBLIN HURLER Conal Keaney has backed the county board to make the right decision when appointing a new manager following the resignation of Ger Cunningham.
Four-time All Star Cunningham’s reign was, at best, tumultuous, with the departure of several high-profile players exacerbating what ultimately became a regressive three-year term following the progress made under Anthony Daly.
Daly himself has been linked with a return to the role having stepped away from his Limerick post last week, and Keaney – who hurled under the Clare man for four years – is of the belief that his re-appointment would be a massive step in the right direction.
“Yeah, I think it would be,” he said. “Anyone like Anthony, or someone with a profile like that, is probably what Dublin need at a minute. It’s probably at a low ebb after the last couple of years, it’s not a true reflection of where Dublin are.
“It’s just from one thing or another, players dropping off, getting dropped, a bad atmosphere around the place, it just wasn’t good the last couple of years. It’s not going to take a whole lot to get it back but it needs a big manager to come in and galvanise the whole squad I think and bring it forward.
I still say that Dublin, if they can get all the players back and get all the players fighting together, then they won’t be far off.
As to whether the right managerial appointment would tempt players such as the Schutte brothers and Danny Sutcliffe back to the fold, Keaney, who himself stepped away from the panel in 2016 but through retirement, suggested that a number of absentees are keen on hurling for their county once more.
“Yeah, definitely, I don’t think there’s an issue with that at all. Lads are chomping at the bit to get back. It’s well documented, lads left and lads were dropped for whatever kind of reasons.
“There’s still a good core of players there. There’s still a good group of young lads coming through. They probably were thrown out in the heat of battle when they shouldn’t have been. Having that experience around would have been nice. I think that’s what a new manager in would probably do, mix it up a bit and get everyone back together and see where that goes.”
The Balyboden man is certain the county board will recruit the right manager as “their heart is in the right place,” and refused to criticise them for not intervening upon Ger Cunningham’s ill-fated stint sooner, saying “the Dublin county board never sack a manager – that’s always been the way.”
On suggestions that former Dublin football boss Pat Gilroy might take the helm, Keaney raised an eyebrow but acknowledged Gilroy’s no-nonsense attitude, and the potential benefit that might bring for the 2018 panel.
“It’s very much out there, it’s kind of left field. I wouldn’t be surprised. For someone like Pat to come in would be very good. Whether Pat has the time or really wants to do it, I don’t really know. Someone like that, a good character, well able to deal with individuals, comes in with a good reputation, there’d be no bullshit with him.
“I’m sure if he was to do it he would bring someone very good hurling-wise with him, because obviously his background is in football. Though he’s always been keen enough on the hurling… To a degree!
“It just needs some big character to come in and take all the stuff that’s happened in the last while, draw a line in the sand and move forward. I think the players would respond to that.
It’s a big appointment for whoever comes in. They’re going to get a bit of time. Obviously they [Dublin] were relegated so they’re going to be in 1B, and you’re going to get a couple of relatively easier games to start with and get a bit of momentum. Look what happened Galway, who would have thought they’d be All-Ireland champions this year? So get a bit of momentum, get to know the players and the players to know the management. So it [relegation] could be a blessing in disguise. Get a good team and get the right players and get everyone buying in.
As for his own career, Keaney remains unsure whether he might still have retired in April of last year had someone other than Ger Cunningham been managing Dublin.
“It’s hard to know,” he says. “I would have always said that I’d have done anything to play with Dublin at any stage. That’s still the case. Everything comes to an end at some stage. Maybe it was a little bit short, maybe it wasn’t. That’s just the way it went.”
He did, however, all but rule out a return to the senior inter-county set-up, saying: “Sure look, I’m 34. I could hardly even bend down there for the photographs.”
Having also suggested he’s too young to embark upon a coaching career, Keaney then reflected on the past three years, and Dublin’s prolonged capitulation.
He was hurt, he said, having seen the hurlers become somewhat of a laughing stock, but reiterated his belief that they could turn it around next year.
“So disappointed,” he said.
For the talent that was there, it very frustrating to look at it, to know that Dublin are better than this. The players know they’re better than that; the core of Dublin hurling know we’re a lot better than that. To be pretty much laughed at now all over the country, it’s pretty disappointing where we are at the minute.
“But I don’t think it’s huge step to turn it around, but they need to get it right from the word go, and things can change very quickly.
“If you go to any of the club games, you’ll see all the good young lads coming through. They really are. Talented. But the problem is when the hurling isn’t going well at the top, it’s easy of a young lad of 16, 17, to go, ‘I’m going to chance going for the football’ – look at Mark Schutte. He went from the hurlers straight on to the football panel. That would never have happened if things were right.
“The top of the table has to be right for younger lads to want to play hurling. I think there’s a huge love for hurling in Dublin – hurling is huge underage, and every club is producing huge numbers, but to hang on to those, you need the top to be successful, or at least to be competing. And for there to be no negativity, all positive.
When Dalo came in, he really shook it all up and it was a huge positive. Everyone wanted to hurl; it was cool to be a Dublin hurler; is it cool to be a hurler now in Dublin? I’d question it. But there’s serious talent there, and serious hunger for Dublin to succeed, and if this appointment is right, there will be good days ahead.
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