FORMER CORK STALWART Ronan Curran has backed Jimmy Barry-Murphy to stay on as Rebels manager.
JBM’s three-year term came to an end following Cork’s defeat against Tipperary in the All-Ireland hurling semi-finals last weekend.
So far, neither he nor the county board have indicated if he will return next season.
Curran said: “To be fair to Jimmy and the lads who are there with him for the last three years, you have to say they have been a success because the team is in a much better place now than when they first took charge.
“They have brought a lot of fellas through who will be there for a good few years and can have very good careers.
They’ve won a Munster Championship now and that was progress, but you do have to worry whether the nature of the defeat against Tipperary will have a negative effect on the players.
“But there is no doubt that Jimmy and the lads have definitely brought the thing up a good few notches. We’re challenging now whereas we weren’t challenging before really.
Under Barry-Murphy, Cork won their first Munster hurling title since 2006 this summer.
And while Curran admits that the 10-point defeat to Tipp took a lot of the gloss off that achievement, he would like to see the current management come back next year for another shot
Yeah, I think so. If Jimmy wants to do it himself then I think he should be allowed to take it on for a few more years, at least another year or two to see how it goes.
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Become a Member“He obviously has the respect of the players as well as everyone in the county, really.
“He has done a great job and hopefully him and the players can drive on again next year.”
