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.

“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.”

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