Kenny a Cual appointment.. but I won’t be joining him
CON O’CALLAGHAN has backed Mattie Kenny to be a roaring success with Dublin – but he won’t he committing to the cause.
Kenny was appointed as Dublin hurling boss on the back of his stunning success with Cuala, delivering successive Allireland club titles in 2017 and ‘18 with O’callaghan the star turn in attack.
The 22-year-old remains fully committed to the Dublin footballers, however, as they chase five-in-a-row in 2019.
“I think he’ll do really well,” said O’callaghan of Kenny. “Pat Gilroy did a really good job, and he had the players’ and the county’s backing. But obviously he had to take a step back with work commitments.
“But Mattie has been an intercounty manager for our club for the last couple of years. He’s had that professional set-up.
“With the backroom team he’ll bring in, with the support of the Dublin county board, and I know all the players are going to give a huge commitment, they could be really successful.
“There’s obviously no guaranteed success, it’s still a massive challenge with the new format for the hurlers to compete, but he’ll definitely get a good system in place there.
“In fairness the culture doesn’t need changing, Gilroy did a really good job with that, but he’ll set up new systems.
“He knows the players really well from managing against them, so I think he’ll do a really good job.”
With his blistering form in club hurling, successive Dublin managers like Ger Cunningham, Gilroy and now Kenny could only dream of how O’callaghan (left) could enhance the county team.
But that’s all it’s likely to be, in the short-term at least, with Kenny pragmatic enough to not even broach the issue with him.
“We had a holiday with Cuala over in Portugal, and Mattie and Greg [Kennedy] came over with us. So, we just had a really good time. But I had no conversation, just chats. I think Mattie is letting me off, I don’t think he’s going to approach me for the year.”
He continued: “I’m really enjoying football and particularly with club so successful, it’s not that I’d no desire to play with the hurlers but I’d had some success in hurling. In the next couple of years I can’t say that I won’t but I see myself playing football – hurling with the club but football for Dublin.
“My Da played football and was a big influence on me. He wouldn’t have told me what to do and Cian [brother] obviously went with the hurling but I always preferred football and was a better footballer under-age.
“Obviously the success of the Dublin footballers was something that inspired you.”