Cats looking past Cody
IN the opening moments of House of Cards, the much superior BBC version, Francis Urquhart looks at a framed picture of Margaret Thatcher, shoots a fourth-wall breaking look to camera and intones solemnly, that “nothing lasts forever. Even the longest, the most glittering reign must come to an end someday.” How right he was. When the scene was filmed Thatcher was still firmly ensconced in Downing Street. By the time the episode aired it was clear the jig was up for Mrs T.
For some reason those words came to mind this week when hearing about the incipient debate surrounding Brian Cody’s continuing tenure as Kilkenny senior hurling manager. Despite the soaring heights Cody achieved, despite the vice-like grip on the Kilkenny job he’s held in that time, every bit as firm as Thatcher achieved in her eighties glory years, the end too will come for his time in charge of the Cats. Some excellent reporting in the Irish Examiner this week by PM O’Sullivan lays bare an undercurrent of discontent in the marble county. It’s not been enough, yet, to topple the king of the Cats, but that such talk is taking place at all is remarkable in and of itself. Cody’s position is no longer unassailable it would seem, even though he was handed a record equalling 24th season in charge this week by the Kilkenny County Board.
According to O’Sullivan there are whispers that current players are “frustrated” about the type of coaching and tactical guidance being provided. That coupled with growing unease amongst the general hurling public in Kilkenny means Cody is more vulnerable in his position than he’s been for decades. That might seem like madness to a lot of us, Cody’s record is unparalleled, and even this year the victory over Galway in the Leinster Final – with a far from stellar Kilkenny squad – seemed like it was chiselled from raw uncut Codyness. Still as Urquhart noted all reigns must end. Cody’s included. Hopefully the great man will, unlike Mrs Thatcher, go before he’s pushed. Defenestration would not be a