A TALL ORDER: Can club king make it in the big league?

Only an All-Ireland will do for Galway on O’Neill’s watch

Key players like Canning may not have much time

THIS TIME three years ago, a crowd of over 3,000 squeezed into Páirc Uí Síocháin in Wexford to see Davy Fitzgerald’s debut in purple and gold.

In some counties, the concept of pre-season warm-ups cuts no ice. Every match-day is a big day.

The gluey pitches and heavy touches of January might militate against anything in the way of championship indicators, but in January 2017, thousands of Wexford supporters were ready to believe in their new manager in a Walsh Cup match against UCD.

Their faith was justified, as the excitement of three subsequent summers showed. On Saturday, the most committed of their followers will be in Portlaoise to see them contest the Walsh Cup final. And their opponents in the game will also travel with an eagerness not commonly associated with the opening weeks of the year.

Galway are a more established force now than Wexford were in 2017, but under a new manager and with time running thin for a generation talented enough to have won more than one

All-Ireland, every game matters.

Shane O’Neill managed the county for the first time last Sunday as they defeated Dublin in Parnell Park. It was less than two months since his appointment, after a convoluted process that recalled the mess preceding Micheál Donoghue’s appointment.

The departure of the latter was a shock and pointed to tensions with elements in the county board, and in the aftermath of his resignation there was understood to be huge frustration within the playing squad with the administration.

Donoghue and his selectors, Noel Larkin and Francis Forde, left on August 20 but an initial declaration from the board that his successor would be appointed by the start of October came to nought, and it was November before O’Neill was chosen.

In the interim, both Larkin and Forde declined offers to succeed Donoghue, while there was recurring speculation that a senior player approached Davy Fitzgerald with a view to determining his interest in the role.

There followed persistent rumours that Fitzgerald might depart Wexford; the Galway position is one with which he has regularly been linked. In October, though, he re-committed to his current team for another two seasons. Galway searched anew, and O’Neill was eventually named as their new manager on November 7.

In inter-county hurling, and for a county whose 2019 championship ended in defeat to Dublin in the Leinster championship in June, that meant he was under pressure from the outset.

Ambitious squads aim to have their preparations and pre-season planning completed by then, ready to roll out well before Christmas.

One consolation for Galway supporters might be found in the memory of Donoghue’s appointment following the turmoil that brought Anthony Cunningham’s time in charge to an end:

Donoghue was officially named Cunningham’s replacement in Christmas week of 2015.

Yet O’Neill has the added expectation produced by Galway finally reclaiming the Liam McCarthy Cup in 2017, and the bald fact that key figures in this group, like Joe Canning and David Burke, may only have a season or two left in their prime.

O’Neill comes to the job as an inter-county management novice, but with a glittering club resumé.

The Limerickman is a stalwart of Na Piarsaigh, and at the age of 37 he was part of the side that won their first county title in 2011.

Within three years he was managing them as they went on a tremendous run through county and province that culminated in an All-Ireland club championship in 2016.

In four years in charge, he oversaw two county titles, two provincial championships and that 2016 win, while his final match in charge of his club, in March 2018, should have seen them claim a second national title but eventually lose to Cuala by a goal.

O’Neill was then involved with Nenagh Éire Óg, his role described as that of an adviser, and his success over the past half-decade made the move up to inter-county management look inevitable. It is taking that step with Galway that is so notable.

Nothing less than an All-Ireland championship will be regarded as a success by their supporters, but the hurling summer is once again promising to be ruthlessly competitive.

Tipperary look strong enough to keep their title, Kilkenny will seek to build on the unexpected progress of last year, Wexford got close to the 2019 final and Cork seem certain to be sharper with Kieran Kingston back.

Then there is the ambition that will fire O’Neill’s native county. Limerick are still sore about how they lost to Kilkenny last August, and many of the players O’Neill inspired at club level will carry their challenge through the spring and summer.

Those who know him are certain he will impress a Galway dressing room that could still be nursing regret about how Donoghue left, and one that will also be desperate to win