ENGLISH PATIENCE
Nicky: Waiting to get in backdoor may be Tipp’s best chance
NICKY ENGLISH reckons Tipperary’s All-ireland chances might be best served through the qualifiers.
Last year, Tipp went all the way after coming through the backdoor and it’s a task they’re faced with again this time around. However, with Cork first up on Sunday, English fears the route won’t be nearly as facilitating as it was in 2016. He said: “I thought the threematch Munster, an All-ireland semi-final and then final, which hadn’t been done since 1966, was a tough ask and is hard to do but Limerick weren’t real contenders last year. “Cork were in transition and are certainly going to be better. Waterford come into it at the semi-final stage. “It is not stretching things to say Tipperary’s best chance of winning the All-ireland may be through the backdoor. That may be an easier route.” It’s been well documented how Tipperary haven’t managed to retain the All-ireland since 1965 and English fears that the League final loss to Galway may have shown up some old failings. He warned: “Tipperary, as everyone knows, have a poor record of defending the All-ireland. “There have been five attempts to do this since 1965 and I was involved in three of them, either as a player or a manager, and everyone thinks the preparation was the same. “I always think the preparation was the same the year after either as a player and as a manager in 2002 I thought the preparation was at least as good. “There has been some little half centimetre missing or millimetre missing in the defeats in 1990, in ‘92 and in 2002. “So if you’re looking for excuses for the League final there are probably two that I would look for. Number one, Division 1B has an easier passage and Tipperary might have been more tired and Galway were maybe a bit fresher and the Wexford game and the whole palaver that was around it. “The other you can look at is, is it that millimetre of softness that has been apparent before, is that a contributor? “And it’s possible so if it’s there then there’s time to fix it but that’s just a doubt for me.” There is a tendency in Tipperary for their supporters to afford All-ireland winning teams a loftier status than they perhaps deserve, which presents its own challenges. English added: “It is an inevitability and it’s difficult to deal with and if you could get over the second one [All-ireland] well then you’d clear that out. “That’s very hard to do and in Tipperary the history or the danger has been to get ahead for the Tipperary nation. “Not the team and management but the whole package gets a little bit ahead of itself historically. “1/4 favourites in the Munster final in 1990, beaten. 1/5 favourites in the 2002 Munster final, beaten. 1/3 favourites against Galway in the League, beaten.” In case you’re wondering, they’re 1/4 to beat Cork on Sunday.