TIPP MANAGER NO 8 SETS UP AGAINST CODY

But will he fare any better than most of his predecessors who failed miserably?

ON A blustery March afternoon 17 years ago, everything changed for Tipperary. In front of 10,000 spellbound supporters, a Kilkenny side responded to their new manager Brian Cody to claw back a 10-point half-time deficit and beat Nicky English’s side by seven points.

Completely locked down by the Cats, Tipp, who had shown such energy in the first half, managed to score just a solitary point after the break. The 17-point turnaround was inspired by the likes of DJ Carey and John Hoyne, an indication of how different the world was back then. But that day in Nowlan Park was the first sign that an unassuming school teacher from the James Stephens club knew a thing or two about this management lark.

English was the first Premier boss to cross swords with Cody and this afternoon, Michael Ryan will become the eighth. It puts into context the astonishing longevity of Cody’s reign. Change happens everywhere else in the hurling world but in Kilkenny, it stays the same.

Over the coming weeks, Cody will come up against three new managers. Kieran Kingston is the eighth Cork boss he’ll have faced over his tenure, while Michael Donoghue will be the seventh from Galway. Each new man will have ideas on how to unseat the king but, as he met the press recently before the start of the National League, the Kilkenny manager shrugged off any relevance to the fact that he has seen so many managers come and go.

‘I’ve gotten used to it. I have competed against a few new managers over the years,’ Cody explained. ‘There seems to have been a fair few and I seem to be anything but a new manager, that’s for sure.

‘It’s not about personalities. Like I said after last year’s All-Ireland final, it will always be won on the pitch. We don’t prepare in training against any other manager. We prepare ourselves and then the players go out and compete against the other team.’

All the same, his relationship with Tipperary has been defined by those men he has faced on the sideline, especially in recent years. There was a belief that Tipp had produced a golden generation in recent years but a number of different managers have come and gone, most failing to find a formula to harness the potential. And in each case, it had to factor in Brian Cody and Kilkenny.

Before Cody took the helm, Tipperary simply expected to beat their neighbours. This is borne out by the history books. When Cody accepted the Kilkenny job, one of the unwanted records that he wanted to rid his county of was the fact that they had only beaten Tipp once in Championship hurling in the previous 80 years. There was a perception that the Cats couldn’t handle their neighbours’ aggression in the heat of battle. He has certainly altered that view.

Cody’s relationship with Tipperary has spanned 18 seasons and 30 matches. There have been five All-Ireland finals (including the classic 2014 drawn encounter) four National League finals (two of which needed extra-time to separate the teams), three All-Ireland semis and three League semis. He’s only tasted defeat against Tipp five times – only once in the Championship when Liam Sheedy’s team denied an historic five All-Irelands in-a-row in 2010.

On the first afternoon when he set about redressing the balance of the county’s relationship with Tipp, little did he know that the opposition corner-back would be his most troubling adversary. Of all the Premier County managers, Sheedy has the best record against Cody. He is the only one able to stand up against the Kilkenny manager as an equal with a 50 per cent win ratio (only Jimmy Barry-Murphy, by virtue of a first reign that included the 1999 All-Ireland win and Conor Hayes, whose Galway team beat the Cats in the 2005 All-Ireland semi-final, can boast a similar record).

Indeed, with a bit more luck, Sheedy could have even had a superior record against Cody. In the 2009 League final, Kilkenny out-battled Tipp after extra-time and in the All-Ireland final later that year, Benny Dunne’s sending off and a soft pen- alty completely changed the complexion of a game that seemed to be heading towards a Tipp victory.

Sheedy’s teams never flinched and refused to be intimidated when facing Kilkenny. The tone was set by their first meeting when Tipperary went into the lion’s den of Nowlan Park for a League semi-final in April 2008 and emerged with a five-point victory. That, however, was the last time a Tipp team managed to win in Kilkenny’s backyard.

The clashes between the sides were frequent and tempestuous in Sheedy’s time and the managers on the sideline poured their own fuel on the fire. During an attritional Division 1 encounter in Semple Stadium in March 2010, the pair squared up to each other.

Sheedy had taken exception to JJ Delaney’s challenge on Jody Brennan and let both the referee and linesman know it. Cody came over and pointed his finger in the chest of his Tipperary counterpart which caused Sheedy to gently shove him backward. The two managers laughed off the incident after the game but the intent on the part of Sheedy was clear. Tipperary were not going to be pushed around by Cody or his team any more.

Within six months of that flashpoint, Sheedy, and Eamon O’Shea, had devised a plan that stopped Kilkenny’s drive for five All-Irelands in-a-row. It didn’t all stem from what happened on that Semple Stadium sideline, but some of the fear factor was certainly dissipated that day. What Sheedy did with his Tipperary teams was ensure that Cody, or his side, didn’t dictate the terms of battle. When work commitments forced him to leave the Tipp post only weeks after the All-Ireland, it robbed Cody of an adversary who was of equal standing.

Now it’s Michael Ryan’s turn. His team must dictate the terms of battle this afternoon. It won’t be easy. Kilkenny are fighting to avoid sinking into a relegation dogfight for a second successive year and they simply don’t like losing in Nowlan Park – especially against their most bitter rivals.

HISTORY suggests the first meeting between Cody and his opposite Tipp number, will dictate the course of the rivalry. Sheedy began with a win and was his equal, winning that elusive All-Ireland in 2010. Declan Ryan’s team was well beaten in his first match-up and his reign ended in an 18point rout in an All-Ireland semi-final.

Of the eight managers, Eamon O’Shea can be counted as the most unlucky. Even though he never bested Cody in the Championship, only the intervention of HawkEye denied him All-Ireland success in 2014. And last March, his well-drilled Tipp side wiped Kilkenny from the field in Semple Stadium, with Niall O’Meara and Seamus Callanan providing the goals in a 12-point win. It whetted the appetite for what would happen if and when they met later in the summer. Unfortunately, O’Shea’s side came up short against Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final.

But to beat Kilkenny in the Championship during Cody’s time, inflicting a psychological blow in the League seems the way to go. Sheedy’s side beat them in the league in 2010. Conor Hayes’ Galway also beat them in a league match in 2005.

It may be something for Michael Ryan to contemplate. After watching his team turn over Nicky English’s side in Nowlan Park 17 years ago, Cody was gushing about the quality of the match. ‘That was breathtaking stuff. It was brilliant, wonderful, almost beyond belief.’

It could be a description of his rivalry with Tipperary. It has conjured up some classic encounters and memorable moments. But there has generally only been one winner. It is up to Michael Ryan to tip the balance towards the Premier County.

I have competed against a few new managers over the years