A New Year’s Day family gathering – at which there are three televisions on duty – spanning World Championship Darts, a Premier League match and one in the English Championship – is not where you’d expect one of the greatest legends ever to grace the GAA to enter your mind. Now read on…
But here we are. Jimmy Barry Murphy. JBM. It is an impregnable endorsement of the esteem in which an entity is held that only their initials are required to identify them. JFK, AP (McCoy), JP (McManus) and JBM.
The latter was the greatest dual player Ireland’s national sports – hurling and Gaelic football – has seen in nearly 60 years.
The holder of at least five inter county All Ireland medals – one in football, the rest in hurling. As well as a trailer load of honours withn his iconic club St Finbarr’s. Indeed, though now in his early 70s, JBM this year led the ‘Barrs to another Cork county football title.
In the wake of same, in reference to the fulcrum of the blue with yellow sash, Brian Hayes, the great man opined that we might never see dual players at inter county level again. A somewhat defeatist attitude indicative of the cult of the modern county manager, but a sadly difficult view to disagree with.
What I don’t know is whether JBM’s own lad, Brian, ever picked up a hurl or O’Neills Size 5. In fact, I’m not even that well versed in BBM’s playing career, but, he’s surely making quite the impact on the ground-based version of football from a management perspective.
Starting out with none other than Manchester City under the wing of Pep Guardiola.
The same wing from whence emerged Mikel Arteta and Enzo Moresca. In his own right, Brian Barry Murphy is already making quite the imprint on English football in a management capacity. Starting out with Rochdale where he made quite the impression, although things didn’t work out quite as planned there.
However, the impression he made was good enough that, even when the Rochdale expedition did come to an end, the Corkman – who along with fellow Irish man Anthony Barry has excelled as an Asst. Manager/Coach – wasn’t long about getting another gig on his own merits.
With Cardiff City. A club who, not dissimilar to their fellow Welsh parishoners Wrexham, at one point experienced a fairly rapid ascent through the ranks of English football. With the only stark difference being, as per the current incarnation of the residents of the Racecourse Ground, Cardiff went back down the rungs of the ladder with the same haste with which they scaled it.
Yet, presently, I supposed it could be said the city far better known as a rugby stronghold are rebounding in a positive fashion once again under the direction of Barry-Murphy. Sitting as they do, second in League One, the third tier. Five places above Luton Town, who, just three seasons ago, were in the Premier League and for whom Dunboyne’s Josh Keeley is having another fine season between the posts.
How ironic is it, though, that just as Barry-Murphy’s stock is at its highest plateau yet, Moresca finds himself on the dole queue. Now, the official line from his side of the story is that he left of his own volition after “Several disagreements with the club’s medical staff” but if Todd Boley is anything like his predecessor as Chelsea owner Mr Abramovich, I’d be garnishing that utterance with a serious dollop of salt.
Their results haven’t exactly been pulling up trees and – if that wasn’t drawing enough heat on the previously embattled now erstwhile Stamford Bridge boss, the fact that he made it quite obvious he wasn’t a fan of the club’s best player, Cole Palmer. Which, naturally, went down like a lead balloon with the folk who matter most of all – those who part with serious wads of money for the privilege of putting their bums on seats at the Bridge.
But if ever you wanted a scenario to encapsulate the oddities of football management in England, consider the following. No sooner has Enzo become available for employment than he was being linked with a return to Manchester City. Presumably as an assistant to Pep. Again. Go Figure!
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