Brian Lohan may be able to walk on water in the hurling heartland of Clare, the Banner County's very own small ball messiah.
But he needs a win on Sunday – and he needs it more than the man in the opposite dug-out, first-year Kilkenny coach, Derek Lyng.
That's the thoughts of former Tipperary ace, Brendan Cummins, ahead of this weekend’s All-Ireland semi-final between the pair.
Cummins told the RTÉ Sport GAA podcast that, while Lyng has already proved his mettle having stepped into the cavernous shoes of Brian Cody, Lohan – beatified though he may be by the yellow and blue – needs to repay that unyielding support by giving his people another big day out.
"Clare have to win, to be honest," Cummins said, flatly. "I know everyone 'has to’ win an All-Ireland semi-final – it is the be-all and end-all. But for Brian Lohan and the project, he’s taken them so far… he can walk on water in Clare, he’s Christ Almighty to be fair to the man.
"Before the Munster final, he went up to do the interview and all the Clare supporters stood up and just clapped and cheered and the whole lot. If I’m an inter-county manager, I want to be like that!
"Think of all the things that happened along the line, like they misfired the goalkeeping situation [against Tipperary] in Ennis that day. Gave a fella a go [Eamonn Foudy], it didn’t really work out. The Munster final, where they left the full-back line wide open for as long as they did – [Aaron] Gillane went to town.
"Still, unwavering support for the man. Everyone believes in Brian Lohan because he is tradition, he seeps Clare hurling out of him. He’s just so teak-tough strong. Doesn’t give a sh*te about anybody else. 'Say what ya like about me, I don’t care’. That’s why, if Clare can win this, it would be a huge plus for the support that he’s gotten and what he’s done for this Clare team.
"They’ve been really good and, on that basis, I think they really have to win this one. Kilkenny can say it’s their first year [post Cody], they’ve done really well, won a Leinster final, blah blah blah. But success for Clare has to be getting to an All-Ireland final and that might be enough to drive these players across the line and get them the point or two win that they’ll need."
Lyng stepped into the Cats’ hotseat after Cody drew the curtain down last year on one of the great GAA careers.
Cody led the Black and Amber, unapologetically with an iron fist, for 24 seasons and returned 18 Leinster titles and no fewer than 11 Liam MacCarthys. Follow that so, Derek…
Lyng, who won a half dozen of those Cody All-Irelands from midfield, was smart enough to realise that the Kilkenny squad were not in need of any root and branch clear-out. His Cats side are in the mould of his predecessor’s, with only minimal acknowledgments of the game’s more modern penchants of occasional short puckouts and raiding corner-backs.
"If you look at the history of sport. Alex Ferguson left [Manchester United], David Moyes took over and it was an absolute car crash," Cummins said.
"Brian Cody leaves, Derek Lyng takes over. I don't see a huge amount of a dip in aggression, in anger, in the way they're going about their business. Billy Drennan has entered into the fold – if his injury’s all cleared up – he was unbelievable in the U20 championship last year. He’s a big plus for them now.
"If [Adrian] Mullen’s thumb has cleared up, which I hear it might be, he’s a big plus as well. So Derek Lyng is thinking ‘D’ya know what, this Kilkenny juggernaut keeps going’… it’s in their DNA. I’ve given years in dressing-rooms going ‘Why can’t we be like bloody Kilkenny? Hard to beat.
"They are not that. The reason they are not that, is that they can win their own ball. If a high ball drops somewhere, under pressure, TJ [Reid] will come out in the middle of a crowd and he’ll catch it and he’ll break momentum. They can break your momentum.
"There’ll be four and five fellas chasing down Clare lads and how Clare deal with that pressure… but Derek Lyng is doing a fantastic job in keeping continuity, in seeing no major change other than they are going shorter on the puckouts.
"Yes, their corner-back is scoring goals and that, which might not have happened under Brian Cody, there is an absolute freedom. If I’m a Kilkenny player, I’m saying ‘Right, Brian was fantastic, but Derek is the next up and we trust him, we want to make sure he gets across the line and no-one is giving out about him after 70 minutes.
"He’s fostered a great team spirit within the group and bedded in perfectly, as I knew he would because he’s extremely, extremely good."
"When they played that League final against Limerick and they got clipped, Derek still brought on new fellas in from the bench. If he was an inexperienced manager, he’d have panicked and thought ‘Oh my God, I need to put on TJ Reid, I need to put on this fella, I need to show that I’m trying everything I can to win the match’ but he was so in control of what he was doing and, for me, that’s really impressive, building for the future.
"That [League final] game wasn’t the be-all or end-all – you’re planning for later in the year. And here we are…"
Here we are indeed.
Watch the All-Ireland Hurling Championship semi-finals, Limerick v Galway (Saturday at 6pm) and Clare v Kilkenny (Sunday at 4pm) this weekend on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport or listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
Listen to the RTÉ GAA Podcast on the RTÉ Radio Player, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts
