Former Waterford hurling All Star, Jim Greene, has told the ‘Examiner’ newspaper he’d ‘cut off his right arm’ to become manager of the Waterford senior hurling team…

On hearing the news, a couple of rueful Waaaaterrrrrfurd fans remarked that tis’ his head – not his right arm – the former star should be getting the doctors in Ardkeen General Hospital to look at. And, in a county where the team is festooned with one-handed hurlers, maybe having a manager with his right arm cut off is not so ridiculous after all!

However, Greene’s offer has raised consternation among the ranks of existing county managers and wannabee managers and is seen as setting a dangerous precedent. After all, if someone is prepared to offer his right arm to manage a decrepit outfit like the Déise hurlers, what part – or parts – of your anatomy would you have to offer up to get managing a high profile team like the Meath footballers, the Limerick or Tipp hurlers or even Westmeath footballers? Like the proverbial wall of soccer players facing a free, some GAA managers will now begin to nervously clutch their nether regions or ‘crown jewels’ each time a senior County Board official hoves into sight. Just in case they might be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice for their job, you know. After all, you can probably imagine what someone like Frank Murphy, of Cork, or Fintan Ginnity, in Meath, might demand of a putative manager… ‘Blood? Yerra Bhoy, das’ not enough! Tis’ your heart, mind, body and soul we want!’

In certain counties, along with the various trophies won, you could see bottles of formaldehyde lined up on the side board, containing various parts of the anatomies of previous applicants for the manager’s job. There could also be unseemly bidding for vacancies by rival applicants: ‘If he’s offering his right hand for the job, I’m prepared to cut off my two feet and throw in my little fingers as well!’

Other hurling and football managers believe that the impulsive Mr Greene’s offer has cut the ground from under them in future negotiations with their county boards over expenses. You go in to a meeting demanding an increase in mileage expenses from, say, 20p to 25p a mile, and you come out clutching your balls with the County Chairman telling you you’re lucky to have held on to them with the kind of results you’ve been getting lately. It also gives new meaning to the recurrent rumours about certain managers costing their counties ‘an arm and a leg’.

AFR’s view is that Jim Greene shouldn’t have to offer up any part of his anatomy to secure the Waterford job. He has a distinguished pedigree in Waterford and Munster hurling that is only exceeded by the giants of the great era of ’57 to ’63. Greene was an All Star in 1982, when it was extremely difficult for a Waterford hurler to get noticed, and he was a replacement All Star the previous year. With the famous Mount Sion club, he won eight senior county medals. Greene has shown he has managerial skill as well. In 1992, he led Waterford to their first Munster minor hurling title since 1948 and he was also in charge when the county won the Munster Under-21 title in 1994. He has coached Mount Sion to two senior county championships and has experience in the engine rooms of Shamrocks in Kilkenny and Geraldine O’Hanrahans in Wexford. He fits the bill of the ideal Waterford hurling manager - a native of the county, with solid, respectable achievements on the field of play, managerial experience, someone whom the players will respect and not mess around with. That he is from the Mount Sion club is an added advantage, since if Waterford are ever to scale the heights again, the team will have to be backboned by the city club.

With Greene on offer, why bother looking to the likes of Loughnane (all present face Bodyke and bow to the waist three times) or – even worse – ‘Babs’ Keating? If a Waterford man cannot be found for the job, the County Board need only look a few miles down the road east wards to Wexford … and Liam Griffin.

Related Topics:
"The Gentle County’…
The ‘Newsweek’ Guide to GAA Success!
Any Messiah from the Suir-side Fog?
Munster Hurling: Bad Economics... Even Worse Refereeing!
Babs: Smugness and Insight in Inverse Proportions
The Same Oul Story for Waterford Hurling
Can Mount Sion Lead Waterford to the Promised Land?
Can "The Banner" Survive Without Loughnane?