The Dublin hurlers are on the lookout for a new manager, after the resignation of Micheál Donoghue earlier this month.
Donoghue, who won the All-Ireland as Galway manager in 2017, took over as Dublin boss ahead of the 2023 season. His first season saw the Dubs come through the repechage to reach an All-Ireland quarter-final, while this year saw them step up and reach the Leinster final - where they would take a battering from Kilkenny.
Despite the demoralising drubbing by the Cats in the Leinster final, the general consensus was that Donoghue had Dublin on the right track. His decision to step away came as something of a surprise to the GAA community, with Dublin appearing to be slowly building as a team.
It now appears apparent that the Dublin squad shared those opinions, with Conor Burke revealing this week that they had not expected Donoghue to step away.
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Conor Burke says Dublin squad did not expect Micheál Donoghue to step away
Speaking to the Irish media at an event in Dublin this week, Burke reflected on Micheál Donoghue's departure from the Dubs setup.
St. Vincent's star Burke has lined out for Dublin for several seasons now, and was a core part of Donoghue's midfield during the Galway man's time in charge.
Burke said that the squad enjoyed working with Donoghue, who took control of hurling matters from "the top," with the ex-manager helping to steadily improve Dublin's fortunes during his two seasons in charge.
However, Burke also said that the squad were blindsided by the manager's sudden departure at the end of this season - despite Donoghue having hinted at the harsh reality of coaching a team based on the opposite side of the country.
Initially it was a little bit of a surprise...disappointed to hear about it, for sure.
Micheál was a great manager. He has a proven track record and a huge pedigree. We made strides under him but, I suppose, sport is a huge part of our lives and his life but there are other elements that come in the way of that – things like personal life, work, obviously travel to come up to Dublin.
He had communicated prior to him stepping away that there was a lot of other factors at play in his life that were contributing to his ability to fully commit.
So yeah, it wasn't really expected after Cork but there are tons of life events and life things that are dragging you left and right.
Micheál Donoghue has been heavily linked with returning to the Galway job in place of the recently-departed Henry Shefflin. Donoghue managed the Tribesmen for five seasons in the 2010s, delivering their first All-Ireland title in 29 years in 2017.
For Dublin, it appears as though the team are back to square one after a promising few seasons.
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