One day after leading the Cork Ladies football team to their historic 10th All-Ireland title, manager Éamonn Ryan is still fixating about their nine point defeat to Kerry in the Munster final.
Cork vanquished those demons with a 13 point win over Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final, which set them up for that famous victory yesterday. And yet Ryan still couldn't embrace their achievement.
His inability to overlook the flaws in their journey is a measure of Ryan's thirst for perfection. And it's the kind of mentality that's synonymous with Kilkenny's Brian Cody, a coach who is known for his phobia for losing. Ryan has been repeatedly compared to the Kilkenny manager as one of the most successful managers in GAA history.
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But when the consensus was reported back to the rebelette mentor earlier today, Eamonn Ryan shook his head in disbelief and quelled the popular opinion with a suitably relaxed response to the Brian Cody comparison.
Like the fella says 'paper will never refuse ink.' I think people say these things in a kind of a rash moment. This is just something I love doing and so long as the health keeps, I'll keep doing it
He may not agree with the opinion, but his individual accolades as a manager go a long way to substantiate the comparison with Brian Cody. He was one of the nominees for the RTÉ Sports Manager of The Year award last year along with Cody and Kerry's Éamonn Fitzmaurice.
