Ex-Tipperary hurling trainer set to join Mayo

WANTED Cian O’Neill

Horan keen on O’Neill


Ex-Tipp’ hurling trainer set for switch to Mayo

Mike Finnerty

THE former physical trainer of the Tipperary senior hurling team has emerged as the front-runner to join James Horan’s Mayo management team.
Dr Cian O’Neill, who stepped down from his role with Tipperary last week after four years in the role, is believed to be in pole position to replace Martin Connolly and Paul Jordan, who both resigned as Mayo selectors earlier this month.
O’Neill, a native of Kildare, is the course director for the BSc Physical Education programme at the University of Limerick, and has worked with Mayo footballers like Seamus O’Shea, Enda Varley, Barry Moran and Kenneth O’Malley in recent seasons.
The highly-rated coach would seem to fit the profile of person that James Horan said he was looking to recruit after the departure of Martin Connolly and Paul Jordan, who did most of the physical training with Mayo last season.
“We’re looking for the very best coach out there, someone with ambition, drive and a desire to succeed,” commented Horan recently.
“I don’t care who they are or where they’re from as long as they can do the job for Mayo. There’s a big task here and big opportunities and we’re looking to work hard and achieve as much as we possibly can.”
The official appointment of Cian O’Neill to the Mayo backroom staff is expected to be ratified at next Monday night’s meeting of the Mayo GAA Board.
If the former Limerick senior football trainer does come on board, it will represent a serious coup for James Horan as he looks to build on Mayo’s performances in 2011.
O’Neill is credited as being one of the main driving forces behind the Tipperary hurlers’ recent resurgence, with the players becoming better conditioned and more able to cope with the rigours of an inter-county campaign.