Row was brewing, admits Carlow skipper, but new boss will die for cause

Irish Examiner

09-05-2025

Carlow captain Mikey Bambrick reckons it helps to have a local man who would 'die for the jersey' in charge of the county team.
Éire Óg's Joe Murphy stepped down from his role with Naas to take the Carlow reins following Shane Curran's mid-season departure.
Former Roscommon goalkeeper Curran left under a cloud, claiming that 'player related issues' had forced his hand.
The players themselves, in response, refuted any wrongdoing and said their dedication and commitment had been unfairly called into question.
According to the players, they had 'persistent concerns about the overall organisation and training environment' from the start of the year.
Murphy jumped in at short notice to lead Carlow against Meath in the Leinster SFC, ending in a predictable defeat, but five weeks on they should be better prepared for Sunday's trip to Fermanagh in the Tailteann Cup.
"You can see his enthusiasm, he was just itching to get into it," said Bambrick of new manager Murphy. "It's great to see that and it's great to have a Carlow man of the highest coaching standard coming in and taking us over. It's brilliant.
"You see managers going out to different counties and, yeah, they're passionate and they want to win but I think it's a different level when you're from the county that you're coaching. It's the same if you've a club man taking over their club, you know they'd die for the jersey and die for a win."
Bambrick said it was difficult being plunged into a media storm just as they were preparing for the Championship but he felt it coming as tensions brewed in the camp.
"It was building for a few weeks, it wasn't really out of the blue," he said. "There was stuff building there, we were having conversations with the county board for a few weeks. It wasn't a surprise.
"As players we wanted to move on as quickly as we could and it was only when the statement came out from Shane that we felt we had to set things right as players.
"We never really wanted any of that. It's not what we wanted to be doing, talking to the media. We just wanted to be playing football so it is what it is. We've moved on now. That's all stuff in the past. We've moved on to a lot better things with Joe and the setup we have now."
Carlow were wiped out by half-time against Meath in their Leinster opener, trailing by 0-5 to 0-22. But they won the second half and shot five two-pointers in that period.
Bambrick is upbeat about what they can do in the Tailteann Cup, particularly with five weeks of Murphy's guidance.
"If you look at the individual matchups from that game, you can say there wasn't a whole pile between a lot of them," said the versatile forward. "They're a well drilled team, physically they can compete with anyone in the country.
"But we would still feel that if we were to face them again, we could give them a rattle. That's the standard you want to get to. That's where we want to get to and those are the teams you want to play against."