DAVY FITZGERALD

All-Ireland winning player and manager gets inside the game

- 

FROM the outside looking in, it feels as though there's a bit of pressure on Derek Lyng as the Championship heads for its conclusion.

I don't think it’s fair, what it’s worth.

He's come in after the greatest manager in the history of the game and won three Leinster titles. But All-Irelands are what really count in Kilkenny. They haven't won one in 10 years and, if they don't see it through this year, it'll be their longest ever drought.

That shouldn't be pinned on Lyng and this particular group of players but if it happens on their watch it's something that they'll be associated with, rightly or wrongly.

Liam Cahill, by contrast, has probably done enough this year to ensure that he gets another season in Tipperary having brought the team back to Croke Park after a six-year gap - and from a position where they looked to be dire straits 12 months ago. But you couldn't be so sure about Lyng if things don't work out tomorrow.

To be fair to him, he’s put his own stamp on the team. They vary their game more now with the short and long ball. The puckout strategy has evolved beyond what it was under Brian Cody (below) and, in Eoin Murphy, they have a goalkeeper that can adapt to that with relative ease.

Kilkenny-Tipperary games were always man-to-man combat but there will be a bit more to this match on the tactical side as both counties have moved on.

I still expect hard tackling, plenty of running and lots of nice hurling. This is a game that will have everything - but plenty of variation too, perhaps unlike their meetings of yesteryear.