‘Keeping familiar faces involved will help the transition and make sure it’s as smooth as it can be’

IT is an opportunity that Seanie Cahalane wasn’t expecting, but he made sure he grabbed it.

He’s only 36 years old – and won’t turn 37 until September – but he has landed one of the most high-profile jobs in Cork club football: he’s the new manager of Castlehaven’s senior football team.

As first jobs go, they don’t come any bigger than managing your home football team that is the reigning county and Munster champions, and the expectations that come with that, but Cahalane isn’t fazed by it.

‘I am looking forward to it. Ya, it will be a tough challenge but it’s fiercely exciting too,’ he told The Southern Star.

‘We have a committed bunch of lads there, there is a good mix of youth and experience, and the lads saw what was needed last season to get the success that we had so they have that knowledge too.’

Castlehaven were always going to appoint from within after James McCarthy confirmed in February he was stepping aside after four years in charge – and given two-time county winning captain Cahalane (2012 and ’13) was part of McCarthy’s management team, he emerged as a natural successor. He has also soldiered alongside some of the players he will now manage, winning counties as a player with Mark Collins, Brian Hurley, Damien Cahalane and Michael Hurley. 

‘After the All-Ireland semi-final against St Brigids in January we gave James plenty of time to make his decision. He was unsure what he was going to do and he has given four years of massive service to the team. The club and everyone gave him time, and his decision was to step away. The club approached me then – I was part of last year’s management team so the club looked to have that continuity,’ Cahalane explained.

That continuity is important, and it’s why Cahalane’s management team includes selectors who were involved in the last few seasons, Enda Buckley and Gavin Gallagher, as well as Anthony Seymour who will be focussed on coaching this season.

‘Keeping familiar faces involved will help the transition and make sure it’s as smooth as it can be – you could see that when we got back training. It was a roll-on from last year,’ Cahalane said, before revealing goalkeeper Seymour won’t be lining out in the season ahead.

‘He won’t be playing, unfortunately. He was quite injury-prone last season so he’ll be focussed on his selector role only  – he will be a very good addition to the management team, he has great experience and is another fella who knows what it’s all about. He is a big asset to our ticket. Enda and Gavin were both involved last season too, have great experience and it’s fantastic to have them stay on.

‘I was involved as a selector with the Castlehaven U21s for a few years, under Enda, and it’s great he is still part of the management team. I’d have a good relationship with Enda. I have been involved in a few underage teams as well, but I was playing up until a few years ago. When you’re playing it’s hard to juggle both, and towards the end of my career I tried to focus on getting as much as I could out of the playing aspect.’

Now it’s time to focus on his next challenge: managing county champions Castlehaven. They kick off their Division 1 county league campaign at home to Douglas this Saturday (1pm), but it’s only 55 days since the Haven lost the All-Ireland club semi-final and they took a deserved break after that, including a team holiday in Tenerife. Naturally they don’t have much work done since.

‘We’ll go game by game in the league. It’s hard to know where you are at this stage of the year, how much teams have done. Others go at early and get fitness blocks in, whereas others are at a different stage. We have only been back in the last week or so, we will probably be under pressure for the first few weeks but we’ll take it as it comes and feel our way into the season,’ added the new Haven manager, who has inherited a panel that knows how to win and will be the team to beat in the championship later in the year.