Former Clare and Galway hurling manager Ger Loughnane has said that Brian Cody should have stepped down as Kilkenny's manager at this year's All-Ireland Final.
Cody was ratified by the Kilkenny County Board to take charge of the team next season, as they look to regain the All-Ireland title. The primary school principal has been in charge of the team since November 1998.
In his spell with Kilkenny, Cody has undoubtedly become the greatest hurling manager of all time. He has led the team to 11 All-Ireland titles, and 15 Leinster Championships. Eight National Leagues have also been won during his reign.
Despite the successes, Loughnane, himself a two-time All-Ireland winning manager, thinks Cody has overstayed his welcome, despite adding he could be "the greatest hurling personality of all". Writing in the Irish Daily Star, the Clare native said it was time to go for the 62-year-old.
"Does he now think he's indispensable to Kilkenny, that he owns the job?", Loughnane wrote.
Cody's tenure was compared to those of Mick O'Dwyer and Sean Boylan, who he claims made the mistake of staying too long with their respective counties.
"By the time they left, the cupboard was so bare, that many years of famine ensued... These were the two greatest football managers but both stayed on for at least three years too long."
Kilkenny lost the All-Ireland final to Tipperary in September by nine points, and Loughnane added that "had [Cody] left, he would be leaving a team with a reasonable chance of winning silverware in 2017."
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