Brian Barry-Murphy's famous dad issued five-word response when asked about Cardiff City job
Brian Barry-Murphy's famous dad issued five-word response when asked about Cardiff City job
The Irishman is completing his first week in the job after being unveiled as Cardiff City boss
Cardiff City head coach Brian Barry-Murphy
(Image: Cardiff City FC )
When Brian Barry-Murphy sought counsel from his father, the legendary Irish sportsman Jimmy, about the Cardiff City job, the answer he received was about as convincing as you can get: "Don't think twice about it".
Barry-Murphy Snr. is a sporting icon on the Emerald Isle, having helped to deliver six All-Ireland titles as a player across both Gaelic football and hurling. A remarkable seven-time All-Star—five in hurling and two in football—his influence on the game extended well beyond his playing days.
In 1995, he managed Cork's hurlers to Liam MacCarthy Cup success, returning for a second spell in charge from 2011 to 2015. Join the Cardiff City breaking news and top stories WhatsApp community.
His legacy was brought back into the spotlight in 2022 when Roy Keane, appearing on Monday Night Football, named Barry-Murphy Snr. as his greatest sporting hero—leaving the Sky Sports panel momentarily lost for words.
"Growing up in Ireland, the GAA was a big part of my life," said Keane. "Hurling—watching Jimmy Barry-Murphy playing for Cork—you know, brilliant sportsman."
So it's fair to say, he is qualified to offer his opinion when his son needs advice in the sporting arena. And his response was unequivocally in the affirmative.
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"I got advice [from his father] in the sense that he just told me to take the job," Barry-Murphy said. "He said: 'don't think twice about it'.
"He was speaking about the stature of this club and where it is and what an opportunity it is to put the supporters and the club on a path to something completely different and that is why have come here.
"A lot of how I work and how I try to bring people on this journey is down to what I witnessed from him growing up. I thought we could get away without mentioning him, but now that we have there was always an expectation based on my father's exploits, there was always an expectation in our household that we had to win and he had to win and had to be winning trophies.
"That kind of stuff you become aware of it from a very young age so I have lived with that my whole life and get out of the spotlight of that."
That winning mentality of which Barry-Murphy speaks has been sorely lacking in the Welsh capital for some years now. Indeed it's been a steady slide downwards since the relegation from the Premier League and the club's board hope that the Irishman's appointment signifies a meaningful directional shift in more ways than one.
During the head coach's first press conference this week, he outlined with a real clarity how he wants to play and seemed extraordinarily confident that he would be able to deliver it.
Admirable, but of course he will have to walk the walk after talking the talk. He does, however, have excellent schooling under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, where he spent three years as the head academy coach.
Going there from Rochdale, where he was lauded for his style of play, but ultimately saw them relegated out of League One, taught him how to turn his philosophy into winning football – which Cardiff fans will hope to see at Cardiff City Stadium over the course of his three-year contract and beyond.
"When you go somewhere like Man City you see how to turn that possession-based football into effective football where you have to serve the ball to a certain calibre of footballer who wanted it quicker," he said.
"I always knew what I wanted to do, I didn't always know how to do it and that is what I got from Guardiola in terms of that training programme where you keep that ball for long periods, but for what reason? The longer you keep that ball the less effective you are at arriving at the last line of the opponents effectively.
"We have the calibre of player here who can attack quickly and if you link it back to a Cole Palmer or an Oscar Bobb, if you spend loads of time keeping the ball at the back with those players by the time if comes to the last line, the opponents are really well structured and organised and it becomes quite a sterile, negative experience.
"The way I have arrived as a coach and the way I want to see my teams play is to arrive much quicker and once we have arrived to finish attacks in a much more effective way.
"That's something that has evolved over time and leaves me where I am today, it leaves me in a much more progressive way where a team can be more aggressive and it gives the supporters something that I know works and I know how it works based on where I have been and hopefully it will invigorate the Cardiff supporters.
"It allows you to win. You can dodge that question as much as you want but really We are here to win and win often enough to achieve the objectives that we want."
Barry-Murphy's most recent job was at Leicester City, an experience he says he "got a lot out of" even if Ruud van Nistelrooy's side did suffer Premier League relegation. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.
But it was his first step out into elite, senior football after leaving Man City — he also cites now-Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca as a huge help to him there — and now this will be his first head coach job since departing Rochdale in 2022. There is a risk, of course, but all appointments at this level, where these sorts of clubs find themselves, have risks attached.
Some will take convincing, but Barry-Murphy wouldn't have it any other way. When asked if he felt he had something to prove as a head coach of a club the size of Cardiff, he replied: "That is the way you want it.
"If you were in the background and not being judged and nobody had an opinion on you, that is fine for some people but not for me. I am fine about whatever opinion people have of me.
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"My dedication is to the club and to the players so that they can train every day to win on a Saturday. I am fine about being judged on that. When I was a younger coach or manager I was quite protective about being judged on the result based on trying to justify what we do, nowadays it is fine because I have that experience: win, lose or draw you can say whatever you want, it is fine because I will have done everything I can during the week to give us the best chance to win."
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