In life and sport, the adage that you should never go back tends to exist for a reason.

Look at English soccer and there are more than a few examples of managers being unable to generate the same magic the second time around – Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool, Howard Kendall at Everton and Kevin Keegan with Newcastle United all presided over second terms which were not near as successful as the first.

Obviously, it’s too early to judge Mick McCarthy’s second stint as Republic of Ireland manager but it has gone fairly well so far.

Likewise, the GAA tends to throw up a few examples of those who have flourished with a county team after a period away. Jack O’Connor came back to the Kerry job in 2009 and immediately won a third All-Ireland as manager and his countyman Mick O’Dwyer took Kildare further the second time around than he had in the first.

On Leeside, Jimmy Barry-Murphy had Cork seconds away from beating Clare in the 2013 All-Ireland final when he returned to the helm. Incidentally, JBM was the first man to beat Brian Cody twice in the championship, with those victories 14 years apart.

Second comings

In the boat of having returning managers at present are both the Mayo footballers and Tipperary hurlers.

Mayo fans will hope that James Horan’s second coming can be of a similar standing to John Maughan’s (though hopefully with the extra step to Sam Maguire) while Tipp hope Liam Sheedy can repeat the trick of 2010 and land the Liam McCarthy.

Horan got off to the perfect start as Mayo claimed the league title before Roscommon came along to burst their bubble in the Connacht championship.

Sheedy and Tipperary travelled a different path. A slow spring ended in a league quarter final defeat to Dublin, but the Premier clicked as championship rolled around, racking up huge scores in commanding defeats of Cork, Waterford and Clare.

It’s important though to point out that Tipperary’s 2018 wasn’t the absolute disaster that it might seem.

They completed a great comeback to draw with Cork and, while they did get lucky with the ‘ghost goal’ against Waterford, they still had qualification for the All-Ireland series in their hands when they hosted Clare in Thurles.

Had Jake Morris not been unlucky to see an effort for a clinching goal come back off the post, they might have kicked on, but instead a goal at the other end by Clare’s Ian Galvin saw Tipp crash out of the championship.

Things were at a low ebb as Liam Sheedy came back, but it wasn’t as if Tipp’s players had lost their powers. Confidence is an incredibly nebulous quality but its impact is clear to see in how they have roared into the championship.

Sunday’s dismantling of Clare in Ennis secured a place in the All-Ireland series and only a freak set of results will prevent Tipp’s presence in the Munster final.

Sheedy hasn’t assembled a whole new team on the pitch, but his off-field set-up is undeniably blue-chip, featuring Tommy Dunne, Eamon O’Shea and Darragh Egan. The manager is shrewd enough to know that he doesn’t have all the answers but he has people in place to cover his weaknesses and contribute to what is a formidable whole.

If there is a worry for Tipperary, it’s the question of how to maintain such a tempo throughout the championship, but it’s understandable that they were keen to ensure they weren’t looking in from the outside for a second successive year.

Tipp aren’t in action this weekend but will be watching on to see how the landscape forms ahead of the final round of matches. A difficult campaign will come to an end for Waterford against Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, with a home victory likely there, while the Limerick-Clare tie at the Gaelic Grounds will be a real championship tussle – not do-or-die but not far off it, setting things up for the final round.

In Leinster, Galway go to Nowlan Park under a bit of pressure as they take on a Kilkenny team that has two wins from two, while a likely Wexford victory against Carlow will have them anticipating a cut off the Cats the following week.

With Dublin playing Galway in Parnell Park, there could be a fascinating final day in store. CL

Bumper weekend in store

While we can’t claim all of the credit on the back of last week’s column, it was nevertheless heartening to see last week’s Sunday Game highlights show begin with the drawn extra-time encounter between Armagh and Cavan rather than one of the hurling matches which had been shown live.

The one-sided nature of the Limerick and Tipperary wins undoubtedly contributed, but it was welcome to note a change in approach. While Pat Spillane might have gone over the top in celebrating the quality of the game in the Athletic Grounds, it was at least exciting if not excellent.

How those in charge will manage this weekend’s bumper weekend which features eight football qualifiers, provincial semi-finals from Leinster and Ulster and four games in the Munster and Leinster hurling championships will be an interesting watch.