‘Never go back’ is a popular adage in sport, relationships and life, with the inference being that things will never be as good as they were the first time around.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s current travails at Manchester United could be held up as strong evidence of that, and it’s something that will no doubt have been uttered with regard to Davy Fitzgerald’s re-appointment as Waterford hurling manager, 11 years after he last held the post.

It extends his record of continuous inter-county involvement to 16 years – and possibly sets a record for the longest gap between stints in the same job for an outside manager, which is something that might render the ‘going back’ question void as he will be a fresh voice for the Déise panel.

Having won the Allianz Hurling League title this year, Waterford were expected to push on and challenge Limerick, but a poor championship campaign saw them fail to reach the knockout stages.

This precipitated Liam Cahill’s return to his native Tipperary and created the vacancy that Fitzgerald has now filled.

First time around, the Clare native came into a camp that was in disarray following the departure of Justin McCarthy but he managed to take the county to the All-Ireland final in his first year in charge and also led Waterford to the Munster title in 2010 – their most recent provincial victory.

While Mick O’Dwyer was unable to take Kildare to an All-Ireland football title, his second stint with the Lilywhites could not be considered anything other than a success

There is certainly potential within the squad, and Fitzgerald has a track record of success – at both inter-county and third-level – so he has as good a chance as anyone at succeeding.

In any case, there are more than a few Irish examples of managers disproving the “never go back,” advice.

We don’t need to look too far for a high-profile recent instance: Jack O’Connor returning to Kerry was all the more impressive as it was the second time it had happened.

Having won the All-Ireland with the Kingdom in 2004 and ’06, O’Connor stepped down, replaced by Pat O’Shea, who was in charge when Kerry beat Cork in the 2007 final.

When O’Shea left after Tyrone overcame Kerry in 2008, however, O’Connor was seen as the natural choice to come back. He proved as much immediately with the 2009 All-Ireland.

A second departure in 2012 was followed by a successful run as Kerry minor manager before taking the county’s U20s and then a spell with Kildare before once again leading the Kingdom to Sam Maguire this year – the third time he has achieved victory in his first year in charge.

Similarly, Liam Sheedy won Liam MacCarthy with Tipperary in 2010 and repeated the feat nine years later after being convinced to return.

While Mick O’Dwyer was unable to take Kildare to an All-Ireland football title, his second stint with the Lilywhites could not be considered anything other than a success, as with Jimmy Barry-Murphy’s second spell in charge of the Cork hurlers.

The county won the All-Ireland under JBM in 1999 and came within seconds of doing so again in 2013 but, even though they lost to Clare – managed by Davy Fitzgerald – in the replay, a first Munster title in eight years was claimed the following year.

Not just GAA

And it’s not just in GAA that the conventional wisdom is disproven. When Munster won the Heineken Cup in 2006 and 2008, it was with Declan Kidney as head coach.

After taking the province to the 2000 and 2002 finals, he departed and had spells as Ireland assistant coach and then head coach with Newport Gwent Dragons and Leinster before the triumphant return to Munster.

Cork City’s first two League of Ireland titles, in 1993 and 2005, were achieved under managers who had previously been in charge: the late Noel O’Mahony and Damien Richardson respectively.

Mick McCarthy also did well in his second time on the merry-go-round as Republic of Ireland boss, taking the country to a Euro 2020 play-off.

By the time that COVID-delayed game came around, McCarthy was gone as his was a fixed term with Stephen Kenny lined up to take over.

Fitzgerald has been given two years in Waterford, with the option of a third. The portents look to be positive for his Suirside return.

GAA split season

We’re not far off the first Sunday in September, which will surely give rise to more bellyaching on the part of people dead set against the split GAA season, even though the All-Ireland hurling final hasn’t been played in its traditional setting since 2017.

Obviously tradition counts for something, but most of the arguments against the new way tend to be more emotional than logical.

After the Super Bowl in late January or early February, there is no more top-level American football until August, but we never hear people express concern that half the year is being given over for baseball or basketball to flourish at the expense of the NFL.

It doesn’t seem too long ago that there were complaints about the seven-team Connacht SFC taking two and a half months to run off – now the concern is too many games in too short a space of time.

If a GAA fan’s misgiving is that they’ve no interest in the club game beyond their own team, the question would be – why not?

There’s no shortage of quality, or interesting back-stories around the country, as shown by RTÉ’s radio coverage of the Wexford senior hurling final last Sunday.

Ferns St Aidan’s won the title for the first time in their 136-year history and Paul Morris’s interview with Pauric Lodge afterwards summed up what it meant.

Morris’s best line was how the players had been regularly swimming in the River Bann – he said that if there had been someone charging €2 for people to use the river over the past month, they’d have become wealthy fairly quickly!

European Championships

It’s a year since the last Olympic Games but it is of course only two until the next edition, in Paris in 2024. And, as usual, the European Championships, taking place in Munich, offer some insight into who we might be cheering on in two years’ time.

Running until Sunday, the events are receiving coverage on RTÉ and might even inspire the next generation of practitioners of the various disciplines.

While Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy are certainly known quantities, they showed that Olympic rowing glory last year has dulled none of their competitive instinct.

They came home with another gold medal and the manner of their victory was confident and emphatic – not things we always associate with Irish competitors but certainly impressive to witness.