Quiet man going about his business

Leinster SF Championship: When Paul Caffrey took over as Dublin manager his first rule was not to talk about Dublin football. His second rule was not to talk about Dublin football. He'll say what needs to be said and he hasn't refused a phone call yet but even one searching question about Dublin football brings out this impressive ability to enforce his own rule.

In the days before Dublin's first championship match against Longford, and Caffrey's grand entrance into Croke Park as manager, he's been answering more phone calls than usual. A chance, perhaps, to catch him off guard, that by saying he won't be kept long, and it's nothing in depth, he might cross the line.

So he skirts around the edges, talks a little bit about the preparations and life outside of management, and when he thinks he's talking about Dublin football he just stops talking. Everything just falls silent. His first rule as Dublin manager.

"Every manager has their own style," he says. "And anyone who knows Paul Caffrey would appreciate from my earlier days with the team that I am a quiet enough individual.

"That's just my personality, so of course that's going to come out. But I've always believed it's not about the profile of the manager or anything like that, it's about the footballers."

So far at least it's been a style of management that certainly appears to suit this Dublin team. They went through the league quietly doing their own thing, beating Mayo, Westmeath, Donegal and Offaly without causing too much a stir, and likewise with their defeats to Kerry and Tyrone. The hammering against Cork was the one exclamation mark.

"It's not my style to start talking about lessons," he says, still firmly on guard. "We played seven league matches, and I think for six of those we were very competitive.

"We had one very bad day out. I would have liked to get a few more points on board, but eight points was our return, and that wasn't enough to make the play-offs.

"We did win some tight matches, and that's always a positive, but like any other team we just set out to win as many matches as possible, and to make progress."

It won't be remembered as the league that revealed a golden horde of new Dublin players, with the likes of Stephen O'Shaughnessy and Declan Lally among the few fresher faces. Yet Robbie Boyle's return was significant, as was Tomas Quinn's reliability as free-taker.

"It is a balance between testing your squad, and remaining competitive. And that was the way we approached it. But I'm happy with the players that are there. We've been watching them closely, but we put out fairly consistent teams, and the championship will tell if we've unearthed the players or not."

Caffrey has had six weeks since the end of the league to focus entirely on the championship. He by-passed the now traditional team-bonding training trip, and kept everything on home ground: "I'd describe the last few weeks as business-like. We've worked hard like every other team to get our preparations spot on. We didn't go away, because I feel a trip like that has pluses and minuses.

"They were away last year in Tenerife, and this year we just felt we'd a tough league campaign, and between club matches and challenge matches we'd be better off staying at home.

"But everything has gone as I'd expected it would. It's been a mixture of not having the competitive outings of the league, and just concentrating on the training. We've trained well and we've trained hard, and we're just looking forward now to our first game against Longford."

Okay - so are Dublin good enough to win Leinster? If they get past Longford and then manage to beat Meath they'll certainly be well set up.

"I've the height of respect for every team in Leinster," says Caffrey. "I've seen that in print already, about Dublin and Meath, but I'm not even going to entertain that proposal. Anyone who was down in Portlaoise last summer for the qualifier will tell you Longford are a very capable side.

"Until Ian Robertson got the goal they were still right in the game, and we're expecting a very tough battle against them. It would be highly disrespecting for anyone involved with Dublin to look any further than Longford.

"But it is a very open competition, and I think everyone from Liam Hayes with Carlow to Luke Dempsey with Longford feel they can have a crack at the Leinster title. And Paul Caffrey of Dublin is no different."

Whatever about winning in Leinster, there aren't many teams in the province been mentioned in terms of All-Ireland success: "Well we'll see about that come September. I'm not prepared to talk at all about the Armaghs or the Kerrys, because they are well down the line. But I'm a football supporter like anyone else and I know that was an awesome display of football by Armagh in the league final. If they produce that week in week out then I think we'll all be sitting back admiring them come September. But football isn't like that."

It would take some wicked interrogation tactics to get Caffrey talking about his own brand of football. He has surrounded himself with the men he wanted - Dave Billings, Brian Talty and Paul Clarke, with other positive influences coming from people like Liam Moggan.

"Suffice to say everyone within the management team has a role a play. I just delegate things. I'm not going into the specifics of that, but I'd like to think we've gelled well, and we're all focused on getting our challenge under way in Croke Park on Sunday.

"And as a management team we're trying to cover all aspects. Some of these players are under their fifth manager, and some of them are under their first. But it's not something I seek counsel on. Players ultimately want to play to the maximum themselves, and that should be their only interest."

Caffrey describes his own playing days with Dublin as "very unspectacular" but something he looks back on with pride. He played minor and under-21 for Dublin, then spent 1987 and 1988 with the seniors.

Management was the logical progression, and after three years working with Tommy Lyons the timing was ripe last November to take the giant leap.

So Sunday in Croke Park marks the true beginning of the Caffrey era in Dublin football, not that he's going to talk about that.