MOSTLY HURLING:On match day the manager displays, like the peacock's tail in full flourish, the full extent of his expressions

‘Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door” – so runs the line of the Beatles’ 1966 song Eleanor Rigby from the album Revolver. I wonder did Eleanor ever consider having a go at intercounty management.

The modern-day intercounty managers have to have the ability to generate and wear many faces. We all, at this stage, know the public face of the well-known managers, the humility of Seán Boylan, the stoicism of Mickey Harte, the roguery of Mick O’Dwyer, the intensity of Davy Fitzgerald and the always playing-up-the-opposition façade of Brian Cody. We are used to seeing and hearing them answering or, should I say, much of the time, avoiding answering the country’s sporting press. We think we know them until we see them caught off-guard on occasion and then we realise that we don’t really. But then there are many sides to these modern-day Machiavellis.

Unless he’s an automatic choice our potential county boss has to pull on face number one in an effort to convince the county board that he’s the man for the job. “I’ll introduce the SAQ and of course I’ll make sure they’ll understand the Glycemic index. As ye know I’m good with people and you can be sure that I’ll get the best out of the team.”

First players’ meeting he pulls on face number two. It’s the “you’ll all get a fair crack of the whip from me. I’ll treat everybody the same. If ye put in the work on the field you can be sure I’ll be doing it in the background”.

But it’s on match day that the manager displays, like the peacock’s tail in full flourish, the full extent of his assortment of expressions. There’s the happy face that he wears as all gather to board the bus for Thurles, Tullamore, Portlaoise or Croke Park.

This soon changes to the serious game face which he has to don before the team meeting in some hotel or other. It’s there he’ll get into full flight as he runs through the tactics, then the reasons why today is the day and that it’s now or never and that it’s time to stand up and be counted and that “this is for yourselves and the families and the county”.

He’ll then slip into his “I’m in control” face as the bus heads out again.

As game time approaches he touches up the game face before he says his final few words. The team are now primed. “No regrets,” he shouts and out they go.

The game face has to be replaced now with the “intelligent, I’m not easily fazed kind of poker face” as he patrols the line. Unfortunately sometimes this can slip as his team are doing likewise. We might see the vigorous pointing finger and the animated “are you stupid grimace” as he tries to get his point across amid the din in the stadium.

Half-time and it’s back to the game face as he dispenses the words of wisdom again.

Full-time and the face is result dependent. Win and it could be the humble but secretly delighted look, or the my smile says it all look, or the job well done but there’s more to do face.

Lose badly and it’s the dejected look or the humble but inside he’s eaten up by being beaten by them again.

Back in the sanctuary of the dressingroom but the job isn’t over yet he has to pull out the next visage. This again will be result dependent as he addresses his own troops.

Then he reaches for his next change of face as he heads for the opposition dressingroom.

“Hurling was the winner,” he articulates as he congratulates the victors but inside his conscience is at him for being able to utter such words and dole out the praise prose when he’s dying inside but his face is his friend and doesn’t betray him, or it could be the “I’ll tell them how great they are and what a great sporting game it was and how they’ll be back again next year and that they should be very proud of the performance but there has to be a winner and today was our day” but he’ll have to say it with humility and a face to match.

No he’s not finished yet. The press, that nefarious vulture that feeds on negativity, have to be faced. A suitable face is donned as he fields questions left, right and centre. “We knew they’d come at us in the second half”, or the “you don’t become a bad team overnight” line, or the “the buzz was good at training during the week” answer is reeled off almost automatically.

But not until he reaches the refuge of home can he put the face back into the jar and be himself again.

Over the next fortnight we’ll get a few chances to see Liam Sheedy’s and Brian Cody’s faces as they play up or down their team’s chances in final ’09. But the burning question is whose face will be required on Sunday evening September 6th in Croke Park as the added time is ebbing to an end and the clique of photographers is congregating hurriedly on the sideline to shoot the front-page image of a face that’s kept, like the Doulton China tea set, only for special occasions and, in the hurling world, they don’t come any more special than this one?

Some stars of the future will be on display in Parnell Park and Thurles on Saturday for the Bord Gais (with their impressive website www. breakingthrough.ie) Under-21 semi-finals. Kilkenny, no doubt, will give Antrim a lesson or two on their way to yet another final. The other game is much more difficult to predict. Galway, who played in the 2006 and ’08 All-Ireland minor finals, have a lot of experience and also have Joe Canning but this impressive emerging Clare side with a Munster championship under their belt will not go down easily.

The Connacht side might shade it in what should be a very good hurling game.