aimed squarely at manager Mickey Whelan.

That Offaly were Leinster champions under manager Tommy Lyons didn't appease the mob; in fact it probably only made them angrier. Whelan had won nothing in his tenure, and with Dublin displaying a haplessness and mean streak that had culminated with Offaly's Finbarr Cullen lying in hospital minus three front teeth, the assembled punters had had enough. Whelan walked.

Lyons may have been working wonders down in Tullamore, but his time had yet to come in the big smoke. Next in line for a drink from the most lethal of all GAA chalices was Tommy Carr, who was overwhelmingly ratified for the post a month after Whelan's drizzly departure.

Before Carr's first meeting with the press as Dublin senior manager, chairman John Bailey launched the new Dublin jersey and made more than a few references to the likelihood of it being on full view to the nation by the following September. Carr, for his part, issued a call for all players across the capital to make their case, that no-one would be excluded. "This applies to every player in Dublin. Any fella who shows capability, decides to work with me, it doesn't matter whether he's from the northside, southside or westside, once he's good enough and hungry enough."

Carr, through his media duties, had been vocal in his criticism of the previous incumbent during the summer, but denied this would bring any added pressure.

"Everyone brings their own personality to the job. How someone else fares doesn't have a bearing on another. No matter who gets in will bring different ideas to the job. I will bring different ideas than previous managers did. Different ideas about the team set-up I want and the type of player I want.

"If I'm going to achieve success, there'll have to be silverware on the sideboard.

That's the way success is measured." It is and it was. After four silver-less seasons, Carr was shown the door in September 2001, with Bailey instrumental in his departure. The Dublin chairman had tabled a vote of no confidence in Carr in the wake of defeat to Roscommon in February but received no support. Then, despite publicly backing Carr and his selectors, Bailey opted not to recommend them for another year. Next up for a sup: Tommy Lyons.