New managers have no margin for error in snappy season

Just like that, it starts all over again.

The return of the Allianz Hurling League marks the beginning of competitive action and for the next 25 weeks or so we will have a steady run of top-quality games.

For both players and supporters, the return of full crowds is a welcome relief after the last two Covid-19 impacted campaigns.

At times over the last two years, I felt I was something of a fraud and out of place when I was able to get to a few games, while families and loved ones had to watch on TV and listen to radio coverage.

No matter what players will tell you, it wasn't the same; you can’t beat championship hurling with 40,000 looking down on you and making plenty of noise.

The appetite to attend games is higher than ever. Limerick played Clare in the Co-op Superstores League final last month and the 5,000 allocated tickets were sold out in less than an hour, with eventually 8,000 people being left in.

Pre-Covid, you’d hardly get 500 people through the turnstiles for an early season fixture. It’s great to see and I for one can’t wait for the atmosphere and the year ahead.

I’m still trying to grapple with the new scheduling. I remember seven or eight years ago, you'd return in October and slog it out for three months before you would ever see sight nor sound of a game.

Management would be mixing and matching to find new players, and as a result, game time could be sparse. At the end of the league, depending on how far you went, you could have a six to eight-week break before the first round of the championship.

They were to all intents and purposes two separate seasons and the key was knowing when to peak.

Now teams may only be back six to seven weeks before the first round of the league, and the gap between league and