Tyrrell: Kilkenny's succession plan on solid foundations ahead of Belfast trip

Four-time Kilkenny All-Star Jackie Tyrrell is not expecting his native county to struggle with life after Brian Cody as their new era starts with an Allianz League clash in Belfast on Sunday afternoon.

Derek Lyng will be on the sideline for the game with Antrim at Corrigan Park – some 9059 days since the Cats last played a league game without Cody as manager, when Kevin Fennelly's side lost 2-18 to 2-13 to Waterford in April 1998.

From his appointment in late 1998 until his resignation in July, Cody won 11 All-Ireland titles, 18 Leinster Championships and ten league crowns.

Comparisons with another sporting code have been inevitable, more specifically Manchester United’s fall from grace with the club looking likely to go a 10th year without a league title in a few months having won 13 in 26 seasons under Alex Ferguson until he stepped away in 2013.

David Moyes had the unfortunate task of following Ferguson, and while he was a failure, Tyrrell sees no chance of a 'Moysie moment’ with Kilkenny.

"I'd like to think that Kilkenny and Manchester United are worlds apart in so many ways," he told the RTÉ GAA Podcast.

"The strength of Kilkenny was Brian Cody and the Kilkenny County Board, the structures that have stood the test of time.

"Derek would really be a players’ man, a very approachable guy. He would be able to get in amongst them, talk to them, get his arm around the shoulder of some lads, give lads a kick in the backside if they need it.

"I’d say he won’t rock the boat too much, it would be a continuity of a lot of the things that Brian has done and he’ll slowly start putting his own slant on his style of management and this group.

"If you’re looking at the learnings of the under-20s and what he did with them, he did have in