The annual managerial merry go round has begun in earnest in the GAA

The All-Ireland hurling series hasn't commenced yet, but already four high-profile managers have left the building with the probability that number will be added to over the coming months.

Derek Lyng has called time on his tenure in Kilkenny while in the neighbouring county of Wexford Keith Rossiter has departed as well.

In the fiercely competitive arena that is the Munster hurling championship, Waterford will have a new man on the line too when the national league voyage of 2027 sets sail after the decision of Peter Queally to step down.

Antrim haven't been in the Liam McCarthy Cup race for quite some time, participating in the lower tier of the Joe McDonagh cup instead and they too will be embarking on the journey of searching for a new bainisteoir with Davy Fitzgerald deciding that his time was up in the glens.

So, it's right to state that the annual managerial merry go round has begun in earnest.

With the aforementioned quartet, it was probably no great surprise that those resignations came to pass.

In the great hurling homes of Kilkenny the manager is judged almost solely on his record in the All-Ireland championship and failure to bring the ultimate prize back to Noreside is viewed in some quarters of the county as failure.

That should not be the case with the Rower-Inistioge club man, Lyng and while he did not get the county on to the podium on All-Ireland final day, he oversaw three Leinster titles and in two of the last three All-Ireland semi-finals only a puck of a ball separated the Cats from their opponents, Clare in 2004 and Tipperary last season.

It must be acknowledged too that in taking the reins he was succeeding the greatest hurling manager of all time in Brian Cody.

It was the hardest of acts to follow, similar to David Moyes when he took over from Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

When Lyng succeeded him the game in the county, it could be said, was on on a bit of a downward trajectory in the grades below at under-20 and minor.

The production line had slowed down considerably and the absence of key players, this season in particular, for various reasons did not help his cause.

Keith Rossiter, similar to Lyng, was a top intercounty player with Wexford and gave everything in his stint as manager but it's been a long time since the Model County were a force in the modern era and hurling is all the poorer for that.

There was some surprise maybe that Peter Queally quit in Waterford.

Although they did not win a game in Munster this year and the county has not emerged into the All-Ireland series since it began eight seasons ago, they certainly were not overran in any of their four games.

Injuries to key players at different times didn't help either but the former Sarsfields man believed that the time had come to call time on his managerial journey in the Deise.

And he too gave immense service, both as a player and manager and various other roles within the county.

Of the aforementioned four, Davy Fitz was the only All-Ireland winning boss with Clare in 2012.

He had provincial success with Waterford and Wexford too and nobody can question his credentials in that regard.

Things did not go as well as he might have wanted in Antrim, not being able to emerge as a top tier county and not being able to do the business in the McDonagh Cup.

So who will be next to join those four as spectators next season?

Of course, all that depends on how things go over the next few weeks, beginning next weekend when Clare take on Dublin and Cork encounter Offaly.

Will Brian Lohan stay at the helm in the Banner County if they fail to defeat the Dubs and on the other side of that coin will Niall O'Ceallachain remain with the Dubs.

Lohan has, of course, an All-Ireland title in the bank with Clare and he is one of the longest serving intercounty hurling managers around alongside John Kiely in Limerick.

O'Ceallachain led Dublin to one of their most notable victories last season when they defeated Limerick in the All-Ireland quarter-final but a subsequent hammering by Cork a fortnight later took a lot of the gloss off that win.

They got battered by Galway recently in the Leinster final and if another heavy loss to Clare next weekend is their lot the manager might have a rethink.

One, however, does expect a reaction to that defeat by Galway but we must wait and see.

Inter county management is a tough, very tough gig these days and Kerry boss Jack O'Connor was right in stating that a manager of a high profile county now would need to be retired from his day job such are the heavy demands.

In any code of sport it's a results driven business and in a county that has been successful prior to a new manager's appointment, no prisoners are taken by the supporters.

Supporters will turn on a manager as quickly as they laud him and the pressure on intercounty managers is immense and is constantly growing from one year to the next.

Managers face great public scrutiny and, despite only losing by the bare minimum in the Munster final, there some was criticism of the Cork management because they didn't introduce substitutes earlier than they did.

There is criticism too of the demands intercounty managers are putting on players, it is perceived that it is far too much and that you are dealing with amateur players who train harder than professionals.

There's a saying we all hear frequently, who would want to be a manager?

There is a constant theme each year too, should intercounty managers be paid?

The world and its mother know full well that managers are being paid, particularly those who come in from other counties.

It is a thorny subject without a doubt and, of course, they should be compensated but that raises the question, do you extend payments to players who remain amateurs.

Whatever way you look at it, intercounty manager or player, the game has become professional in all but name.

Family life, maybe a top job that requires total concentration, everything taken into account, being a manager in a leading county where success is almost demanded is a huge task and can be very thankless.

And long gone are the days of Brian Cody, Mick O'Dwyer, Sean Boylan, Mickey Harte, currently John Kiely, Kieran McGeeney, Jack O'Connor and Brian Lohan, long serving managers for years that sometimes reached double figures.

And have no doubt, over the coming weeks and months others will get off the merry go round and they might well be some more high profile names who will feel that the time has come and that they have served their time.

And depending on results, some might decide that it is an appropriate time to bow out, bow out at the top if they reach the highest peak.

Watch this space.