Former Ireland international soccer player and current Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn says the way Kilkenny boss Brian Cody commands the total respect of his charges is similar to the way Man Utd chief Alex Ferguson is held in awe by his players. Quinn revealed that he has bumped into the Cats' manager at various functions and was suitably impressed: "He (Cody) wants to bring things to a new level so he wanted to know about how injuries are treated, comparing training methods, stuff like that. He had a real interest and guys like that succeed," said Quinn. "It's like Alex Ferguson. The respect is just immense for everything he's done and that is a big thing for teams to try and beat. "Kilkenny have bought into that. They train as if their lives depend on it and the fitness levels have been brought to a new level. "I don't know what the stats say but, to me, he's been the most successful manager in my lifetime. "He's taken on one or two of the so-called stars over the years in a real professional way for the better of the team. He seems to have won all of those battles and got the team motoring." Tweet

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