Fear of paying players is the real problem

WHEN it comes to solidarity, it’s hard to beat intercounty managers.

According to a Turkish proverb, when a hatchet first entered the forest, some of the trees comforted each other: “At least the handle is one of us.” Things didn’t work out too well for those trees counting on some timber-based fellow feeling. If they’d been managers they might have survived.

When you consider the GAA’s tacit admission that the payment of managers is a problem, particularly at intercounty level, it’s extraordinary that one of those managers hasn’t come out swinging.