Cork need more than a new coach

Word of his departure had reached the press room before Conor Counihan did, and though some were surprised he didn’t see out the second year of his agreed term, it was an honourable exit for a thoroughly decent man.

On the trains and roads south, Cork’s football community — such as it is — delved into sentence-joiners and prepositions as if underachievement was something they’ve only stomached since 2007, when the Aghada man took charge.

One All-Ireland title later — “there’s an awful lot of counties would love to have one”, Counihan argued — Cork again finds itself in top-table company but undermined by its systematic failure to grasp what’s required to keep them there.