Cork football is as close to rock bottom as it has been in decades

The idea that for Cork the only way is up is completely wrong. There’s new depths there to plummet, writes Colm Cooper.

What was the Cork football management expecting when they went to Dungarvan to face Waterford two weeks ago? I ask on the basis that they will presumably have a better sense of what they face, and how to overcome it, when they entertain Tipperary this evening in Páirc Uí Rinn.

The Cork players were confronted with a blanket defence in Waterford. Hardly ground-breaking. What else did they expect? Had they prepared properly by selecting horses-for-courses players to beat it? Had they practiced playing against it? The blanket defence is a formidable obstacle if you are not prepared for it. Given Cork’s performance, it’s nearly better to suggest they weren’t expecting it. But that raises its own questions too.