Soul searching begins for Cork

FORMER Cork coach Billy Morgan has called for a new approach to football in the county, including the appointment of a special talent-spotter to liaise with selectors at all levels.

As the management and players prepare to meet tonight in the wake of Sunday’s Munster Championship trouncing at the hands of Limerick in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, the fallout from the loss continues.

Ex-coach Morgan, who led Cork to two All-Ireland successes in 1989 and 1990, insisted yesterday that the football talent is in the county but has to be nurtured better to get the maximum benefit.

“I have been arguing for a number of years now that what we need - even if it has to be on a full-time basis - is someone who can liaise between the County Board and all the teams right down to under-age level, to monitor the talent that I’m convinced is out there,” Morgan said.

“Cork played last Sunday like a bunch of players who had met for the first time, and it reflected the haphazard manner in which the game is organised in this county. I would also question the decision to omit players like Joe Kavanagh, Ciaran O’Sullivan and Ronan McCarthy. That kind of experience was sorely missed last Sunday. The team was lacking in leadership against Limerick.”

Morgan has refused to push the panic button despite last Sunday’s dismal display against Limerick.

“What needs to be done now is everybody sit down and analyse what went wrong.

“There is still time to remedy the situation and couple of good results would get the team back on the rails, but there is a lot of soul-searching to be done in the interim.

“We can complain all we like, but you have to give credit to the Limerick team management,” Morgan continued. “They had their homework done on Cork right down to the smallest detail”.

Former club and county team-mate of Larry Tompkins, Niall Cahalane said Cork lacked leadership on the field and a bit of steel last Sunday.

“Some of our players were new to championship football and it clearly showed,” Cahalane said.

“When the physical stuff was being dished out none of our lads stood up to it. That wouldn’t happen in my time. There was always some around to ‘look after’ the new players. The present team does not have those kind of players. Maybe they are not out there, I don’t know, I’m not close enough to the scene to know.

“Everybody will have an opinion on what went wrong with Cork last Sunday. Some people are saying there were too many newcomers in from the start, but when you look back on the game we were beaten in 14 positions and no number of changes could remedy that.

“That is not down to the management of the team, but to the players themselves. Last Sunday’s defeat rests fairly and squarely at the doorstep of the players. Maybe they were over-confident going into the game.

“If they were they had no cause to be as Limerick have been making great strides in football in recent years and the warning signs were there particularly after they had done so well in this year’s league.”

Like his former mentor, Cahalane points to the lack of under-age success as part of Cork’s problems, and he called for a think-tank to come up with the solutions.

“The successful Cork team of the late 1980s came about as a result of a number of outstanding Under-21 All-Ireland victories in the early years of that decade, and we have had nothing like that since.

“You must have a very solid foundation at under-age level to succeed at the top and we don’t have that. Cork needs to be winning minor and under-21 titles minimum every three years if the senior team is to prosper.

“I’d have to say we are struggling to put top class minor teams together. It begs the question: are we losing ground to other codes? Is there not enough being done at schools level?

“All that has to be addressed if a county like ours is to get back to the top of the ladder. In the final analysis I don’t think our football is as bad as it was painted last Sunday, but the cracks are beginning to appear and we have no business papering over them. We need a plan of action and the sooner the better.”

Another former player who spoke on the basis of anonymity said that part of the problem with the present Cork side is the level of indiscipline among a number of players.

“There were things that went on last Sunday which should not be tolerated by the team management. Several players were seen constantly arguing with the referee.

“For Fionán Murray, it was his third time being sent off in less than a year. There is clearly a problem there. Physical strength or the lack of it is another major problem for the selectors and until that is remedied Cork will continue to struggle.”

Another former Cork player who was hugely disappointed at last Sunday’s display was John Coleman of the 1973 All-Ireland winning team.

“Hindsight is a great thing, but I’d have to question the team selection,” the Millstreet man said. “I’m not looking for scapegoats but I was surprised at the team chosen.

“But having said that I have the utmost sympathy for Larry Tompkins. There is only so much he can do, and to use a well-worn cliché, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink it’.

“The same goes for the present players. Once they go onto the field they are on their own and no amount of talk by the manager will win a game for you. That is down to the players.

“It’s difficult to know where we go from here but it would be fair to say we don’t have sufficient quality players at the moment and that is a serious worry.”