O’Connor: Be wary of ‘nothing to lose’ Sligo and Monaghan

EX-KERRY coach Jack O’Connor is an interesting reference point for counties pondering what the future holds after defeat in the provincial final — so much so that Monaghan boss Seamus McEnaney brought him north to address his squad on the subject.

The irony of the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final draw which has paired the Farney county against his native heath isn’t lost on O’Connor, but his views are equally relevant to a Cork side experiencing the flip side of provincial success this season.

“The most dangerous side in knockout Championship isn’t the wounded one — it’s the one in ‘bonus’ territory with nothing to lose,” O’Connor mused.

“Sligo and Monaghan are not sides to be taken lightly. I don’t believe Sligo went off the rails at all after winning the Connacht final, but they’re still very much in bonus territory. They’re game and fresh. Monaghan have recovered well from the disappointment against Tyrone, got it back on the rails big time against Donegal and they have nothing to lose against Kerry.”

O’Connor suggests the psychological issues out of a provincial final defeat are potentially fatal if remedial measures aren’t put in place immediately.

“There was a big difference in the way Cork lost this year’s Munster final compared to our situation last year. Nobody goes out to lose a provincial final, but there was a sense that Cork had kept the graph going upwards when they lost in Killarney last month,” O’Connor said.

In his recently released book, Keys to the Kingdom, the ex-Kerry coach underlined the importance of urgent intervention after last year’s psychologically damaging reversal to Cork in Páirc Ui Chaoimh.

“We knew instinctively that unless we got the players into a room straight after that game, it was all over. It’s all about speeding up the process of mental as much as physical recovery. If the Kerry players had gone out that night (instead of returning to their Cork base at the Hayfield Manor Hotel), and had supporters bending their ears over a couple of pints, the negativity will seep in straight away. And that’s virtually impossibly to undo.”

O’Connor addressed the Monaghan players recently at McEnaney’s request — and advised the management to insulate the players as quickly as possible from public negativity. “If you can sit players down straight away, you’re getting that bit of remedial work done.” While every circumstance is different, the logic is the same — defeat in a provincial final doesn’t have to be fatal.

Nevertheless O’Connor admits to being “hugely worried” at the six-week break between Kerry’s Munster final success and their quarter final at headquarters in nine days time. Again he has first hand points of reference. “Armagh hadn’t played in five weeks when we met them in last year’s quarter-final and that didn’t help their match legs.

“The year before we tried everything possible in training to prepare us for the physical intensity of meeting Tyrone in an All-Ireland final, but ultimately we failed.

“The thing that amuses me is how come Kerry have to wait six weeks for a quarter final while the gap for Tyrone is three weeks? They played their provincial final two weeks after Kerry’s and are out a week ahead of us in the quarter-finals. There’s a cock-up there, surely?”