Up for the fight, or a final farewell?

IT SOUNDED like a farewell, it was interpreted as a farewell. But was it a farewell?

Where there had been discord in the relationship between Cork and Kerry — a lot of it generated by the man himself — Billy Morgan brought a sense of dignity when he addressed the repeat All-Ireland champions in the Croke Park dressing room on Sunday.

“As ye know, I don’t do dressing room speeches,” Morgan began, before speaking eloquently about Kerry, and his relationship with the Kingdom, for over five minutes.

His policy on after-match speeches is understandable — what do you say, whether it’s from the winners to the losers, or vice versa?

“His words made an impact, that’s for sure,” said one of the Kerry players. “It sounded like he was saying, ‘we’ve had our differences, but it’s at an end now, and I want to bow out with a sense of dignity.’”

Last Sunday, Morgan believed the occasion demanded a few words about Kerry football. Of course there are times he hates his footballing neighbours, just as he hates Limerick or Tipperary, or whoever is the opposition on any given Sunday.

But, he continued, many of his best footballing friends are from Kerry, not least Kerry selector Dr Dave Geaney, whose friendship with the Cork coach goes back to their time in UCC. It is reliably claimed that Dr Dave was the first coach to stick Morgan between the goalposts.

Morgan also used the occasion to recall his year teaching at Causeway Comprehensive, when GAA stalwarts Gerald McKenna and Gerald Whyte were also on the staff. Morgan lived in, and enjoyed, Listowel for that year and said he only returned to Cork for one reason — football.

Whatever else, Morgan knows his football, and his acknowledgement to his conquerors that the Kingdom have always been, and remain, the benchmark for any football county was well received. Cork also have the potential to be champions, he added. What Morgan didn’t say was whether he will be there with them going forward.

Much like Darragh Ó Sé, the Cork manager is unlikely to be rushing into any quick decisions. He must factor in his own stomach for another season and how much further he can bring this group of players, before he even contemplates his name going forward to the executive of the county board.

Kerry full-back Tom O’Sullivan made an interesting observation before last Sunday’s game about the handover from the Jack O’Connor era to Pat O’Shea’s. Despite the previous management bringing the team to three successive finals, and winning two, it was better for all concerned, felt O’Sullivan, to have a new voice, saying new things in the dressing room this season.

The county board in Cork has had its moments with Billy Morgan, but personality should have no part in the future of Cork football. The perceived wisdom is that the future on Leeside is especially bright, given the county’s recent success at Under-21 and general underage dominance over Kerry.

People shouldn’t take that one to the bank. Yes, Daniel Goulding and Fintan Goold impressed when they were introduced, but of the side that claimed the All-Ireland U-21 title this year, only Michael Shields started last Sunday.

Kerry had two of this year’s side defeated by Clare in the Munster U-21 championship on duty — Killian Young and Padraig Reidy, the former likely to be named young footballer of the year next month. They also had Kieran O’Leary, Tommy Walsh and Paul O’Connor waiting in the wings.

Whatever of his idiosyncrasies — the dignity in the Kerry dressing room didn’t extend to the Irish Examiner journalist seeking post-match reaction last Sunday — Morgan has put some structure back into Cork football, and removed many of the frustrating eccentricities holding it back.

It’s easy to second guess selection decisions, but Cork football isn’t in the bad place Sunday’s abject performance indicates.

What is fundamental though is the issue of whether the new generation of Cork players coming through are best served by Morgan’s methods or by a new voice with a new template.