Crossing a great Rebel divide

ANOTHER year, another battle, or war in this instance. The only difference between last year and this is that it is the hurlers and the hurling manager who are in the cross-hairs, whereas it was Teddy Holland, the footballers and as always, a county board input completing the triangle, who were at the centre of the last vortex.

This year Kilkenny have gone ahead of Cork in the senior hurling role of honour for the first time and it was interesting to read Brian Cody’s explanation for success in a recent interview given at Thomond Park on these pages. He revealed that all the GAA energies and focus including county board, clubs and team management were brought to bear on winning in Kilkenny.

All the various components were working and planning together with their eyes firmly on the prize.

Sadly, Cork are not in the same ball park as Kilkenny in this regard.

Every year, the team manager is in conflict with the county board executive over fixtures as he attempts to prepare his team in similar conditions to his Kilkenny counterpart.

We never hear of Brian Cody in conflict with the board executive over anything.

Last year the Cork County Board executive were aware of problems before the appointment of Teddy Holland as the football manager. They appointed him nonetheless, and it led to the players’ strike.

This year they were aware of problems in the hurling camp. They could have held back on the public announcement of the hurling manager, ascertain what the problems were, see if any common ground existed and attempted to work through the issue within a certain timeframe. They could have then made the announcement if they felt that no progress was being made.

There is no intercounty activity allowed by rule now until January so it isn’t that the appointment date was pressing. Cork now finds itself in a worse situation than last year. In effect the powers that be at county board executive level learned nothing from 2007 and did exactly the same, and with similar results.

In Kilkenny, all the components of the hurling fraternity have only one agenda, as stated by Cody.

However in Cork, personal agendas may be contributory factors to this dispute as well.

Gerald McCarthy had a difficult two-year spell in charge. He admits that there was a certain mistrust between him and the players in early 2007 and then he had to contend with the players’ strike early this year.

He may well want to carry on for the next two years and put his own stamp on proceedings.

However, his press comments about the older players who “contaminate the atmosphere” could prove costly.

The problem now for Gerald, is that if things come back on track, the dropping of any of those players for genuine reasons may be seen as being vindictive and create tensions in the camp.

But that is certainly not the biggest issue facing him.

A document which appeared in the media containing favourable player comments about the manager is certain to rankle with the squad. This document was part of a confidential process undertaken by the Cork panel and management to improve relations between them. Cathal O’Reilly was brought in, at the request of the players with Gerald’s agreement, to facilitate the process.

O’Reilly instructed all the panel and management to give a personal comment on each other with the stipulation that all comments had to be positive and no opinions on playing, coaching or managing ability be allowed.

How that document was made public is unknown but what is certain is that future players will feel that confidential discussions could again end up in the public domain. As a result, they may refrain from giving honest opinions when requested to do so — an integral part of any good organisational set up — leading to a breakdown of respect and trust.

In my years as manager with Cork, I found the players honourable and honest. They were very aware they were keepers of the flame, like previous players, and wished to hand it on in an enhanced state.

I feel they made a mistake in remaining in a process to appoint a manager when it seemed to them that no real process existed. By remaining in it, they were outflanked by the board’s committee. They are now stuck with the decision and in conflict with the appointed manager rather than the board’s executive.

Gerald McCarthy was never part of this process but he now finds himself in an unfortunate position. It is clear from articles in last Sunday’s press that the players had some problems with this year’s coaching. But rather than seeking McCarthy’s resignation, they could have addressed these problems with him. If Gerald felt he needed to change the coaching situation he could then include some fresh coaching talent as part of his managerial setup, not yet appointed for 2009.

If he felt the status quo should remain, the players could reassess their situation at that point.

Where to now? Frank Murphy is the main man at county board level in Cork. He must now show leadership as it is his responsibility to put in place some mechanism to bring the opposing sides of the triangle together. If I were in his place, I would assemble a group to facilitate this. My suggestion would be Christy Cooney, GAA president elect, Dr Con Murphy, team doctor, mentor and confidante to players and management alike since the 70s and Jim Forbes, PRO of the Munster Council and former county chairman. These three are all men of great ability and would be highly respected by all sides. A fair and honest debate and settlement about outstanding issues could then be put in place. Things have never been as strained but sometimes the darkest time of night is just before dawn. On a positive note, there is common ground to set the ball rolling. Don’t all the constituents of Cork GAA, the fans, clubs, management, players and the executive want Cork to win the All-Ireland, no matter what it takes?