Conor Counihan: ‘Player independence gone’

All-Ireland winning Cork manager Conor Counihan is concerned that the growing support structures in Gaelic games are stunting the independence of players on the field.

In an interview — which appears in tomorrow’s Irish Examiner supplement to mark the 25th anniversary of Cork’s All-Ireland double in 1990 — Counihan spoke of the changes in football management over the last 25 years.

“There’s a lot more structure now compared to then. Time management is a big deal now — in all walks of life — in a way it wasn’t then. There’s support there for players, though, good support; the one point I’d make is whether all of that support affects players’ independence a bit.