Footballers need to step back from the brink

Cork football always seems to have enjoyed flirting with crisis, controversy and chagrin, writes John Coleman.

Sixteen All- Ireland finals have been lost, 12 by four points or less (only Kerry have lost more, they can’t even give us that one).

There’s been Louth in 1957, Tommy Sugrue in 1988.

All-Ireland finals apart, what about Martin Daly in 1997, Fermanagh in 2004, the strike in 2007 and we cannot forget the sorry mess of 1992, when there was a coup d’état against Billy Morgan. His offence? Masterminding the greatest era Cork football had ever seen.

There you have it, a long list of ‘new lows’, ‘worst evers’ and long winters. Thing is, I was a child of summer. In the late 1980s it was the hurlers who were in the doldrums and it was footballers who would never leave you down. I saw the Cork footballers in Croke Park seven times before I saw the hurlers. They only lost once, hence Tommy Sugrue.

The vision of Morgan lying prostrate in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, beating the ground in frustration after Mikey Sheehy’s late goal in 1987, epitomised the iron will, spirit and hatred of losing the footballers possessed then, even if Jim Gavin et al might be aghast at such a loss of cool in today’s more sedate world (kudos to John Kerins, he kept his cool in the midst of that madness).

Kerry weren’t even to be feared…that much. 1991 and 1992 were merely blips between periods of dominance and even then we could chuckle when Clare, yes Clare, took down our dear neighbours. We were surely entitled to a bit of schadenfreude, all things considered.

Well, that was then and this is now, and the question is; how long is it before a flirtation becomes a partnership? There’s been a loss to Waterford in the McGrath Cup, a trimming from Kildare in championship, a humiliation by Roscommon, a humbling at the hands of Tipperary and now there’s the current league campaign.

What’s different this time? As ever the whole thing seems to be surrounded by a deep sense of apathy. But apathy and Cork football have gone hand in hand for a long time now. The team that delivered the 2010 All-Ireland, along with three National Leagues never really got the respect they deserved in Cork or beyond.

Their incredible consistency is overshadowed, unfairly, by the sense they should have done more. Their perceived underachievement is, in fact, a child of Cork’s actual underachievement throughout its complex history. They’re appreciated now though, more than they ever were. Sometimes you play your best games in the stand.

Many of that team have now exited the inter-county stage but that still doesn’t explain or excuse how things have deteriorated so quickly. And this brings us to the crux of the frustration.

Cork’s struggles in both codes at underage level have been much publicised. However, the exception to the rule has been the performance of the U21 footballers. They’ve been a shining light. Ten of the last U21 Munster football titles have been won by Cork. They’ve reached five All-Ireland finals and have won two.

They have also done this at a time Munster football has probably never been more competitive. Tipperary has emerged as a serious force, winning two titles while Kerry took the other (and went on to win the All- Ireland, obviously).

The loss of players simply cannot be a reason for Cork’s malaise. There should be a conveyor belt of talent, ready to take on the mantle. Maybe the problem is the type of player that’s being produced or the type of football being played but one thing is for sure, the bridge from U21 to senior should be far more effective. But that isn’t that always the word when it comes to Cork at the moment?

‘Should’.

But Cork definitely should not be in the position they are in right now. There should be too much talent, too many resources and too much fear for it to get any worse. Another year in Division 2 wouldn’t be the disaster that it should be at this stage. A drop to Division 3? Well, that just cannot be countenanced.

Despite what anybody says, however, the present time is a long way away from being the worst ever. Cork’s nadir was 1930s. They managed to lose to Tipp five times, Clare twice and were taken to a replay by Waterford. Nevertheless, it would have been hard to explain this to any Cork fan as they slipped away from Cusack Park in Ennis three weeks ago.

Friedrich Nietzsche wouldn’t have been the right man to explain it to them either, but he does offer some sage advice for the present maelstrom. Nietzsche warned us not to stare into the abyss too long as, before long, the abyss would begin to stare right back at us. It’s time for the Cork footballers to avert their gaze and take a step back from brink now.

They’ll get zero thanks or congratulations for it, but they just need to do it, for themselves.