Keith Ricken will 'overhaul attitudes and culture' in Cork football, says Jamie Wall

Keith Ricken guided Cork to All-Ireland U20 success in 2019 and replaces Ronan McCarthy who held the senior role for four seasons.

New Cork senior football manager Keith Ricken watching St Vincent's against Cill Na Martra in the Bon Secours Cork Premier IFC at Pairc Ui Rinn. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Jamie Wall reckons new Cork football manager Keith Ricken is a "big picture guy" who will attempt an "overhaul of attitudes and culture" within the county.

Wall, a talented dual player who lined out for three Munster U21 football final wins between 2011 and 2013 before a career-ending back injury struck in 2014, believes Ricken's appointment is a big positive.

The GAA Officer at MTU in Cork guided the county to All-Ireland U20 success in 2019 and replaces Ronan McCarthy who held the senior role for four seasons.

Jamie Wall pictured at Ballyboden St Enda’s GAA Club, Dublin at the launch of ‘Let’s Get Back’ - a campaign created by Sport Ireland in partnership with Healthy Ireland. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie

Wall, an ambassador for the Let's Get Back to sport and physical activity campaign, said: "I'm delighted to see Keith in the job, I think he's the right man for the job. I think he's the right man for an overhaul of attitudes and culture.

"I think Keith is a big picture guy and look, Cork football is not good at the moment, it was a sobering day against Kerry in the Championship. We were well beaten.

"The scoreline was pretty fair. Sometimes you say, 'Oh, that didn't do us justice' but it was a pretty fair reflection of what was going on on the field of play.

"What I think is interesting is that our U20s beat Kerry this year, our minors beat Kerry this year, we played Kerry three years in a row and beat them every year when I was an U21. They beat Kerry the following two years at U21 as well.

"With the exception of that five-in-a-row Kerry minor team, Cork have generally been more successful than our nearest neighbours at underage football for a long time.

"So there's obviously something going wrong that we're not translating that into at least being consistently competitive with Kerry at senior level."

Former dual player Wall, who turned to coaching after his playing career ended and guided a star-studded Mary Immaculate College team to Fitzgibbon Cup success in 2017, said it's also important not to get too hung up on matching Kerry.

"I think there needs to be a little bit of reality too," he said. "I think we need to say that we're going to stop looking at Kerry and first of all put ourselves in a position where we're a Division 1 team. We haven't been a Division 1 team for far too long.

"I think maybe getting over ourselves a little bit and getting over a little bit of obsession that we have with trying to beat Kerry is important and to just say, 'Right, how do we maximise the huge pools of talent that we have in Cork?'"

Jamie Wall is an ambassador for Let's Get Back, a campaign created by Sport Ireland in partnership with Healthy Ireland, encouraging the public to return to sport and physical activity. See sportireland.ie for details.