Tony Leen: Who said Cork is the only county sweating over managerial hot seat?

Inter-county GAA management swallows lives whole. It’s hard, thankless and gruelling. The rewards are illusory and the realities of life always impinge, right down to minding the kids.

TUNNEL VISION: Jack O'Connor is due to be in charge of Kerry again in 2025, which would be an eleventh campaign in charge of the Kingdom. Pic: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile.

It isn’t easy reconcile the conflicting views. With all the hand-wringing after Cork’s derisory offering in the All-Ireland SFC round of 16 tie with Louth last Sunday, there was a parallel trepidation too at the thought of John Cleary handing the keys back to Páirc Uí Chaoimh for the final time. Sunday was shocking, but the future’s bleaker still without him, kind of thing.

Where would Cork go next? Beyond the county bounds? There appears to be no-one within the county ready to take the hand-off, Éamonn Fitzmaurice said later on RTÉ. He wasn’t wrong. Cleary is self-employed too, another complication.