McIntyre described Cork’s Allianz League Division 1A relegation playoff against Galway in Salthill on Sunday week as a “critical” fixture and accused their defenders of lacking the necessary cynicism to compete at the top level.

McIntyre does believe that Cork will improve in time for their Munster SHC quarter-final against Tipperary on May 22, however, and added that Galway are also under massive pressure to deliver following the controversial heave that ousted former manager Anthony Cunningham last year.

McIntyre told Tipp FM: “There’s no question that Cork hurling is in something of a crisis at the moment.

“That’s why their relegation playoff match against Galway on Sunday week is critical.

“If they suffer a bad defeat in that game at Pearse Stadium, it’s going to leave them in bad mental shape for the Munster championship against Tipp.

“I’ve never seen a worse Cork backline in all my years following hurling. “I don’t think they hit hard enough, they’re not cynical enough, they’re trying to play the ball a lot of the time.

“They have forwards – Conor Lehane and Patrick Horgan will do damage if you give them space but they’re haemorrhaging at the back and it’s a long time since Cork played a group campaign in the League and didn’t win a match.

“They’ve shipped some heavy defeats along the way, they were particularly atrocious against Dublin up in Croke Park.

“Pride alone, as well know, in the red jersey, means we’ll see a different Cork come the summer but the question is how much improvement can they get from their current resources.

“They’re certainly devoid of top quality defenders and leaders in defence.

“You go back to last summer’s All-Ireland quarter-final, they were eventually destroyed by Galway.

“Those levels of heavy defeats for such a proud hurling county have to impact on confidence levels.

“If Cork could get a win over Galway in Pearse Stadium, which on current form is unlikely, it would be a massive and timely boost for them ahead of the championship.”

Similarly, McIntyre has warned of potentially dire consequences for Galway should they lose to Cork in the relegation shootout.

He added: “As we all know, the Galway squad is under pressure after their revolt against Anthony Cunningham in the wake of last year’s All-Ireland final.

“Similar to the Mayo footballers, they’ve stuck their head above the parapet, they’ve made a tough stand, an unpopular stand I would say in some parts of Galway.

“There’s massive pressure on Galway to win that game and it would be perceived as almost disastrous if they were to lose it, especially given Cork’s current troubles.”

Meanwhile, former Tipperary centre-back McIntyre has backed Ronan Maher to grow into the role on a long-term basis for the Premier County.

He said: “He’s a terrific striker. For a centre back, it’s all about reading the play, he has excellent positional sense for a player so young and he’s very quick to deliver the ball as well.

“He looks as though he has the potential to be a long-term solution to the number six jersey.”