Don’t kick Cork players when they’re down, pleads O’Sullivan
Cork’s 2010 All-Ireland SFC-winning selector Ger O’Sullivan has called on the county to get behind the senior footballers now when they need them most. Ronan McCarthy’s team are at a low ebb following their relegation to Division 3, and a series of injuries to players in the win over Armagh on Sunday added to the pain as much as Cork don’t play again until June 1 when they face Limerick or Tipperary in a Munster semi-final.
With two wins needed from two or three games, O’Sullivan maintains Cork can still reach the Super 8s but they need support: “If you go back to last year, Meath were nearly in a similar position to Cork, avoided relegation, and you see the way they have bounced back. It is a very thin line and when you compound that with injuries it makes life difficult.
“The mental side of the game is very important — even if they had escaped the drop it could have been the lift that was needed. Look, it is very disappointing because Cork should be up with the top teams and you can see what can happen to good traditional football counties like Derry who are back from Division 4.
“I’ve no doubt the players are there — I see them around the county week in, week out, but over the years when something doesn’t work out we’re the best critics in the world. It is voluntary for all the management involved and I’ve no doubt from talking to the players that there is a huge amount of effort going on behind the scenes. But when you don’t win your home games it doesn’t look good for you.
“When you’re down, people will vote with their feet and there are a lot of very proud Cork people out there and they’re very disappointed with what’s happening. The results over the last number of years have not been good. The league is a good competition and the divisions don’t lie although teams do have misfortune. Division 3 is where we deserve to be, unfortunately.
“I think the general public have a huge role to play. The players must be supported, the management must be supported because it is important for the season. Like, they are hurting more than anyone and they just need that lift. By nature I’m an optimist and I think it only needs one good performance could lift us. The Super 8s are still on for Cork.”
Injuries on Sunday to Brian and Michael Hurley, Seán Powter, and Matthew Taylor only add to McCarthy’s woes but O’Sullivan saw glimmers of light in some of the team’s spring displays.
“It’s about driving on now and getting a bit of confidence into their play and sort out the injuries. It’s all about the Championship and that’s the first step towards recovery. OK some people will rate us below Clare and Tipperary and have us as number four in Munster. I don’t agree with that. I think on a given day we’re as good as anyone in the country and if we get that confidence in how we play I’d be hopeful of what we can do.”
O’Sullivan appreciates McCarthy has attempted to shore up the defence but is concerned there has been an over-emphasis on it: “You have to be defensive to a certain extent but I don’t think it’s natural for the Cork type of play to be overly defensive. I do think that maybe we might be a small bit slow in getting the ball into the danger zones.
“There might be an easier pass backwards when we could be more daring with a slightly more difficult pass forward. You need to get the scores on the board and even 3-9 against Armagh, you need to be hitting a higher volume of scores while keeping an eye on being defensive.”
