McCarthy voices opposition to proposed Cork directive

GAELIC GAMES;Cork senior hurling manager Gerald McCarthy yesterday voiced his outright opposition to the county board decision to force a selection committee upon their inter-county managers, writes Gavin Cummiskey.

McCarthy's comments will be seen as supportive of the senior football and hurling panel who have threatened strike action in response to the board's decision. McCarthy is not affected by the new edict, as his management team has another year to run, but he said he wouldn't seek reappointment under the new system. "I certainly wouldn't put my name forward if I couldn't pick my own selectors," he confirmed.

This will hardly come as a surprise to the county board as McCarthy stepped aside as Cork manager in 1994 following the decision to deny him input into selection because another St Finbarr's clubman was already part of the management.

"I just thought that was totally unacceptable so I refused to do the job. The late Johnny Clifford actually did it instead, but I remember he came back to me at the end of the year and said, 'Gerald you are quite right - that can't be done'."

Jimmy Barry Murphy was next into the role on the basis that he was allowed choose his own selectors. "That was the breakthrough so to be reverting back to it (the previous system) after 15 years - when it has stood the county fairly well - I personally see it as a retrograde step by the board and one that was very hastily decided upon.

"This should be referred back to the clubs for full discussion and maybe a decision to be taken at the county convention (in December)."

The Cork football and hurling panels enacted successful strike action in 2002 when one of their demands was the manager could name his own selectors - the exception being that the county champions could nominate one representative.

McCarthy also expressed dissatisfaction that no official took time to inform him of this departure. The players and former senior football manager Billy Morgan expressed similar sentiments.

The county board will address the strike threat at a meeting next Tuesday. If they back down and accept the players' ultimatum, Morgan could yet be reinstated as football manager for 2008.

Morgan was also supportive of the players' stance, but refused to comment on his future until the situation is resolved: "When we lost the All-Ireland I was considering would it be the right time to go, but then they brought in this system and that made up my mind for me straight away. I will say the decision that the county board made, in my opinion, was a huge backward step."

Morgan has had no contact with the board since the All-Ireland final on September 16th, but noted that no manager can run a modern inter-county panel when a backroom team is thrust upon them. "It's impossible. I'd imagine Cork are the only county in the country with that system."

The conflict between the county board and players deepened due to a conflict of opinion on how the decision was reached, with officials claiming the decision was mandated by the clubs.

"They claim that the clubs made the decision, but it never went back to the clubs," continued Morgan. "It was decided at county board by the delegates who were given no mandate by their clubs what way to vote. Whether it will now go back to the clubs I don't know, but I would imagine the players are fairly resolute in their decision."

County chairman Mick Dolan refused to comment until they receive the players' statement, despite it appearing in a national newspaper yesterday, but he did add: "The clubs voted that we take that line, for reasons best known to ourselves, (and) that we pick the selectors as we always did in the past. There is nothing I can do about it anyway. I'm only just a figurehead for the clubs. There is nothing I can say further."

Frank Murphy - county secretary, chairman of the rulebook taskforce and widely regarded as the driving force behind most Cork GAA initiatives - is away on holidays and was unavailable for comment.

The Gaelic Players Association took time out from negotiations with the Government and GAA to lend their "unconditional support to the stand being taken by the Cork football and hurling squads in relation to the appointment of selectors to the county squads.

"The Cork County Board's new procedures are a blatant attempt by officials to reassume control for on-field team matters, despite the positive benefits enjoyed by the county in the wake of a restructuring some years back. The GPA calls on the Cork County Board and club delegates to support the Cork players by reversing the decision at next month's county convention.

"County managers should, we believe, have control over the appointment of their management teams and it is a retrograde step to hand this authority back to board officials."