New Cork football manager Teddy Holland last night staged the first formal meeting with his new selectors to plan for the coming season, the only problem being he's still unsure how much longer it will be before he has any players to manage.
Efforts are continuing to secure some form of communication between the Cork County Board and both the football and hurling panels, who last weekend withdrew their services following the continuing disagreement over the appointment of county selectors. It is reported some contact has been made and a meeting may take place ahead of this weekend's Cork county convention.
The players from both panels are protesting the county board's recent refusal to rescind their decision that prevents intercounty managers appointing their own selection teams, as has been the case in the recent years. Yesterday, former county board chairman Jim Forbes called for the players and board officials to convene a meeting as a matter of urgency, and admitted, "Obviously there is a problem and problems can only be sorted with people sitting down together".
Forbes was chairman during the similar Cork strike of 2002, which had the then football and hurling panels protesting the level and support of championship preparation. "I would strongly urge there is immediate movement by all concerned again in getting this sorted out," he told the Cork Evening Echo.
On Monday, former Cork hurling captain Mark Landers called for the intervention of the GAA's player welfare officer Paraic Duffy, but yesterday Duffy indicated he hadn't yet been approached by either side, and nor was he likely to get involved unless pressed.
Holland has also declined to comment on the issue since being announced as new football manager last month, to replace Billy Morgan, and only last week his selection team of Teddy McCarthy, Liam Hodnett, Diarmuid O'Donovan and Mick O'Loughlin was ratified. Despite meeting that quartet last night it remains unclear how soon training can resume, as all planned training sessions have been postponed.
While the impasse is sure to dominate proceedings at this weekend's convention, it won't be the only matter. Figures released yesterday show the Cork County Board spent €1.4 million preparing county teams over the past year, up €118,000 on the 2006 figure. Total expenditure was nearly €3 million, including administration, coaching and development, at €2,819,986, which also represented a notable increase on the 2006 figure of €2,543,698. There was a slight increase in sponsorship income from €876,970 last year to €928,764 this year, and gate receipts also showed a rise from €962,296 in 2006 to €1,014,326 for the year just past.
Among the issues raised in the report of county secretary Frank Murphy is the subject of public liability, and he emphasised the importance of clubs maintaining the properties in good order: "This year, public liability claims from this county is nearly 15.6 per cent of the national claims total," warned Murphy.
