THE more you hear about the way Down conducted their business on whether to retain Jim McCorry as senior manager, the more you’re inclined to wince.
What jumped off yesterday’s back page piece, written by Kenny Archer, was the management committee that appointed McCorry at the start of the season recommended to the club delegates to sack him.
You couldn’t write this stuff. Really. Well, you could, because it actually happened.
Although Mourne fans were probably still trying to digest what happened in Newcastle yesterday morning, some were quick off the mark to convey their views on the dramatic events of Monday night. One caller 'anonymous' backed McCorry and bemoaned the county board in Down.
“I would just like to congratulate Jim McCorry for staying on,” said the caller.
“I wouldn’t like to congratulate the County Board. When are people going to realise that it doesn’t matter who is managing Down at present we simply don’t have the players?
“They’ve done exceptionally well to get into Division One and I think Jim McCorry was right to concentrate on that and start bringing some of the U21s through.
“At the end of the day there are a lot of people on the county board that know nothing about football. End of story. Jim’s got my backing.”
RESPONSE: Contrary to popular belief, Jim McCorry wasn’t just concentrating on the League. The now infamous Sunday Game interview after the Wexford defeat was edited in such a way that didn’t reflect the manager’s deep disappointment of exiting the Championship. From a PR perspective, the way in which Monday night’s meeting was conducted was a disaster.
ANOTHER ‘Down Caller’ said that McCorry left himself short by not recalling some of the more experienced members of the squad.
“Why doesn’t Jim McCorry bring back some of the older players to the Down panel, mainly Dan Gordon, Dan McCartan, Kalum King to strengthen his panel?”
RESPONSE: Well, if Jim McCorry confirms that he will be staying on as manager over the coming days there might well be call-ups for some of those players you mention.
MICKEY Harte doesn’t escape the wrath of one contributor this week. He accused the Tyrone manager of insulting the intelligence of supporters by talking up back door opponents Limerick, Tipperary and now Sligo.
“Who does the Tyrone manager think he is kidding?” said the caller.
“Once again, he was reminding readers of Tyrone’s ‘formidable’ opponents in the next round, namely Sligo, who conceded six goals and 25 points against Mayo.
“He was prepared to talk about Sligo’s victory over Roscommon, immediately overlooking that they lost to giant-killers Fermanagh. He previously talked up the chances of Limerick and Tipperary – two hurling counties.
“Don’t insult our intelligence, Mr Harte. The back door has revealed what we already know. It’s a failure. The winner of the Fermanagh and Westmeath game confirms that the back door is a farce. Their All-Ireland [quarter-final] opponent has been handed a bye.”
RESPONSE: What do you expect Mickey Harte to say about the opposition? That they’re rubbish and that they don’t stand a chance of beating mighty Tyrone? What colour is the sky in your world? Harte was being entirely respectful towards Round Four opponents Sligo. If being respectful towards opponents is insulting your intelligence, you’re easily insulted.
A LEADING camogie player has labelled the GAA “sexist” after she compared the prizes for winning this year’s Ulster Poc Fada. Catherine McGourty let the GAA have it with both barrels.
The women’s Poc Fada winner received a medal while the male winner got a skiing holiday.
‘Square Ball 57’ emailed: “Catherine McGourty certainly did not have to go to Specsavers to see through the inequality meted out to her in relation to the prizes in the Ulster GAA Poc Fada. Page Three shows photographs of Ulster Hurling Development manager Jimmy Darragh handing over the prizes and his facial expression sum it up in its entirety.
“Catherine should now go back to her shirt sponsor (Specsavers) and negotiate a wee deal after all your company logo appearing on the front and page three of a high-quality, leading newspaper requires some form off remuneration.”
RESPONSE: Judging by Catherine’s facial expression upon receiving her medal, she looks particularly underwhelmed.
‘TYRONE fan’ was a little slow off the mark in responding to Paddy Heaney’s Against The Breeze column of a few weeks ago in which he described Anthony Tohill as the most complete player he’d seen.
Better late than never from ‘Tyrone fan’ as he waxed lyrical about the great Frank McGuigan.
“Frank McGuigan could do it all,” writes ‘Tyrone fan’.
“A man with feet like his was never going to be in defence but McGuigan's strength, anticipation, ball-winning ability, pace and timing certainly would have equipped him well for a defensive role.
“People outside the county perhaps know him best as a forward but he was also a natural midfielder - anyone who saw him play in the 1970s will remember that ability to climb higher and seemingly hang in the air longer than everyone around him.”
‘Tyrone fan’ added: “Not to mention the mesmerising feints and dummies, balance and strength, kick-passing, vision, accuracy, both feet, calmness and grace under the most cynical of attention and pressure, courage and pace, McGuigan had the build, the temperament and the skills for any position.”
RESPONSE: So you reckon Frank McGuigan was decent then?
‘TONY’, from presumably Crossmaglen, took issue with ‘Paul from Lurgan’ who suggested that Tony Kernan should have been on for the start of the second half in their All-Ireland defeat to Galway a couple of weeks back.
“I would like to reply to ‘Paul from Lurgan’ in last week’s Off The Fence who said that Tony Kernan should have been on at half-time against Galway,” said ‘Tony’.
“I wonder what he has against Tony playing from the start. Also, having watched most of Crossmaglen’s matches over the past 18 years, I would have to congratulate Joe Kernan on his comments regarding his other son Aaron [in which he said Aaron would have been a huge asset to Armagh this season].
“In fact, Joe was a bit too modest, in my opinion. Aaron was the best wing-back in the country over a good number of years. He has pace, a great reader of the game, he can set up and finish moves and he can get forward at the right time without being caught out of position. Aaron Kernan is also an outstanding left-footed free-taker.”
FOLLOWING on from last week’s calls from the Erne County over their meagre three-minute segment on The Sunday Game after they beat Roscommon, ‘Mary’ said: “With regard to The Sunday Game’s broadcast of the Fermanagh-Roscommon match, I’m just wondering if by some fluke Dublin or Kerry had been playing in Enniskillen would The Sunday Game have managed to devote more time to it?
RESPONSE: Dublin? In Enniskillen? Don’t be silly. Don’t you know they play all their games in Croke Park?
AND finally to ‘Patrick’ who was delighted to read that the Irish News sports department will publish an eagerly-awaited 16-page supplement on the legendary Belfast Celtic tomorrow.
“It’s great to see the Irish News is producing a 16-page supplement on Belfast Celtic on Friday,” said ‘Patrick’.
“An uncle of mine used to speak glowingly about getting the train from Warrenpoint to Belfast to meet his cousin and they would go to Belfast Celtic games against Linfield.
“He said there were big crowds but what I detected was that there wasn’t a hint of sectarianism about the games.
“He spoke eloquently about the players and their skill from all the teams, and it’s just a shame Belfast Celtic declined and for there to be a concrete jungle at Celtic Park now. I hope something positive comes out of your supplement.”
