Cork players threaten strike over selectors issue

[darbyo]

I heard that the Cork players(football and hurling) will take all necessary action if the CB decision to revert back to the county selectors being appointed by the board rather than the manager is not changed.

[orangeman]

There could be life in the auld dog yet Darbyo - it could be Hello again Billy !!!!!

[orangeman]

I knew Billy wouldn't go away that handy !

[Tubberman]

Ridiculous that a manager can't choose his own selectors. This is one strike i'd support. County board should be kept away from team selection as much as possible

[thebandit]

They'll be striking about going on strike next....

[TBT]

Fair play to them. Frank is up to his old tricks again I see. If this isn't changed no manager with any sort of backbone would take on the senior sides in Cork. Give it two years max, and Frank would be picking himself as one of the selectors on the hurling  team. Complete madness.

[The Lord of Luuuvre]

Fair play to them. Frank is up to his old tricks again I see. If this isn't changed no manager with any sort of backbone would take on the senior sides in Cork. Give it two years max, and Frank would be picking himself as one of the selectors on the hurling  team. Complete madness.

GAA players are beginning to make Dublin Bus and the British Miners look like died the wool tories.  Bloody hell, it's like the 80s all over again.  Somebody breaks a finger nail and everyone's out on strike. We'll be crossing picket lines at U-12 matces next because the kids didn't get any biscuits with their tay.

[heineken_on_tap]

I wonder was this a way to get rid of Billy morgan i.e. tell him he cant have his own selectors and so he would have to stand down out of principle. Save the county board from sacking him. Just a theory

[orangeman]

Cork county board were always a funny crowd.

[lynchbhoy]

jeezuz H
Are the Cork county players the sporting equiv of CIE ?
FFS

[thewobbler]

There seems to be a very selfish mentality to Cork Gaels, whether they be players, administrators or just commoners. Administrators do what suits them, players do likewise.

[orangeman]

The county board shafted Billy - now it's Billy's turn !

[Frank Casey]

From www.eveningecho.ie.

The level of distrust between the county panels and the county board is very noticable as can be seen in the players protest a few years ago. I think this has as much to do with this as any evidence of wanting to have Billy Morgan stay on. Rebels Indeed


Teams blast changes in selection process

THE Cork County Board will await official correspondence from the hurling and football panels before responding to the latest
players' strike threat. The danger of another player strike on Leeside has reared its head in response to the decision taken by the Cork County Board on October 9 regarding the appointment of team selectors. Club representatives at that meeting voted 81 to
14 to go back to the system where a board committee picks both the manager and his selectors. In a joint statement by the hurlers and footballers released to the media, the players insist that they would be "willing to take action necessary to oppose" that system.
Only last week Billy Morgan revealed he would not be seeking reappointment as football manager due to the County Board decision.
The board, through PRO Bob Ryan, were this morning unwilling to comment on the statement until they are in receipt of  correspondence from the players. "No one was in contact prior to releasing the statement," explained Mr Ryan. "Given that there was
no prior knowledge the Cork County Board can't comment until such time as the statement is received." Mr Ryan did however
explain that the decision came about from a motion by a club delegate that was voted on by all club representatives. "The working of the Cork County Board is that a proposal comes from a club delegate and it is voted on democratically. "This is what happened and, naturally, the County Board are then bound by the result of that vote," he added. Hurling manager Gerald McCarthy is not affected by the provision as he still has a season of his two year term to run.

[Frank Casey]

Bit more of the players statement from www.irishexaminer.com

Cork players in new 'strike' threat

By Michael Moynihan
THE SPECTRE of another GAA players strike in Cork loomed large last night after a dramatic escalation in the row over the appointment of selectors to the Rebels' hurling and football management teams.

The county senior hurling and football panels issued a statement to this newspaper stating their outright opposition to the Board's new procedures for appointing county management teams. The statement warned that Cork's intercounty players would "take all action necessary to oppose this system."

The strongly worded opposition to the Board's new procedures warned the players "are absolutely united and determined in relation to this issue and are duty bound to take whatever action is necessary to organise the new system.





"We are all agreed that we are not going to partake in it or the county teams while this system is in place, regardless of who might be appointed under it."

In recent years the managers of the Cork hurling and football teams had the right to appoint their own selectors and backroom staff, but a Board meeting last month decided to revert to the old system, whereby the County Board would decide on the selectors who would work with the manager.

The decision prompted outgoing Cork football boss Billy Morgan to withdraw his interest in returning to the post for 2008, stressing he would not work in such circumstances. The change does not apply in 2008 to hurling boss Gerald McCarthy because he was appointed last year and has another season of his term to run, but the new football manager will have to work with selectors appointed by the board.

Last night's joint statement by the hurlers and footballers has added an explosive new twist to the row. Much attention will be focused on their declaration that they would be willing to "take all action necessary to oppose this system", which is interpreted as a threat to withdraw services, or strike. The move is completely unrelated to the GPA strike threat over Government grant payments.

The Cork statement includes a motion the players intend to have tabled at county convention next month which would reverse the recent decision and revert to the system whereby managers pick their own selectors and backroom staff.

This is not the first time there has been a stand-off between administrators and players in the Rebel County. The Cork hurlers went on strike in late 2002 in protest at conditions in which they were training and playing, and were joined later by their footballing counterparts. After the strike the hurlers reached four All-Ireland finals in-a-row, winning two, while the footballers reached two All-Ireland semi-finals and this year's final.

The statement underlines that the players "object in the strongest possible terms" to the system recently adopted by the County Board for the appointment of selectors for Cork hurling and football teams.

IT reads: "We are unanimously agreed that this is a backward step for Cork and that we are not prepared to go along with it. We have reluctantly resolved to take all action necessary to oppose this system and we feel that it is vital that we register our opposition to the system and take any action necessary before anyone is appointed under it.

"We have no desire to be taking this stance, but we feel we have no option. We believe that this proposal was not properly debated by the clubs and we were, almost to a man, unaware of the proposals before they were passed.

"There is no doubt in our minds that we will not be able to compete let alone win with this arrangement. We cannot hope to have quality management teams in place in the future and we are calling on the Board at its annual convention to reconsider its stance on this system and to do away with it. As everybody knows, even with the best management and structures, it is difficult to win. Without them it's almost impossible.

"We have written to the secretary of the board today asking him to include the following motion on the agenda for the county convention: 'That the recently adopted system for choosing selectors for the Cork senior hurling and football teams be abandoned in favour of a system where the manager picks his own selectors and/or backroom team'.

"We have also decided to have our panel members bring this motion to their respective clubs, as a matter of urgency. No doubt there may be some technical difficulty with notice or procedures in this regard but we are sure, given the gravity of the situation, that the board will see its way to having a further debate on the matter. We would see it as vital that a debate would take place among Cork GAA people and among their clubs, before a proposal like this could be adopted as we feel that this system will damage not just our teams, but future generations of Cork hurlers and footballers."

The statement adds: "We wish to be clear about this; if somebody is appointed as a selector by the board and/or its sub-committee in the face of this statement and our motion, we will not be the parties creating a difficult situation or a stand-off. It is open to the board to reconsider its decision and allow us all to go forward together into next year and beyond. We are absolutely united and determined in relation to this issue and are duty bound to take whatever action is necessary to organise the new system.

"We are all agreed that we are not going to partake in it or the county teams while this system is in place, regardless of who might be appointed under it."

[orangeman]

Who's laughing now ?