Tompkins calls for payments

GAELIC GAMES:THE GAA has come under further pressure to address the issue of payment to intercounty managers. With the discussion document of director general Páraic Duffy still stalled, former Cork senior football manager Larry Tompkins yesterday called for some sort of legitimate payment to be introduced.

Duffy admitted at last week’s presentation of the GAA’s Annual Report there was “no obvious progress” on the document he presented to Management Committee last December, with GAA president Christy Cooney adding they wouldn’t be rushing into any decisions until addressing what he called “governance issues”.

The issue of payment to intercounty and indeed club managers – above the permitted mileage rates – was highlighted early in Duffy’s term as one of the main challenges facing the GAA, and Tompkins, who managed Cork for seven seasons between 1997 to 2003, suggests one way of addressing it is to increase the legitimate expenses of managers.

"I definitely think intercounty managers should be rewarded financially to some degree," says Tompkins, in an interview with the Evening Echo. "What they're getting at the moment, in terms of expenses, is very small.

“Managing a team at that level is a huge commitment, and it takes over your life. The manager has the most important and demanding role in a team. I’ve been on both sides of it. As a player you just pick up your bag in the evening and go training, but a manager is kept busy with it every minute of the day, between phone calls, planning training sessions, and various other things.

“I’m not saying give them a big pay packet at the end of the every week. But there should be enough to maybe allow them to ease back on the workload in their job. If I leave my job in the morning to go and train Mitchelstown, which I’m doing, I need to employ somebody to come in and do the work I would be doing otherwise.”

Yet the issue is clearly in conflict with the association’s amateur ethos: Tompkins admitted employing managers on a full-time basis would not be realistic, and that there were many people across the GAA who might feel they deserved to be paid in some way as well: “I’m certainly not arguing in favour of any professional status. What would happen then is that the top counties would be even stronger. The three or four best players from Carlow, for example, would just go away and play for Cork and Kerry, because they would make more money from it. That can’t happen.”

Elsewhere, the future of Fermanagh football manager John O’Neill remains unclear, with confirmation yesterday several players had opted out of the panel in apparent protest over his coaching methods. Among them are the Sherry brothers, James and Peter, as well as Tommy McElroy and Niall Bogue, who have all left since Fermanagh’s defeat to Leitrim in their Division Four clash on Sunday.

“As of now John is still in charge,” said a county spokesperson. “A number of players have left for their own reasons, but he was appointed for a year, and as far as the county board are concerned that is the case, and we have no plans to discuss the issue before the next county board meeting on April 6th.”

Speaking last week, O’Neill denied there was player unrest in his camp, claiming some players had left because of injury. However none of the starting 15 that brought Fermanagh to an Ulster final in 2008 remain in the squad, and just three players who started last year’s championship match against Cavan are still involved.

Fermanagh are third from bottom in the division following the defeat to Leitrim in Carrick-on-Shannon – despite being 0-7 to 0-1 ahead at half-time. They will play Kilkenny in Jenkinstown, at 5pm on Saturday, and another defeat there – unlikely as it is – wouldn’t help O’Neill’s chances of surviving into the summer.

Meanwhile, Cork’s Derek Kavanagh has announced his retirement on medical grounds. Part of the All-Ireland winning panel last September, Kavanagh – who also won eight county titles with Nemo Rangers – has been hampered by a chronic hip injury.