John Considine has denied that he has had any contact with the Cork county board in respect of the vacant county senior hurling manager's position. Considine, a former All-Ireland winner and minor county manager, has been extensively mentioned as a front-runner for the position resigned by Bertie Óg Murphy after one turbulent season in charge.
"No-one's been in touch with me," he said yesterday, "despite all the coverage. It's been a bit embarrassing with people I know well saying: 'We never knew. You've been playing your cards close to your chest'. But the truth is it's all a big guessing game at the moment."
The UCC lecturer declined to say if he would be interested in the job. "Bertie Óg is only just officially gone. I think that everyone felt he might change his mind in the month after tendering the resignation. Now that it's been accepted the county board has a lot of things to sort out and I'd say that that will take a few weeks."
Considine's reticence presumably reflects both the fact that Murphy is a club-mate at Sarsfields and the general uncertainty within the county as officials try to deal with player unrest and evident unhappiness at the outgoing selection committee, none of whom have stepped down in tandem with Murphy.
Cork could find it difficult to attract a manager who would be willing to work with a selection committee put together with a previous management in mind, particularly given the controversial circumstances. The county executive will presumably be putting their minds to resolving the situation concerning players and selectors before turning their attention to approaching managerial candidates.
Meanwhile, the Leinster Council has confirmed the Dublin football champions would be given an extra week before having to face provincial holders Rathnew - should Saturday's county final endin a draw.
A decision was taken last Monday by Leinster that no postponement would be granted to either UCD or St Vincent's who contest this weekend's final. This means the winners will have to play two days running - unless the Dublin final is still level after extra time.
County chairman John Bailey had expressed disappointment at the refusal to grant the Dublin champions a bit of breathing space, especially because the court case (Na Fianna's injunction) that delayed the county championship was the result of Dublin upholding GAA rules, including a decision of the Leinster Council itself.
Bailey had outlined plans to play additional periods of extra time should UCD and Vincent's still be level but Leinster secretary Michael Delaney said yesterday this would not be necessary.
"The decision not to grant the postponement was democratically taken and when the subject of a draw was raised it was agreed to leave the details to myself and the chairman. We have decided that there should sufficient leeway to allow Dublin replay the final if it is level at the end of extra time.
"That would leave it up to Dublin whether they wanted to replay the game the following day, on the Sunday, or under lights during the week."
Should the match reach a resolution on Saturday, however, the winners will have to travel to Aughrim the next day to face Rathnew.
However the weekend works out for UCD, there was good news for third-level institutions in Connacht with the news the provincial council had decided to admit three of them to the FBD Connacht League. The secondary provincial competition takes place in January and will be good preparation for the Sigerson Cup.
NUI Galway, Galway-Mayo IT and Sligo IT - winners of Sigerson this year for the first time - will all take part in the FBD along with the Connacht counties.
