Colm O Neill pictured at the AIB All Ireland Football Championship launch.
By Cian O'Connell
Colm O’Neill accepts it is a lingering issue for the Cork footballers – the Rebels just want to become more consistent.
Relegation from Division One of the Allianz Football League was a blow for Cork, who had accumulated three victories over Mayo, Monaghan, and Down.
“Obviously we were disappointed with the way it finished up, but I suppose at the start of the league if you targeted getting six points, and I think they tried out maybe 30-35 players, you would have taken it,” O’Neill reflected.
“In hindsight the way the league went it wasn't good enough. In some games we performed well, others not so well.
“We have been very inconsistent in the league, we started off good against Mayo, then we had two bad performances.
“We were good against Dublin, good against Down, average against Kerry so it has been up and down. We are trying to get consistent, to have the graph even enough, not to have too many spikes and dips.”
Ballyclough clubman O’Neill’s career has been ravaged by knee injuries, but the recent signs are encouraging. “I'm trying to forget about the past really, but I haven't picked up any small or big injuries in the past 12 or 18 months, so far, so good.”
O’Neill reckons Cork manager Peadar Healy will work on a couple of different tactical approaches, including the use of a sweeper system ahead of Cork’s Munster Championship opener on June 12 against the winners of Waterford and Tipperary.
“Every team really has two or three different game plans,” O’Neill admits. Obviously one of them will be the use of a sweeper.
“We used it to a certain degree against Dublin, I think it worked for 50 or 60 minutes, but eventually teams get to grips with a sweeper.
“I don't think it is such a new phenomenon, a lot of teams are versed in how to counteract a sweeper. We will take it game by game, it will be up to Peadar and the management to see what game plan they want to implement.”