JOHN Cleary will decide this week whether or not to allow his name to be considered for the vacant Cork senior football team manager’s post.
Cleary, who coached the county’s minor A ladies to All-Ireland glory yesterday, has been strongly linked with the position vacated by Brian Cuthbert.
The two-time All-Ireland SFC medalist was interested in succeeding Conor Counihan in 2013 but the job went to Cuthbert instead.
Cleary is viewed as a leading contender again, having worked with many of the current Cork players at U21 level in 2007, when the Rebels were crowned All-Ireland champions.
The Castlehaven club man Cleary then managed the U21s to All-Ireland glory in 2009 and played a key role as a consultant to Counihan during his reign as senior boss.
He was also involved with his club when they claimed the Cork senior football crown in 2013.
Yesterday Cleary’s daughter Laura played, and scored 1-2, in the All-Ireland minor A decider in Thurles.
And Cleary said after the final whistle: “My name is out there but I haven’t even thought about it and that’s being quite truthful.
“When it broke, I was on holidays and this was the focus today.
“I’ll see will I let my name go forward – it’s a huge, huge job and I’ll sit down in the next couple of days when I get a bit of time.
“First of all I don’t know if I’d be wanted or not and secondly if I’ll let my name go forward.”
He added: “I was around Conor’s (Counihan) set-up and I’ve been involved in the U21′s.
“It’s not that you just take it and that you’re manager and everything else falls into place.
“It’s like having a second employment with no pay. It’s not something that you jump lightly into. I’ve been involved in management, had good days and bad days.
“To me, it’s all about the players. The better players will come out at the end of the day – a manager can only do so much and too much has been talked about what a manager can do for a team.
“They can do so much but the Kerry’s and Dublin’s there, you see what they have, the resources they have and the players and they have. They’re at it a long number of years. Look, we’ll see what happens during the week.
“It’s a big, big job and not something that somebody could just say, yeah I’ll do it or whatever, or even let your name go forward. In the next couple of days I’ll see how the land lies.”
The fallout to Cork’s All-Ireland qualifier defeat to Kildare nine days ago has been severe, with Cuthbert standing down following an eight-point defeat.
And Cleary reflected: “There’s been a lot going on in Cork for the last number of years. Brian put his head above the parapet.
“I think there’s a lot of unfair stuff there, stuff on social media for guys going out to do their best. They’re not getting a penny for it, they go to work during the day and they come home.
“This is supposed to be a pastime and it’s gone really overboard now. A lot of it comes from English soccer and things like that. The flak there is just a bit much.
“When teams do well the manager is put up on a pedestal, that he’s nearly kicking the ball over the bar.
“It’s gone a bit too far but that’s the way of the world. People get hurt by it and families get hurt by it.
“I don’t think it’s particularly fair for people that going out to give their best to an amateur organisation.”
