Cavan senior football selector Phelim Plunkett says while league results have been disappointing to date, the blues aren't without hope in 2008. As they say in the vernacular, Phelim Plunkett has always been "well got" in Cavan GAA circles. He's found favour with club and county types all his life and continues to do so. He was a decent footballer in his time; has confirmed his credentials as a loyal Ballyhaise clubman and has graduated to join the elite of Cavan's most intelligent coaches. For going on three years now, he has been part of the fixtures and fittings at Kingspan/Breffni Park but that hasn't prevented him from seeing the wood from the trees. Simply put, Phelim is wont to tell things as they are and not as people would like to imagine them. He continues to shoot from the hip, years after hanging up his boots. He firmly believes that Cavan fans don't have any great expectations with regard to the county senior team's fortunes this year because they know the story. "Supporters are going to club games across the county and they're not stupid," Phelim declares. "The reality is the standard of club football in Cavan isn't very good," he contends. "People who regularly see club matches in the county know that there isn't a bottomless pit of talent in Cavan and that we haven't great strength in depth on the county panel. "For the league game against Monaghan we had ten players on the injury list and that's something a county like Cavan can't afford - it's been such a bad run of luck. "We've had so many key fellas getting injured before major games, it's unreal. We're just hoping we'll at least have everyone fit in time for the championship match with Antrim." Part of the Donal Keoghan think-tank team for the past two years has given the popular mentor a deep insight into the playing resources to be tapped into by the county set-up. Like the rest of gaels in Cavan, he's been largely disappointed by results in 2008 so far but he insists "it's all about getting past Antrim in this year's championship." He accepts that Cavan could have gotten a much worse draw than Antrim in the Ulster championship but he believes that Antrim would contest that, similarily, Cavan may not be the most difficult opponent either that they could have drawn out of the hat. "Most people in Ulster would probably say we're the bottom two in the province and that it's like meeting like so, realistically, I can't say we could have any complaints about the draw. "It's the likes of Tyrone and Armagh who have set the standard, have raised the bar and we have to look towards getting to the levels that they've been for a few years now. "Having said that, Armagh looked very ordinary in the first half when we played them in the league and some of their players showed their age. "But then again the return of their Crossmaglen contingent is bound to make a huge difference to Armagh and they'll be a lot stronger come the summer. "Overall I think the gap that existed between the Tyrone and Armaghs of this world and the rest of us has got narrower and Ulster, as a whole, has gone back that bit. "Kerry showed last year once again just what they're made of and Cork would be the second ranked county at the moment in my books on the basis of last year's form. "Kerry are a class apart though and there's a gap there between them and everyone else and they'll be the team to beat again this year." And his tip for the top in 2008 in Ulster's blue riband competition? "Down won the McKenna Cup and I think they'll be there or thereabouts when July comes around although I'd have my reservations about their full-back line. "They have some great forwards and Ross Carr and DJ Kane are two fellas who know just what it takes to win the championship but they do have problems at the back." Phelim has a great passion for Gaelic football and doing his best to propel the county senior and under 21s upwards and onwards is what stokes his fire at present. He believes Cavan "have a couple of great young fellas" on the scene right now but he's fearful for what will happen the potency of the team when questions of age or appetite begin to "come knocking at the door" of stalwarts such as Anthony Forde, Dermot McCabe and Jason O'Reilly. Cavan's luckless start to 2008 is one, Phelim contends, the county will just have to learn from over the coming months. He points out that the NFL is a real bear-pit though. "You couldn't imagine division two being any stronger than it is," he declares. It's probably even stronger than division one but we have to get on with it and do our best. "I don't care if we finish third from bottom in the league as long as we hold onto our division two status for next year because that's very, very important for Cavan football. "Last year was a long hard slog in the league with - no disrespect to those counties - very tiring journeys, mentally and physically, to the likes of Tipperary and Waterford. "It was tough for the players, mentally, to get up for the matches against Waterford and Tipperary and they're expected to win them handy so it's a no-win situation really. "The big thing from the league was that, from where I saw it, the players still carried the scars of that defeat to Waterford in Breffni Park the previous year. "I'm convinced that the players' confidence was shattered by that result and they're still suffering from the consequences of losing to Waterford. "It was a soul-destroying result but the abuse some of the players suffered that day was inexcusable and a disgrace," Phelim adds. And, as a Cavan selector, does he ever feel as if he's under the same scrutiny, same examination by a success-starved, sometimes uber critical fan base? "Of course if the results of matches don't go right, you feel under pressure but that's a pretty regular thing because there are so many tough matches. "There are no easy games at intercounty level and while that might sound like a cliche, it's true and everyone involved with any county set-up would tell you the same." Ultra-realistic about Cavan's prospects in the short-term, Phelim raged, like his co-mentors, at the decision by the authorities to give colleges first call on county players for the various provincial subsidiary competitions. He is convinced that the training and match schedule endured by college players makes them much more in danger of succumbing to 'burn-out' syndrome. "We had six or seven lads on the panel who were playing for their colleges during our McKenna Cup campaign and then they were playing Sigerson Cup matches in mid-week before our national league matches - it's crazy." Not that Phelim believes that restricting college stars represents a quick-fix for Cavan football and a way towards securing a third Anglo-Celt Cup triumph in 39 years for the county. "There are so many problems in Cavan football that a lot needs to be ironed out so that we give ourselves the best possible chance of making it to the top in Ulster again. "For instance, the league system in Cavan has to be addressed 'cause it's not on that you have games going on from March right through 'till December every year. "It's no good that you have a club playing a first round championship game and then having no more championship games for the guts of six weeks. "You can't expect players to remain clued-in with that sort of schedule and, definitely, there has to be a lot of soul-searching in Cavan football if we're to improve the situation." In the short-term, Cavan Football Inc. has made its bed and has to lie in it. Will it be lying with a piece of silverware by year's end? "I don't know but I definitely hope so. First though, we have to try and make sure that we stay in division two of the league because I think everyone agrees that's hugely important. "Doing reasonably well in the league would build up a bit of momentum and maybe get back some of that confidence which the lads showed in the opening game against Armagh. "We looked at 46 players last year and 50 this year so whatever lads we have on board will have to do the business in the next few weeks and months. "It was agreed by the manager and myself and the other selectors that we conceded far too many scores over the past couple of years and we've taken steps to try and remedy that. "If we can improve sufficiently at the back and the lads can pull themselves together for the tail end of the league, I think we'll be a much better proposition come the championship." Tweet

Most Read Stories