THE ISSUE HASN’T gone away, you know.

Former Cork senior football manager Larry Tompkins has called for some sort of legitimate payment to intercounty managers to be introduced.

GAA director general Páraic Duffy has made “no obvious progress” on his discussion document on the top, he says, while GAA president Christy Cooney says Croker won’t rush into any decisions.

Rebel legend Tompkins, however, insists action is required.  “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,” he added.

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