END TO END: Leaderless Cavan hit rock bottom

THE AFTERMATH is never pretty. Under the stand in the bowels of Breffni Park, Cavan players trudged out in single file, heads down as if shuffling off to the firing squad. The analogy isn"t that far off the mark, either; the backlash to last Sunday"s defeat has been vocal and unanimous. 'Disgust' is the word uttered most. Normally mild supporters have spoken of their frustration and several have called the offices of this newspaper to put on record their feelings. A genuine Cavan legend who attended the match described it as 'one of the worst displays he had seen'. There is no hiding from reality on this occasion. Against Tipperary, Cavan were pathetic - lifeless, rudderless, leaderless and, in some cases it appeared, disinterested. Donal Keogan was derided last year, but given Cavan"s first two results - let"s face it, defeat to a very poor Tipp side and the Longford reserve team - his patchy legacy continues to look better. It is worth taking another look at Keogan"s oft-quoted parting shot for an insight. 'I was fed up with the players" attitude. A lot of them wanted the trappings of an inter-county footballer, but they weren"t prepared to put the effort in and work,' he said last summer. 'The ability in the squad is unquestionable, but they don"t want it enough. It doesn"t hurt them enough when they lose.' Are the Cavan players hurting this week? They didn"t look like a team playing with passion, with a fear of failure or a pride in the jersey last Sunday. Come to think of it, they didn"t look like a team at all. The current panel have the trappings - the gear, the status - but after the manner of last Sunday"s submission, they have lost some of the respect of the supporters. So, where to start? Is this to be an obituary or an epiphany? Are we to mourn for the dearly departed soul of Cavan football, or could this be where we, to coin a phrase beloved of economists, bottom out? In keeping with the theme, let"s be shallow and think of it in purely monetary terms. In a time when jobs are being lost at a rate of hundreds per day, here are two statistics to send a shudder down the spine of Cavan football supporters. The first is the combined figure spent on preparing the various county teams in 2007 and 2008 - €1,103,008. A fraction went on the hurlers, the rest on the Cavan senior football team and what are essentially it"s feeder squads, the Under 21"s and minors. Now compare this with the record of the Cavan senior football team in league and championship over a similar period: Since Cavan beat Waterford at home on April 8 2007, we have played 16 matches in league and championship and won two. Two. The victories came against Antrim, accepted as the worst team in Ulster, and a one-point home win over a sluggish Cork team just back in action after a winter manning the pickets. The defeats were many - Roscommon twice (their only two victories in 12 months), Down, Kildare, Longford and now, sorest of all, Tipperary. The record, then, suggests that this is probably the worst team ever to don the blue jersey, or at least one of them. Yet we know this isn"t true. Many of our players have achieved excellence with third level colleges, played in the Railway Cup and represented Ireland at Under 17 level. What is wrong with Cavan isn"t a lack of talent, it is a lack of character. The onus is on players and management who are honoured with a Cavan jersey to display that character in everything they do, be it on the training pitch, in a match or off the field.Cavan supporters demand an honest effort and if that is forthcoming, they will back this team. Whether emanating from his military background or stern appearance, Carr has a reputationas a disciplinarian but so far, the Cavan manager hasn"t convinced in that department. The chatter in the stand at Breffni Park was of drinking sessions out west following a challenge match against Mayo which continued back home. Imagine. Does this go on in other counties? In successful counties? These are questions that need answering. The body language of the players, and management, betrayed a lack of passion last Sunday. When the match was over, players trotted back inside without warming down while the management stood bemused on the sideline. After a tough match, a warm down is vital yet that was abandoned in defeat; this recklessness, evident in the lackadaisical approach to the match, sums the whole sorry mess up. And whither, too, Mark McKeever? Rumours circulated the county last week that the Gowna man, team captain for the past two seasons, had been dropped from the squad for disciplinary reasons. Carr denied this after the match, claiming that McKeever was 'taking a break' and would be back for Down. Regardless, personalities are irrelevant - what the Cavan supporters want to see is honesty and commitment. The best footballers in Cavan, some of the best in Ulster, are on this county panel now. Tom Carr is new to the job, while Peter Reilly, a lionhearted player for a decade, owes us nothing. Niall Lynch, too, has delivered All Ireland success in the recent past. This team needs leaders and needs an injection of heart. Let this be the turning point. The county desperately craves success - now is the time to deliver.