The View: It's time for cool heads and sensitivity

Tipperary's footballers cannot afford the luxury of wallowing in self pity as they ponder their relegation to Division 4 of the Allianz National Football League - there simply is not the time to waste on such a futile exercise and if they wish to be ready to represent their county with their best foot forward, they must put the league behind them and leave it in the rearview mirror.

That's easier and said than done. The footballers are in a rut right now and it requires the full grappling gear and pullies to drag themselves out of it. They cannot buy a break with anything which could wrong, appearing to do just that.

So, what is there to do then? Well, they need to freshen up somehwat - now is not the time to drive the horses hard with a big training workload. If they are to have any chance against Kerry or Clare - and let's be honest, who really believes it will be Clare? - they must be flying fit, full of energy, abandon and carefree actually - just like they were in last years championship.
Considering the way the league has gone, there's probably nobody in Ireland who gives Tipperary a chance of beating Kerry, or Clare for that matter. So, it's like as though the players have a free swing at the opposition. And, that's often the way the Tipp footballers like it.

The players have consistently come-up short when levels of expectation are elevated. They are a far better underdog team and they will certainly be the underdog when it comes to the provincial semi-final eventhough they are the defending champions.

You would have to have a lot of sympathy for the players and the management team. Due to Covid restrictions they haven't yet been able to celebrate winning Munster last year; haven't had a medal presentation evening; and haven't scaled the same heights since. After 85 years of waiting there should have been one hell of a party, but the champagne and cake are still on hold.

The lack of success at underage in the football scene is not helping Tipperary's cause and when David Power refers to the drop back to division 4 as being a chance to re-set, he might not be wrong. It might just afford the chance to look at a few things with new players, but it won't be simple getting out of that division either - to think it will be, would be very foolish.
Tipperary football has been at many crossroads through the years - 2021 is another and the probability of winning just one game in the entire campaign will render the season a write-off and hopefully, a one-off.

It's time for cool heads and patience; a calm calculated approach to assess what has gone wrong; and a vision and plan to figure out how to go about righting it.

The season probably cannot be rescued at this stage, but having a right cut off Kerry or Clare would help to restore some pride. So let's hope that we see Tipperary, at full strength, tearing into the opposition and going at them for the full duration of the game. Then perhaps, we might begin to see some semblance of the provincial championship winning team that everyone admired just seven months ago.

Bad weekend all round
Joining the footballers on the relegation ticket was the ladies footballers as they fell to Westmeath. And, the camogie ladies left a golden chance of a league final appearance behind them. Meanwhile, the senior hurlers, left a chance of sharing, or winning, the league title behind them as well. It was a bad weekend all round for gaelic games enthusiasts in Tipperary.

Another twist
The 'Kickhams five' hit anothertransfer twist when the Kerry CCC seemed to grant their move to Cashel King Cormacs. However, Knockavilla Kickhams have now objected to that ruling, as they are entitled to do, and it seems as though another hearing will have to be established again. This thing has more twists than a crafty corner forward - where to next one wonders? Europe??