Ya, i’d say your right. I think any man deserves to be given 3 years and be done with it, takes the pressure off and it takes time anyway. As ye will be well aware i am not a Davy fan, but coaches learn and adapt and he could do alot of good structural work there yet. I just wonder will he improve them as “Hurlers”. I really believe a year off or a club job would have suited him better though. Time out is a great help.
And for the man himself, from the human side i’d worry for his health. He’s going to be full throttle again with this gig. Only the travelling is down really.
Possibily, but the one thing i would say and the other Clare contributors would agree that of the current crop of young players we have between 17 and 23 there is an abundance of natural stickmen with a very high skill level and great workrate for their age, but a lot of these guys are seriously lacking when in comes to the physical stakes and what is needed at senior level. Even if Davy could get us to the level of fitness and physicality that Daly has achieved with Dublin in the last three years by the end of his term it would be a huge boost in the right direction. Huge problem for Clare at the moment is that the gusy who are 25+ are simply not good enough hurlers or leaders. I don’t want to cut these lads down, but lads like Pat Vaughan, Donnellan, Diarmuid, Fergal Lynch, Johnathon Clancy etc will all do a job for you and possibly fill a gap but all have glaring deficiencies as hurlers, these are the guys we are relying on to stand up and be counted in tight games but they are just not capable. This is as much own to our terrible approach to underage in the first half of the last decade and we are paying the price now. In fairness to a handfull of the younger lads from the 2009 under 21 team they have shown the required metal, skill level and leadership but they can only do so much. We are still 2 or 3 years off being a competitive side at the business end of the championsip and it won’t happen til we close the huge physical gap between ourselves and the likes of Waterford, Galway, Dublin etc and when the younger lads off the last three minor sides mature abit and get up to speed and take the places of the over 25’s that I named above.
Like I said I have reservations with regards to some aspects of Davy fitz but I am certain he will improve us from the current rabble that we are. We can’t really go much lower at this point. I don’t think he is a man to win us Munster titles but I would expect him to take this team through a transitional period and improve them over the next few seasons. With possibly a better coach/shrewder manager then taking over and taking them to the next level after that
That seems the most likely senario alright. It is a good point about your young hurlers. Question though, who helped them become these good stickmen, where are those people? Are the Minor & U-21 lads being used productively, if they are actively coaching or whatever?
You would also have the fear that the skills could be blunted if training wasn’t up to scratch. I would like to see Davy move away from the defensive mode (probably doesn’t have the hurlers for it yet anyway) and try to work the other way around. Encourage brave and attacking hurling and let the players learn. I wish a few more managers did it too. He’s got free reign really and will be given at least a year of grace. You might take a beating or too, but you’ll find your leaders pretty fast anyway by-proxy if that happens.
Fitzgerald denies six-year demand http://www.clarechampion.ie/images/M_images/pdf_button.png[/url] [url=“http://www.clarechampion.ie/index.php?view=article&catid=35%3Ahurling&id=7821%3Afitzgerald-denies-six-year-demand&tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=&option=com_content&Itemid=37”]http://www.clarechampion.ie/images/M_images/printButton.png[/url] [url=“http://www.clarechampion.ie/index.php?option=com_mailto&tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jbGFyZWNoYW1waW9uLmllL2luZGV4LnBocD9vcHRpb249Y29tX2NvbnRlbnQmdmlldz1hcnRpY2xlJmlkPTc4MjE6Zml0emdlcmFsZC1kZW5pZXMtc2l4LXllYXItZGVtYW5kJmNhdGlkPTM1Omh1cmxpbmcmSXRlbWlkPTM3”]http://www.clarechampion.ie/images/M_images/emailButton.png Written by Seamus Hayes Thursday, 06 October 2011 11:50
Clare senior hurling manager elect, Davy Fitzgerald, has not looked for control of minor, U-21 and intermediate Clare teams in addition to the senior team and neither has he looked for a six-year term at the helm.
Following media reports that he had made specific proposals, Fitzgerald categorically stated to The Clare Champion on Wednesday that he had “made no such demands”.
“Managing a county senior team is a full-time job and I will have enough on my plate,” he said when asked about the reports.
“Of course, I would intend to keep in touch with the other selection committees as I believe that all these committees should keep in regular contact. As the senior team manager, I will keep an eye on how the players in the other squads are performing to monitor whether they should be called up to the senior panel,” the Sixmilebridge man said, before offering the view that all the teams should have access to the same strength and conditioning coach.
The name of the former All-Star goalkeeper will be put before the October meeting of Clare GAA next Tuesday night for ratification. When nominations for the position, vacant since Ger O’Loughlin stepped down last July following two years in charge, closed last week, Fitzgerald’s was the only name put forward.
He will attend Tuesday’s meeting, when he will outline his plans to the delegates. At the October board meeting, he will also be putting forward the names of who will serve as selectors with him.
While he didn’t reveal the make-up of his backroom team, The Clare Champion understands that Louis Mulqueen and Mike Deegan will be part of the management set-up, while the names of Brian Lohan, Pat O’Connor and Michael Browne have also been linked.
Ennis man Mulqueen was the trainer of the Clare senior team from 2000 for a number of years. He was appointed by Ger Loughnane in succession to Mike McNamara and continued as team trainer when Cyril Lyons replaced Loughnane as manager. Prior to that, he had trained the St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield team that won two Clare, two Munster and one All-Ireland senior club title. He was the Galway senior trainer for two years when Ger Loughnane managed the Tribesmen. He has helped train a number of other club sides and has worked with Fitzgerald previously, notably when helping guide Killanena to an historic first Clare intermediate title last year.
Mike Deegan has been part of the Cratloe backroom team for the past four years and helped steer his native club to a first Clare senior title in 2009 and to the runners-up position last year.
Lohan was the Clare full-back for a decade with Fitzgerald as goalkeeper. This year, the Wolfe Tones man was part of the backroom team that steered Patrickswell to the Limerick senior semi-final. Pat O’Connor and Michael Browne are the current managers with their native clubs, Tubber and Crusheen respectively.
I wonder where the Clare People got that story out of? I wouldn’t take either of the papers too seriously to be honest. As far as the ‘demands’ go, they sound completely ludicrous but you have to remember this is the Fitzgeralds you’re talking about and anything is possible. I hope he gets the backroom team sorted quickly so all this shite can be put to bed. I wouldn’t be too excited about Lohan being involved but a few of the other lads would be solid enough I suppose. Davy will be running the show anyway so it’ll be specialist roles at best for the other lads. Proficiency with a rubber stamp will be one of the main qualifications I’d imagine.
I would see both Deegan and Browne as very positive appointments alright. Still we could do with the likes of Bertie Sherlock, Tommy Guilfolye, Fergie O’Loughlin and Diarmuid O’Leary and men of their ilk involved as well
at least the champion actually have quotes from the man himself as opposed to a “sixmilebridge source”
Unlikely. Will probably choke when it’s put up to them again. Wasn’t at the game yesterday but they struggled over Rathnure in much the same way they did St Martins (I think) last year. Think they play Kilkenny champions in their next game and couldn’t fancy them there. Gman can confirm but apparently Dessie Mythen was brought on to wind up the Rathnure full back in the second half and had a holy show made out of himself.
What’s the story with lads being ‘handed’ 3 year ‘terms’ and the like in GAA? Are there actually contracts etc done up and if so what provisions to stop either side breaking them? Seems a touch of the bullshit factor about the whole thing to be honest
:lol: