They better perform in 2016 or they will lose whatever credibility they have left. Disgusting way to treat a man that brought them to 2 AI finals. 2 finals that were there to be won if they had performed for 70 minutes. I suspect they know this themselves but need a scapegoat. Sad.
Cunningham was a spoofer & yer lucky to see the back of him. Players know the score & acted accordingly.
Time will tell Harry. I have a sinking feeling the next manager will be the problem as well, hope I am wrong.
For anyone that hasn’t read it yet;
I, Anthony Cunningham incumbent Senior Hurling Manager since 2012, hereby confirm the following:-
“Despite the fact that I was unanimously ratified and supported by the Galway GAA Clubs, the County Hurling and Galway County Committees and having reviewed the current impasse in detail over the past month, it is with great sadness tonight that I and my Management Team announce our resignation from our positions. I do so with the best interests of Galway Hurling in mind and with the priority of best assisting Galway hurling to build on the achievement of 2015.
“As a Management team we have exhausted all avenues with support from the clubs, their delegates, the hurling fraternity and County Committees in the past month to bring this impasse to a conclusion and protect Galway Hurling. Despite extensive attempts at genuine dialogue including Independent Arbitration, there were no reasonable explanations offered or given as to the issues that players felt they had.
“I believe that the players are misguided in that they are not taking the views of their county on board. They, through their actions, have shown scant respect for, and loyalty to the goodwill shown them by supporters, clubs and County GAA Committees and Management. I contend it is unreasonable to express a lack of confidence in management – how else could we have reached a winning position in an All-Ireland Final last September?
“I consider this a kangaroo court decision, led by a core group of players orchestrated with the help of others outside Galway, motivated by a desire to unjustly extend their lifespan as inter-county players placing personal agendas above the greater good of Galway Hurling. This goes to the very core of what our Association stands for – there is a national danger now that the democratic and voluntary ethos of the GAA is being overrun by groups of players that wish to indulge in the selection and termination of management.
“Galway Hurling is bigger than any one individual and given that this current impasse shows no immediate sign of abating, I reluctantly conclude that it best that I now step aside.
“I hold a deep conviction that the current Galway management team is the one best positioned to deliver Galway hurling to the next level and bring All-Ireland Senior success to our county. I thank my family, my management team colleagues and their families for their support and I am very sensitive the hurt they have endured in the very recent past. I salute the county officials and officers and numerous volunteers who have given me magnificent support over the last five years.
“With Disappointment & Sincerity, Anthony Cunningham.”
Hardly a spoofer, his management track record holds up very well.Every team he’s coached he has left them in a better place than he found them. Some strange rabbit in headlights moments in games for sure but overall one of the better managers out there. He’s based in Athlone so could end up doing a job for Dublin, Clare, Limerick, Offaly or some other run of the mill County.
Has Anthony forgotten he was very well remunerated for his time where as the players receive nothing? He is being a tad hypocritical here.
Are you being serious? The Galway CB barely have a pot to piss in.
Was Anthony working for free? Talking about the morals of the Association is retarded. Any Manager who loses the dressing room is done for, it can’t work if doubt is there. He needs to slither away & keep his gob shut. Letting it get to this stage was his own doing, so excuse me if I’m not sobbing for the chap.
I saw Cloonan play at every grade and I can assure you, he was the difference in far more games than I’d care to remember. No angel, but he was well able to take it as well as dish it out.
He was a tramp, pal.
Elder players have backed themselves into a corner here.
If I was the new manager they’d be first guys I’d drop.
No he wasn’t. He reacted to trampish acts on him but he rarely started it.
I marked him twice and he was only ever interested in the ball.
He took some amount of abuse though.
I must be a fan of trampish play then Harry
I saw him as a teenager against Brian Lohan in a club final, and Lohan meted out some fairly liberal off-the-ball belts. Cloonan took him to the cleaners. I’d have him on my team one hundred times ahead of some of the “lovely” hurlers we’ve had down the years.
If it is Daly, I’d wonder would he have the balls to do it that way. He was very buddy-buddy with the senior lads on the Dublin panel, and slow enough to make changes with some of those players in particular.
I’d happily take Cunningham for Dublin.
Cunningham out.
Ah stop that nonsense. Cloonan scored 9 points that day, 7 from frees. I was sitting roughly opposite where they played for one the halves and Lohan wasn’t getting involved at all.
Daly always has been a players man.
There is a core group of elder players who he ‘might’ get one more year out… Max.
But if he’s smart he’ll go for a 3 year plan and CULL.
Who would you drop, pal?
If I was going with a 3 year plan…
Collins, Smith, Tannian & Donnellan.