More from The Wexford People. Here’s why the players were right to draw a line under the affair after speaking once to the local media.
He’s shifting the entire blame for the last 2 years onto the players with his comments about knowing now why they’ll never beat KK.
It wasn’t them who went on holidays for a week between the Leinster semi-final and final last year.
It wasn’t them who failed to appoint a physical trainer this season.
Christ, he even refused to discuss a gameplan before the Leinster Final this year until the players finally badgered him into doing so.
Finally, he asked the players for suggestions and then when it came to applying them and discussing them he said there was to be no more talking.
So, they went out and did their own thing, avoiding physical battles, moving the ball around quickly and across the field with Stephen Doyle roaming and staying close to Cha Fitz to try to curb his influence. This was all the players’ work and we played well for a half. Kudos to the players, not John Meyler for that one.
Pity it all fell apart in the second half but, again, if we were fitter we might have made a better attempt to stay with KK when they turned the screw.
It would also have been nice to have proper treatment of injured players too.
Stephen Nolan was out for nearly 2 months with a broken thumb that was a 2 or 3 week job. Nothing being done about Keith Rossiter’s groin all year and he ended up missing the important games.
It’s up to the manager to have these things in place - be it physios, specialists, doctors or whatever. The professionalism of the footballers under Jason Ryan made the hurling set up pretty laughable.
As for the lack of man management skills, strewth. His interaction with injured players, or lack thereof, was pretty odd. They were generally ignored and he didn’t push for them to be sorted out as quickly as possible.
He even banned an injured player from coming to training for 2 weeks because he was laughing about something on the line and Meyler said injured players shouldn’t be laughing.
Good riddance to the clown. Anyway, here’s the article:
Departing boss slams players
By Brendan FURLONG
A SHOCKED John Meyler approached his sacking as Wexford Senior hurling manager in a dignified manner, refusing to hold any grudge against his native county - but he still managed to take a parting shot at his former charges.
Just 24 hours after his departure, Meyler slammed the players when he claimed they did not carry the courage of their convictions.
‘I am not that disappointed (to be sacked) because I now know why they will never beat Kilkenny. The four players refused to identify themselves, refused to stand up, refused to meet me face to face. Now I know why they’ll never beat Kilkenny, but it’s two years too late.’
There’s no question that Meyler is deeply hurt, not just for himself, but also for his two selectors, Willie Sunderland and Nick Byrne, along with his backroom team of Fran Fitzhenry (physio), Brian Walsh and Fr. Brian Whelan.
'When I met with County Chairman, Ger Doyle, and Secretary, Margaret Doyle, I asked who these players were. They (players) did not have the courage to stand up and announce themselves. Instead they wanted to stay hidden and remain anonymous.
‘After that, you can only conclude that if they can’t stand over their own beliefs, then how can they stand up to Kilkenny?’ Meyler said.
He added that the decision to get rid of him had been all the harder to understand given the progress the team had made in the past twelve months.
'By my own standards I would be disappointed, because I would have wanted us to win the last two All-Irelands, but the disappointing thing is that this has come at a time when I really felt we were making progress.
'This year we were down nine between retirements, players injured and players leaving the country for the summer. But we managed to blood new players, remain ultra-competitive and come within a point of Waterford. In that context it was a huge achievement.
‘I was also involved with the Intermediates that beat Waterford in an All-Ireland final and we were able to bring a couple of those lads into the team, so I’m definitely happy with the progress that was made.’
The readiness of the two main Board officers to lend such credence to the players’ grievances suggests that an opportunity to remove Meyler from the post was awaited with open arms.
Still, Meyler was totally shocked when told that his services were being dispensed of.
‘We had a meeting on the Wednesday after the Waterford game and we discussed about twelve different areas where we needed to improve on for next year. They were all small things and there were no major things. The focus at the end of that meeting was very much about moving on and planning for the year ahead.’
Now Meyler has been inundated with telephone calls and text messages of support from not just Wexford but from throughout the country.
'I have been inundated with calls of support. I had calls from Liam Dunne, Tom Dempsey and Adrian Fenlon of the '96 All-Ireland winning team. Now I realise why Liam Griffin won an All-Ireland with players like that.
'I would like to thank all the clubs for their help and courtesy, clubs who put their grounds at my disposal, along with those at Wexford Park.
'Those pitches were open and available sometimes from early morning, sometimes 6 a.m. when I would be present waiting for the squad.
‘I would also like to thank and pay tribute to County Secretary, Margaret Doyle, for her assistance. Margaret was always courteous and of great assistance at all times. I would also like to thank the local media, and Brendan, I’ll miss your 8.30 a.m. calls every Monday,’ he said.
'I do not hold any bitterness, life moves on. I’m now back home and have more time for my family. When I met up with friends and some Cork players on Wednesday they welcomed me home.
'I’ve enjoyed great years in Cork, won an AllIreland Senior hurling medal, captained St. Finbarr’s to an All-Ireland club football title and also won county titles.
‘I’ve already had two telephone calls this morning (Wednesday) from clubs, but I’ll give it a bit of time.’