Clare Players Revolt
Tuesday October 27 2009
A letter sent to Clare county board last week by members of the senior hurling squad, registering their opposition to Mike McNamara continuing as their manager next year, is understood not to have been signed.
Clare PRO Syl O'Connor confirmed yesterday that the letter had been received by secretary Pat Fitzgerald but no individual signatures appear on it.
"I haven't seen the letter myself personally but I do understand that there are no signatures attached," said O'Connor, who confirmed that the letter had been sent on behalf of the senior squad.
It points to a clear lack of organisation among the players in their attempt to bring McNamara's two-year reign to an end.
The players want the letter read out at tonight's county board meeting in Ennis. However, O'Connor suggested that this was unlikely on account of the absence of transparency.
"There is an issue over what players exactly this letter came from," he added.
Signatures
Because there are no signatures, it is unclear how many players are behind the move to dispense with McNamara, who was part of the management triumvirate -- headed by Ger Loughnane -- that brought two All-Ireland titles to Clare in the 1990s.
Whether a rejection of their request to have their letter aired and the matter of management discussed at tonight's meeting will lead to an escalation and hardening of the players' position remains to be seen.
At a players' meeting almost three weeks ago, which is believed to be the origin of this letter, there were up to 17 in attendance including some of the squad's most senior players.
Their grievances against the existing management were crystallised but plans to advance their effort have foundered and unity among the entire squad is missing.
For his part, McNamara is not budging and is pressing ahead with plans for 2010. Ollie Baker and Alan Cunningham, two of his management team who were thought to be departing for personal reasons, are understood to be now ready to commit to a Mike Mac management team again.
McNamara was approached by a player representative since the meeting but he is believed to have repelled any notion that he would go of his own accord because the dressing-room was 'lost', as it was put to him.
The Scariff man was initially appointed for one season but this time last year was given a two-year extension at the request of the same clubs that the players are now hoping will join with them and remove him.
Having prompted the extension of two years -- the board executive initially proposed one -- it would be a tall order to ask the clubs to now undo what they had decided, regardless of how poor the season was.
Clare had an awful season that yielded just one competitive victory in league and championship, against Wexford in a relegation play-off semi-final that ultimately had no consequence after relegation from the Liam McCarthy was scrapped.
They lost six league matches and drew against Dublin, the game that ultimately condemned them to Division 2 hurling in the NHL next season.
They picked up their performance for the Munster championship and came close to derailing Tipperary with a spirited second-half display in Clare, before losing heavily to Galway in the qualifiers.
Among the grievances the players have aired among themselves are coaching issues, organisation and logistics and the approach to the league campaign that saw them train the day before league games against Limerick and Waterford.
There are indications that some players will not play for Clare next year if McNamara continues at the helm, but it is highly unlikely at this juncture that a full-scale withdrawal, like what happened in Cork over the last two off-seasons, will evolve.
The feeling is that McNamara was going to make sweeping changes to the squad anyway. It is thought that the players' position is weakened by the fact that it is being led by players who have personally underachieved for Clare in recent years.
Conform
In addition, the presence at the meeting of Gerry Quinn -- who was removed from the squad earlier this year by McNamara for failing to conform with team protocols regarding preparation and training -- may take away from their action in the public eye. Why the players have only begun to agitate in the last few weeks -- they were knocked out of the championship in July -- is open to interpretation. Either way, it is clear that, while a majority of players would prefer change after a disappointing year, not everyone is prepared to fight for that change.
Who Clare would turn to if Mike Mac did go or was removed, both unlikely scenarios at this stage, is not obvious.
U-21 manager John Minogue is on record as saying he doesn't want the job, while former manager Cyril Lyons may not be keen to get involved under the current regime.
Interestingly, Davy Fitzgerald's future with Waterford has yet to be confirmed.
Tuesday October 27 2009
A letter sent to Clare county board last week by members of the senior hurling squad, registering their opposition to Mike McNamara continuing as their manager next year, is understood not to have been signed.
Clare PRO Syl O'Connor confirmed yesterday that the letter had been received by secretary Pat Fitzgerald but no individual signatures appear on it.
"I haven't seen the letter myself personally but I do understand that there are no signatures attached," said O'Connor, who confirmed that the letter had been sent on behalf of the senior squad.
It points to a clear lack of organisation among the players in their attempt to bring McNamara's two-year reign to an end.
The players want the letter read out at tonight's county board meeting in Ennis. However, O'Connor suggested that this was unlikely on account of the absence of transparency.
"There is an issue over what players exactly this letter came from," he added.
Signatures
Because there are no signatures, it is unclear how many players are behind the move to dispense with McNamara, who was part of the management triumvirate -- headed by Ger Loughnane -- that brought two All-Ireland titles to Clare in the 1990s.
Whether a rejection of their request to have their letter aired and the matter of management discussed at tonight's meeting will lead to an escalation and hardening of the players' position remains to be seen.
At a players' meeting almost three weeks ago, which is believed to be the origin of this letter, there were up to 17 in attendance including some of the squad's most senior players.
Their grievances against the existing management were crystallised but plans to advance their effort have foundered and unity among the entire squad is missing.
For his part, McNamara is not budging and is pressing ahead with plans for 2010. Ollie Baker and Alan Cunningham, two of his management team who were thought to be departing for personal reasons, are understood to be now ready to commit to a Mike Mac management team again.
McNamara was approached by a player representative since the meeting but he is believed to have repelled any notion that he would go of his own accord because the dressing-room was 'lost', as it was put to him.
The Scariff man was initially appointed for one season but this time last year was given a two-year extension at the request of the same clubs that the players are now hoping will join with them and remove him.
Having prompted the extension of two years -- the board executive initially proposed one -- it would be a tall order to ask the clubs to now undo what they had decided, regardless of how poor the season was.
Clare had an awful season that yielded just one competitive victory in league and championship, against Wexford in a relegation play-off semi-final that ultimately had no consequence after relegation from the Liam McCarthy was scrapped.
They lost six league matches and drew against Dublin, the game that ultimately condemned them to Division 2 hurling in the NHL next season.
They picked up their performance for the Munster championship and came close to derailing Tipperary with a spirited second-half display in Clare, before losing heavily to Galway in the qualifiers.
Among the grievances the players have aired among themselves are coaching issues, organisation and logistics and the approach to the league campaign that saw them train the day before league games against Limerick and Waterford.
There are indications that some players will not play for Clare next year if McNamara continues at the helm, but it is highly unlikely at this juncture that a full-scale withdrawal, like what happened in Cork over the last two off-seasons, will evolve.
The feeling is that McNamara was going to make sweeping changes to the squad anyway. It is thought that the players' position is weakened by the fact that it is being led by players who have personally underachieved for Clare in recent years.
Conform
In addition, the presence at the meeting of Gerry Quinn -- who was removed from the squad earlier this year by McNamara for failing to conform with team protocols regarding preparation and training -- may take away from their action in the public eye. Why the players have only begun to agitate in the last few weeks -- they were knocked out of the championship in July -- is open to interpretation. Either way, it is clear that, while a majority of players would prefer change after a disappointing year, not everyone is prepared to fight for that change.
Who Clare would turn to if Mike Mac did go or was removed, both unlikely scenarios at this stage, is not obvious.
U-21 manager John Minogue is on record as saying he doesn't want the job, while former manager Cyril Lyons may not be keen to get involved under the current regime.
Interestingly, Davy Fitzgerald's future with Waterford has yet to be confirmed.
