Waterford board have total confidence in McCarthy

WATERFORD County Board chairman Paddy Joe Ryan moved speedily yesterday to confirm his and his board’s total confidence in hurling manager Justin McCarthy, in the wake of claims by some players that they will not play for the county again under the former Cork All-Ireland star.

Brian Greene and Peter Queally have been the most vocal in their criticism of McCarthy, with Queally a Youghal based garda voicing the opinion that a change of manager is needed if the team is to give the 2004 championship campaign "one last shot."

Greene, whose father Jim has twice unsuccessfully applied for the job of manager of the county team, and who last weekend managed Mount Sion to successive senior championship titles, said he will not be around next year "while things remain as they are."

Greene claims that there are players on the panel who should not be on it, and players left out who should be included. "Waterford hurling is suffering because of this", the 32-years-old defender said, "and I feel the last two years have been taken from me. I think Justin's time is up," he said.

Brian Flannery said there is a lot of "soul searching" to be undertaken by players and management. Meanwhile, the man who would be likely to skipper Waterford in the coming year, Tony Browne, has strongly hinted that he might not be around to do so because of his ongoing injury problems and the difficulty in merging increasing club and county commitments.

However, Paddy Joe Ryan has responded with an emphatic vote of confidence in the manager stating that he has the backing not only of himself as chairman, but of the entire county board. Ryan said he was greatly surprised at the reported claims of some of the players on the county panel, insisting that McCarthy is the best hurling coach in the country by the proverbial mile.

"We have appointed another outstanding coach, Nicky Cashin, as his assistant and together with fellow selectors Seamie Hannon and Kevin Ryan we have as experienced and as good a management set up as there is in present day hurling," Ryan said.

The Waterford chairman said he was surprised that the players had spoken out the way they had, but that was their right and he wouldn't even attempt to prevent them from doing so.

However, he believes there were "some undertones" behind the attacks and he urged the players to reflect on what Justin McCarthy has achieved in the years he has been at the helm including the county's first Munster title in 39 years."We weren't a million miles off retaining that title this year, and I am genuinely looking forward to another exciting hurling year for the county under Justin McCarthy." "I can't stop the speculation, I can't muzzle anyone, but what I can do on behalf of myself and the county board is voice our confidence in the ability of Justin McCarthy to manage the county team, and to manage it in the coming year in the same outstanding way he has done since he took up the appointment," the chairman said.