Canning: players must deliver for Loughnane

GER LOUGHNANE may be true to his word and deliver an All-Ireland title for the Galway hurlers within two years, but former captain Ollie Canning stressed the role of the players in achieving such a goal.

Twice an Allstar and one of the team’s most consistent defenders of recent years, Canning agrees that the challenge for the new management will be to “blend” the players that are available.

And, in that context, he admits to being unsure if he will continue to be involved.

Canning isn’t surprised to hear the former Clare guru talk of winning an All-Ireland within the period of his appointment, saying: “That’s Ger Loughnane for you! That’s straight talk. It’s the goal of any manager to win an All-Ireland. If he doesn’t have that aim he is in the wrong job.

“There’s a fair bit of enthusiasm around now that Loughnane had been appointed. And it has caused a fair bit of excitement ... Hopefully he might have a couple of new ideas.

“If that improves Galway hurling it will be a good thing.

“There is potential there, with hurlers who have won under-age titles on a regular basis. I think the players are there, it’s just a matter of trying to blend them and put a solid team together.

“You can win all the titles you like at under-age but it doesn’t make you a good senior inter-county player.’’

He said that players were at a loss to explain what went wrong this year, what was lacking in the team. “If I knew that, I could take the team over myself,’’ he joked. On a more serious note, he said he was not in a position to comment on views that the defence had been unsettled, or how the team had been structured under Conor Hayes’ management.

“It’s a massive commitment for any manager to take on a team. Sometimes it’s very easy to blame him when things don’t go well. Players have to take responsibility as well and put their hands up and say we didn’t perform.

“At the end of the day it’s down to the players on the field. It’s an easy option to blame the manager if things go wrong.

“I feel that going forward players need to take on more responsibility. Conor Hayes did his best for Galway hurling.

“He managed the team the way he saw it. I have the utmost respect for all the managers who have been with Galway for the last couple of years.’’

County Board Secretary Bernie O’Connor, a former selector under Cyril Farrell’s management, is enthusiastic about Loughnane’s appointment. “There’s a great buzz around, not alone here but in the country — the fact that he is back involved in the middle of hurling instead of being on television and telling us how things should be done.

“It’s probably strange for some people to accept that he is now in Galway, but I believe the talent is in Galway and that he is the right man at this particular time to try and get it out of them.

“All we can do is wish him the best of luck. My feeling is that we are very close.”