Crowe backing for Considine

CLARE hurling selector Tim Crowe last night claimed “an orchestrated and cunning attempt is being made by a small section with a huge vested interest” to force manager Tony Considine to resign.

Crowe issued a strongly-worded statement backing Considine as the row that has engulfed Banner hurling continues to intensify.

The controversy generated by the withdrawal of experienced two-time All-Ireland winning goalkeeper Davy Fitzgerald has led to claims and counterclaims of unrest in the county camp. However Crowe has called for the ‘witch hunt’ against Considine to end, so that the manager can be “judged in the only place that matters, the hurling field.”

Crowe made his statement in response to a column by RTÉ commentator Marty Morrissey which appeared in The Clare People newspaper this week. In the article, Morrissey, a Clare native, wrote that five instances of major conflict have occurred since Considine took the helm in January.

Said Morrissey: “The County Secretary Pat Fitzgerald (father of Davy), the team doctor Pádraig Quinn and the team sponsor Pat O’Donnell are thrown out (or at least that was the feeling) of the dressing room in Meelick before the Waterford Crystal game against UCC — the first competitive match of the season.

“David Fitzgerald withdraws from the squad primarily due to a perceived level of verbal abuse from the manager that was unacceptable to the Sixmilebridge man.

“Other issues like the training regime were a factor and the simple request from the goalkeeper for one recovery night every two to three weeks wasn’t considered — just seemingly rejected.

“This “recovery” involved attendance at training, but would also allow Davy to go to the pool. Training at the time was five nights a week.

“Cathal Lafferty from Kilnamona, a student in UCD rang the manager informing him he had a major interview on Tuesday and couldn’t attend training for preparation and studying purposes on the Monday. He was instructed to attend training or else not be part of the squad. Cathal Lafferty refused and is no longer part of the Clare panel.”

He added: “Brian Shally from Clooney-Quin had the flu, still went to training but didn’t tog out. He was informed either get a loan of gear and train or else not be part of the squad. He borrowed togs, boots and a hurl. Subsequently he was in bed for three days and missed work. Brian Shally is no longer a member of the Clare panel.”

Morrissey also rejected claims from Considine that team trainer Dave Maheady was employed on a short-term six-week contract.

“I have known Dave Maheady for the best part of 14 years and to suggest or insinuate he is a quitter after six weeks due to work commitments is total rubbish,” Morrissey said. “To put it more succinctly it’s bullshit.”

Yesterday, however, in a rebuttal of those comments, Clare selector and trainer Crowe issued the following statement, which appears in today’s edition of The Clare Champion.

“In recent weeks there has been a witch-hunt on Tony Considine to undermine his role as manager of the Clare senior hurling team. Tony was appointed last November almost unanimously by the delegates of the Clare County Board to manage the Clare senior hurling team for 2007. Six weeks into the job an orchestrated and cunning attempt is being made to get him to resign, by a small section with a huge vested interest.

“Tony Considine laid down a very strict regime for the hurling panel which has been accepted by all but three of the original training panel of 40 players.

“The acceptance and support of this programme by the league panel of 33 players would make all genuine Clare hurling supporters very proud of them during these very difficult months of January, February and March.”

Crowe then goes on to praise Considine’s record as coach, pointing to his role in Clare’s Munster and All-Ireland successes of 1995 and ‘97, a junior All-Ireland title won before that, along with his numerous club successes over the last 30 years, including a first county senior title for Garryspillane in Limerick in 2005. He then mentions several of the high-profile managers in various sports under whom he worked over the years.

“Managers such as Noel Drumgoole, Eamonn Cregan, Len Gaynor, Fr. Michael McNamara, Trixie Twomey, Noel O’Driscoll, Declan Kidney (through the Munster Schools rugby), Jim Kielty and Ronnie Long in athletics, and I must say, since my appointment as selector last November, Tony’s management skills, organisation, delegation, motivation, coaching, discipline, fairness, and in particular, his honesty, has been exemplary. The unbalanced witch-hunt which has taken place in the last six weeks is very unfair to Tony, his family, and his fellow selectors, Kieran O’Neill, Pat O’Connor and myself.

“These people cannot have the best interests of Clare hurling at heart, because as we all know, hurling is a team sport and there is no place for individual prima donnas.”

Crowe then addresses directly some of the issues raised in Marty Morrissey’s column: “In relation to Dave Maheady: Dave told Tony he wouldn’t have the time to continue with the demands needed to prepare the team in the way that Tony wanted. For certain people to insinuate that Dave Maheady, who holds such a high-profile position as Director of Sport and Recreation in the University of Limerick, and is one of Ireland’s most respected coaches and physical trainers, told the media anything other than the truth when explaining his reasons (work commitments), is disingenuous.

“In relation to the dressing-room before matches, it’s normal practice in all sports that the dressing-room is left to the players and selectors for the final few minutes, and this is exactly what happened in Meelick, where all persons other than the players and mentors were asked, collectively and politely, to leave.

“In relation to the players coming out and supporting Tony’s management style (statements in the Irish Examiner last week by Frank Lohan and Gerry Quinn, team captain and vice-captain respectively), obviously it’s hard for a certain reporter to take this as genuine support for a manager he wants to undermine before he starts competitive hurling, where he will be truly judged.

“In conclusion, let’s give Tony time to be judged in the only place that matters, the hurling field.”