Board inaction infuriates Quaid
Quaid also believes that manager Justin McCarthy will ride out the storm despite fierce opposition from the majority of his 2009 panel and also insisted that all sides are to blame for the dispute.
Quaid admitted he is “sick to the teeth” of the impasse which has rocked Limerick, leaving McCarthy with just six of the panel available from August’s All-Ireland semi-final against Tipperary. But McCarthy is moving on despite being without a host of top names and his new team produced a respectable performance against UCC in Sunday’s Waterford Crystal Cup clash, losing by just four points.
Quaid is a first cousin of the late Tommy Quaid, arguably the greatest goalkeeper to ever wear a Limerick shirt, and Tommy’s son Nicky is a member of McCarthy’s present panel.
Joe succeeded Tommy as Limerick shotstopper in 1994 and despite losing All-Ireland finals in 1994 and 1996, Joe collected All Stars from those seasons.
Reflecting on the current state of Limerick hurling, Quaid said: “It’s not healthy. To be honest, there is wrong on three sides – players, management and county board, and nobody seems to want to bring it to a resolution.
“The county board have dug their heels in and it’s amazing the biggest thing to hit Limerick hurling (last week’s players’ statement) wasn’t even mentioned at the board meeting.
“They’re burying their heads in the sand on it but whoever’s right or wrong, the best way to resolve anything is through dialogue.”
Quaid added: “The difference between Cork last year and Limerick now is that all the Cork boys were together; they all pulled out but you have six in Limerick that stayed on.
“The Limerick players were talking about a lack of intensity in training but if there’s no intensity, you pick it up yourself – that would be my take on it.
“But if Justin’s communication skills are poor, well that’s a problem. If you’re a manager and you have lost the dressing room, you’re at nothing but he appears to have a new dressing room.
“The question is: is the new dressing room good enough? Some will argue the old dressing room wasn’t good enough and last time they went out and were beaten by 26 points (by Tipp last year).
“That’s the other side of the coin. They can say what they want about (McCarthy’s) tactics but bringing a man into the half-back line that day looked a good decision to me.
“Players have to ship some responsibility but all of them went up with the intention of doing their best and trying to beat Tipperary. Nobody went out to embarrass themselves in public but the manager never opened his mouth about the Limerick display and what responsibility he had.
“It was all about praising Tipp. He didn’t seem to be hurting the way Limerick people were hurting.”
Quaid believes that McCarthy will survive as manager throughout the league and into the championship but expressed grave reservations at the manner of the Cork native’s 2008 appointment. Quaid said: “It all depends on the county board. No matter what kind of beatings they get, he’s (McCarthy) not going to go.
“How would it look on Justin’s resume? What were my last two jobs? Waterford, what happened there? ‘They got rid of me.’ Limerick, what happened there? ‘They got rid of me.’
“If you were working in a firm in Waterford and you were got rid of and you came to Limerick looking for the exact same job, surely questions were going to be asked?
“We’ve gone through an awful lot of managers. Even in my time, there were managers you wouldn’t get on with but you would get on with it. Tom Ryan used to abuse the living sh*t out of me but only when Tom was gone and I took stock did I realise that every time I went out, I went out to prove him wrong.
“Maybe he knew that was the way to get the best out of me and I’m probably friendlier now with Tom I ever had been playing under him.
“You look back at what he achieved and he was got rid of after winning a league final (1997). There hasn’t been a trophy lifted since.”
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