O’Brien misses Limerick training but insists he’s back

DESPITE the fact that he missed training on Thursday night, only his second session back with the panel, James O’Brien reiterated last night he has returned to the Limerick fold.

O’Brien, the first and so far the only one of the 25 players who are in conflict with the county board over the continued management of Justin McCarthy to cross the line, missed Thursday’s session due to work commitments.

County secretary Mike O’Riordan said yesterday: “James contacted the management to let them know he was working last night, wouldn’t be able to attend training, but he told them he’d be available over the weekend.”

Last night O’Brien scotched rumours that he was reconsidering his decision to return to training. Stories still abound in Limerick, however, and the most pertinent of those, given the return of O’Brien, is that several others who have been deliberately singled out by the board as being on the brink – Gavin O’Mahony, Brian Murray, Donal O’Grady the most high-profile players being mentioned — are also ready to return to the fold.

Whether or not that is the case, however, remains to be seen, and the next few days are critical.

Tomorrow, the players still refusing to have anything to do with the 2010 setup will hold a meeting of their own, only the second such meeting since the trouble began last October when Justin cut 12 players, 11 of those without any notification.

The agenda of that meeting is not known. It could be a push by those who believe that all is lost, or it could be that they are about to dig their heels in even deeper.

Either way, with a formal training session scheduled for the early evening, at which any returning players would make their presence known, and a county board meeting to follow, at which the issue of Justin McCarthy is again expected to be raised, next Tuesday could be a pivotal day in this whole sorry encounter.