McNamara bemoans Banner indiscipline

FORMER Clare boss Mike McNamara has hit out at player indiscipline during his two-year tenure as manager and has revealed that last summer’s Liam MacCarthy Cup relegation controversy was a source of conflict between players and management, contributing to McNamara’s eventual exit as manager.

McNamara claims that Clare players and management were first at loggerheads during last summer’s relegation fiasco, with the players opposed to partaking in the match against Wexford, while management feared not fulfilling the fixture would have resulted in several of the county’s U21 players being suspended for the Munster final against Waterford the following Wednesday.

“We had no real discontent until we were faced with a relegation battle (against Wexford), which was mind-boggling. It was a decision that was made and passed by a crowd of delegates half-asleep at a meeting. If we couldn’t fight our way out of that, then we shouldn’t be in the top flight. That would have been the opinion of the management, but the players seemed to see it differently. The players seemed to think that they could decide not to play.