Waterford to begin task of replacing Fitzgerald immediately

AS the Davy Fitzgerald managerial era in Waterford officially drew to a close last night, delegates at a meeting of the county board decided the job of finding his successor as county senior hurling boss will commence as early as tomorrow.

Not as much as a whisper of a name emerged at last night’s meeting but delegates were told strict guidelines, including expenditure, will be put in place for whoever takes charge.

These guidelines, according to county chairman Tom Cunningham, will have to be agreed to in writing by the new manager and thereafter will also have to be rigidly adhered to.

A special sub-committee comprising the four senior board officers — Tom Cunningham, vice-chairman John O’Leary, county secretary Timmy O’Keeffe and treasurer Joe Cleary — together with De La Salle’s Seamus Quirke and John McDonnell of Tallow as representatives of the clubs — are mandated to begin the hunt for Fitzgerald’s successor.

There was a vote to elect the two club representatives, with Quirke and McDonnell winning out against Kieran O’Gorman (Lismore) and Tommy Hennessy (Kill). This sub-committee will have its first meeting tomorrow night, and in due course will return with a recommendation on who should be the new manager.

The chairman said he would expect a recommendation may be ready to be put before the October board meeting.

Asked by Ferrybank’s Declan O’Meara if any names were “in the ring’’ at this early stage, the chairman said there were not, but he indicated he is empowered to make contact with potential appointees from outside Waterford if necessary.

A proposal by Tallow delegate John Lyons that the sub-committee comprise three board officers and three club representatives failed to receive a seconder, while Mount Sion’s Seamus Cleere said he would like to see former county players from the past 10 years or so involved in the selection process.

“We have got to appoint the right person,’ said Cleere, “and we may not do so by just appointing people from the floor here tonight to sit on the sub-committee’’.

The chairman then went on to heap lavish praise on Fitzgerald’s three-year managerial tenure, stating that he had done a “marvellous job’’ since taking over from Justin McCarthy in June 2008. “Within months of coming in he brought us to our first All-Ireland senior final since 1963, and added a Munster title to our honours list last year, and he did Waterford proud in every way,’, the chairman said. “His work with the team overall has been outstanding and I wish him the very best wherever his hurling future takes him’’.

De La Salle’s Seamus Quirke endorsed the chairman’s comments and said the Clareman had totally dedicated himself to what was a very demanding job. “He gave his all,” added Quirke, “and he deserves to be thanked for his efforts by this board.”

Abbeyside’s Tony Mansfield said they should couple with their thanks to the manager with their appreciation also of the efforts of his selectors Paraic Fanning and Pat Bennett and all the other members of his very dedicated backroom staff.