Fitzy: Long road back for Banner

DAVY Fitzgerald conceded Clare are “outside the top eight” hurling counties at present and rebutted claims by new Waterford manager that his old side lacked consistency.

Speaking on the All Star trip to San Francisco, he pointed out that the only team Waterford had not beaten in the championship in recent years was Kilkenny.

“I found it funny to hear Michael Ryan saying Waterford need to be more consistent — the only way they can be any more consistent is if they win the All-Ireland, and best of luck to him with that.

“If they do that, I’ll be the first to say well done.”

But the new Clare manager has a big job on his hands and felt nine counties rank ahead of his Banner side before the 2012 season.

“We’re probably nine or ten at the moment. There’s a big job ahead but from what I’ve seen, we have the lads with the right attitude to work as hard as it takes to make things work. We have lads on weights programmes at present — they are very enthusiastic which is half the battle.

“We have to get back into the top four. We’re outside the top eight now. You have the All-Ireland quarter-finalists, who are the top six… and then you have Cork, Offaly and Wexford. That puts Clare at 10. That’s where I feel we’re starting from.”

It’s a completely different problem from the one he faced him he took over Waterford, a side many believed were well past their peak.

“I came into a Waterford team that was thought to be gone. There were a lot of big characters there who had won Munster titles and people said they would be hard to manage and all that.

“One thing I’m really proud of is that we managed to keep them in the top four and win a Munster title with a squad that went through a lot of changes. We brought in over 20 new players. A lot of them have played championship. I’m very happy the way we left Waterford.

“The Clare panel — 85% of the guys are under 24. That’s a big difference. I was used to dealing with people in Waterford who had won stuff; now I’m going to something different.”

The former Clare keeper admitted he has learned a good deal about management in recent years.

“I had been managing teams since I was 18 and I suppose back then I thought I knew it all. It took me a long time to figure out stuff — it probably started to click with me seven of eight years ago. The last three or four years has taught me an awful lot more about things like man management and delegating.”

And he’s learned from the best, pointing to Brian Cody as a good example in management.

“The day of the All-Ireland, I asked my father to get me tickets behind Cody because I just wanted to watch him. After 2008 I met Brian Cody at an awards dinner and I said to him: ‘Don’t retire. I want to beat you’ and that’s still in my head.

“I just wanted to see his mannerisms, where he was focused and how he interacted with his selectors. I wanted to see how he handled himself. If I could pick up one small tip it’d help. I did pick up a thing or two but I’m not going to say what they were.”

Fitzgerald’s suggestion that Kilkenny used the tactics he had in mind for this year’s Munster final recalled Waterford’s hammering against Tipperary.

“It still haunts me and I won’t let it go for a long time.

“I remember ringing everyone of the lads — I spent around 14 hours on the phone on the Tuesday. I had a right auld chat with every one of them. It was get up and battle like never before.”

They responded against Galway before losing to Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final.

“We still weren’t bad against Kilkenny. We brought them back to a point or two after 30 minutes and conceded a goal just coming to half time. But I still felt we played within ourselves. Against Galway, they wanted to redeem themselves. And my thing was: why couldn’t we go out against Kilkenny like that? Fuck the fear! Nothing worse could happen to us than had already happened in the Munster final.”

Despite that beating, Fitzgerald still loves the Munster championship and doesn’t agree with suggestions to scrap it.

“I love the Munster championship. And I think Galway have made a real difference to Leinster. It has really lifted the whole thing.

“But winning the Munster final in 1995 was the special moment in my time as a player. And to win it as a manager with Waterford is something I’ll never forget. Why change something that is still bringing 30,000 or 40,000 to a game and the atmosphere is incredible? I don’t see the logic.

“If we could start the league earlier and finish the championship a bit earlier — say mid-August, it could make a great difference to the clubs. Because even we played our county final this year in terrible conditions. So maybe the GAA could look at it.”