Loughnane blames McEnaney for red fever

Former All-Ireland winning Clare manager Ger Loughnane is adamant National Referees Association chairman Pat McEnaney should have “nothing to do” with hurling.

Loughnane is blaming officialdom, and not referees, for the spate of red cards that have marred a spectacular 2013 hurling summer.

Last October, McEnaney suggested that “seven to eight clear red cards” were missed in last year’s championship.

And Loughnane believes McEnaney’s call for a crackdown on certain offences has put hurling’s top referees under “extreme pressure.”

So far this summer, three of the biggest games have seen players controversially sent off.

Cork forward Pat Horgan’s red card in the Munster final was rescinded before Kilkenny’s Henry Shefflin saw the first of his yellow cards from the All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Cork quashed. And last Sunday, James Owens sent off Ryan O’Dwyer for two bookable offences in the All-Ireland semi-final, with Dublin chiefs indicating they could appeal both decisions.

Loughnane fumed: “I don’t blame the referees but the powers that be that are doing their best to ruin one of the best championships we’ve ever had.

“John Allen (Limerick manager) had a solution, which is perfectly reasonable — that there should be a separate panel of referees for hurling and football. “And that the hurling referees should have their own coordinator, whatever McEnaney is. “I think that is a perfectly sensible thing because there is no comparison between the two games, there is no comparison between refereeing the two games.

“There’s no comparison between the rules of either game and unfortunately it’s very hard to blame the referees because they’re under extreme pressure after McEnaney said last year that there should be more red cards.

“McEnaney should have nothing to do with hurling referees as far as I’m concerned. It should be Dickie Murphy, Pat O’Connor from Limerick, some solid referee that you had in recent times. He should be the man that referees answer to, not McEnaney.”

Loughnane believes referees are being watched too closely by assessors in the stands.

He added: “I know one assessor and listen, you wouldn’t have him assessing a flock of sheep outside in a field.

“And there he is and he’s above and a referee has to answer him. That’s madness, what’s going on. I think (James) Owens is a good lad now, a very, very good lad, but he knows that he’s going to be called in after a game and they’ll have 40 bullet points they’ll go through.

“You either passed or not. And next thing you could be destroyed. You mightn’t get another game. That’s where the real problem lies.”

Loughnane, meanwhile, has expressed sympathy for ousted former Waterford boss Michael Ryan – and insisted the Déise players could have handled the situation much better.

A players’ meeting last Sunday morning in a Waterford city hotel led to Ryan being informed his services were no longer required.

And Loughnane believes that Waterford’s players adopted a dangerous stance, which could yet backfire, by plotting Ryan’s removal.

Loughnane said stated that he has the “greatest respect” for Ryan and that he “definitely got the best” out of the squad.

Loughnane reflected: “They looked to be playing in a style that suited Waterford perfectly and next thing he’s gone. Obviously there’s a story. When you’re not within a county you don’t have the inside knowledge but I was very sorry for Michael because I regard him as a very genuine hurling man who was prepared to give everything for it. It’s very disappointing to see him ousted in that way. I think they (players) could have handled it a lot better.

“I would say if they had got onto Michael quietly, and said, ‘we want a change’, he’d have done it, because he has Waterford’s interests at heart.

“He’s a real Waterford man but sure we have seen plenty of that over the last 10 years. The big problem for them now is, where has it worked?

“Apart from the very first time in Cork, that was only time it worked. You had an epidemic of it after that. I haven’t seen where it has worked anywhere.

“In fact, it has done an awful lot of damage because it has divided supporters and it takes a good while to get it (unity) back again.”