Kildare players want Geezer back

Kildare’s players and county board could enter a dispute resolution process under the guidance of the GPA and GAA following the removal of manager Kieran McGeeney.

This 2013 panel signed a statement yesterday calling for McGeeney and his management team to be reinstatement after clubs voted against the players’ wishes and rejected a one-year extension to the Armagh man’s role. The players also accused the county board of being “dysfunctional”.

“The players feel that our county board has let us down greatly throughout this process and our manager has been treated with a complete lack of respect and loyalty following his six years at the helm,” the statement read.

“Kieran’s reputation was frequently impugned at times by comments made over the past few weeks. We believe that the county board management committee should have used the powers available to them to reappoint Kieran McGeeney as senior football team manager for 2014 in accordance with their own wishes and those of the players. In not doing so they abdicated their responsibility and must accept much of the blame for the situation that the county now finds itself in.

“Our ultimate wish is that last Tuesday night’s decision is overturned and that negotiations are immediately opened with Kieran McGeeney to reinstate him and his management team for 2014. Tuesday’s decision and the process followed has left us angered and we will be submitting our recommendations to the county board in the next two weeks on how this process should be structured in the future. We expect a fair consultation process will be conducted with all parties. We don’t believe that this is unprecedented nor do we think it is unreasonable.

“The current county board has been shown up to be dysfunctional and lacking in both leadership and unity. While the clubs are the heartbeat of the GAA and we do not wish to disrespect them or the people who work tirelessly within them, we do not feel that all club delegates voted in the best interest of the Kildare senior football team, but based their decision on what served their clubs or personal agendas best. They were not in a position to decide what was best for us, the players representing Kildare.”

The strongly-worded statement and demands of the players will likely require the intervention of the GPA and GAA under their recognition protocol guidelines announced in January 2011. The two bodies acted in a Fermanagh dispute in the inaugural year of the agreement when 11 players withdrew services to manager John O’Neill.

However the Fermanagh County Board rejected recommendations made by the GAA and GPA. At the time GAA president Christy Cooney denied it was a blow to the GAA and GPA’s recognition protocol.

“No. Absolutely not,” he said. “There are a lot of things happening that wouldn’t even come to the attention of the media. We deal with others, through proposals, and the GPA on an ongoing basis.

“It is just that the Fermanagh one got a bit more publicity than any other. A lot of things happened behind the scenes. Fermanagh had the right to do what they believe was right.”

The Kildare players appear steadfast in their view McGeeney was wronged as their statement continued: “Again we would like to reiterate the wonderful job Kieran McGeeney has done as our manager for the past six years.

“His loyalty and belief in us as players has to be acknowledged and commended. Not only did he support us in our efforts on the pitch, he was an ever-present adviser when assistance was needed off the field.

“He brought an unprecedented level of professionalism to our set-up from the first day he met with us,” the statement continued.

“His training and coaching was of the highest calibre and there is undoubtedly no manager in the game who thinks more about it than he does. He transformed us from also-rans to challengers on a yearly basis.”