Tom Cribbin blast in heat of moment, says Westmeath’s Denis Glennon

Westmeath stalwart Denis Glennon claims manager Tom Cribbin’s comments earlier this month about the team’s more experienced players were said “in the heat of the moment”.

Cribbin hit out at them following the home defeat to Roscommon, which consigned them to Division 3 next year: “These big players are not standing up. I don’t know why or what’s going on with them but it’s the main lads.

“You saw the other lads that work like, they put everything on the line the smaller lads there, lads that are general average players. They gave it everything but the few big lads who should be standing out and leading, f...... lay down and that’s the trouble with this team. It’s lads who should be leading, chest out and showing these young lads where to go, they’re the ones that’s killing this team.”

Glennon says the group have moved on now from their league disappointment and insisted there was no fallout over Cribbin’s remarks: “Preparations have been good. Tom knows what he said in the interview was a pure heat of the moment. There’s no animosity or anything. We’re just looking forward to the next match.

“The players didn’t make anything of it. We all want the one thing, which is to try and achieve things with this team. We’ve all said things in the heat of the moment too. We’re not overly worried or concerned about it.”

As they prepare to face Louth in a first round Leinster clash on May 17, Westmeath recently had a three-day training camp in Mayo who themselves enjoyed a warm weather training camp in Portugal.

Glennon said Westmeath haven’t done enough to merit preparations abroad. “We don’t deserve to go to Portugal; Mayo probably do. They’ve been up at the top of the standings in football for the last number of years.

“We don’t have their resources either so we have to make it up in other ways with heart and effort or whatever. We don’t have those kind of luxuries but we don’t hold that against Mayo either. We are where we are because of our performances. We need to take responsibility for that and that’s what we’re trying to do.”