Davy Fitzgerald: 'Do we need to be on the sideline? Is it just to be seen?'

Davy Fitzgerald says GAA managers should be removed from sidelines but given structured referee access before and after matches

MANAGEMENT OFF THE SIDELINES? Ian O'Connell from Killarney who received a modified Ford at the launch of the 24th annual Circet All-Ireland GAA Golf Challenge from Davy Fitzgerald and Co. Picture: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

Move the managers to the stands but let them speak to referees in the day before and after a game, proposes Davy Fitzgerald.

In light of flashpoints between various team officials this year, the Antrim boss would be happy to take his place away from the action provided the maor foirne was returned and he had a chance to speak to the referee pre and post-match.

“It's easy for me to criticise or say x, y or z but I'm trying to think outside the box and see if there's something that would help this whole situation. Communication channels open, take management off the sideline and allow roam runners – I think that'll stop a lot.

“Do we need to be on the sideline? Is it just to be seen? And everyone would probably think that I'd love to be in there. No. If it would make life easier for the referees…” 

As a form of quid pro quo but also as an attempt to avoid misunderstanding, Fitzgerald would like managers to be able to converse with referees but not on the day of games.

“It’s like doing interviews with ye guys straight after a game. That is a fucking horrible time for us. Why? Because you're pumped. I honestly think it's a tough time. That's being honest with you.

“I'd love to see the night before or before the game that you have 10 minutes with him and he says to you, “This is what I'm looking for, A, B, C and D.” There's dialogue there. There's chat.

“You have an idea even what way to train the team because you're looking at it. I think that's sensible. I think the following day, if I want to ask you, “listen, that call, can you just explain to me what you saw?” And if you even said to me about wrong or X, Y and Z. There should be a channel at least.” 

Fitzgerald is currently serving an eight-week suspension for remarks made about referee Johnny Murphy following his officiating of last month’s Leinster SHC round defeat to Galway in Salthill when he red carded Antrim’s Declan McCloskey.

“Were we going to beat Galway on the day? No. We were probably missing five or six (players). It wasn't going to happen. Was it the difference between being beaten by 20-something points and maybe being beaten 10 or 12 points? 100%. There should have been two gone (sent off) in that instance. That's what should have happened.

“I asked at half-time, ‘Did you not see the second one (incident)?’ and I was aggressively told something which I did not like. Had I run-ins with Johnny Murphy before? I have. Did I tell lies afterwards? I didn't. That's how I felt. I said what I felt. That was it. Got my suspension.” 

It was Fitzgerald’s second ban in the space of 12 months and he wonders if he is treated differently to other managers. “I look at other things that have happened this year. I'm not going to comment on it. If you look at certain things and you look at the Waterford-Clare game last year, I got a suspension for that. I'm not saying I don't deserve it at times. I'm not saying that. I'm saying that it has to be across the board. That's all I'm saying on that.” 

Fitzgerald will discuss his future as Antrim manager with county chairman Seamus McMullan in the coming week or two. He agrees he would feel like he’s leaving business unfinished if he steps away but the travelling from Sixmilebridge to Antrim town has taken its toll. “Health-wise, family-wise, I want to do the right thing, whatever that right thing is.” 

The 53-year-old wasn’t overly surprised by Dublin’s All-Ireland quarter-final win over Limerick on Saturday having faced them in Belfast last month. “I openly said after we played Dublin this year in the Leinster championship above in Corrigan (Park) they were unreal organised. I felt they were different than I had seen Dublin in a long time.

“We tried to pressurise them hard, they still found a way to get the ball out. They were able to do short, they were able to do long, I have been impressed massively by them.” 

* Davy Fitzgerald was speaking at the launch of the 24th annual All-Ireland GAA Challenge in Michael Lyng Motors, Kilkenny. Fitzgerald is the newest patron of the charity event, which will see four-person teams compete for their GAA clubs at Killarney Golf and Fishing Club on October 16 and 17.