Mike Mc to stay on as Clare manager

eroo

By Colm Keys


Friday October 09 2009

Mike McNamara has confirmed he will be honouring the second half of the two-year term he was granted last year as Clare senior hurling manager.

McNamara was originally given a one-year term in 2007 but at the end of last season, that term was extended by a further two years.

A poor season led to some local speculation that McNamara might step down from his role, but he stated yesterday that he was committing for another season.

"I have another year and I'll be seeing it out. I'm looking at all aspects of the team and my own set-up at the moment. I'm taking things gently," he said.

It is not clear yet if McNamara will retain the same backroom team. Increased travel commitments may preclude former midfielder, Ollie Baker, from involvement as he is now a garda sergeant based in Tullamore.

SCRAPPED

Clare lost six league matches and drew one, against Anthony Daly's Dublin team, before losing to Tipperary and Galway in the championship. They beat Wexford in a relegation play-off that effectively made no difference because the business of relegation was subsequently scrapped.

McNamara has the All-Ireland U-21 winning squad to integrate in 2010 and has been casting an eye over the conclusion of the Clare club championships.

The shift in power in the county is reflected in the fact that the four clubs which won Munster club titles in the 1990s will not be featuring in the semi- finals.

St Joseph's Doora Barefield reached a quarter-final, but Wolfe Tones Shannon and Sixmilebridge did not make the play-offs.

Clarecastle, meanwhile, didn't win a game in the group stages and narrowly avoided being dragged into a relegation scrap.

- Colm Keys

Irish Independent

http://www.independent.ie/sport/golf/banner-boss-mcnamara-commits-to-hot-seat-for-another-year-1908947.html


I really hope this isn't a big mistake..

premierstone

eroo wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/sport/golf/banner-boss-mcnamara-commits-to-hot-seat-for-another-year-1908947.html


I really hope this isn't a big mistake..

It is, no doubting about it tbh

soccymonster

Thought that with the u21 success that 2010 would be the start of clare hurling getting back on track..

But since reading this, Im having my doubts...

eroo

premierstone wrote: »

It is, no doubting about it tbh

Well hopefully he does things differently this time. Training a team 4 times a week with a match on a Sat/Sun as he did in the League will not produce any results.

Benhonan

This is going to get extremely controversial, it's going to be another Cork saga, guaranteed.

Orizio

He shouldn't be let anywhere near Honan and the rest.

croker95

Given how quick the county board were to dispense with Lyons & Considine it is unbelievable that Mac is getting another term as manager.

He has his strengths as a coach but as a manager he has proven clumsy and arrogant amongst other things.

That said, I do not think the players are strong enough to mount a serious opposition to his re appointment. :mad:

Benhonan

croker95 wrote: »

That said, I do not think the players are strong enough to mount a serious opposition to his re appointment. :mad:

I wouldn't rule anything out...

deccy15

Anyone else hear about a meeting by the clare panel this week to table a motion of no confidence in the management???

Daysha

Mike McNamara's tenure as Clare hurling manager is under threat after it emerged the players have sent a letter to the County Board seeking his removal from the post.

It appears that the players are disappointed with the counties lack of progress last season, and they have made their feelings clear to the board.

They panel have requested that the unsigned letter be read out at a County Board meeting tonight.

McNamara still has one year left to run on a three year term, and is believed to be eager to continue in his role as manager of the county.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2009/1027/clare.html

No 2 ways about it now, he surely won't be manager come the start of next season. All that remains now is how long he'll try and hold out for.

Benhonan

I wish the players had just signed the fcukin thing and removed any ambiguity. The bloody-minded stubbornness of Mike Mac should never be underestimated.

premierstone

Benhonan wrote: »

I wish the players had just signed the fcukin thing and removed any ambiguity. The bloody-minded stubbornness of Mike Mac should never be underestimated.

Well I guess if you were to be very technical and pedantic about it, this years panel has not been named therefore the players who wrote this letter are merely just a group of random players, who is to say any of them will feature in Mike Mac's panel, and I agree with you Mike Mac is one of the most stubborn people I have ever met and he will actuallt litterally have to be dragged away from that job.

Burgerman55

who'll take over though?
the u21 backroom team???

Benhonan

premierstone wrote: »

Well I guess if you were to be very technical and pedantic about it, this years panel has not been named therefore the players who wrote this letter are merely just a group of random players, who is to say any of them will feature in Mike Mac's panel, and I agree with you Mike Mac is one of the most stubborn people I have ever met and he will actuallt litterally have to be dragged away from that job.

Well that's technically true I suppose. It raises an interesting point actually, if this was to continue like the Cork saga did, will they even be able to find 30 scabs to play for Mac? I doubt it.

Burgerman55 wrote: »

who'll take over though?
the u21 backroom team???

Not the u21 team no, still there's an abundance of intercounty managers in the country, it shouldn't be hard to find one.

Keano

Mike Mac is undoubtedly going to be stubborn to the end. That is the kind of guy he is and he is entitled to make his stand just as the players are. With Mac at the helm training methods are not going to be brought up to date. He is old school and will never change. Under him Clare may well have got to a Munster final but on the day were well beaten. Yes a late flurry may have got a draw but Tipp let Clare back in, rather than Clare taking control.

While players may not have publicly spoken about Gerry Quinn issue last year this has no doubt also played a part. While Quinn is no angel, he is one of the best hurlers in Clare and Mac’s decision to kick him off the panel last year was no doubt a big blow to the team last year.

Some have commented on Mac not getting his hands on the U21 lads coming up, this I would have to agree with as he is not the right person to handle these lads.

Burgerman55

i always thought cyril lyons never got a fair crack at it

IMO him and davy fitz would be the ideal partnership

Benhonan

Davy needs to be kept away for as long as possible.

The latest rumours are that the letter was signed by the entire panel apart from his son.

suitcasepink

Im sure there wont be many Waterford people stopping Davy reurning to Clare, just say the word.

deccy15

deise_girl wrote: »

Im sure there wont be many Waterford people stopping Davy reurning to Clare, just say the word.

Nice the guy gets ye to an all ireland final and ye want rid of him!!! Thats the problem with waterford hurling imo ye expect too much from the mediocre panel of players he has to choose from. The guy might not be the most likeable of characters but he can train a team as well as anyone in the country!!

premierstone

deccy15 wrote: »

Nice the guy gets ye to an all ireland final and ye want rid of him!!! Thats the problem with waterford hurling imo ye expect too much from the mediocre panel of players he has to choose from. The guy might not be the most likeable of characters but he can train a team as well as anyone in the country!!

Big difference between been a good trainer and a good manager and imo Davy is not a good manager and this rubbish of trying to create a seige mentality and 'us against the world' is tiresome, replacing Mike Mac with Davy would be one step forward too steps back for Clare

suitcasepink

deccy15 wrote: »

Nice the guy gets ye to an all ireland final and ye want rid of him!!! Thats the problem with waterford hurling imo ye expect too much from the mediocre panel of players he has to choose from. The guy might not be the most likeable of characters but he can train a team as well as anyone in the country!!

Yeh we bet Antrim, Offaly, barely Wexford and a Tipp side that had major scoring troubles. And you did watch the 2008 AI final , yeh?
Still I can't judge him to hard for 2008 coz he was called in mid season.
This year I dont think we reached our potential. Had an iffy league and some players positions have to be questioned. Why is Eoin kelly is full forward when the can score out the wing. Why did he give up coming to the club games?? And he must have becuase there was a big thing about him being at the county final. I also don't think our skill is as good as Justin had it. The team is alot fitter now and we can't argue with that but I think the stylishness of the team has disappeared also.
Im not going to say he was a complete negativity to Waterford he did bring up the fitness and he admits hes only learning but I think hes done all hes going to do for us.
Now I could go on and on but this is going off topic.

Wonder what the outcome of Mike Mac will be, one of those people that may stay on out of stuborness.

The_Kew_Tour

Be interesting to see if Mick Mc will now blend in more the younger players or will he feel for his own job on line that he needs to stick to mainly the same players and just blend in couple from u21 for this season anyway

Benhonan

premierstone wrote: »

Big difference between been a good trainer and a good manager and imo Davy is not a good manager and this rubbish of trying to create a seige mentality and 'us against the world' is tiresome, replacing Mike Mac with Davy would be one step forward too steps back for Clare

More like two and a half steps forward two steps back, but I see your point.

Mac will destroy the team if he stays on Adrian. Just how he goes about doing this isn't a concern of ours right now.

LeoB

Dont know the politics of what is happening in Clare but did he really have the players to work with in the first place on the panel? I dont think he had. To be fair to him some of the Clare lads were just not up to it.

Also from what I hear NO player signed the letter, why? If they are brave enough to write a letter to have someone sacked they should be brave enough to sign it. Who are the real scabs here?

While I didnt approve of what the Cork players done at least they had the balls to sign letters and were up front.

I think there will be more of this in the coming months. But where will it all stop? What if Tipp or Kerry manager decided to leave 4 or 5 top players off the panel would that give the rest the right to write a letter and ask for Jack O'Connor or Liam Sheedy to be removed?

grenache

soccymonster wrote: »

Thought that with the u21 success that 2010 would be the start of clare hurling getting back on track..

But since reading this, Im having my doubts...

Ha ha, Clare's No 1 fan, i knew you'd be in on this story quick Soccy

Personally i believe its a great move on Clare's behalf. Anything that weakens rival county's hands is good for Limerick :pac:

fergusman

LeoB wrote: »

I think there will be more of this in the coming months. But where will it all stop? What if Tipp or Kerry manager decided to leave 4 or 5 top players off the panel would that give the rest the right to write a letter and ask for Jack O'Connor or Liam Sheedy to be removed?

The problem with this argument is that both Sheedy and O'Connor are light years ahead of Mike Mac in man management. He's an ignoramous full of his own ego and only really wants to stay on for the cash.
Also if the two managers you referred to had a year like he had last year they would have been sacked or would have done the honorable thing and resigned.

He has set Clare hurling back 10 years, i personally know many of the clare players and none of them would have had a hand in a letter like that unless they really felt they had no other choice.

They need a manager who will pull the current squad and the new players together, someone who has the respect of the players.
Hardly any of the current squad have any respect left for Mac and when you lose the respect of your players, it is time to go......

Personally I'd love to see people like Jamesie o connor, Brian Lohan and sean Macmahon involved. They were the real leaders in 95 and 97 but never went on the ego trips other players went on and some are still on to this day.

Clareman

Davey Fitz can't be given the reigns in Clare yet, for 2 reasons, he's not a proven manager and who his father is, major, MAJOR conflict of interest going on there.

It's time to draw a line under the team of the 90s, they were great times, but they are in the past, we can't be going to back to that team for managers, we have 2 selectors and 2 players in charge of Clare since Loughnane left. Why were the teams of the 90s a success? Simple as far as I am concerned, a manager from outside came in and got rid of all the sh1te associated with Clare hurling and instilled a united dressing room, it helped that he had a great underage team coming through, he brought the team as far as he could, in stepped another manager who instilled a determiniation and drive to allow the team to fullfill their potential.

There isn't anyone in Clare that can sort out the problems with Clare hurling, they need to look outside the county, get someone from outside that will look at it as a clean slate, just look at the best hurlers in the county and bring them on.

I don't think the under 21 managment would be suitable to take over the seniors, they are great managers, but they are also all teachers, there is a big difference between leading under age teams and a senior team, someone who can meld together the existing seniors and the under 21s would be ideal.

eroo

Clareman wrote: »

Davey Fitz can't be given the reigns in Clare yet, for 2 reasons, he's not a proven manager and who his father is, major, MAJOR conflict of interest going on there.

It's time to draw a line under the team of the 90s, they were great times, but they are in the past, we can't be going to back to that team for managers, we have 2 selectors and 2 players in charge of Clare since Loughnane left. Why were the teams of the 90s a success? Simple as far as I am concerned, a manager from outside came in and got rid of all the sh1te associated with Clare hurling and instilled a united dressing room, it helped that he had a great underage team coming through, he brought the team as far as he could, in stepped another manager who instilled a determiniation and drive to allow the team to fullfill their potential.

There isn't anyone in Clare that can sort out the problems with Clare hurling, they need to look outside the county, get someone from outside that will look at it as a clean slate, just look at the best hurlers in the county and bring them on.

I don't think the under 21 managment would be suitable to take over the seniors, they are great managers, but they are also all teachers, there is a big difference between leading under age teams and a senior team, someone who can meld together the existing seniors and the under 21s would be ideal.

Am, Ger Loughnane is a native of Clare..

Clareman

eroo wrote: »

Am, Ger Loughnane is a native of Clare..

Len Gaynor isn't though

eroo

Clareman wrote: »

Len Gaynor isn't though

But Len Gaynor didn't work a team like Loughnane. Granted he may have set some of the foundations, but I seriously doubt Clare would have done as much under him.

Mike Mac should be gotten rid of asap. His approach to training is ridiculous. While fitness is very important, skill work is that much more important. He focuses on fitness, when he should leave it to a qualified Physical Fitness and Conditioning Coach. He trained the panel 4 nights a week during the league, and players would have seen little benefit. Purely training them in anaerobic/aerobic fitness is ridiculous.. especially 4 times a week!! Strength training is minimal under him.

I would imagine input into training methods is limited with Mac in charge.. time for change!

Clareman

eroo wrote: »

But Len Gaynor didn't work a team like Loughnane. Granted he may have set some of the foundations, but I seriously doubt Clare would have done as much under him.

Did you read my post?

Simple as far as I am concerned, a manager from outside came in and got rid of all the sh1te associated with Clare hurling and instilled a united dressing room, it helped that he had a great underage team coming through, he brought the team as far as he could, in stepped another manager who instilled a determiniation and drive to allow the team to fullfill their potential.

Mac isn't a manager, he's a fitness coach, that has been established, he's great at that, but I don't think he's a good figure head at all, but I won't get into going through ALL his weaknesses here, if I was to start it'd take me a while to finish. At the moment Clare aren't even close to winning an All Ireland, in 3/4 years, if the players are handled correctly, maybe we'll be there or there abouts, but we need someone to develop the players

eroo

Clareman wrote: »

Did you read my post?



Mac isn't a manager, he's a fitness coach, that has been established, he's great at that, but I don't think he's a good figure head at all, but I won't get into going through ALL his weaknesses here, if I was to start it'd take me a while to finish. At the moment Clare aren't even close to winning an All Ireland, in 3/4 years, if the players are handled correctly, maybe we'll be there or there abouts, but we need someone to develop the players

Mac isn't a fitness coach.. he's a fitness orientated coach!;)

I wouldn't put a time span on possible success.. get the right person to handle the players and it could happen quicker than we think. Just look at Kidney with the Irish squad.

But right now it's important they ditch Mac!

Clareman

It's time to ditch Mac and it's time to ditch the county board, luckily the Under 21s had a fantastic year and helped gloss over all the failings of our county teams.

The_Kew_Tour

By sounds of Clare people here ye seem not have much time for county board and maagement.

For yer sake lets hope they go cause it could damage your ambition of progressing a decent team from U21 side to senior

fergusman

Clareman wrote: »

It's time to ditch Mac and it's time to ditch the county board, luckily the Under 21s had a fantastic year and helped gloss over all the failings of our county teams.

I agree totally we need Mac to do honorable thing and just GO at this stage.
Another major problem in Clare GAA is the County Board.
Pat Fitz is a gangster pure and simple, in it to feather his own nest in any way he can. He treats Clare GAA as his own personal Fiefdom, installing witless cronies to committees so that he retains all decision making power.
He models himslef on Frank Murphy in cork.
The whole county board in Clare is a disgraceful bunch of me feiners and power hungry gombeens.
The whole thing makes me sick

Clareman

adrian280582 wrote: »

By sounds of Clare people here ye seem not have much time for county board and maagement.

For yer sake lets hope they go cause it could damage your ambition of progressing a decent team from U21 side to senior

In case of infringing on anyone's sensitivities I'm going to speak about a completely fictitious county board and sport, any similarities to existing organisations is a complete coincidence.

Imagine a county that has a great tradition in sport and music, never been great, but always competitive when give a chance, let's call it Sparky.

Now Sparky always has great spirit and when giving the right support he wins, especially when investment is put in place, Sparky when given the right trainer would do great, win a bit, but once they went too far they wouldn't be long taken back into place, but big Sparky would bite back against the owners....

Ahhh, I've had enough of trying that make that up. The county board is full of croonies who have been in place for way way too long, they have just swopped jobs around between themselves for almost 3 decades now, they have been more interested in lining their own pockets and having their own agenda than the betterment of Clare GAA.

A few examples of mismanagement
Not giving existing sponsors the option to renew their deals, preferring to go with a national carrier which ended up earning less money than the existing sponsors.
Not allowing an under-age team out on the pitch due to not having the correct jerseys delivered yet.
Never winning a single case against the higher up in the GAA.
Selling a large portion of land in the center of 1 of the largest towns in Ireland and then having nothing to show for it.
Giving players mobile phones and then deducting the cost of same from their expenses.
Zero investment into GAA in the major urban areas of the county.
When the Under 21s won the Ireland, not a single 1 of them have official county gear at the homecoming, of course the board members were wearing their rather dapper blazers.
Cusack Park, need I say more?
ClareGAA.ie, need I say more?
They make politicians look like saints when it comes to expenses claims.

Clare has always had some great hurlers and footballers, they were often problems with politics behind the scenes and in dressing rooms, stories of fellas from 1 parish not passing to fellas from others, to players not being picked cause where they were from, now the problem is with the complete mismanagement on an organizational level, happier to leave the schools develop the games than do it themselves. The 2009 Clare minor team would have been 4 when the buzz around winning the All Ireland began, now I think they are being shown how to develop a sport thanks to successful senior teams by the IRFU.

Sorry about the rant, but just thinking about them annoyed me

eroo

Couldn't agree more Clareman.. they were a problem in the 90's, and still are.

Btw, the Clare GAA website is atrocious..

deccy15

All this craic about mac being the manager or not makes little difference, the current crop of clare senior hurlers are just not up to it! The same group of players are being picked year in year out even tho they've shown they're not up to the required level!
Someone from outside the county is needed to manage clare! Mac is right when he speaks of cliques within the squad. It was the same kind of sh*te within the squad that ended up gettin rid of cyril lyons even tho the guy led us to an all ireland final! If these players put as much time and effort into training and playin as they do into ousting managers clare hurling would be in a far better state!!

Clareman

There'll always be cliques in team sports, the setup of the Seniors during the early 00's lead to that even more so, some not having to train, come back after the league, miss club games, etc. etc.

At the moment Clare are 5/6 players away from being contenders, I'm not stupid enough to think that they are good enough to beat Kilkenny, but they could challenge anyone else in the country with a few more players added to their existing setup, there are too many players on there living on past reputations, hopefully the under 21s won't turn into primadonnas and never appear again, bring on 1 or 2 of them every year and in a few years we'll be contenders.

deccy15

Agree with that post clareman, i just think the problem lies far more with the players than it does with mike mac!

Clareman

At the moment we're discussing the senior manager, who's appointment is done by the county board, let's look at the managers for the past ~20 years.

Len Gaynor - appointed when Clare were at their lowest ebb, beaten by an equally terrible Waterford (who had been beaten by Kerry I believe), Len was the only person willing to take the post I'd imagine. He led Clare to 2 Munster finals.
Ger Loughnane - selector under Gaynor, instilled a belief and confidence into Clare hurling that was never seen before, it's often been said, he won 2 All Ireland's for Clare and cost them 1. Left to run all things to do with Clare hurling, it was also said that he did for Clare in 3 years what it took Tipp 100 years (have the whole country hate them). Was never willing to try a new player.
Cyril Lyons - after Loughnane's preferred replacement (Sean Stack) turned out to be a non-runner, was choosen, tried to get introduce some new players, had some good training techniques, older players didn't like him cause they weren't calling the shots.
Anthony Daly - "easy" appointment, never tried in management before, he did ok, if you don't mentioning the debacle of the first round of the Munster championship against Waterford. Too soon, but it was easy for the county board to get the messiah in.
Tony Considine - selector from 90s, another easy appointment, when conflict between manager and son of county board chairman happened he was always going to be in a difficult decision, showed how idiotic he was by springing the surprise of Tony Griffin in All Ireland quarter against Limerick, has there ever been a team start 2 subs in a match before or since?
Mike Mac - another selector, managed Offaly, how did that work out? Successful first season, but no silverware, leads to Clare not winning a single match in a season in any competitive competition. Some could say that nepotism is an issue also.

Next manager, what age is Pat Fitz? Davey to be given the reigns and Pat to retire to avoid potential conflict of interest.

As this all continues, the main ground in the county will continue to be a disgrace, there will be no investment in under age development unless directed from central council, players will continue to not stick with the "my way or high way" attitude and men will continue to milk the expenses superhighway (€10 for a county semi final, €5 for non senior matches, no receipts given to patrons, no disclosures of attendances)

Clareman

deccy15 wrote: »

Agree with that post clareman, i just think the problem lies far more with the players than it does with mike mac!

Players always have been and always will be an issue, we all know of the best players who could have been the best if it wasn't for the drink, wasn't for not getting on with the manager, dodgy knees, not been given a fair shot, etc. etc.. I honestly believe that in every county in Ireland there are 20 players good enough to win an All Ireland, the problem is to get them together, all goes in to the top 3 inches.

If you want an excellent example of how players attitude affects performance, look at the Irish rugby team in the Autumn Internationals last year, then look at the 6 nations, they are the same players, just they have a clearing of the air, the management team got their heads in the right place.

Clare may not have the best footballers in Ireland, but in the early 90s they contested All Ireland semi's, League Semis (when they meant something), beat Cork and Kerry, John Maughan got them in the right frame of mind and got them to believe in themselves. The hurlers then got a bit annoyed that the footballers were taking their limelight so got their act together, in 97 we almost had both get it right, the level of club competition in Clare has improved dramatically in the past decade, we have the players, we need someone to get it all together.

deccy15

Clareman wrote: »

At the moment we're discussing the senior manager, who's appointment is done by the county board, let's look at the managers for the past ~20 years.

Len Gaynor - appointed when Clare were at their lowest ebb, beaten by an equally terrible Waterford (who had been beaten by Kerry I believe), Len was the only person willing to take the post I'd imagine. He led Clare to 2 Munster finals.
Ger Loughnane - selector under Gaynor, instilled a belief and confidence into Clare hurling that was never seen before, it's often been said, he won 2 All Ireland's for Clare and cost them 1. Left to run all things to do with Clare hurling, it was also said that he did for Clare in 3 years what it took Tipp 100 years (have the whole country hate them). Was never willing to try a new player.
Cyril Lyons - after Loughnane's preferred replacement (Sean Stack) turned out to be a non-runner, was choosen, tried to get introduce some new players, had some good training techniques, older players didn't like him cause they weren't calling the shots.
Anthony Daly - "easy" appointment, never tried in management before, he did ok, if you don't mentioning the debacle of the first round of the Munster championship against Waterford. Too soon, but it was easy for the county board to get the messiah in.
Tony Considine - selector from 90s, another easy appointment, when conflict between manager and son of county board chairman happened he was always going to be in a difficult decision, showed how idiotic he was by springing the surprise of Tony Griffin in All Ireland quarter against Limerick, has there ever been a team start 2 subs in a match before or since?
Mike Mac - another selector, managed Offaly, how did that work out? Successful first season, but no silverware, leads to Clare not winning a single match in a season in any competitive competition. Some could say that nepotism is an issue also.

Next manager, what age is Pat Fitz? Davey to be given the reigns and Pat to retire to avoid potential conflict of interest.

As this all continues, the main ground in the county will continue to be a disgrace, there will be no investment in under age development unless directed from central council, players will continue to not stick with the "my way or high way" attitude and men will continue to milk the expenses superhighway (€10 for a county semi final, €5 for non senior matches, no receipts given to patrons, no disclosures of attendances)

Easily 1 of the best skill's coaches in the country and the man who should take over from mac be it this year or next. He is exactly what this clare team needs, someone to teach them the skills that are sadly lacking and the link between the u21 team and the senior team that is needed!!!

Or they do declare the attendance( like 4,500 at the limerick u21 game when there was at least twice that there):rolleyes::rolleyes:

Clareman

deccy15 wrote: »

Easily 1 of the best skill's coaches in the country and the man who should take over from mac be it this year or next. He is exactly what this clare team needs, someone to teach them the skills that are sadly lacking and the link between the u21 team and the senior team that is needed!!!

Or they do declare the attendance( like 4,500 at the limerick u21 game when there was at least twice that there):rolleyes::rolleyes:

I think Cyril would be a good man to have as part of an overall setup, we'd need a "figure head" manager with a team of good men underneath, similar to what Loughnane had in place.

It'd be a bad thing to mentioning auditing of accounts I know, but they are playing with fire, at least other county boards can be a bit devious about it, in Clare they just flaunt it.

deccy15

Clareman wrote: »

I think Cyril would be a good man to have as part of an overall setup, we'd need a "figure head" manager with a team of good men underneath, similar to what Loughnane had in place.

Someone like John Allen from Cork along with lyons would be a great appointment imo. Has no connection to the current Clare squad and has shown he's not afraid to make tough decisions and risk upsettin senior players(subbing brian corcoran and ronan curran against clare)

fergusman

Was chatting for a while with one of the hurlers today, dont want to name him but the clare senior hurling panel had a meeting last night.
result of theis meeting is that 25 out of 26 players signed a letter to the board saying they had no confidence or will to play for Clare under Mike Mac next year.
This is the first step towards a cork style strike.
The players know what they are getting into and are not taking this decision lightly but if this is the situation surely Mac has to go.
Incidentally the same player also told me after the meeting several players received threatening phone calls from county board delegates calling on them not to do this "for their careers".

This is all about to get very interesting and possibly messy... watch this space

Evil_Clown

News of that meeting is in todays indo:

CLARE hurling manager Michael McNamara faces a serious threat to his position in the coming days in the wake of another players' meeting after Sunday's county final.

Sources in the Banner last night suggested that the county appears to have taken a step closer to a winter of discontent as the players stick to their guns over McNamara's future.

Just 17 of last year's senior county squad attended a players' meeting three weeks ago and subsequently forwarded an unsigned letter to the County Board stating their dissatisfaction with county manager McNamara.

That letter was mentioned but not read out at last Tuesday's County Board meeting when county chairman Michael O'Neill asked for some time to get the players, management and board officers together to sort out their differences.

McNamara addressed last week's meeting where there was not one objection to him fulfilling the second year of his term and he said he will give a personal end-of-year review to the next board meeting in a fortnight.

An attempt to get both sides together for a meeting last Thursday failed as not all of the players were available.

But the players have, noticeably, got together again quicker than expected and they now appear galvanised to oppose him with a united front. It is believed that as many as 28 players attended their latest meeting, including players from Clonlara, who had just been beaten in the county final, and it's reported that 27 voted to oust McNamara.

I hope that after hearing about this Mac decides to step aside. The last thing Clare senior hurling needs is a strike and it looks to me that it is becoming inevitable if Mac doesn't resign.

patmac

It was reported on one of the radio stations that he resigned after 27 of 28 players voted to oust him, with only his son offering suport.

buck65

He has to go,he said he would if he lost the dressing room way back. The best thing for Clare hurling is he walks away now and not in 3 months time as will surely happen if he tries to stay.
Possibly presided over the worst season ever in Clare hurling, not all his fault though, some of the players wouldn't break eggs!

Clareman

He has to go, will he do the decent thing and resign or will the county board sack him? I presume that if the County Board sack him that they'll have to pay his "expenses" for the year or something

premierstone

buck65 wrote: »

He has to go,he said he would if he lost the dressing room way back. The best thing for Clare hurling is he walks away now and not in 3 months time as will surely happen if he tries to stay.
Possibly presided over the worst season ever in Clare hurling, not all his fault though, some of the players wouldn't break eggs!

Thats a bit harsh imo Clare had alot of barren years pre the early 90's