Lads, in fairness, Justin has delivered 2 well-deserved Munsters to Waterford in the last 3 years. Not bad for a Co. not much accustomed to success
for people interested in the "inside view" on Waterford's management read the Waterford News and Star this week. Excellent article from Phil fanning. It's not up yet on their website. When it is I will post it on the site. Makes for very thoughtful reading!
Here it is:-
League setbacks must be overcome by players and management
EVENTSof recent weeks have led to a deep depression descending on the Waterford hurling scene. Defeats by Offaly and Limerick ended our interest in the Allianz League and if that was not bad enough, we had two of our most important players sent off for acts of childish petulance unbecoming of players of their experience and so raising questions about their availability for the championship on June 4 next.
On top of that comes the news that John Mullane is certain to miss the semi final clash with Limerick or Tipperary as a result of a broken arm suffered in a club game last Saturday week.
Early indications are that Paul Flynn may be cleared to play in the semi final, depending on the referee’s report on his sending off against Limerick, but even if that works out, the loss of Kelly and Mullane will be considerable. Kelly has been Waterford’s most consistent player in the league while Mullane showed very positive signs, against Limerick, that he was coming back to his best form.
Those incidents apart, however, recent results in themselves have raised serious doubts about Waterford’s ability and, some might say, desire, to make an all out bid to take the McCarthy Cup this year.
The optimism spawned by a narrow first round league win over Wexford and nurtured by that battling fourteen man league win over Cork has since given way to scepticism and doubt following defeats to Clare, Offaly and Limerick. We have had calls to local radio and on crank web sites for Justin McCarthy and his selectors to pack their bags and as many calls for Justin to stay and see things through.
Almost all of what has been trotted out can be consigned to the ‘dust bin’ but that does not mean to say that there are not serious minded people out there in clubs around the county who are concerned at the way things are going on the inter county scene and who feel that some kind of change of direction is warranted.
Justin McCarthy is now in his fifth year as manager of Water-ford. In that period Waterford won the Munster titles of 2002 and 2004, reached the league final of 2004 and lost All Ireland semi finals to Clare and Kilkenny. An acceptable record by previous Waterford standards but the failure to capitalise on Munster success by going on to the All Ireland finals questions the real potential of this crop of Waterford hurlers and the judgement of the management in situations when things are not going well on the field.
The euphoria associated with those great Munster final victories was later diluted by the failure to repeat the same form on the Croke Park stage in two semi finals and the same scenario was repeated last year against Cork in a game that might have been won.
While the players themselves must carry the burden for under-performing on the day, it is a fact that the failure of management to react to situations on the field, as they developed, was a significant contributory factor in most of our high profile defeats. With three selectors and the manager there have been times when the selectors and manager appear to have been on different wavelengths. Debates on the sideline have been obvious and some decisions such as those made in last year’s All Ireland quarter final against Cork have been bewildering. It has been the same in the losing games against Clare and Kilkenny in Croke Park and the defeat by Wexford in the quarter final at Nowlan Park.
NO PLACE FOR INDISICIPLINE The tendency towards indiscipline in our most talented and yet most volatile players when things go wrong recurs year after year and again the onus is on the manager to deal with such matters in the dressing room.
It is in the dressing room that that questions arise regarding management skills and the relationship between players and management that sometimes have appeared to result on personality clashes and impact on team selection. It is no secret that in the last five years some high profile players who have given excellent service have exited the scene in less than happy circumstances. Such players as Sean Cullinane, Brendan Landers, Anthony Kirwan, Stephen Frampton , Brian Flannery, Micheal White, Peter Queally and Brian Greene all made somewhat premature exits, though in the case of the last mentioned pair their public over the top criticism of the manager made it impossible for them to continue under the present regime.
There were other players who opted out of the panel for lack of opportunities and there are play-ers who would be assets to the squad but who have not been considered because their work or study commitments cannot be facilitated by the management.
Now we are back facing into another championship season in a couple of weeks and the omens are anything but good for the aforementioned reasons. Apart from the players who will be missing the opening game, and the impact that will have on the team, questions must be asked about the general attitude of all of the players.
DREADED INCONSISTENCY
Inconsistency has cost Waterford dearly in recent years and nothing we have seen so far this year suggests that matters are about to improve on that front. To win an All Ireland Waterford will have to be better than they were last year, and even the year before, and the desire to win an All Ireland medal must take priority over all other matters.
For their part, the manager and his selectors will have to take stock of their own performances. It is not unfair to say that some of the decision making has been less than inspiring and, apart from the fact that Mullane and Kelly are out of the picture at the moment, it appears that Ger Power and Wayne Hennessy have decided to pack their bags and make themselves available for the county footballers. Talk has it that one or two more players are contemplating a similar course of action as they feel they are very much on the outside as members of the panel.
The policy of naming a panel at the start of the year for training purposes is nonsensical in the sense that the selectors feel they must stick with it at all costs. This coming week sees the start of the senior hurling championship and if the selectors are serious, they and Justin will be taking in as many games as possible in quest of fresh talent to boost their squad. If some present squad members fail to perform then their positions should be reviewed.
As things stand, some players are too smug in the belief that thy cannot, or will not, be discarded. They must feel under pressure to retain their places, otherwise they will not be able to lift their performances for the big day.
In the end it comes down to motivation on the part of players and management. The players are around long enough to know what they must give and the management must get it out of them. Indications are that mutual admiration is at its lowest ebb yet and positive action must be taken on both sides to get the best out of a team that has achieved much and yet underachieved.
We have four weeks to build up to a real championship challenge and the big plus is that on this occasion Waterford will be facing Limerick or Tipperary as under-dogs.