Come back soon Davy Fitz – you intense, contradictory, contrary, brilliant hurling manager

“We’re the small fish out there so we are….we’re trying hard to make it through….but it’s harder get the breaks when you’re the smaller fish.”

Davy Fitzgerald is box office….so he is!

I’ve never met Davy but I’ve had a (one-sided) love-hate relationship with him for a long time now. Every time I decide I’m done with him he goes and does something nice, or comes across well in an interview, and I think, "Ah, Davy’s alright" and I’m back on his side.

He’s clearly an outstanding manager. Legends of the game I’ve spoken to like Joe Canning and Eoin Kelly speak really highly of him from their LIT days and that’s more than enough for me. He won a Munster title with an ageing Waterford team and an All-Ireland with a team of Clare youngsters.

He was tactically flexible too. I remember all the analysis before the All-Ireland final in 2013 was about the Clare sweeper but what did Davy do? He abandoned it for the biggest game of the year and Clare beat Cork in a shootout.

Not many managers would have the balls to change a system that brought the team to an All-Ireland final. Derek McGrath did something similar against Kilkenny this year but Davy was leading the way three years ago. Starting Shane O’Donnell in the replay was inspired. It’s very clear to me that Clare wouldn’t have won the All-Ireland in 2013 without Davy.

He’s a walking contradiction though.

He says he doesn’t pay much attention to what’s written yet seems to know exactly what is said in every media outlet in the country. He said this year, “I honestly didn’t pay too much attention when people would be calling you a dictator. I can’t help that but if you’re in the scene yourself and know the story you appreciate that there are different opinions.”

He paid attention, and took exception, to opinions I had regarding the Davy O’Halloran and Nicky O’Connell incident in March of last year. Word was sent through that Davy would not be talking to Newstalk because of what I had been saying about the whole episode. I was careful when talking about the incident - O’Halloran had said he felt humiliated and there is no need for any player to feel like that.

I defended the players because I felt, no matter what they did, the punishments detailed by O’Halloran (below) didn’t fit the crime. Refusing to talk to me was one thing but to ban the whole sports department was obviously designed to put pressure on me and silence me. It didn’t work.

When I left Newstalk he did an interview with my former colleague Joe Molloy pretty soon after - a little 'Fuck you, Wooly' maybe.

I actually think that incident in March 2015 is when it all began to unravel for Davy. You could allow them a hangover year in 2014 after winning the All Ireland. That year Cork got revenge on them in Munster and Wexford beat them after a replay in the qualifiers. Clare showed great heart in those two games with Wexford and were clearly playing for their manager. They were unlucky.

The players defended Davy in public after the incident with O’Halloran and O’Connell but I’d bet that wasn’t the case in private. I’m sure the two lads had really good friends on the squad, closer relationships than Davy could ever forge with the players. Friendships between teammates, built up through many experiences of winning and losing through the underage ranks, transcend managers or the desire to win matches.  

Looking in from the outside I don’t think Davy ever recovered from that. 2015 was a disaster - they won one out of five league games and were relegated. They lost the Munster quarter-final and were beaten in Round 2 of the qualifiers.

He was bullied as a child yet his treatment of referees bordered on bullying. How could he expect to get decisions from referees when he treated them the way he did? He was transported to another world on the sideline, it was both funny and a little scary at the same time - he constantly looked on the verge of spontaneously combusting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTLGghhcHzg

His back was to the wall but he showed humility in recruiting Donal Óg Cusack late last year.  Not many All-Ireland winning managers would admit they needed help, but he did. He rowed back on Podge Collins and allowed him play both hurling and football too, but there was the nagging feeling that he was hanging on. They won the league but they treated every game like a Championship match and by the time the championship came around the players seemed gassed out, both mentally and physically.

The way he has handled his resignation has been admirable though. Contrast this with Anthony Cunningham in Galway last year. According to reports the Clare panel was split on whether Davy should stay or go. He could easily have dug his heels in and caused more harm to the squad, instead he bowed out gracefully. The Galway players were less divided (23-9) in their decision to oust Cunningham but he made a bad situation even more messy by refusing to stand down.

“I wish to reaffirm my absolute love and passion for Clare hurling,” said Davy in his statement, but there was absolutely no need to do that. We all know that’s there, to a fault. Clare have won four All-Irelands in their history and he played a crucial role in three of them - Clare supporters will never need to be reminded of that.

What he obviously needs now is to get away and have a rest - get 100% healthy and recharge the batteries. He is still very young and has achieved a lot already - there is definitely another intercounty job for him.

He said recently, “It’s just been in my DNA. Will that change at some stage or another? It could, it could change. I think I’ll always be drawn back to it but you never know what’s around the corner.”

County board chairmen - form an orderly queue. 

We review a crazy All-Ireland final and chat to Lee Keegan about his special relationship with Diarmuid Connolly. Listen below or subscribe here on iTunes.