Is there a double standard in Clare?
Earlier in the year, a lot was made of Nicky O’Connell and Davy O’Halloran’s treatment by Clare manager Davy Fitzgerald after they went on an unauthorised night out, with various reports saying the duo were humiliated at training as punishment.
Both men initially left the panel, but while O’Connell has returned, fans and the media have been scrutinising the behaviour of Fitzgerald closely ever since. Earlier today, Clare announced that Allstar midfielder Colm Galvin will return to the panel ahead of the team’s qualifier clash with Offaly on July 4th after spending the first portion of the summer in Boston on a J1.
In a statement released by Clare earlier, Fitzgerald sounded happy to welcome Galvin home.
“Ahead of his departure to the US, the management team assured Colm that the door would remain open for his return to the squad should he decide to come home over the course of the summer. During the past couple of weeks Colm expressed his desire to return and through regular communication with his father Kevin, we were only too delighted to invite him to rejoin the squad.”
Newstalk pundit and former Laois footballer Colm Parkinson questioned Fitzgerald for allowing Galvin to return, and implied the legendary goalkeeper was applying a double standard.
https://twitter.com/Woolberto/status/613306148540837888
https://twitter.com/Woolberto/status/613307184722636801
Fitzgerald’s treatment of the panel’s star players v the fringe guys brings to mind a story famous Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson used to tell that is basically:
If a fringe player falls asleep in a meeting, you give him a bollocking and make him run laps. If the star quarterback nods off, you ask him if he wants a glass of water and you fluff his pillow.
It might not be fair, but almost every manager treats players differently depending on how important they are.
Everyone except Liam Dunne, who might sacrifice this year’s championship by leaving Jack Guiney off the Wexford panel.
