Ger Loughnane thinks the Clare hurlers’ statement on the axing of two players is a mistake

Silence is golden for double All-Ireland winning manager

If the Clare hurlers thought issuing a statement last night, after the controversial axing of two squad members would bring an end to speculation about what really happened, then they may have been sadly mistaken. If you have to get players to write to say that nothing is wrong, then usually that's a pretty clear sign that there definitely is something up. And now today a former Clare manager feels that the idea of the players and management issuing last night's communique was a misguided attempt to bring the matter to a close. Ger Loughnane - who helped Davy Fitz claim two All-Ireland's of his own in 1995 and 1997 - has now added his own special brew of criticism to the ongoing controversy in the midwest. Debate has been raging ever since Davy O'Halloran gave an interview to the Irish Times last weekend outlining why he and Nicky O'Connell had left the Clare panel Loughnane was quite a hard taskmaster in his own time, with many memorable tales about the sickening punishment he dished out to the players of the mid 90s in various gruelling sessions in Shannon and Crusheen. However Loughnane never had to deal with the fallout from a player accusing him of being humiliated. Writing in his column in today's Irish Daily Star he feels that instead of trying to resolve the issue, Wednesday night's declaration that everything is rosy in the squad will actually have the opposite effect.

'Does this statement issued by the Clare panel and management on the departure of Davy O'Halloran and Nicky O'Connell bring the matter to a close? Not at all. Instead, this is like pouring petrol on to a dying fire. I'd have been much happier if the Clare panel and management had just let the thing go. Now, there is a real danger that O'Halloran will be further aggrieved by this statement. So the whole thing could snowball. He might feel he has to respond.'

The players' statement last night highlighted what it felt was a number of  'inaccuracies' without pointing out or clarifying what they felt was mis-represented by the various news reports over the last number of days. The statement also cast doubt on the version of events described by O'Halloran. Loughnane feels the Eire Óg clubman will be even more angry after last night's missive from his former teammates

'This statement is a mistake. There is a reference to inaccuracies in a former player's statement. How is this going to go down? I can't understand why that claim has been put in the public domain. There are people who are alway willing to think the worst of Davy Fitzgerald. 'That's why I think Davy Fitz and other members of the management team made a mistake by lending their names to the statement. Those with a jaundiced view of the set-up will straightaway presume the players were put under pressure to sign the statement.'

Clare face Kilkenny this Sunday in the Allianz League in a crucial game if they are to avoid relegation. This controversy is just the last thing that the county and Davy Fitz would want ahead of the game in Nowlan Park. However if Loughnane is right then there could be much more ugly details revealed in the coming days. H/T to The Irish Daily Star