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"It's definite" - How Davy Fitzgerald's impending Clare exit has come about

Davy Fitzgerald's departure as Clare senior hurling manager has not been announced yet but is "de...



"It's definite" -...
Football

"It's definite" - How Davy Fitzgerald's impending Clare exit has come about

Davy Fitzgerald's departure as Clare senior hurling manager has not been announced yet but is "definite".

That's according to journalist Peter O'Connell of The Clare Champion who joined Off The Ball about the impending exit.

The Irish Examiner reported that he is due to step down within the next 48 hours, while The Clare People suggested that some players are keen on a change of manager.

"It's definite," O'Connell told Off The Ball in terms of whether the speculation of Fitzgerald stepping down is true.

"It's not as of yet fully official but it's definite. It has been coming, even immediately after Clare were beaten by Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final. Afterwards, Davy Fitzgerald did say he had to think about his future and it has dragged on quite a bit now, for about two months."

He adds that last Tuesday's county board meeting "had quite a role to play in taking it forward".

"A few issues were raised on the floor and one of the items that was raised was the fact that a motion had been passed which asked that each outgoing inter-county had to present a report to a county board meeting subsequent to their team being knocked out of the championship. 

"The county board didn't bring that up themselves now. It was brought up on the floor and the county board recognised that they had to act on that."

As for the players meeting last night, O'Connell says that "we do know that a significant portion of players did not want Davy to continue as manager".

"It's believed we can definitely say that a number of Clare's better players, most influential players wanted change," he said, adding that Fitzgerald has more than likely recognised that before taking his decision, as well as explaining that results have to be a "barometer" especially when it comes to championship post-the 2013 All-Ireland win.

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