This article is from page 74 of the 2007-08-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 74 JPG
over the weekend, Tim Crowe said he was “shocked” when he heard while on holidays that Tony Considine had been axed as Clare manager.
“There were huge similarities with the methodology used by Aer Lingus in Shannon. People on holidays, no consultation with the parties involved and no opportunity to put the other side of the argument. Just guillotined without the right of reply or appeal.”
He has now called on the people of Clare to stand up and be counted in a bid to allow Considine put forward his side of the story to the board.
“IT would appeal to all the wonder- ful people who support Tony Consi- dine and his management team to go to their clubs and demand that their views are represented and that natu- ral justice prevails.”
Continuing his statement, he felt
that time for a new dawn in Clare GAA and called for a total clearout of all officials in a bid to start afresh for the sake of hurling in Clare.
“I think when Tony is given an op- portunity to defend himself to the clubs of Clare, it would be very con- structive to the future of the GAA in Clare that the management would step aside along with the county board officers. A new beginning for Clare GAA must be born with a group of people who have vision, ability and no agendas. They must put in place a progressive structure to lead Clare forward to a brighter future. Because as my old history teacher told me “Absolute power cor- rupts absolutely’.”
On hearing the board’s decision on Wednesday, Crowe felt that the out- going management had only two op- tions open to them.
“First was to walk away and sec- ond was to stand up for our right to continue the fight that we have been
fighting since a certain player walked out of the panel and all hell broke loose. We have decided to fight to the end to establish our right to de- fend ourselves and put our case to the Clare County Board and to the peo- ple of Clare who privately supported our stance throughout this year at the various attempts to remove us.”
The Sixmilebridge mentor went on to defend Considine’s management and coaching methods which were questioned in certain circles during the year.
“IT have been involved in manage- ment and coaching of inter-county teams and club teams for thirty years and I must say without a shadow of a doubt that the coaching and organi- sational ability of Tony is right up there with the best. The support and co-operation he received from the players was excellent. Of course, it’s only natural that you have disgrun- tled players in any sport who don’t make the starting team. That hap-
pens in all sports, that’s just natural self-disappointment.”
Finally, he pondered why ‘Tony Considine was removed and singled out in a year in which results on the field were no worse than previous years.“Tony’s results were on par with any team since °97. The fitness, discipline and coaching of the team was of an excellent standard. The support of the players wasn’t in ques- tion. Was it that he stood for good over evil or was there a rump in the county board that wanted to control them and manage the manager but couldn’t achieve that goal?
“The question must also be asked ‘1f Paidi O Sé continued as manager of the football team, would he have been sacked or would his results, coaching, discipline and fitness levels
and player support be acceptable?”’