McGrath forced to quit by ‘unethical’ players
Former Fermanagh boss feels that players were ‘misguided’
PETE McGRATH has said he was forced out as Fermanagh manager by a stance taken by players which he described as ‘unethical’ and ‘absurd’. McGrath quit last week within days of being appointed to serve for a fifth year after player representatives declared several ‘senior players’ would not play for him. That warning was delivered at a meeting last Thursday night under the auspices of the GPA/GAA recognition framework. ‘The players were demanding answers from the county chairman as to the criteria by which they had appointed me, and saying that players were not going to play under me. ‘That was when I left the meeting. We all know that player entitlements under the GPA players’ charter has improved and rightly so, but I don’t think any of those entitlements give players the right to interfere with due process, or to remove a manager, or to unduly influence a county committee to have their choice appointed as manager. ‘I think that is absolutely absurd. I am not putting those players in the dock but it was wrong and unethical what they did,’ he added.
BRUISED and hurt but Pete McGrath was defiant yesterday, hinting that he may still have skin in the inter-county game next season.
After 16 years in inter-county management McGrath suffered the ultimate indignity last week, when he was forced to stand down within days of being appointed for a fifth year in charge of the Fermanagh footballers when threatened with a player heave.
The sense of betrayal is still raw, but the 64-year old was adamant yesterday that he would stay involved in football management and will consider a return to the inter-county game if the right job comes along.
‘If the opportunity was right to manage another county team I would look at it very seriously,’ McGrath told Sportsmail yesterday
‘Football has been my life and I would be very surprised and disappointed if am not back managing at some level in the near future but that is outside my control.
‘I am not suggesting that there is going to be a list of suitors outside my door but I will wait and see and anything that comes up that I would think is a good fit for me and a good fit for that county I would give it serious thought.’
That is likely to interest counties such as Louth and Derry, who are currently managerless and already beginning their search for a new top man.
And the sight of McGrath, wearing his Down colours as a spectator at last Sunday’s Ulster final, might also prompt the interest of his native county to All-Ireland success in 1991 and 94, should Eamonn Burns not seek to remain at the helm after this summer.
After taking Fermanagh to the 2015 All-Ireland quarter-finals and to a couple of seasons in division two, his currency is good but yet may be devalued by the sudden and bruising manner of his departure.
He revealed yesterday the timeline of his ending; admitting that he became aware that there was trouble brewing prior to his ratification earlier this month to stay in charge for a fifth year.
‘I was in the middle of a second three-year term which meant that I just had to be ratified by the county executive and that was done in a matter of days.
‘Between us telling the county secretary that we were going to stay on and us being ratified I received the first phone call from a senior player saying that they were not happy with management and that there was a strong possibility that senior players would not play if the manager and the management team were reappointed.
‘I called another meeting of management the next night to discuss this and the potential threat this represented and we felt that whatever issues there were, they were ones that could be dealt with.
‘Over the past three seasons, at the start of every year we always held very honest and robust review of the season with the players.
‘They had the opportunity and they took it to talk about things that needed to be improved and that pushed us forward together and we felt that forum could have dealt with any issues which remerged,’ he revealed.
The breaking point, however, was a meeting which took place under the auspices of the GPA/ GAA recognition framework, which, ironically, first road-tested in Fermanagh when it failed to provide a resolution between the then county boss John O’Neill and his striking players in 2011.
This time, however, it was that meeting last Thursday night that McGrath knew his time was up in the face of what he said were ‘unethical’ demands.
‘The meeting involved a number of representatives from the team squad, myself and county officers, and it saw the players demanding from the county chairman the criteria by which they had appointed me, and they were saying that players were not going to play under me
‘That was when I left the meeting because there was no mileage in staying, My decision was taken that night,’ added McGrath, who warns that the ‘entitlements’ of players should not extend to the firing and hiring of their managers.
‘I feel what the players did was wrong, they were misguided. I am not going to put them in the dock over it because they did too many things over the previous four years to turn on them now but I do think in this instance what they did was wrong, it was out of order.
‘I think it is totally and utterly outside the remit of any player, no matter how experienced he is or how long he has been around, to have an entitlement to influence the appointment of a manager or a management team and, in particular, to have the entitlement to dispose of a manager who has been appointed by due process,’ said McGrath.
‘I think that is absolutely absurd. I am not putting those players in the dock, but it was wrong and unethical what they did and it something that has to be deeply regretted.’