GERRY: PATIENCE IS WEARING THIN
GERRY O’CONNOR admits the honeymoon is well and truly over for him and fellow Clare manager Donal Moloney.
After winning three All-irelands while in charge of the under-21s, the pair were the obvious choice to succeed Davy Fitzgerald after the 2016 Championship and though they qualified for last year’s Munster final against Cork, Clare never looked like winning it and were sent packing by Tipperary in the All-ireland quarter-final.
Bar a League title two years ago, the core of this group of players haven’t built on their All-ireland senior success of 2013 and O’connor concedes the management won’t be granted another year to find their feet by the Clare public.
He said: “As a group, they probably feel they haven’t delivered. We don’t need to reflect any more on that.
“For the last six months, I don’t think a group of players could have committed themselves more and applied themselves more than the Clare senior panel.
“They have been tremendous in their application. They realise time is running out.
“You only have a certain lifespan as an intercounty player in this day and age. This year is a huge year for us because the Clare public were very accommodating and lenient on us last year because they felt we were learning how this whole process works.
“I wouldn’t expect them to be as generous this year so that puts added pressure and added focus on us. If you can’t thrive in that environment, there is no point being in this job.”
Playing four games in five weeks brings a different set of demands than any Munster Championship in history and the quality of the recovery process that teams put in place will inform their progress or otherwise, O’connor believes.
“The strength and conditioning coach that has been challenged the most to put the best possible recovery methods in place could be with the team that actually gets through this with no hamstring, no calf or flexor muscle injuries.
“They could be in a position, week in, week out, to pick from the same panel for the four games.
“We’re probably at a slight advantage that we have a break after two weeks, which is helpful.
“But you’ve also got to ensure that the other guys who don’t play on a Championship Sunday are trained to a degree that would allow them to compete the following Sunday if they are required.
“A lot of planning has to go into this five-week period.”
As his side prepare for their opener against Cork on Sunday, all things considered, O’connor is a fan of the new format.
He added: “It is the same for everybody, get on with it. There is no point moaning and groaning about it. You may as well embrace it.
“For long enough, we have had management and players campaigning for more games.
“Now, we have more and games and while, yes, you would like a greater gap between them, there is nothing wrong with the four-game format if there was a little longer of a recovery gap in between.
“In an ideal scenario, you would like to have a game, have the next weekend off and then another game.
“The constraints are there on the calendar.”