Powers- that- be need to stop hiding from epidemic that’s crippling clubs
IT has been a long and slow week for me and my management team. I know they majority of players will also feel a sense of loss but mainly what we feel is a missed opportunity.
We have seen how Clare dismantled a wounded Roscommon team and we also seen how Tipperary were victorious over a gallant Derry.
I am on record as saying that Division 3 of the League was very competitive but Clare and Tipperary have now highlighted this fact even more.
I know we in Sligo are not far off and yes, I’m still gutted and extremely disappointed over last weekend’s defeat to Clare. To be honest I have thought of nothing else all week.
Every time you wake up the first thing you think of is how did we give that ball away?
Why did he not track? And so on. You rewind every single play in your head and try to reason with it but unfortunately you can’t turn back the clock and it’s over for another year.
Quite frankly, it’s torture for this group but one would hope that it would only galvanise them going forward.
I’m sure you have also heard about five of our players heading to the States a few days after our defeat against Clare.
This is not any excuse from my players nor for a second do I think our lads wanted to go to America rather than play in the last 12 of the All- Ireland.
I don’t for one second blame or point the finger at my players but I do point the finger at GAA headquarters.
We have five or more students that receive either a text or a call from GAA teams in America two days before we play Clare stating ‘ If you lose we will fly you out to say New York or wherever and offer you great expenses, accommodation, work etc.’
So what do you do? You try to put this to back of your head and concentrate on the game ahead.
However, the big problem for these players is that through no fault of their own, the seed has been planted.
Sub- consciously you have an out. You can’t blame the GAA in America either.
You can only blame the men at the top who allow this to happen year- in, year- out.
The big losers in all of this of course are the clubs and if we think about it for one second, that the situation is allowed to continue is absurd.
If I pulled a player or players from an agreed league match there would be war from clubs and county board and rightly so.
But unfortunately clubs will not have their players for championship and clubs and county board alike are powerless and that is just wrong.
I have a simple solution for headquarters. When a county panel has named their 32- man squad for their National League campaign, these men should not be eligible for America. At least both parties will know where they stand by the first week in February. I don’t think this is unreasonable. You are protecting the clubs first and foremost and then the county teams and it is in that order.
County players are generally the heart and soul of a club team and are missing a lot as it stands.
When they go away to America it can create a division among players in their club and that is only human nature.
That said, many other team- mates may have jumped ship well before the county player but of course the county player is a massive loss to any club team in the country.
If this issue is not tackled sooner rather than later I’m afraid it will only get worse.
So I’m asking the powers- that- be to come up with some solution and to stop hiding from an epidemic that’s crippling clubs and that has now festered through to county teams.
I have outlined a simple solution above but I’m sure someone will come up with a more complicated one with loopholes or it will continue to be brushed under the carpet entirely.
It’s important that Croke Park understand though that the clubs, which are already struggling, are now tripping up on bulging carpet, so many of their players have been swept under it. It’s time to act.