Deise boss shock at Gov for denying an exemption

WATERFORD boss Liam Cahill has vented his frustration at the ‘deja vu’ scenario hanging over GAA activity.

The All-ireland hurling final manager believes it could be ‘well into the summer before we get back to the fields of play’.

That’s because of the decision not to grant inter-county teams an elite sports dispensation to compete during Level 5 restrictions.

Cahill (right) told WLR FM he was surprised the exemption wasn’t granted, considering it was in place last year.

The GAA’S Covid Advisory Group has advised training is unlikely ‘until Easter at the earliest’.

Cahill said: “Deja vu really. It’s really frustrating from my point of view. I’m going into my second year in the job here in Waterford and really I’ve only got a consistent 10 or 12 weeks to have worked with the players.

“From last September up to the All-ireland (final) was the only time I got to work with these players. So it is really, really frustrating.”

The GAA’S initial plan was to return to training on January 15, begin the Allianz Leagues in late February and start the Championship in April – but that’s been blown apart.

Cahill, who guided Tipperary to back to back All-ireland U-21/ U-20 titles in 2018 and 2019, said: “It really looks like it’s going to be well into the summer before we get back to the fields of play and if that’s the case it all depends what level of lockdown we’re at whether we can go with club or county first.”

The current Level 5 restrictions imposed by the government will remain in place until March 5 – the third major lockdown of the pandemic in almost a year.

Cahill said: “The whole inconsistency around where we’re going in an overall perspective, leaving GAA and sport aside, is really frustrating to people.

“I think there has to be some sort of pathway or a distinctive way of trying to work our way through this very, very soon.”

AFTER four weeks of training, James Lowe was pitched straight in for his Six Nations debut in Cardiff last Sunday.

His numbers in an attacking sense were strong but

Lowe was again highlighted for his defence, his part in

Wales’ matchwinning tries in the second-half coming in for the heaviest criticism.

“Obviously mistakes are amplified, aren’t they,” Lowe acknowledged.

“It doesn’t matter if someone said I’d almost 200 carry metres on the weekend but unfortunately it (Wales’ attack) was 20 metres down my sideline and one of them resulted in a try. That’s the big difference. Something I’ll definitely work on.

“I didn’t even realise (at the time) but I hadn’t played in 11 weeks either and they sort of told me that after.

“I felt fit and keen, but that’s the main difference, mistakes are amplified at this level.”

One thing that will have impressed coach Andy Farrell (inset) in Cardiff was the length Lowe got out of his clearances.

“I’ve always been a decent kicker,” he said. “At international level, there’s more pressure coming, so we really had to shorten a lot of my steps leading into the kick.

“I’ve broken it so far down to making sure that I’m catching it static, taking one or two steps, and getting a full kick through.”

GARETH BALE has become the main talking point after Tottenham games – even when he has not played.

Jose Mourinho was left fielding more questions about Bale after the FA Cup defeat at Everton because his absence has become one of football’s great mysteries.

Bale, the biggest coup of last summer’s transfer window, has started just two Premier League games and has become almost a

source of embarrassment for Mourinho.

Former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp said Bale (with Mourinho, below) was too fragile during his spell in charge. “It was the same pattern every morning: Gareth would tumble and stay there and the physios would all go running over,” said Redknapp.

“In the end I told them just to leave him alone. Gareth got up, got on with it and got better and better. It was all about building up his confidence.” The same is happening now under Mourinho.

The 31-year-old has never got close to recapturing his glory days for Real Madrid or Spurs. But while the Bale deal has not paid off, Spurs believe they will pay around half of the £20million it was reported to cost them. The Londoners are paying a small fraction of the £600,000-a-week wages he pockets at Real and he is not even the club’s top earner.

Carabao Cup Final, head to Merseyside. City, fresh from ties against lower league sides Swansea and Cheltenham, face their first real test against Everton, who beat Tottenham 5-4 on Wednesday. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (left) takes 12-time winners

Manchester United to Leicester, while south coast rivals Bournemouth and Southampton were paired together. Saints beat Wolves 2-0 at Molineux last night to earn their place in the last eight.

The ties will be played on the weekend of March 20/21.

WILFRIED ZAHA has revealed how depressed he became in his unhappy spell at Manchester United – and how manager Louis van Gaal gave him only one training session to prove himself.

The £80million-rated Crystal Palace star (right) played four games under David Moyes after joining United from Palace, then went on loan to Cardiff. When he got back, Van Gaal had replaced Moyes.

Zaha said: “I was a shadow of myself, I wasn’t speaking to anyone. I went back to United, to Van Gaal. He gave me two options, wing back or striker, positions I’d never played. I was in a bad place, going out all the time, I had depression.

“They gave me one session for them to decide. They said ‘We don’t think you’re good enough, you can go’. I didn’t argue. I was so relieved.”