Some disquiet was voiced at Monday’s fifteen-minute fait accompli in Dungarvan about the defensive style of play Davy Fitzgerald has imposed to the detriment (my view)/betterment (his view) of Waterford hurling.
The Clareman’s man-management skills have also been criticised in dispatches; ditto his ‘Celebrity Bainisteoir’ tendencies. Still, he was ‘unanimously’ reappointed, post-haste. Which is nice. And, for all this column’s reservations, there is plenty of public support out there for Davy, as our own poll last weekend shows (see news pages), just as there’ll be massive interest in two books about to hit the shelves.
At this stage the people (who matter) have spoken. De La Salle delegate Seamus Quirke voiced hope for a fresh start, for agendas to be set aside, and “a new era” in Waterford hurling. In twelve months? Maybe it’s just me. As Oscar Wilde put it: “The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole.”
P.S. There are some interesting observations on team-building in former Ballygunner boss Gordon Ryan’s purely coincidental article on page 21 of this section, including: “It hardly needs to reiterated that team harmony and cohesion are fundamental parts of any successful team either in sport or business. Simply
making team members feel appreciated, respected and accepted goes a long way to improving team performance.”
