Galway squad under pressure after Cunningham’s messy exit

Inside Track with John McIntyre

IT was hard to blame Anthony Cunningham for letting fly with both barrels in the direction of the Galway players when announcing his resignation as senior team manager late last month. His body language on RTE television on the evening of his stepping down was that of man who felt betrayed and badly letdown.

Just seven weeks after he had been ratified at team boss for a fifth year, Cunningham had very reluctantly ended his tenure as Galway hurling manager. He was bristling with anger and frustration, and accused the players of operating a ‘Kangaroo Court’. He was in no mood to camouflage his feelings or to play the diplomatic card.

From the outside looking in, Cunningham’s forced departure a little more than two months after guiding the county to a second All-Ireland final in four years is somewhat extraordinary. It’s well chronicled that Galway were in a winning position at half-time in that decider against the reigning champions Kilkenny only to implode on the resumption.

In normal circumstances, guiding a team to an All-Ireland final would insulate a manager against a heave from his squad, but that obviously wasn’t sufficient for the Galway hurlers to pledge further loyalty to Cunningham. Tensions in the camp had been brewing for some time with the early trigger for discontent occurring in the wake of the Tribesmen’s tame exit to Waterford in the National League quarter-final at Walsh Park last March.

The players revolted but relations were patched up, largely on the basis of commitments given by Cunningham and though issues remained over his man management, tactical appreciation and communication skills, as Galway subsequently built up a head of steam during the summer, the bottom line was that they were getting results.

The highlight was a barnstorming win over Tipperary, leaving them standing on the brink of a first All-Ireland triumph since 1988. Sadly, they flattered to deceive against Kilkenny and since then Galway hurling has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons. The controversy dragged on for the guts of seven weeks during which time the rumour mill went into overflow. Cunningham, with the backing of County Board Chairman Noel Treacy, was standing his ground and the players weren’t prepared for compromise either.

In retrospect, when the squad communicated to Cunningham that they had lost confidence in him on the eve of his ratification, that message should also have been relayed to GAA officials. It might have saved a lot of time and prevented the differences between the two parties becoming so polarised and public. On the surface, bringing in a mediator to help solve the impasse appeared a reasonable move, but there simply wasn’t enough common ground to be explored.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.