Former Wexford player Larry O’Gorman believes if Davy Fitzgerald becomes Galway manager it will diminish his reputation within Wexford.
Fitzgerald, who stepped down from his role as Wexford manager following a disappointing qualifier defeat to Clare in the 2021 championship, ended Wexford’s fifteen year wait for a provincial title in 2019 when Wexford defeated Kilkenny in a memorable Leinster final.
Despite that historic occasion for Wexford hurling, All-Ireland winner O’Gorman feels that an immediate return to intercounty management with Leinster rivals Galway, a job that Fitzgerald has been heavily linked with, would be disappointing for Wexford supporters.
“It would be very strange to see Davy after he leaving us and then he would go to the opposition straight away,” O’Gorman said.
“You would not be calling it great loyalty, to be honest. Davy had done a good job with Wexford over the years but in the last year or two it just ran its legs and he tried to stretch it out as much as possible.
“Now that he is gone, he is not in a job at the moment. He said he wants to take a year or two out but who knows, if there is an opportunity for Davy somewhere else… to say one week Davy loves Wexford and the following week then he loves Galway or Dublin, so it is very hard to take.
“When you are fully committed to a county, I think you should stick with that county and then take a break for a couple of years after that. It is really down to himself. Your loyalty and love for a county only sticks with you when you are with that county apparently.
“I think when you move on you want to give it a rest for a wee while. Maybe, go for some other challenge, maybe take over a football county somewhere just to give himself a break from hurling!
“How can you train a team for a number of years and then jump ship to train another team to beat you after you being so loyal to them?”
Faythe Harriers clubman O’Gorman feels that managers of intercounty sides should come from within their own county as it increases the likelihood of success.
“The great managers of the past, even at the moment with Brian Cody and Jim Gavin, Sean Boylan, Mick O’Dwyer, these great managers who were just loyal to themselves and to their own county people. Okay, Micko moved onto Kildare and Laois and Wicklow but in general most counties are successful with their own managers,” he said.
“Personally, I think there should be someone within your own county good enough to take it over, whether it is hurling or football. In general, I can’t understand why so many fellows go further afield now.”
Irrespective of his views around who should be managing the Wexford team, two-time Leinster winner O’Gorman is hopeful that Tipperary’s Darragh Egan can improve the county’s recent fortunes following his recent appointment as manager.
“It sort of came in under the radar, to be honest,” he said. “There was a lot of talk about Eddie Brennan, there was talks about Anthony Daly, there was talks about JJ Doyle, even Liam Dunne’s name was mentioned again.
“Darragh Egan’s name wasn’t heard of. Brendan Cummins’ was mentioned, William Maher, who was involved with my own club is a great hurling guy, he was also mentioned.
“But no one knew about Darragh Egan, we didn’t know much about him. I know he was in the [Tipperary] backroom team with Liam Sheedy. It sort of came out of the blue.
“No one really knows much about him and maybe that is the best thing could happen to Wexford – a guy that comes in fresh, who we know very little about, and he might bring a whole new life to hurling in general. Maybe he will have new ideas and new plans and maybe so that it will be just about Wexford rather than being about the manager that takes over.
“For some reason, it just seems we are improving a little bit once we get outside managers. There are no strings attached with anyone, with players tied to in-house managers and stuff like that. Having an outsider coming in could be a blessing, that he comes in with a clean slate.
“I think now that Davy is gone, the hype brigade in Wexford over the last three years is done and dusted. It is time to start from scratch.
“It is going to be two years at least to get the ball up and running, but he is a good hurling man and has a great knowledge of the game.”
