AFTER FIVE YEARS at the helm, Wexford manager Liam Dunne was coy on his future following their season-ending defeat to Waterford yesterday.
An inspiring run through the qualifiers with wins over Offaly and Cork raised spirits in the county, but after the game Dunne wasn’t optimistic when asked about his prospects of retaining his position next year.
“I’ve five years at this, three year with Oulart- The Ballagh before that, two years with the Wexford minors before that, two years with the Wexford juveniles and that’s only coming out of retiring after 16 years as a player,” Dunne said.
“So if anyone ever deserved a good long break it’s myself but obviously I’d love to continue for another year
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“I have to talk to my employers Stafford Fuels who have been very good with my time, it’s a time demanding job. We’re building and to get to the last six has been a marvelous achievement for this group of players I feel myself.
“It’s not going to be for me to decide. There wasn’t one club last year, even my own club didn’t propose me to go to take over the team. It took Tony Dempsey to appoint me so I don’t know what’s going to happen as a county board, maybe they want someone else to come in and if they do that’s their choice.”
Dunne was complimentary of his opposite number and the victorious Waterford side, who he admitted were the superior outfit.
“On the day we were beaten by a much better team, they had us on the backfoot from start to finish. We rallied for a few minutes and got it back to five points but Waterford pushed on again.
“I think it’s probably a day that we ran out of bodies and ran out of legs eventually, I can’t fault the boys down in the dressing room, they’ve given it everything, we’ve gotten a good few hammer blows but it will make the team a lot stronger down the road because we’ve had to find players with the amount of guys missing.
The 48-year-old praised the efforts of his players and added that the blooding of several youngsters will benefit the county further down the line.
“In the next year or two or three it’ll make the team stronger.
“Look it, they’ve a young team as well as some experienced guys and I didn’t buy into what happened to Waterford the Munster final a few weeks ago, so I was under no illusions what they were going to bring today.
“But from two years ago to here, if we had everyone fit we’d be a match for a lot of the teams there. I’m after finding a lot of players this year that I probably didn’t think I was going to, I had no choice but to throw them in there and down the road that will definitely benefit Wexford. I think, anyway.”
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Liam Dunne admits he may have reached the end of the road as Wexford boss
AFTER FIVE YEARS at the helm, Wexford manager Liam Dunne was coy on his future following their season-ending defeat to Waterford yesterday.
An inspiring run through the qualifiers with wins over Offaly and Cork raised spirits in the county, but after the game Dunne wasn’t optimistic when asked about his prospects of retaining his position next year.
“I’ve five years at this, three year with Oulart- The Ballagh before that, two years with the Wexford minors before that, two years with the Wexford juveniles and that’s only coming out of retiring after 16 years as a player,” Dunne said.
“So if anyone ever deserved a good long break it’s myself but obviously I’d love to continue for another year
“I have to talk to my employers Stafford Fuels who have been very good with my time, it’s a time demanding job. We’re building and to get to the last six has been a marvelous achievement for this group of players I feel myself.
“It’s not going to be for me to decide. There wasn’t one club last year, even my own club didn’t propose me to go to take over the team. It took Tony Dempsey to appoint me so I don’t know what’s going to happen as a county board, maybe they want someone else to come in and if they do that’s their choice.”
Dunne was complimentary of his opposite number and the victorious Waterford side, who he admitted were the superior outfit.
“On the day we were beaten by a much better team, they had us on the backfoot from start to finish. We rallied for a few minutes and got it back to five points but Waterford pushed on again.
“I think it’s probably a day that we ran out of bodies and ran out of legs eventually, I can’t fault the boys down in the dressing room, they’ve given it everything, we’ve gotten a good few hammer blows but it will make the team a lot stronger down the road because we’ve had to find players with the amount of guys missing.
The 48-year-old praised the efforts of his players and added that the blooding of several youngsters will benefit the county further down the line.
“In the next year or two or three it’ll make the team stronger.
“Look it, they’ve a young team as well as some experienced guys and I didn’t buy into what happened to Waterford the Munster final a few weeks ago, so I was under no illusions what they were going to bring today.
“But from two years ago to here, if we had everyone fit we’d be a match for a lot of the teams there. I’m after finding a lot of players this year that I probably didn’t think I was going to, I had no choice but to throw them in there and down the road that will definitely benefit Wexford. I think, anyway.”
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All-Ireland SHC GAA Hurling Liam Dunne Wexford Uncertain Future