THE CARLOW SENIOR football team have hit back at claims made following the departure of manager Shane Curran earlier this week.
Curran stepped down after seven games in charge, with a Carlow GAA statement citing ‘player-related issues which he believed were beyond the scope of the management team’.
In a statement released by Carlow players to local media in the county this afternoon, they address the ‘controversy not of our making’ and contest Curran’s version of events.
They insist ‘player issues’ were not to blame for the departure of the management team’ and ‘believe this has been used to question our commitment and dedication’.
Players also maintain it was agreed in advance that some would stay in London after their league game in Ruislip last Sunday, 23 March.
Former Roscommon goalkeeper Curran was appointed to the role in August last year, and Carlow finished fourth in Division 4 of the football league under his watch.
They face Meath in the opening round of the Leinster senior football championship next Sunday, 6 April in Páirc Tailteann, Navan.
This was Curran’s first senior inter-county management job, following two decades in coaching and management roles for club and county teams in Roscommon, Offaly and Westmeath.
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Statement on behalf of the Carlow Senior Football Squad
To Carlow football supporters,
We would like to be concentrating all our efforts on Meath in the first round of the Leinster Senior Football Championship on April 6th.
Instead, we find ourselves at the centre of controversy not of our making. As such, we wish to clarify the following.
• ‘Player issues’ were not to blame for the departure of the management team on the brink of the championship and we believe this has been used to question our commitment and dedication.
• There were persistent concerns with the overall organisation and training environment throughout the league. Players had communicated their frustrations to both the management team and the county board for many weeks.
• This resulted in a number of players opting out of the panel and a selector removing himself from the management team.
• To suggest that players lack commitment – particularly by referencing players staying in London after a game – is both unfair and misleading. This had been communicated and agreed in advance with the management. We are amateur athletes, and what we do in our personal lives should not be used as a tool to deflect from other issues. For this now to be used as a means of disparaging players is distasteful.
• We want to emphasise, we did not want to make any public comment on this and would have preferred to part ways with the management team as amicably as possible. Now we feel we have no other choice as our character and dedication to the Carow jersey has been questioned.
We have always and will always give our all for the Carlow jersey and supporters. Our focus is now on facing Meath, where it should be. We wish the former management team the best.
Signed: The Carlow Senior Football Panel
- With reporting from Fintan O’Toole
And by the way what class from the Carlow footballers
Think Carlow players are right
@frank walsh: totally. Whether people like it or not, they’re still amateurs and have to wake up to work on a Monday morning. Staying an extra night in London which they paid for is hardly the same as Rashford spending an extra night in Belfast.