CLARE COUNTY SECRETARY Pat Fitzgerald has blamed social media for stirring up the opposition that forced Davy Fitzgerald to stand down.

Davy Fitz walked away following Clare’s exit from the hurling championship when it became clear that he did not have the support of all the players.

The 2013 All-Ireland winning manager, who still had a year to run on his term, was replaced by Donal Moloney and Gerry O’Connor.

In his report to Clare’s annual convention, seen by the Clare Champion, Pat Fitzgerald — Davy’s father — pointed the finger at an online campaign as the source of the unrest.

Fitzgerald believes that some people within the county were opposed to Davy’s appointment from the outset.

“People turned to social media to have shots at the management and basically launch a campaign for change,” Fitzgerald wrote.

He added:

While Davy had a year to run, he was swimming against the tide as a cohort of people, who never really endorsed his appointment, pushed the keyboards to stir up opposition to him seeing out his tenure. When some of the players indicated their wishes for change, he bowed out in a very dignified manner, thereby eliminating the possibility of acrimony, conflict and bitter division.

Source: Clare Champion

Any blame for Clare’s disappointing campaign couldn’t lie solely with the management, Fitzgerald indicated, as he turned the focus on the players themselves.

A disappointing summer saw Clare fail to build on their National Hurling League title, losing to Waterford in the Munster semis before exiting the All-Ireland series in the quarter-finals against Galway.

“In my opinion,” he wrote, “there are a small cohort of players that need to analyse their own performance and commitment over recent years.”

Moloney and O’Connor were ratified for a two-year term as joint managers having guided Clare’s U21s to three consecutive All-Ireland titles between 2012 and 2014.

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