Waterford find themselves in a difficult place after their performance in the Munster championship this season.
It's fair to say that they have underperformed over the last couple of years, with many people feeling they have perhaps the most talented panel in the country outside of Limerick. Despite this, they have now been eliminated at the first hurdle at provincial level for three consecutive campaigns.
It was hoped that Waterford would make some strides after Davy Fitzgerald was appointed as manager. However, they seem to have gone backwards under his stewardship.
Their performance in the loss to Clare at the weekend was an incredibly poor one, even accounting for the fact that they played most of the game with 14 men. Fitzgerald's tactics in the match were also widely questioned, including by the pundits on GAAGO.
Despite this being his first season back in the role, some are already questioning his future.
John Mullane says Davy Fitzgerald must make Waterford changes
It has been said in some quarters that inter-county hurling is beginning to pass Davy Fitzgerald by, with his tactical approach no longer as effective at the top level as it once was.
Speaking on the The Throw-In podcast, Waterford legend John Mullane said that the Clare native will have to make some major changes if he is to continue managing at a high level.
On the latest episode of The Throw-In Hurling Podcast, John Mullane gives his reaction to Waterford's dismal defeat to Clare and what he thinks Davy Fitzgerald should do
Listen & follow on Apple or Spotify:https://t.co/HosFANLSf9 pic.twitter.com/teWBUb3hSd— Independent Sport (@IndoSport) May 15, 2023
I think even Davy in his managerial career, it is at a crossroads now where he is going to have to look at himself and where he's at going forward.
I'm sure he has aspirations going forward for the next couple of year and to stay managing at the top level of inter-county, I mean the Liam MacCarthy teams.
If he has those aspirations, he's got to adapt and change his ways of thinking. As well all know, what you did seven or eight years ago, even three or four years ago, that's not going to cut the cheese now.
Where do we go from here? It's hard to know. We've to play another match in two weeks time against Tipperary, that's going to be extremely difficult for players in the the next two weeks. For the integrity of the competition they're going to have to throw the shoulder to the wheel and give some level of performance.
But as a whole, it's fierce disappointing down here in Waterford.
It's difficult to disagree with Mullane here.
Considering the playing resources at his disposal, Davy Fitzgerald did not make the most of his Waterford team this year. In saying that, he is not the first manager to have such an issue with this group.
It will be interesting to see where they go from here.
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