JOE CONNOLLY KNOWS something about winning All-Irelands, having skippered the county to the title in 1980.
But he doesn’t envisage on of his countymen making a victorious speech, as he famously did in 1980, any time soon.
“There is a lack of hope in Galway hurling at the moment,” Connolly said on TG4′s Seo Spoirt last night.
“There are many things that should have been over the past 20 years that didn’t happen. If you want to be successful in hurling, you need one of two things — good structures within the county or a good management team. If the structures aren’t there but if you have a great management team, like Jim McGuinness for example, you can overcome those issues.
“In Galway I don’t think we have those things. It’s a great pity that Galway hasn’t done the things that are needed. There’s no structure to help young players make the step up to senior. There’s no structure in the county. There are no targets and no organisation.
“For Anthony (Cunningham) and the management team, they’re great men whom I know personally. But out of the 24 league games Galway have played under them, they have yet to win two consecutive games.
“You can’t make progress with that type of inconsistency. Every year, Galway produce a big performance. Sometimes, we have a big year – 2012, 2005 and 2001. When we get close in Galway, those with power say – “We’re not far off, we’ll keep going the way we are.”
He continued: “Galway hurling is an important transition. But when you see the lack of progress in the senior team, you have to blame what is not being done within the county in terms of those little steps.”
