RYAN O’DWYER EXPECTS Anthony Daly to return for another season as Dublin manager and take care of “unfinished business.”
Despite leading the Dubs to their first Leinster hurling title in 52 years, Daly has been quiet on his future since losing to Cork in the All-Ireland semi-finals.
A number of the capital’s senior stars, including captain Johnny McCaffrey and All-Star contender Liam Rushe, have made no secret of their desire to see the Clare man stay on.
O’Dwyer reiterated that support yesterday and said that Daly and his backroom team of Richie Stakelum, Shane Martin and Ciarán Hetherton have the squad’s unanimous backing.
“I can safely speak for the panel that every one of us want him and the management team as a whole.
“I met a couple of lads there yesterday and it came down to chatting about what ifs and next year, I suppose just the topic of conversation at the moment, but every one of us want him.
“He’s a f***in headcase but he suits us down to the ground. We need him. I honestly think that he’ll feel there’s unfinished business there.”
We’ll leave him at it himself. He has a lot of things to evaluate himself. He has a family in Clare. It’s a long distance up, a couple of times a week, so we’ll leave him at it and see what he comes back with.But I think he knows that every one of us wants him and, yeah, I think he’ll stay on.
O’Dwyer also confirmed that the Dublin County Board have lodged an appeal against the first of the two yellow cards which led to his sending-off in the defeat against Cork.
If successful it will be third high-profile red to be overturned following challenges by Henry Shefflin and Pa Horgan earlier this summer.
Derek Foley, 2nd from right, was announced yesterday as winner of the 2013 Dublins Finest Supporter award. Pictured with (l-r) former Dublin football goalkeeper John O’Leary, Ryan O’Dwyer, and Vodafone Sponsorship Manager Robert Hyland. (Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE)
Another reversal would put even more pressure on the under-fire refs, and while he acknowledged that they have “the most horrible job on the world,” O’Dwyer would like to see common sense prevail in decisions.
“As far as I’m concerned I got sent off, that’s it, over and done with.
“There’s no point appealing it because you can’t change the outcome of the game but the county board, the way they’re looking at it, if I get sent off again in the next 48 weeks the suspension is doubled. The way I play, there’s always a chance!”
He added: “The physicality is being taken out of the game. Not by the referees, they’re just implementing what they have to, it’s by the people over it, the people making the rules.
“I can honestly say 10, 15 years ago none of them would have been sending-offs and the yellow cards would be dropped.
“If you make contact with someone now it’s a free. If you make contact with them and they fall over and act hurt for a while, it’s a yellow so I don’t know.
“I just think the people over it should give more accountability to the refs to ref the game with common sense.”
