History will likely be kind to Davy Fitzgerald's reign as Clare manager: while Clare's last game in Croke Park was that wild-cap 2013 All-Ireland final replay, 2016 wasn't too bad a year either: a first National League title in 34 years was besmirched by subsequent Championship defeats to Waterford and Galway, and ultimately Fitzgerald's reign ended a couple of months ago. He has been replaced by a management ticket of Donal Moloney and Gerry O'Connor, who were so successful at under-21 level with much of the current senior squad.
Far from taking a break from management, Fitzgerald is right back in the game, joining Wexford ahead of the 2017 season.
He has given a wide-ranging interview to Vincent Hogan in today's Irish Independent, which we highly recommend.
Among the most interesting lines by Fitzgerald is an insight into the machinations and internecine conflicts besetting the Clare county board.
Fitzgerald's father Pat is the county board secretary, and Davy reckons that certain agendas seeped into business in 2014, the year after the All-Ireland win.
Despite winning an All-Ireland the year previous, Fitzgerald tells Hogan that some delegates were agitating for change after the 2014 season, and it had little to do with him.
You'd have one or two fellas going into county board meetings and they weren't there to help Clare hurling in any way. They were there with agendas. It might have been some one with a run-in with my dad. He might have suspended them. Now they were there to pick at whatever they could pick at.
And it was just niggling, niggling away the whole time.
He also says that he retains respect for his players, despite a couple being misled, in his eyes:
I might have been personally gutted with the behaviour of maybe two or three who I think lost their way a small bit, having been led by their dads.
But the vast majority are phenomenal people.
It's a great interview that touches on much more besides, and you can find it in today's paper, or on the Indo's website.
