DERRY hurling manager Tom McLean has stepped down - and says that now is the time for the county to make an internal appointment to move forward again.
The Dunloy man took the Oak Leafers to their first ever Christy Ring Cup final last June in what was his first season in sole charge, though they were well beaten by Kerry in Croke Park. In total, he spent five years with Derry, having served as assistant to Ger Rogan during his three-year term before taking over at the end of the 2014 season.
Having lost stalwarts such as Hinphey brothers Liam and Kevin and Ruairi McCloskey, they failed to win a game in league or Championship this year and were relegated in both. McLean has been considering his future since their 3-28 to 0-14 defeat by Antrim in the Ulster semi-final and has decided to step down along with the rest of this year’s management team.
“The more I thought about it, the more I think the time’s right to step down,” he told The Irish News.
“I’ve been over there five years and, to be honest, I just know I haven’t got the energy to start heading over the road again this winter. There’s no guarantees what way it would turn out next year again and I just feel it’s right for everybody. It’s maybe at the stage where the players need a change. I thought about it hard and long and I hated walking away, but sometimes there just comes a right time to do it and I felt that this is the right time.”
His tenure, like that of his predecessor Rogan, has been marked by a degree of the county’s best players not making themselves available for county duty. Rather than look upon that with regret though, McLean paid tribute to those who did play under him at both senior and U21 level.
“It’s never going to be easy. If you get 80 per cent of all the good hurlers out, you’re doing really well," he said.
“In this day and age, it’s an amateur sport and if fellas don’t feel that they want to commit to what it takes to be a county hurler, there’s nothing you can do about it. What I will say is that any of the lads that did come out, I’ve nothing but admiration for them. They were keeping the flag flying for Derry hurling.
“Okay, it maybe wasn’t good enough last year, but it wasn’t for the want of those fellas trying. Last year was a bit unfortunate, the fellas retired were not only good hurlers, but good leaders. There were a lot of injuries, Paddy McCloskey, Paddy Kelly and fellas like that. That’s the way it is.”
With his native Antrim having recently appointed a four-man management team to lead them into 2017, McLean believes a similar approach could be successful for Derry: “It’s about the future of Derry hurling now and I’d love to see if someone could come in - maybe even three or four ex-players from different clubs - and rally them all together.
“I just have the opinion that now would be the time for them to stay within. People that know the players, know the set-up, know the mentality of Derry hurling. That’s just my opinion, maybe there’s another way around it. But I think something like they have in Antrim, four or five boys from different clubs trying to rally the thing together, it could all come back again just as quick.”
Derry county board paid tribute to the outgoing manager and thanked him for his service since 2012: “Tom has given five years of service to Derry hurling, including two as manager, and we sincerely thank him for all his efforts.
“During his spell as manager, Tom led Derry senior hurlers to the Christy Ring Cup final for the first time, something which will provide inspiration for the task of rebuilding the team for the years ahead. Tom is a passionate Gael, with a rich knowledge of hurling.
"He has been a pleasure to work with and we wish him the very best for the future.”
