Galway unite to welcome Ger on board

GAA: Ger Loughnane marched into Galway last night as their first outside manager in over a quarter of a century and vowed that he did not contemplate failure.

Loughnane, who has been offered a three-year deal, said he would be a failure if they did not win the All-Ireland within two years. "And we might even do it in half that," he told a meeting of the Galway hurling board in Portumna.

Loughnane also unveiled his management team with former Galway All Stars Seán Treacy and Brendan Lynskey being joined by Michael Murray (Sarsfields). Treacy, who coached Portumna to the All-Ireland club title earlier this year, has being appointed as assistant manager.

Loughnane received a standing ovation from delegates, but prior to him entering the room, dissatisfaction was expressed by Moycullen delegate about the way two candidates, Matt Murphy and Seán Silke, had been asked to step aside.

Loughnane revealed that six months ago he had no intention of coming back into management and that the first notion of it came about when Lynskey made the suggestion. "It grew from there. I got more enthusiastic the more I thought about it," he said.

Loughnane said that he had assembled a backroom team packed with expertise and told delegates that of all the qualities which would be a hallmark of his Galway team, "softness" would not be one of them.

And he vowed to get to work straight away. "We have arranged a meeting for this Thursday night and we will start from there. We know the type of player we are looking for," said Loughnane.

Meanwhile, violence for the second successive year in the Laois senior hurling championship fixture between Camross and Castletown has led the county board to ban both clubs from the 2007 championship.

However, Camross are permitted to continue in this season's competition, when they play Tinnahinch in the county semi-final this Sunday.

Camross were leading the championship quarter-final this month by seven points with a minute remaining when referee Anthony Stapleton sent off two players, Greg Cuddy and Cyril Cuddy, one of whom was subsequently attacked by a spectator. Several players, officials and supporters then came into conflict.

Ninety-six week suspensions were handed to Castletown's club member Fergal Cuddy and Camross member Declan Culleton, both of whom were spectators at the game, while Camross's Greg Cuddy also received a two-year ban for striking.

Castletown's twin brothers Paul and David Cuddy received 12-week suspensions.

Laois have confirmed Liam Kearns is the county's football manager and Damien Fox is the hurling manager for next season.

Elsewhere, the Clare county executive met last night to discuss the hurling manager's position. The Clare People newspaper reported yesterday that Liam O'Donoghue is poised to fill the role held by Anthony Daly for the past three seasons.

O'Donoghue was a Limerick All-Ireland winner in 1973, a former manager and recent selector under Joe McKenna and would be the first non-Clare native to take control since Len Gaynor in the early 1990s.

Clare PRO Des Crowe, while refusing to rule O'Donoghue out, attempted to water down the speculation until the club delegates get an opportunity to discuss a couple of prospective candidates.

"There has been no meeting of the Clare board since Anthony Daly departed," said Crowe. "This is all behind the scenes activity as there can be no appointment without the club delegates having their say."

The Gaelic Players Association and GAA are expected to renew their discussions, potentially next week, with player grants and the banning of the GPA drinks sponsors, Club Energise, from GAA grounds top of the agenda.

Discussions have been postponed for the last two months due to the championship, as Armagh's Kieran McGeeney and Cork goalkeeper Donal Óg Cusack play substantial roles on the GPA negotiating team.

Finally, Galway have pulled out of the FBD Connacht league final in New York next month amid growing speculation that Peter Ford's term as manager may be coming to an end.

Additional reporting by John Fallon