FORMER GALWAY manager Conor Hayes has delivered a damning verdict on the current senior hurling team, insisting the side is not good enough to challenge for a senior All-Ireland title.

Hayes cannot believe almost 24 years have passed since Galway last lifted the Liam MacCarthy Cup, in 1988, when he was captain. And the Kiltormer native fears relegation from Division One A of the Allianz Hurling League will have dire consequences.

Former full-back Hayes is unhappy with the current make-up of the Galway team and believes some players are being deployed out of position. And he reckons recent underage success, including a minor and under-21 All-Ireland double last year, has led to false expectations for the seniors.

Hayes has spoken out just days before Galway’s relegation clash with Dublin and warned that Anthony Cunningham’s men are lagging light years behind All-Ireland champions Kilkenny, who beat the westerners by 25 points just 11 days ago. Hayes said: “A lot of things are not adding up, but there is a lack of stability in the team. Too many young lads have come in at the one time and players not playing in key positions is one of the issues that management has to look at.

“I’d have Shane Kavanagh at full-back for stability and drop Fergal Moore back to the corner, with David Collins out to the wing. Lads should be played in their best positions and Collins is struggling at full. I’ve dealt with him for a few years and he’s an outstanding wing-back. And you’ll get the best out of Fergal Moore at corner-back. Centre-back is not his natural position and he’s struggling a bit with that as well.”

Hayes also admitted he was “amazed” when Cunningham removed the entire full-forward line – including Iarla Tannian and Damien Hayes – before half-time in the drubbing against Kilkenny. He insisted: “Taking off all of the full-forward line causes instability and they looked a bit lost in the second half for ideas.

“The worrying thing going into the championship is that you could almost pick the Kilkenny, Cork and Tipp championship teams, maybe Waterford too. But you’d have to think about the Galway team, when you should have 10 or 12 positions nailed down by now.

“Look at Jimmy Barry-Murphy in Cork. A goalkeeper, six backs and two midfielders almost settled upon, with Pa Cronin centre forward, Lehane on the wing, Paudie O’Sullivan full forward, Pat Horgan in the corner. And that’s with me after seeing Cork maybe once or twice. I’ve seen Galway in every league game this year but if you asked me who’s going to be full-back or centre-back for the championship, I couldn’t be certain.”

On Sunday, Galway will battle it out with Dublin for the right to play Division One A hurling again next year. And Hayes admitted: “I’m getting worried at this stage. Dublin will come with a strong team. Galway have beaten them earlier in the league and Anthony Daly will have Dublin well fired up. It’s fairly important for Galway to hold on to top-flight status . . . it will put huge question marks over a lot of things if they do go down.

“Dublin are physical and fit. And they won’t want to go down after winning the league last year.”

Many felt Galway’s switch to the Leinster championship would allow successive teams to develop and test themselves in a more competitive environment.

“You’d think a couple of games in Leinster would prepare them better for the qualifiers or later stages but last year, it was the same story again . . .

“Is it a more basic thing? Are standards as high as we think they are in Galway? We’re producing good minors but if you look at the under-21 team that won the All-Ireland last year, you’ll get Niall Burke, Barry Daly and Niall O’Donoghue and that’s about all.

“And in general, 24 years without a senior All-Ireland is far too long. Standards are dropping all the time.”