Keith Rossiter predicts ‘serious progress’ for Wexford under Davy Fitzgerald
Wexford have struggled to make an impact since lighting up to the 2014 Championship when they beat MacCarthy Cup holders Clare and Waterford.
It’s prompted county officials to turn to 2013 All- Ireland winning manager Fitzgerald who revealed in a recent RTÉ radio documentary ‘Davy’ how he likes working with underdogs.
Wexford certainly fit into that category, though Sixmilebridge club man Fitzgerald clearly feels that their progress at U21 level in the last five years gives him the raw materials for progression.
“You would be surprised by the appointment,” admitted Rossiter. “The talk in Wexford was that something like 19 guys had put their names in the hat for the job. I don’t think Davy was one of the 19 because he was probably still with Clare at the time. So that’s a surprise in itself.
“But he’s probably the right man for the job at this stage. He’s dealing with a lot of young guys, the average age of the Wexford panel at this stage would be early 20s I’d say. There’s room for serious progress.”
Rossiter and his club, Oulart-The Ballagh, appear to have inadvertently benefited from the decision to hand Fitzgerald the job.
It was reported that county chiefs were ready to pursue successful Oulart boss Frank Flannery about succeeding Liam Dunne before Fitzgerald came into the picture earlier this month.
Rossiter said his reading of it is that Flannery, who had a stint with the Cork backroom team this year, pulled out of the Wexford race early on to focus on club commitments.
“The way Frank does things is 100% flat out, it’s to the core of what he’s doing,” said Rossiter. “It’d be very hard for him to do both jobs and I suppose that’s why he opted out of the race at an early stage and decided to stay with ourselves.
“The goal all year was to get back to a county final and to win it and we’ve done that. We’re back in bonus territory now and there’s great excitement in the club again.”
Rossiter was part of that 2014 Championship odyssey under ex-boss Dunne and praised his fellow club man.
“In fairness to Liam, he was crippled with injuries in the season just gone. You’d three guys out with cruciates during the year and a couple of other guys out through injury as well. Ian Byrne and Jack Guiney were out through injury and other circumstances. You’re missing five lads who were probably there for the last five or six years. We haven’t got the guys to replace them in Wexford.”
Oulart-The Ballagh’s Keith Rossiter was speaking at the launch of the 2016 AIB Leinster GAA club championships.
