Ousted Westmeath hurling manager Joe Quaid says he’s perplexed after losing his job for “cultural differences”.
Quaid’s departure after just one year in the job was confirmed in a county board statement on Wednesday night that shed no light on the reasons for the parting of ways despite Quaid leading the team to a Division 2A title and the Joe McDonagh Cup final, which they lost to Laois.
They also won the Kehoe Cup at the start of the year.
The former Limerick star said: “I’m still trying to get my head around it.
“I waited until they released a statement to see exactly why I have been released but having read it I am none the wiser still.
“All I can say is that I got a call from a Westmeath county board representative at the start of the week and at the start of the call he said they had some issues and that he didn’t think they could be resolved. It became clear as the call went on that I wouldn’t be coming back.
“I just couldn’t believe it. I still can’t.
“I was only in the job one season and brought the team to three finals in that time. We won two of those finals.
“Sure, we lost the McDonagh Cup final to Laois, but they have since shown just how good they are.”
Quaid claimed that when he sought clarification on why he was being axed, there was little in the way of specifics.
“During the call I asked for a specific reason for my dismissal, but I didn’t get much clarity to be honest. ‘Cultural differences’ were mentioned. I have no idea what that means.
“Is it because I - and many of my backroom - are from Limerick and have brought a winning mentality with us?
“I asked for a meeting and a chance to talk to the board but that wasn’t forthcoming either.”
He added: “I would have felt I had done enough over the course of the year to be able to actually meet them and find out what their issues really were.
“My vision for the side is obviously different to theirs. It was a progressive plan, I had some hard calls to make during the year, and maybe not everyone was able to buy into it.”
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