Davy Fitzgerald has the heart to transform Wexford’s fortunes

Davy Fitzgerald has spent a lot of time thinking about his heart in recent months and the immense strain he's been placing on it.

Surgery on the organ last July, the second such procedure he’s undergone in seven years, forced him to take stock and the Clare dynamo came to a number of conclusions.

For a start, returning to the sideline just days later as Clare manager for a championship game with all the trimmings wasn’t a wise move.

“So what did I f***ing do but go back for the f***ing Galway game a week after having a blockage, like, it probably wasn’t the best thing I did but in saying that, if I was at home watching the match I’d be actually more . . . I’m actually way calmer when I’m there at the game and I’m in it, I’m grand, my mind is in a certain place and I’m fine,” he reflected.

So Fitzgerald needs hurling just as much as the game needs his ebullient character, another important conclusion he arrived at when considering whether or not to become Wexford’s new manager in early October.

“In the last few months, even in the darker months of the last month or two, it’s been coming into my head, ‘Okay, what exactly happened you? You got a blockage and you don’t want another one of them again because that could be fatal’. And it was me who copped it myself that time.

‘Feet up’

“I have, yeah, [thought about that]. But what’s the story? Do I just go home and sit down and put the feet up and just do nothing?”

The answer, of course, is yes though conclusion number two prevents Fitzgerald from simply walking away from the game.

“I’m the kind of guy who likes to f***ing . . . I like to live and do stuff, so it is,” he shrugged. “I’ve thought about it. I’ve been trying now lately . . . obviously I’m not happy with my weight. Too much weight up, trying to get a bit of weight off to help ease a bit of pressure in general, change my diet a bit. But it isn’t easy because when you’re training a team and you’re doing stuff, you’re constantly looking at maybe 35 or 36 players and you’ve another 20 involved with you so you have 50 guys that you are totally keeping an eye on. So you’re giving your energy to them the whole time.”

With all of this in mind, Fitzgerald initially knocked back Wexford's invitation to replace Liam Dunne. But they were persistent and he respected that enthusiasm and soon agreed to give it a go. Pre-season training is underway and, typical of the man who took over Waterford shortly after retiring as a player in 2008, life is already moving at 100mph again.

Wexford have played Dublin – and been beaten – and there are several more challenge games in the pipelines. A typical day sees Fitzgerald leave home at 2pm, arrive in the south-east at around 5pm and begin training at 7pm. He leaves Wexford around 10.30pm and is home to put the milk bottles out about 1am.

“Just that bug bit again,” he explained. “I was all in my head saying, ‘Okay, it’s time for a little time out’. So I’m there for a year or two and I’m going to give it everything I can and would definitely envisage after that that it will be time out, I would definitely say that.”

Stepping down

In all, Fitzgerald was a free agent for just 16 days between stepping down as Clare manager – some might say he was pushed – and joining Wexford. It’s a trademark Fitzgerald move, from the pan to the fire, though he insisted that he is not trying to prove anything to anyone, another conclusion he has come to.

“I’ve actually thought about that a bit,” he said. “I don’t want to f***ing prove myself again, to tell you the truth. I do it because I enjoy it and I hope I can make a difference.

"I was always wary when we won the All-Ireland in 2013 of what was coming. That's being honest. When you're up there you know there is only one way things can go. Unless you're Brian Cody. Every now and again he gets a tickler too which is unreal."

Fitzgerald is referencing the “tickler” Ger Loughnane gave Cody recently, claiming the 11-time All-Ireland winning manager should call it quits with Kilkenny.

“That doesn’t make sense,” said Fitzgerald. “I’m not even going there.”

Speaking at the launch of the Bord na Móna Leinster GAA series of games, which includes the Walsh Cup that Wexford will participate in, Fitzgerald revealed that he will bring out a book, his second, “in the next two years”.

He said the last few years have been “tough” and stated that this period will be chronicled in the tome. One might have expected a sunnier reference to the last few years considering he guided his native Clare to All-Ireland success in 2013 though he did ultimately step aside in September after a section of his panel called for change.

“I’m extremely proud of it (managing Clare), I’m extremely happy. Am I bitter? No, not a bit whatsoever,” he insists.