Michael McNamara, the former Clare hurling trainer who stepped down before Christmas, has said that his return to the inter-county scene could be as soon as next summer. McNamara and fellow selector Tony Considine decided to call it a day at the end of last year leaving manager Ger Loughnane the only management link with the All-Ireland winning teams of 1995 and '97.

A busy publican, McNamara took the decision because of the demands of his business and the consideration of a growing family.

"I never did this for the money," he says. "It was for the love of it and the challenge. I had a lot of things to straighten out at work and a family to consider but when everything's back on track I'll be ready to get involved again. When I feel the time is right, I'll be back. It's in my blood to train and I find it hard to take a break. It could be two years or it could be as soon as next summer."

Would this not cause difficulties for Loughnane and his new selectors, Louis Mulqueen of All-Ireland champions St Joseph's Doora-Barefield and former player Cyril Lyons?

"I doubt it. I'd be surprised if I wasn't welcomed back. Me and Ger are friends from a long way back and I'd be surprised if he wouldn't welcome my involvement, even in the background."

Some change was on the cards after a faltering campaign which saw Clare lose their Munster title to new All-Ireland champions Cork. Yet the timing of the announcement was unexpected as was the fragmented departure of the county's most successful management team.

Both McNamara and Considine had pressing business commitments and felt that they could no longer give the time. Nonetheless McNamara admits he felt that the whole unit might have gone together.

"Yeah, I was a bit surprised that Ger stayed on but then my job could keep me up to one o'clock every morning and Tony Considine might have to deal with hundreds of clients. Ger's a working school principal and gets off about four o'clock and has time on his hands. He's probably fresher."

Over the last two years, it has become apparent that Clare were stuttering a bit and finding it difficult to adapt their game to seasons which - through replays and bizarre circumstance - had become extended well beyond the four matches which constituted the season in 1995 and '97.

Most of the players had been on the road for seven years and although not old, now have a lot of mileage on the clock. McNamara believed last summer that the team wasn't feeling the pinch but now recognises the inevitable ageing process.

"When we won in 1995 with a new and vibrant team, Cork were winning the All-Ireland minor title. Six of that team had graduated by last year. You feel you're not getting old but time is moving on. Statistics can tell you what you want them to but time marches on.

"There are good under-age players in the county and I think they should have been introduced last year rather than this but most management teams have a problem with that situation.

"You keep faith with fellas you've known for six or seven years. Even ourselves - and we were always supposed to be aloof from it all - we got a little bit faithful to players. But I think all managements have been guilty of that over the years - with the exception of Sean Boylan."

"We recognised the signs. Tony Considine was particularly observant in that - it was one of his strengths. The question was how to deal with it. We ended up changing the team nearly every day it went out. Looking back, maybe we shouldn't have but it's a difficult question to answer. You do what you think is the right thing at the time.

"It's like making a change on the field. If it works, you're great; if not, people wonder what you're at. There's always a reluctance to deal with the underlying problem. When cracks appear, the tendency is to deal with the cracks rather than the problem which caused them."

In the past, McNamara has always insisted that physical demands alone should not reduce the career of an inter-county player. He holds to that view.

"Burn-out comes from external pressures like a mortgage on your home. There's no reason why a player physically can't keep going. All this talk of super-fit GAA teams is a myth. I haven't met a player who's attained full fitness in either hurling or football. Maybe three-quarters or even seven-eighths but not full fitness.

"Go to a fella like Seamus Power (Irish distance runner) from Tulla. His fitness levels are way beyond that of any GAA stars.

"Then, track and field athletes are professional. This business of turning up training at seven o'clock after a day's work is outdated. We tried to address that by getting together early in the morning but it's very difficult. Amateurism is drifting out of the game. In a few years, we'll have to up the ante and give players decent expenses. At the moment you'd be lucky to pay for petrol out of what you get.

"Look at the amounts of money generated. We were in two Munster finals last year. The fella selling ice cream at the back of the stand was making a living - and I know him, a decent living - and the players at the centre of it all are lucky to get a meal out of it."

The consensus on professionalism or even semi-professionalism is that there's not the money to sustain it. McNamara disagrees and sees the natural progression of the game away from the traditional structure towards a situation where elite players operate largely at an elite level.

"The inter-county scene will change and players will concentrate on it. Clubs will have to go without them. It's the same in rugby, the higher level controls the top players. You can't train professionally and do a job at the same time. Top athletes rest completely, go to bed between three and five o'clock or three and seven, as part of their training programme."

Currently enjoying his additional spare time, McNamara intends to publish a pamphlet on getting fit in the coming weeks.