Tipperary minor hurling manager Liam Cahill has hit back at the criticism he has received in the wake of a loss to Waterford last month.
Cahill particularly singled out "mammies and daddies [that] are doing a bit of crying that [their children] are not in the squad".
Tipp lost 1-20 to 1-17 against Waterford on April 23rd and the manager has been on the end of criticism which he has now responded to defiantly.
In comments to the Nenagh Guardian, he said: "We are going to have to get full buy-in from everybody, including a lot of these young players' mothers and fathers. I have shipped a lot of criticism since the Waterford match and received a couple of phone calls from parents - I suppose it's a parent's nature to feel that their own geese are swans, but the bottom line is that we are in a competitive environment here in Tipp and not all geese are swans."
He also added that, "I have five fellas earmarked to come in next Tuesday night (to training) that have performed with their club and deserve to be in with us. And, there are one or two that we let off early in the year that are doing a bit of crying and their mammies and daddies are doing a bit of crying that they are not in the squad."
He also spoke about the importance of his task when it comes to the future of Tipp hurling.
"They can say that Michael Ryan has the biggest job in Tipp, but I have the biggest job preparing the next generation of young hurlers; the future hurlers for Tipperary. And, I am not going to send a group of young fellas soft up the line. Let's be honest about it - there is no point in I handing players up to Michael Ryan or William Maher at under-21 soft or not ready for the battle."
Read the full interview on The Nenagh Guardian right here.
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