OTHER people will regret the way Jamie Clarke’s Armagh career has gone more than the man himself, believes Oisin McConville.
Clarke is currently in Paris and is not expected to feature for Kieran McGeeney’s side this year.
He had returned to the fold last year and helped Armagh back into Division One but won’t be around in 2021.
One of the most naturally gifted players of his generation, the fact that he has dipped in and out throughout his career has meant Armagh have never quite gotten out of him what they would have liked to over the course of a decade.
Turning 32 in June, McConville admits we might have seen the last of him in county colours.
“I think other people may regret it more than him, I think he seems to be ok with his life choices and we probably have to accept that for what it is,” said his Crossmaglen clubmate McConville.
“I suppose we are not all wired the same way, and he might be looking at some of us who’ve played for Cross and Armagh in the past and think ‘there’s more to life than that, and I want more for my life than that.’ Whereas our thinking was a little bit on the flipside of that.
“I think because of that, he probably is happy enough with the decisions he is making. This is not the first time Jamie has gone away.
“If he has gone away and regretted it in the past, he seems to have gone away, regretted it and come back in.
“So he knows his plan, he knows what is laid out for him and obviously I'm sure it’s not a decision he has taken lightly. But I think this time could be the final time.
“There’s a distinct possibility that that could be him, but I don’t want to finish his career for him.
“That will be up to Jamie and how his life develops in other ways, but you would suspect that there’s a good chance this could be it.”
Clarke’s entries and exits from the Armagh panel have been a source of news and discussion each autumn.
McConville concedes that there is a difference in how Clarke’s actions are perceived compared to the likes of Paul Mannion, Jack McCaffrey or Rory O’Carroll, who have taken time away from an ultra-successful Dublin setup.
“I think it’s even more than that when you have somebody who supporters look to, when you have somebody that’s a top, top player, somebody that Armagh is very reliant on.
“I think that’s why, I don’t know if it's the level of understanding or people are just hurt by the fact he’s gone, or realise the chances of us being successful are significantly diminished because he is gone.
“I think there’s a little bit of that. I think it’s a lot more acceptable when other guys move away, or decide to opt out for a year or two, but I think when it's in a county like Armagh, or other counties, it seems to be a lot more frowned upon.”
McConville also reiterated comments he’d made earlier in the week that Armagh were “too easy to play against” as they prepare to step into Division One football.
"I've watched some of them play in club football and definitely you couldn't say they were too nice, I think just as a unit they haven't been able to put it together and it all seems very individual the way that Armagh play defensively.
"And if somebody's not doing the job on one individual, it seems to reverberate around the team and they seem to get really, really hurt by runners from the middle and there doesn't seem to be any way of stopping them.
"You watch the teams that are a wee bit more advanced and used to playing that Division 1 type football, you look at Armagh, two of their fixtures this year are against Donegal and Tyrone, that's a massive learning curve for this particular Armagh team and how they are collectively in defence.”
