Former Ireland star Luke Fitzgerald is \u201cstuck\u201d when it comes to Leo Cullen\u2019s future but was left immensely frustrated by the head coach\u2019s Investec Champions Cup approach.<\/p>\n
Leinster\u2019s boss finds himself under immense pressure after yet again failing to deliver the Champions Cup title following a 41-19 hammering against Bordeaux-Begles.<\/p>\n
It was their fifth successive defeat in the continental final and comfortably their biggest, with the previous four coming by much smaller margins.<\/p>\n
Questions have therefore been raised as to whether Cullen<\/a> should continue as the province\u2019s head honcho given their consistent failures in the latter stages of the competition.<\/p>\n \u2018I see some Scott Robertson talk\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI really don\u2019t know, I\u2019m really stuck on it,\u201d Fitzgerald said on The Left Wing podcast when asked what he would do about Cullen. \u201cI don\u2019t know who\u2019s available, I see some Scott Robertson talk and he was obviously unbelievable for a long period of time with the Crusaders.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was not a great job with New Zealand but maybe that\u2019s an option.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if getting rid of Leo is the right thing but he\u2019s tried to change everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n Fitzgerald played alongside Cullen at Leinster<\/a> for a number of years and regards him as a friend, but the former Ireland wing did not hold back over the head coach\u2019s Champions Cup<\/a> comments.<\/p>\n Cullen took aim at the media after their semi-final victory over Toulon, stating that reaching yet another showpiece is no mean feat, but Fitzgerald was left distinctly unimpressed by that attitude.<\/p>\n \u201cThe one thing I don\u2019t like, and I would say this to Leo\u2019s face, I never liked his party line about getting to finals, really hate that. It really feels like a cop-out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether he\u2019s come up with that line or whether it\u2019s someone in the communications team, that does not sit well with me and does not sit well with any of my former colleagues. I\u2019m sure it doesn\u2019t sit well with Leinster supporters either.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be going to win, it\u2019s win at all costs. To me it\u2019s almost like a get-out for you, \u2018oh we made it to the final, well done us\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cYou may as well go out in the group stages.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a part of it which is true in terms of the consistency of being at the top table, that is true, but you have to say you\u2019re incredibly disappointed to not win, and you\u2019re only going to win \u2013 that\u2019s got to be your barometer of success.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re always going to be judged in Leinster on your medals and that\u2019s the really harsh reality, and the harsh reality of top level sport. That has never sat really well with me.\u201d<\/p>\n Ex-Ireland player explains why \u2018supporter animosity\u2019 at Leinster hasn\u2019t reached \u2018tipping point\u2019 but feels Ciaran Frawley \u2018punishment didn\u2019t match the crime\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Cullen\u2019s words impacted Leinster\u2019s players<\/p>\n That approach from Cullen was taken into Champions Cup final itself where his body language and comments post-match suggested that he didn\u2019t particularly care that they lost the final.<\/p>\n Fitzgerald didn\u2019t believe that was necessarily the case and that inwardly the Leinster boss would have been devastated, but Cullen\u2019s narrative ultimately had a negative impact on the players.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course I sense the commiserations so I don\u2019t want to be two-faced. That must have really hurt at the weekend, whatever the party line was or there were some kind of unusual interviews afterwards,\u201d he added.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThat would have really hurt, Leo\u2019s a winner. I know the guy so that\u2019s why that line has never sat well with me.<\/p>\n \u201cHe should have said: \u2018No, we\u2019ve got to be honest here, we\u2019re gutted\u2019. Say the usual lines but that\u2019s what you should be feeling.<\/p>\n \u201cYou should be really hurt, you shouldn\u2019t be thinking, \u2018oh, it\u2019s great to get to the final\u2019. You\u2019re never going to win anything there.<\/p>\n \u201cThat would have seeped into the players\u2019 mindset too.\u201d<\/p>\n