Clare GAA discussion thread

Clareman

What a shambles of a display today, we've gone from 1 of the most skillful teams going to 1 that has a terrible first touch, why have we stopped hitting the ball on the front foot? We had some very bad wides and we actually looked unfit. WTF was McGrath (I think) doing rising the ball in the square from the save, pull on the f**king thing.

We're not gone almost a year without a competitive win and that was against Laois, we're not in a relegation play off, maybe against Kilkenny.

Kristopherus

Clareman wrote: »

What a shambles of a display today, we've gone from 1 of the most skillful teams going to 1 that has a terrible first touch, why have we stopped hitting the ball on the front foot? We had some very bad wides and we actually looked unfit. WTF was McGrath (I think) doing rising the ball in the square from the save, pull on the f**king thing.

We're not gone almost a year without a competitive win and that was against Laois, we're not in a relegation play off, maybe against Kilkenny.

Absolutely. Did any Clare player pull on a ground ball at all? The only ones I saw were the Tipp boys on 2 or 3 occasions.

keeponhurling

Clareman wrote: »

WTF was McGrath (I think) doing rising the ball in the square from the save, pull on the f**king thing.

.

They was bizarre ok, surely a certain goal if he just pulled on it.

Anyways, the Tipp goalie pulled off a great save from Kelly when he was needed.

Kelly might have done better for the McGrath goal

LuckyGent88

Can anyone explain to me why and who fixed the clare v dublin hurling match next weekend for the Saturday at 3pm??

Thus, clashing with the Ireland rugby match!!

An absolute joke.

keeponhurling

Every year there are hurling and/or football league games clashing with 6 nations matches.
Nothing new really

windy shepard henderson

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Can anyone explain to me why and who fixed the clare v dublin hurling match next weekend for the Saturday at 3pm??

Thus, clashing with the Ireland rugby match!!

An absolute joke.

you can thank the dublin hurlers , dont know why it was moved back as far as i know they requested the fixture to be put back to the saterday , the initial fixture was set to be a double heder with armagh in the football on the same day

Davys Fits

keeponhurling wrote: »

They was bizarre ok, surely a certain goal if he just pulled on it.

l

Pulling on the ball almost certainly is not part of Davies game plan. Unfortunately Davy has taken his eye off the ball when it comes to basic hurling skills and is trying to be clever with tactics instead. Thankfully hurling will always reward teams who focus on the skills and not make a return for a substitute for the skills. I sure wish Clare would go out and play 15 on 15 if only to see what would be the outcome. Under Davy we will never know!

keeponhurling

I wonder what Eamon Taaffe made of that missed chance !

windy shepard henderson

Davys Fits wrote: »

Pulling on the ball almost certainly is not part of Davies game plan. Unfortunately Davy has taken his eye off the ball when it comes to basic hurling skills and is trying to be clever with tactics instead. Thankfully hurling will always reward teams who focus on the skills and not make a return for a substitute for the skills. I sure wish Clare would go out and play 15 on 15 if only to see what would be the outcome. Under Davy we will never know!

they did go 15 v 15 when pat donnellon was taking off , it didnt work simply because as you rightly said our basic hurling let us down all day , were probably more comfortable playing the sweeper system but our ball handling first touch and general passing was terrible at times , most of our defence was fine david mac paul flanagan and conor ryan had great games but the likes of john conlon tony kelly and connor mcgrath did not and we cant afford that to happen too often in future either

LuckyGent88

keeponhurling wrote: »

Every year there are hurling and/or football league games clashing with 6 nations matches.
Nothing new really

Well that was my first game in 4 years after returning home so wouldn't have known that.
Classic gaa decision though. Be lucky to get 4000 at the game I'd say

keeponhurling

Sure I suppose the GAA can't always reschedule games when the rugby is on.

Anyways, I guess the lads will have a real point to prove v Dublin (hopefully) so might he our first win.
Tricky that some lads are playing Fitzgibbon during the week, but not sure if Dubs are in the same boat

windy shepard henderson

keeponhurling wrote: »

Sure I suppose the GAA can't always reschedule games when the rugby is on.

Anyways, I guess the lads will have a real point to prove v Dublin (hopefully) so might he our first win.
Tricky that some lads are playing Fitzgibbon during the week, but not sure if Dubs are in the same boat

i think its mainly clare and tipp lads on the u.l team the likes of jason forde thomas hammell and john mcgrath for tipp tony kelly david mac ect... from us

i dont blame the gaa for the clash with the rugby infairness how many major super sunday premier league games have clashed with gaa games down through the years , i was at the clare/sligo game last week which clashed with the rugby aswell and yes attendances was down by about 1000 from previous games but thats life as they say , thats what sky plus is for if people are too lazy to go to league games thats there problem and in truth dont deserve tickets when it comes to all irelands and the llike

zetecescort

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/clare-set-to-be-without-colm-galvin-this-summer-1.2137710

LuckyGent88

zetecescort wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/clare-set-to-be-without-colm-galvin-this-summer-1.2137710

Galvin would be a big loss for us. He is absolutely entitled to go off and enjoy himself for a few months. Might not have the chance again.

Akrasia

Does anyone know what happened with Nicky O’Connell and David O’Halloran leaving the panel?

Is Davey totally losing the players respect?

I don't want to see a Gerald McCarthy style atmosphere in the Clare camp, we have so much potential, it would be a disaster if it was wasted.

LuckyGent88

States on rte sport that the game is on at 5 in ennis. Is this true? Thought it clashed with the rugby but would make it to Cuscal park

Gael85

Akrasia wrote: »

Does anyone know what happened with Nicky O’Connell and David O’Halloran leaving the panel?

Is Davey totally losing the players respect?

I don't want to see a Gerald McCarthy style atmosphere in the Clare camp, we have so much potential, it would be a disaster if it was wasted.

Would O'Halloran be good enough to make football team? He played a bit with Eire Og last year

keeponhurling

Let's see does the full story come out on the indiscipline.
Ironic that Galvin's possible departure might have opened things up for Nicky O'Connell.

As for the footballers, I'd be looking for a big win this weekend against fellow All-Ireland contenders Armagh, just to lay down a marker that we're serious bringing Sam to the Banner county later this year

windy shepard henderson

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

States on rte sport that the game is on at 5 in ennis. Is this true? Thought it clashed with the rugby but would make it to Cuscal park

no lights in the park so a half six finish would cause havoc 3 o clock throw in time i am nearly sure on

LuckyGent88

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

no lights in the park so a half six finish would cause havoc 3 o clock throw in time i am nearly sure on

Obviously a mis-type on rte website. Any sign of some team news?

windy shepard henderson

Gael85 wrote: »

Would O'Halloran be good enough to make football team? He played a bit with Eire Og last year

yeah a very good fotballer had a great championship with eire og last year possibly there best player , not sure if he would get much of a look in though it has to be said colm collins has tended to go for taller players where he can over the pitch , the likes of cathal macinerney has'nt got a look in since coming back from injury so you would have to wonder if it would be worth his while

Akrasia wrote: »

Does anyone know what happened with Nicky O’Connell and David O’Halloran leaving the panel?

Is Davey totally losing the players respect?

I don't want to see a Gerald McCarthy style atmosphere in the Clare camp, we have so much potential, it would be a disaster if it was wasted.

players are not stupid , infairness to them they see and hear the romours that we hear if there was as many problems as people say they are then we would have definitely seen more players walk Q the enda barrett situation back in 2013 when the vice captin at the time walked in protest to one of his club mates being dropped

brian cody is ruthless , also very out spoken at times , some might argue he stole some of that ruthlessnes from ger loughnane back when he first took charge of kilkenny, clare supporters are more morally we hate the taught of guys missing out on something because of a minor breach of rules ,if this had happened in kilkenny nobody would question cody , this sort of debate would hardly exist

i am not a fan of fitz but you would have to question the rumors flooding the place at the moment ,for example 12 months ago tots nickey's brother was kicked off the panel, fitz might have lost the support but it would seem he has not lost the dressing room

i would'nt panic about the league we were flawless this time last year and ended up with nothing , the loss of paul kinerek from both training pitch and sideline is huge and fits is struggling without him in my opinion but its march we are facing a relegation play off like it or not the aim now is to avoid the drop and concentrate then on championship but vast improvements are needed from several key players at the moment

windy shepard henderson

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Obviously a mis-type on rte website. Any sign of some team news?

team news ? same as last week i guess keep us in the dark until the last minuet , as far as i know the program 15 from last week will be announced for tomorrow but expect late changes

LuckyGent88

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

team news ? same as last week i guess keep us in the dark until the last minuet , as far as i know the program 15 from last week will be announced for tomorrow but expect late changes

Well the champion said Colin Ryan was out anyway. Probably Aaron Cunningham or bobby Duggan in instead of him.

goldfinger4296

Same as last week apart from Tuts in goal and Cunningham for Colin Ryan

LuckyGent88

Can't understand how donnelan kept his place. Thought he was awful last weekend.
Anyway, hopefully we get a win under our belts. It's badly needed

letowski

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Can't understand how donnelan kept his place. Thought he was awful last weekend.
Anyway, hopefully we get a win under our belts. It's badly needed

The panel is looking a bit thin in the mf / half forward now that Nicky has left and Ryan and Duggan x 2 and even Shanahan and Enright are unavailable. Golden hasn't really earned his position either. I would have thought now that were practically in a relegation playoff we might see someone like Malone or bring Conor Ryan to midfield. Just thinking there, the squad since January has been fair depleted with all the injuries, disciplines, football and players just leaving. Even a player like Honan, who was tried at half forward pre-season, would be very useful to have. Actually, I can count up good 10 players unavailable that were otherwise last year. If Galvin goes in the summer obviously its hugely detrimental.

Anyways, God we need some positivlty in Clare hurling. Hopefully like I said last week (and the week before), if we can get any sort of a win and an improvement in performance, I'd be encouraged.

Username2011

Makes for uncomfortable reading...
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/clare-hurler-humiliated-by-double-standard-treatment-1.2139431

bannerman2005

Not nice reading unfortunately and does not point to good man management. Discipline is one thing but the double standards and the eventual punishment are hard to stomach.

Players give of their free time to represent their county and I am embarrassed that players that have given much feel humiliated and belittled.

Keano

It's getting to crisis point I feel. There is no way management have the respect of the dressing room anymore, how can they? It's one way or the highway it seems.

windy shepard henderson

Username2011 wrote: »

Makes for uncomfortable reading...
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/clare-hurler-humiliated-by-double-standard-treatment-1.2139431

it blows my theory out of the water fair play to davey o'holleran for his honesty lets hope more follow this stuff is a joke lets hope a motion of no confidence from the players or the clubs is interdicted soon i doubt this childish behavior would exist with any other management ,

dirkmeister

O'Halloran and O'Connell were right to walk.
Who in their right mind would allow a person to treat them like that?!?

Fitzgerald is going to ruin those young lads unless ye get rid of him.

Hidalgo

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

it blows my theory out of the water fair play to davey o'holleran for his honesty lets hope more follow this stuff is a joke lets hope a motion of no confidence from the players or the clubs is interdicted soon i doubt this childish behavior would exist with any other management ,

If heat comes, I'd wager it might come from the clubs. There's no love lost between the clubs and Davy after last summer and the fixtures.

I can't see it going as far as a motion of no confidence however. Not until the season is done and dusted and it continues apace to what we're witnessing currently.

LuckyGent88

Absolutely delighted Davy o holl has spoke out. No player should be treated like that given the amount of time they sacrifice from there personnel lives to represent the county.

There must be serious rifts in that dressing room right now and the sooner Davy Fitz goes the better. It seems like our players have lost any enjoyment they have for the game with him in charge.

TyrionPower

Something seriously wrong if Davy is treating lads like that, and his back room team - presumably grown men are a part of it.

Lads it is horrendous bullying behaviour - there must be a lot of cowards in the management set- up... How could any player respect them?

letowski

Good win today. YAY :cool:

I must admit, it didn't look so likely when Bugs got sent off, but a win at least is positive. If we can somehow get a win in Nowlan Park we might be able to generate a bit of momentum going into the relegation playoff, and be safe.

What I liked about today's performance was the way we played with a full set of forwards. I just hope Davy can keep this going, it gives the team more confidence and impetus in their play. We created probably more goal chances today than we did in the whole tournament, and with players like SOD, CMcG and Cunningham, we have finishers that can take them.

LuckyGent88

letowski wrote: »

Good win today. YAY :cool:

I must admit, it didn't look so likely when Bugs got sent off, but a win at least is positive. If we can somehow get a win in Nowlan Park we might be able to generate a bit of momentum going into the relegation playoff, and be safe.

What I liked about today's performance was the way we played with a full set of forwards. I just hope Davy can keep this going, it gives the team more confidence and impetus in their play. We created probably more goal chances today than we did in the whole tournament, and with players like SOD, CMcG and Cunningham, we have finishers that can take them.

Huge win considering all that seems to be going on within the squad and now in the papers.
Didn't see that coming when we were 6 points down in the second half. From the radio, it sounded like mcinerney, Ryan, kelly and SOD were superb. Nice to hear that we went man against man for a change and created a number of goal chances which has been a major worry of mine.

windy shepard henderson

good second half performance with 14 men to see off a decent dublin side 2-22 to 2-20 if we can repeat that performance regularly for the season we should be ok , strangely enough the sending off worked in our favor and the change of formation , shane o'donnell had another great game winning probably 95% of everything played into him this despite being double marked for long parts of the game , connor mcgrath and tony kelly showed in stages the type of form from 2013 , john conlon and aaron cuningham were also impresive ,

at the back our half back line were under alot of pressure at times conor ryan though carried on from last week with another fine performance , patrick o connor had a testing day marking danny suthcliffe while bugs sendening off came straight after clare's first goal which was a brilliant chip from 45 yards out to catch out the dublin keeper who was yards off his line , the unpires spotted somthing that led to buglers sending off straight after

colm galvin was exelent in midfield but man of the match award would have to go to david macinerney who probably cemented his performance with the score of the day with a point from inside his own 65 , todays performance will probably not be good enough to beat a full strength kilkenny side but it is further improvement and if repeted in the relagation final it would be plenty to keep us up

a very spirited performance from the players despite all the controversy things are finally looking up on the field atleast

letowski

The inside line imo is one of our biggest strengths, despite no Podge. They always cause teams problems, like last Sunday, when we play 3 inside and work the ball in faster. Shane O'Donnell gets alot of 'He's over-rated' but when the kid (still 20) gets the ball in space, he gives backs nightmares with his turn of pace. Hopefully Davy gets the team to play more though him because he has been stifled up to now being constantly outnumbered. I think Reidy made a great impression too when he came on too.

It really was a spirited performance by the team alright, they always had that in fairness as they wouldn't have won all those medals up along. I guess it's something to hold onto as a supporter admist all the controversy, because they have huge ability when they get going.

Limestone Cowboy

letowski wrote: »

The inside line imo is one of our biggest strengths, despite no Podge. They always cause teams problems, like last Sunday, when we play 3 inside and work the ball in faster. Shane O'Donnell gets alot of 'He's over-rated' but when the kid (still 20) gets the ball in space, he gives backs nightmares with his turn of pace. Hopefully Davy gets the team to play more though him because he has been stifled up to now being constantly outnumbered. I think Reidy made a great impression too when he came on too.

It really was a spirited performance by the team alright, they always had that in fairness as they wouldn't have won all those medals up along. I guess it's something to hold onto as a supporter admist all the controversy, because they have huge ability when they get going.

The ground really suited our lads today too, was like summer hurling. Don't think I was ever as impressed by O Donnell before, he won every ball that came his way, the same could be said for Reidy. That point by Davy Mac was as good as I have ever seen scored in the park, pure class!

windy shepard henderson

letowski wrote: »

The inside line imo is one of our biggest strengths, despite no Podge. They always cause teams problems, like last Sunday, when we play 3 inside and work the ball in faster. Shane O'Donnell gets alot of 'He's over-rated' but when the kid (still 20) gets the ball in space, he gives backs nightmares with his turn of pace. Hopefully Davy gets the team to play more though him because he has been stifled up to now being constantly outnumbered. I think Reidy made a great impression too when he came on too.

It really was a spirited performance by the team alright, they always had that in fairness as they wouldn't have won all those medals up along. I guess it's something to hold onto as a supporter admist all the controversy, because they have huge ability when they get going.

reidy was a live wire when he came on was responsible for the second goal , shane o'donnell will always be compered to the 3-3 in the all ireland final 2 years ago but i always found him as one of our more consistent oppraters he wont score every week but he would be worth several scores from frees won and general set up play, an exelelent player hopefully davey will see some sort of sence and give him an extra option the next day

it was also good to see players take on there own shots from out the field today , somthing they didnt do enough of against tipperary last week it became very predictable looking for o'donnell all the time

fair play to the dublin supporters who made the trip to ennis today before heading off to castlebar this evening there is no doubt they would have brought a bigger attendance had the football being on tommorow , great support none the less and they say the dubs dont travel

letowski

I like Reidy, I think he can bring something to this team as he has loads of pace and skill. I wouldn't judge him too much on Galway and Cork, he is a small lad and was left isolated on poor surfaces. On a faster, harder ground he could be really industrious for us. The key though, as it always has been like with SOD and CMcG, is getting these lads proper support. I think it's our fighting chance this summer, if we can be more positive in the way we line up, we can get at teams. Not guaranteed with Davy admittedly.

keeponhurling

Shane O'Donnell was very good last week as well.
He is a class act.

What did Bugs get sent off for ? One clear area of improvement needed from last year is on field discipline.

On the off field discipline thing, we won the All-Ireland in 2013 cos when Davy said jump, the players said how high.
Same in 95 and 97 under Loughnane.

The team who striked under Mike Mac and Baker won nothing.
Everyone has a nice word to say about Sparrow but his team couldn't get out of Div 2.

I know lads give their free time and deserve time off etc. but that's not gonna get us wins over Tipp or Kilkenny.
Kilkenny have a regular stream of class players discarded by Cody, and no big deal made of it.

Whatever your opinion of the man, if there is one Clareman who knows what it takes to win All-Irelands it is Davy Fitz.

The style, confidence and swagger our team showed once we got to Croke Park in 2013 didn't come from nowhere

letowski

I heard it was a kicking incident keeponhurling, in retaliation or something. Bugs miles from where we need him to be at.

windy shepard henderson

keeponhurling wrote: »

Shane O'Donnell was very good last week as well.
He is a class act.

What did Bugs get sent off for ? One clear area of improvement needed from last year is on field discipline.

On the off field discipline thing, we won the All-Ireland in 2013 cos when Davy said jump, the players said how high.
Same in 95 and 97 under Loughnane.

The team who striked under Mike Mac and Baker won nothing.
Everyone has a nice word to say about Sparrow but his team couldn't get out of Div 2.

I know lads give their free time and deserve time off etc. but that's not gonna get us wins over Tipp or Kilkenny.
Kilkenny have a regular stream of class players discarded by Cody, and no big deal made of it.

Whatever your opinion of the man, if there is one Clareman who knows what it takes to win All-Irelands it is Davy Fitz.

The style, confidence and swagger our team showed once we got to Croke Park in 2013 didn't come from nowhere

he is far from the only man in the county capable of winning the all ireland and in truth it was easy for the man to claim the success as his considering the amount of work put in by the likes of donal/ gerry , john minoge and fennessy with the minors , put any of them men in charge and see the diffrence, all thoes i mentiond have tactical brains and multipal proven success as managers

speaking to players who played in the under age setup they had nothing but good things to say about the duel management or john minoge for that matter i have to say the same couldnt be said about fitz and the only reason he is getting away with it is because his father is head of the clare county board any other manager would be sacked

any manager that a reccord of 2 wins in a calander year ( against laois and dublin ) would have been made walk the plank along time ago in any other county its not just his attitude thats wrong its everything , he is tactialy inept for this level we were forced into playing a 3 man full forward line after the sending off today which won us the game something fitz refused to do all along he has turned us into the most predictable team in the country and his team selections of late have been terrible

nice_guy80

Disgraceful treatment of players.

I'm all for discipline, but that is ridiculous

Fireball07

Cody is tough and has kicked players off the panel, for sure. But he didn't publicly humiliate players in front of their teammates, which is completely out of order.

And would Cody kick an injured player off the panel for being out, not drinking? Probably not.

And the double standards that are being claimed? That makes it worse.


Discipline is important, but the players shouldn't be in fear of a manager either. I dunno... there did seem to be a good response today, fine victory. But is Davy getting the most out of the players? I mean he has serious talent available to him, you're talking about the teams Mike Mac & Sparrow had, nothing compared to these lads. Multiple underage winners, sprinkled with a handful of more seasoned veterans, huge talent there.

windy shepard henderson

change of subject for the minuet the clare football team to play armagh in tomorrows national league division 3 game has been announced, at the start of the year we would have drawn a line across this one against one of the favorites for this years ulster title , to compound to our woes david tubridy is out , management have opted for shane brennan to play inside beside pat burke in the two man full forward line podge will pull out the field , after a terrible performance last week against tipperary we need a big performance from everyone , if we can ask qustions of kerry or kildare here last year then the expectation would be to ask several qustions of our ulster opponents tomorrow

the teams met 4 times in the past , armaghs last win was back in the 70s in a league final wheres the last meating between the sides was in 1997 where clare beat (what would turn out to be a fairly formidable armagh side manny of whome went on to win the all ireland 5 years later) by 6 points in lurgan

1 Joe Hayes
2 Martin McMahon
3 Kevin Harnett
4 Dean Ryan
5 Jamie Malone
6 Gordon Kelly
7 Ciaran Russel
8 Gary Brennan
9 Cathal O'Connor
10 Shane McGrath
11 Shane Hickey
12 Sean Collins
13 Podge Collins
14 Shane Brennan
15 Pat Burke


would be no harm either to get one over keiran mcgeeany after his comments earlier in the year and his alternative view on duel players , interesting considering he was a duel coach himself last year with tipperary's hurlers along with paul grimleys armagh at the same time

keeponhurling

It will be hard to beat Armagh? They have done great players, but if we can get competitive against them we can
be competitive against anyone

I am Looking forward to setting Armagh play because they are a serious team. Forker? Campbell? Kernan, Clarke etc. will they all play ?

marco_polo

Dunno if we can beat them but its nice to be playing teams of that calibre again and the suggestion of possibly winning not sounding completely ludicrous.

citykat

Fireball07 wrote: »

Cody is tough and has kicked players off the panel, for sure. But he didn't publicly humiliate players in front of their teammates, which is completely out of order.

And would Cody kick an injured player off the panel for being out, not drinking? Probably not.

I've seen a lot of references to what Cody does and might do in response to so-called transgressions by these Clare players. What would he have done in that situation? As far as I know, Cody takes a drink but not much even when he's 'celebrating'. In fairness to him he's not puritannical about it, it's just he was never into it himself.

From what i have read, the two players disciplined were injured. If these two guys were out, there would have been very little said (by Cody). However, first night back at training he would probably have ran the arse off them to the point of nausea, reminding them at every turn the reason for their sickness. I believe he gave Aylward a bit of a doing after he returned from Oz just to bring him back down to earth.

The way Davy has approached this issue is IMO appalling and totally uncalled for. If one of these guys were my son or brother, i would hope they would be treated with more civility. For a guy who cried about being bullied when he was younger, those cries ring hollow to me now.