*Limerick GAA news/discussion thread*

Fireball07

2-1 from play for Downes against Ahane... I know the opposition mightn't have been much, but he has a goalscoring touch, you'd have to wonder why he wasn't utilised more odten in the Championship.

glasagusban

Fireball07 wrote: »

2-1 from play for Downes against Ahane... I know the opposition mightn't have been much, but he has a goalscoring touch, you'd have to wonder why he wasn't utilised more odten in the Championship.

Seemed like a direct call between him and Tobin all year. On form Tobin edged in at the start of the year and would have been harsh to drop him, but how downes didn't get more time is beyond me. His first goal today was class, beat at least 3 defenders.

Fireball07

glasagusban wrote: »

Seemed like a direct call between him and Tobin all year. On form Tobin edged in at the start of the year and would have been harsh to drop him, but how downes didn't get more time is beyond me. His first goal today was class, beat at least 3 defenders.

Where was he started today? Full-forward or out at half-forward?


I just think Downes could have been used earlier in games, brought in for one of our half-forwards and utilised either on the 40 or on the edge of the square.

Mountainlad

Some serious mismatches in yer club championship so. Bit concerning maybe?

Fireball07

Possibly... I suppose it gives support to the decision to kick 4 teams out... even if I did like the 16-team senior championship.


Fact is that those 4 teams are comfortably better than the rest, and would be expected to reach this stage. Ballybrown were a bit unlucky to lose by that much and tbh, I'd say Patrickswell and Murroe/Boher are better than some of the teams that reached the quarters. Disappointed in Ahane though.

Patrickswell hammered Croom in the relegation play-off too (I had a nice safe accumulator on Adare/Na Piarsaigh/the Well to cover losses from Arsenal/Spurs).

glasagusban

Fireball07 wrote: »

Where was he started today? Full-forward or out at half-forward?


I just think Downes could have been used earlier in games, brought in for one of our half-forwards and utilised either on the 40 or on the edge of the square.

Started at 10, went in full when Quigley went off.

shockframe

Fireball07 wrote: »

2-1 from play for Downes against Ahane... I know the opposition mightn't have been much, but he has a goalscoring touch, you'd have to wonder why he wasn't utilised more odten in the Championship.

He was part of a team that cruised to a 15 point win against a fairly ordinary Ahane side. No way would it have been this easy at inter-county level.Not the game to say if he was badly treated.Win the county and perform against sides in Munster club would be a better barometer.

Fireball07

shockframe wrote: »

He was part of a team that cruised to a 15 point win against a fairly ordinary Ahane side. No way would it have been this easy at inter-county level.Not the game to say if he was badly treated.Win the county and perform against sides in Munster club would be a better barometer.

That's true. But he's always been a goalscorer, for Limerick as well as club. I personally think he's one of the most talented forwards we have.

paddy no 11

Effin stay up

Bruee used all their experience and physicality to build a 5 point half time lead


Second half come back lead by nicky quaid and finished off by 6 excellent points from Damien moloney gave effin a deserved win, bruee hurled well but were beaten by a more youthful side.

In terms of county, nicky should be played outfield next year, im not saying he's a starter but he should train and get a league game outfield, he's not an outstanding keeper and by all accounts murphy is good, at least try him.

Should be a cracking double header for the semis, bulk of the county player and hopefully a few players put themselves in the shop window. (Will there be a county coach there to watch them?)

Fireball07

Strong second half from Effin keeps them up, Bruree down.


And the draws for the semi-finals have been made:

Adare V Doon
Kilmallock V Na Piarsaigh

Set for 2 weeks time.

County Cup:

Effin V Granagh/Ballingarry
Murroe/Boher V Patrickswell




Feeling pretty happy about my Doon e/w bet now... I reckon they have what it takes to beat Adare. Having already beaten Na Piarsaigh and Patrickswell, they must fancy their chances. Adare may have racked up a huge score in the second half, I certainly wouldn't have expected them to win by so much...and they do have arguably the standout player in the county in Hannon. But reckon Doon have a stronger all-round team.


Very tough to call the other one, should be a cracker.

Fireball07

paddy no 11 wrote: »

Effin stay up

Bruee used all their experience and physicality to build a 5 point half time lead


Second half come back lead by nicky quaid and finished off by 6 excellent points from Damien moloney gave effin a deserved win, bruee hurled well but were beaten by a more youthful side.

In terms of county, nicky should be played outfield next year, im not saying he's a starter but he should train and get a league game outfield, he's not an outstanding keeper and by all accounts murphy is good, at least try him.

Should be a cracking double header for the semis, bulk of the county player and hopefully a few players put themselves in the shop window. (Will there be a county coach there to watch them?)

Were all Damien Moloney's points from play? What age is he?


I was talking about this earlier with a friend of mine, and also reckon Quaid is worth a shot outfield. We do have plenty of talented players in the county, but Quaid could be an option at centre-back/wing-back/midfield, a very talented hurler. Murphy is a fine shot-stopper with an excellent puck-out, starred for the U-21s and did a grand job in the league this year.



EDIT: Oh and Liam Aherne seems to have been hinting that a new manager has been appointed on twitter. At least that's what I gathered from it.

LMK

Fireball07 wrote: »

Adare beat Ballybrown 2-24 to 1-13, bit surprised by that, thought it would be much closer. Ballybrown were winning for a lot of the game, but once Declan Hannon got a goal, Adare never looked back, Willie Griffin got another one and racked up lots of scores.

Hannon got 1-9, 1-3 from play... and John Fitzgibbon sounded as if he was very impressive, think he got 0-7 from play. Not 100% sure about that but that is a very impressive tally.


I kinda had written Adare off a bit, but that scoring spree in the 2nd half and the way they kicked on and disposed of a decent Ballybrown side is certainly noteworthy. In Hannon, Griffin, Fitzgibbon, Fitzgerald...they certainly have forwards who can rack up scores. It'll be interesting.


If anyone who was at the game wants to give their thoughts, be much appreciated.

Was at this game.
Good open game of hurling from both sides for first half and up to the time Hannon scored the goal. I thought that BB's confidence was very brittle they seemed to be on the back foot at the time they scored the goal in the first half, collapsed altogether after first Adare goal, which was soft one.
Adare looked slick with better teamwork, have a strong set of hardy backs Lavin, Clifford JP Healy and Kennedy especially good. Wayne Mc is a good athlete but the others are more effective hurlers. Fitzgibbon had a dream day not sure if he'll have that performance in him every day.Their forwards are dangerous when given room. Hannon was not in the game a lot but he has the class to make a difference for sure, worry he seem not interested in any form of "dirty" work or even working up a sweat.
Ballybrown were a mixture of good and bad. honest and keen but without much guile, very dependent on O'Connor who is an individualist not a leader as such, good player but unorthodox. Shane Kenny played well in spots he also has the class, Richie Kenny Ross Griffin,Kiely played well. forwards in general were no threat, poor at center back as well.
Adare will be a threat if they have the fight in them they do have enough hurling IMO.

paddy no 11

Yeah all moloneys were from play, he's about 25, though much like eoin ryan from kilmallock who scored heavily as well neither has the physical ability to step up (I think)

There's no doubt that nicky should be tried outfield

On fitzgibon from adare, he was also excellent in the semi last year but was poor in final, would need a showing against doon to be rated.

2 cracking matches in prospect.

Think Na P will win as killmallock are a little poorer than last year imo, paidi dwyer is a loss at CF and I don't think they'll outscore Na P as they diid in last years epic.

Adare's experience against up and coming doon side, no idea.


If a new manager has been appointed then good, he needs to be at these games.

Can only assume its a lim man or considine if its a done deal already.

Fireball07

paddy no 11 wrote: »

On fitzgibon from adare, he was also excellent in the semi last year but was poor in final, would need a showing against doon to be rated.

Very skilful player though, don't know if he has what it takes but he does have a lot of skill.

If a new manager has been appointed then good, he needs to be at these games.

Can only assume its a lim man or considine if its a done deal already.

That's what I was thinking...... I just have a feeling it's Considine.

Don't know what to make of that if it did happen though, there's no way I'd say he's a better manager than John Allen. Does he have what it takes to get the best out of these players, and the ability tactically and on the sideline to win an All-Ireland, or even win another Munster? I don't know...

paddy no 11

Fireball07 wrote: »

Very skilful player though, don't know if he has what it takes but he does have a lot of skill.




That's what I was thinking...... I just have a feeling it's Considine.

Don't know what to make of that if it did happen though, there's no way I'd say he's a better manager than John Allen. Does he have what it takes to get the best out of these players, and the ability tactically and on the sideline to win an All-Ireland, or even win another Munster? I don't know...

I think kilmallock are very well coached, he's also won with a lesser team in garryspillane, knows the players across the county has All Ireland experience with clare, id be happy enough if he gets it, pure speculation on our behalf though. (I know he didn't get the clare job and certainly there was some people there who he didn't get on with but i'm not sure we can get much better)

Fireball07

paddy no 11 wrote: »

I think kilmallock are very well coached, he's also won with a lesser team in garryspillane, knows the players across the county has All Ireland experience with clare, id be happy enough if he gets it, pure speculation on our behalf though. (I know he didn't get the clare job and certainly there was some people there who he didn't get on with but i'm not sure we can get much better)

Just his term in charge of Clare would worry me...he didn't do well at all. Obviously there was a lot of opposition... now I don't know what he's like really, but we can't afford to have star players pulling out of the squad and stuff like that, we've had enough controversy in Limerick to last us forever.

His achievements at club level and as a selector for Clare can't be doubted. And his knowledge of Limerick hurling would be a big boost, plus he'd have a good idea of Limerick people to have involved in the coaching side of things.


Still speculation obviously...he would just seem like the logical candidate. More qualified than any Limerick person that I can think of anyway. (Bar Cregan obviously)

glasagusban

Unless he brought in an all star back room team I would have no faith in Considine. He already failed at inter county level I reckon. Looking through the various managements in the programme today not many candidates jumped out. Or any.

paddy no 11

He can be a divisive character but if fellas are prepared to work with him I think he can do a job, a good backroom team and id settle for that.

Wait and see I guess.

glasagusban

paddy no 11 wrote: »

He can be a divisive character but if fellas are prepared to work with him I think he can do a job, a good backroom team and id settle for that.

Wait and see I guess.

A good manager shouldn't be divisive IMO, not for his team at least.

Fireball07

glasagusban wrote: »

Unless he brought in an all star back room team I would have no faith in Considine. He already failed at inter county level I reckon. Looking through the various managements in the programme today not many candidates jumped out. Or any.

It's all a rumour at the moment, but he is the standout manager in Limerick club hurling over the past few years. Before that...Sparrow? Wouldn't be mad about that either.

Bar Anthony Daly, and if we were sticking with someone local, I would kinda like to see Joe Quaid, but it's not likely imo.


How about the Limerick Ger Cunningham?

Rightwing

Considine would be a very poor choice imo. I doubt he has got it, or anyone else for that matter just yet.

The Limk minor manager should be considered.

shockframe

Assuming that Allen has indeed left the set-up I have very little faith in any of the Limerick names that crop up.

The best bet is to go outside the county.Very few limerick managers have got by without some disaster managing the county team in recent years.A limerick based manager may be a hindrance in picking players from his own area over better players across the county.

As big a lunatic as he was/is tom ryan always had his best 15-20 and did not care about ballybrown if they didnt meet inter county standard.Almost every manager since fell because they didnt have the best squad available due to club politics.Its no surprise to me that since Donal O'Grady took over we have had almost no politics (carey 2012 aside) to destroy the set up and won a league and munster title as a result.

Pick a local manager with a few yes men and the club politics will almost certainly rear its ugly head again.

Most of the 'lets get limerick hurling men in to run the team' philosophy is naive in the extreme.Inter county has moved on leaps and bounds since the mid-90s and from what I've observed we dont have anything required to take us to the next level around us.We have 2 excellent trainers available nearby in Paul Kinnerk and Cian O'Neill so getting the services of these more so than a big name ex limerick player is an absolute must.

I wouldnt have any faith in considine and if B.Ryan gets it after the disgraceful 2010 season I will be boycotting games. Most of the 25-26 year old group could walk away if that hapened.Mcmanus wouldnt pull a stroke like this in his horse racing empire so why should we have to put up with it.

We had a very good year after 2 decent ones but it could all fall apart before we know it if the wrong man gets appointed.

glasagusban

Fireball07 wrote: »

It's all a rumour at the moment, but he is the standout manager in Limerick club hurling over the past few years. Before that...Sparrow? Wouldn't be mad about that either.

Bar Anthony Daly, and if we were sticking with someone local, I would kinda like to see Joe Quaid, but it's not likely imo.


How about the Limerick Ger Cunningham?

Before that is Sean stack and I wouldn't have him either! Sparrow and Considine have both had very bad stints at county level and i wouldn't take either. Cunningham looks the only option working in the county. I really don't think Quaid is up to it. Daly wont leave Dublin and if he does I doubt he'd jump straight in somewhere else. Sheedy maybe but I also doubt he'd take it.

We should keep Allen on his results alone, but when you look around at potential replacements you see how important it is to keep a hold of Allen!

Fireball07

shockframe wrote: »

Assuming that Allen has indeed left the set-up I have very little faith in any of the Limerick names that crop up.

The best bet is to go outside the county.Very few limerick managers have got by without some disaster managing the county team in recent years.A limerick based manager may be a hindrance in picking players from his own area over better players across the county.

As big a lunatic as he was/is tom ryan always had his best 15-20 and did not care about ballybrown if they didnt meet inter county standard.Almost every manager since fell because they didnt have the best squad available due to club politics.Its no surprise to me that since Donal O'Grady took over we have had almost no politics (carey 2012 aside) to destroy the set up and won a league and munster title as a result.

Pick a local manager with a few yes men and the club politics will almost certainly rear its ugly head again.

Most of the 'lets get limerick hurling men in to run the team' philosophy is naive in the extreme.Inter county has moved on leaps and bounds since the mid-90s and from what I've observed we dont have anything required to take us to the next level around us.We have 2 excellent trainers available nearby in Paul Kinnerk and Cian O'Neill so getting the services of these more so than a big name ex limerick player is an absolute must.

I wouldnt have any faith in considine and if B.Ryan gets it after the disgraceful 2010 season I will be boycotting games. Most of the 25-26 year old group could walk away if that hapened.Mcmanus wouldnt pull a stroke like this in his horse racing empire so why should we have to put up with it.

We had a very good year after 2 decent ones but it could all fall apart before we know it if the wrong man gets appointed.

Good post, I agree with most of it (bar boycotting games...).


I do agree that an outside manager from the political side of things is a good idea...also the fact that there is a lack of top class candidates within. I don't really care whether a Limerick man is in charge as long as they professionally manage the team..... obviously in an ideal world, we'd be free of any politics and we'd see a Limerick man manage a Limerick team to an All-Ireland. But if we have an outside person, with a couple of people who know the Limerick club hurling scene as well as a few top class trainers, I'd be happy.


We need as good a backroom team as we can possibly get, coaching and training standards are getting higher and higher, we need our team to be physically and mentally prepared as much as possible.


But most importantly...we need a brain. Surely it can't be that hard to find someone who can develop a gameplan to suit our team, but also be able to think on their feet. Anthony Daly would be my preferred candidate.

Liam Sheedy would be nice, but I don't see it happening. I would cry if we got Ollie Baker (although I'm pretty sure that rumour was started by Clare people trying to rub it in). We've had 2 All-Ireland winning managers...who else can we turn to to take us the final step??





shockframe- what would you think of Tony Considine, for example? Or would you consider him close enough to a Limerick club, for the politics to rear up again?

glasagusban

Rightwing wrote: »

The Limk minor manager should be considered.

God no.

shockframe wrote: »

Assuming that Allen has indeed left the set-up I have very little faith in any of the Limerick names that crop up.

The best bet is to go outside the county.Very few limerick managers have got by without some disaster managing the county team in recent years.A limerick based manager may be a hindrance in picking players from his own area over better players across the county.

As big a lunatic as he was/is tom ryan always had his best 15-20 and did not care about ballybrown if they didnt meet inter county standard.Almost every manager since fell because they didnt have the best squad available due to club politics.Its no surprise to me that since Donal O'Grady took over we have had almost no politics (carey 2012 aside) to destroy the set up and won a league and munster title as a result.

Pick a local manager with a few yes men and the club politics will almost certainly rear its ugly head again.

Most of the 'lets get limerick hurling men in to run the team' philosophy is naive in the extreme.Inter county has moved on leaps and bounds since the mid-90s and from what I've observed we dont have anything required to take us to the next level around us.We have 2 excellent trainers available nearby in Paul Kinnerk and Cian O'Neill so getting the services of these more so than a big name ex limerick player is an absolute must.

I wouldnt have any faith in considine and if B.Ryan gets it after the disgraceful 2010 season I will be boycotting games. Most of the 25-26 year old group could walk away if that hapened.Mcmanus wouldnt pull a stroke like this in his horse racing empire so why should we have to put up with it.

We had a very good year after 2 decent ones but it could all fall apart before we know it if the wrong man gets appointed.

Agree with all of that. Although you seem a bit paranoid about 'politics', don't think that had anything to do with Carey leaving for example.

Fireball07 wrote: »

Anthony Daly would be my preferred candidate.

Liam Sheedy would be nice, but I don't see it happening. I would cry if we got Ollie Baker (although I'm pretty sure that rumour was started by Clare people trying to rub it in). We've had 2 All-Ireland winning managers...who else can we turn to to take us the final step??

If you were Anthony Daly would you leave Dublin in the lurch to take over Limerick? Sheedy actually might consider it but I don't see him having the same drive and passion that he had with tipp. And pay no attention to the Clare lads on about Baker!

Fireball07

glasagusban wrote: »

If you were Anthony Daly would you leave Dublin in the lurch to take over Limerick? Sheedy actually might consider it but I don't see him having the same drive and passion that he had with tipp. And pay no attention to the Clare lads on about Baker!

I don't know, I don't know his mindset..... but he's been with them 5 years (I think), every year he's had a good season, it's been followed by a bad one. He's won Leinster...they're in a pretty good position for the future. Him leaving Dublin wouldn't be much different to Allen leaving us, bar he's been there longer.

Limerick is a lot closer to home though. And I always thought he had a kinda soft spot for Limerick.

glasagusban

Fireball07 wrote: »

I don't know, I don't know his mindset..... but he's been with them 5 years (I think), every year he's had a good season, it's been followed by a bad one. He's won Leinster...they're in a pretty good position for the future. Him leaving Dublin wouldn't be much different to Allen leaving us, bar he's been there longer.

Limerick is a lot closer to home though. And I always thought he had a kinda soft spot for Limerick.

I can't think of many, examples of managers that have left one team and jumped ship straight to another. Not in hurling anyway. Davy from Waterford to Clare but that's kind of unique as he was returning to his home county. Would expect that if Daly does leave Dublin he'll take a break for a year or two unless it's for the Clare job. Anyway I don' t think he'll leave Dublin. They'll want to keep him and he'll be looking at Cork in the final thinking Dublin would have beaten them if not for the sending off and there's no reason they can't get to the final next year, he's built that team and they seem to have a bit of a bond. I'd be happy to see him come to Limerick but I don't think it'll happen.

Get JP to have the helicopter on hand to shuttle Allen up and down and persuade Allen to have one more year, with or without another selector in the understudy role.

Fireball07

I'd love Allen to stay (with perhaps a bit of a shake-up to the selectors) but I don't think it's likely at this stage.

shockframe

Fireball07 wrote: »

shockframe- what would you think of Tony Considine, for example? Or would you consider him close enough to a Limerick club, for the politics to rear up again?

Not that keen on Considine.His stint with Clare in 2007 wouldnt inspire confidence for start. Granted he had his own political shenanigans to deal with but considering the mess he made of a county he was once successful how would he cope with a limited view that he has with limerick.He is an analyst with The irish examiner and RTE so he cant be seeing much of games in limerick bar maybe when kilmallock are playing double headers.

Another thing to remember is that he is very anti-football.Not that this is of great importance to many but Donal O'Grady was open minded about dual players at first so helped the likes of James Ryan and Stephen Walsh whereas considine might have driven them away at the start without even considering it.If say Ger Collins or John Riordan were good enough for hurling next season considine wouldnt even look at them.

Richie Bennis' biggest mistake was cutting stephen lavin from the hurling panel after a month or so in 2008 and leaving the likes of barry and eoin foley on during his reign when lavin has been one of the best hurlers in limerick club hurling over the last decade.Lavin at half forward would have been a major asset 2 weeks ago if he got a fair crack at it.

The point im trying to make is that we need a manager to look at the bigger picture and not have an inbuilt bias at the start.The 'hurling man' is looking at one sport and is the old skool methods will set us back years.Dublin footballers have had the likes of bernard dunne involved and even Jimmy Mcguinness is involved with one of the biggest football clubs in the world now.Thats why a cian o neill or Paul Kinnerk is vital. Bring in professional thinking from other codes and make em succeed where possible in hurling.

The above point can describe most limerick hurling people but considine seems an out and out hurling man.Not trying to be anti-hurling man but the civil war that has occured in most counties in the last 5 years especially has been brought about by the conflict between old school manager and new school player.Thats the last thing we need in Limerick.

I was happy enough with John Allen for a finish especially as one of his biggest critics before the 2012 championship.His backroom team wasnt bad either I felt and someone like John Kiely isnt a big name and seems to be a farily decent selector.

It will take a few more years for a young hurling coach to come through to be honest.The success of ard scoil ris has been great for the county but a number of their players havent performed at minor/under 21 and senior when they sometimes have the majority of players on these teams.the fear I would have is that management may treat them favourably and players get big headed.If Castletroy or Doon CBS (and get schools like the crescent or hopsital there to rival them) were there every year it would save us from one school becoming too dominant.There is massive benefits to ard scoils success but a number of pitfalls too.

The low standards in Limerick hurling is also a negative for us. If there were 7/8 genuine contenders in senior hurling coaches would have to up their game.Most senior teams are happy to win one match to stay up so effort by some clubs is minimal at best.Hopefully the new format corrects this.

Oh and dont get me started on someone like Ollie Baker.Those clare boyos are some ticket!

Fireball07

I didn't know about Considine's anti-football stance. I don't really like the idea of any manager coming with fixed preconceptions about things, players or sports... god knows football gets a hard enough time already.


And whatever about low standards in club hurling, we do have some very talented young hurlers, one of the most talented batch of players we've had in a while imo. We have to ensure that we pick the right manager to get the best out of them... it's a pivotal time for Limerick hurling, the wrong decision could set us back a few years.


Someone posted earlier something about Declan Hannon:

LMK wrote: »

Hannon was not in the game a lot but he has the class to make a difference for sure, worry he seem not interested in any form of "dirty" work or even working up a sweat.

I do agree that may be his main fault... I really think that for Limerick to succeed we need to get the best out of Hannon. And for that to happen, we need to get him more involved in all aspects of play.