Waterford GAA Thread - Mod note post #1

derek mcgrath it is then

Thats because its a part time job

Is that you Derek?

He's still a member of the force but his role these days is an instructor in the Garda college in templemore.

And also Erins Owen 9 in a row record

Mt Sion will not win it this year…..

Looked a pretty weak Abbeyside team missing Prunty and Montgomery but still a good win and scoring from Mount Sion. 2-26-0-15

Liam Cahill’s credibility among both players and supporters, already badly dented by the defeat to Cork, was, in my view, irreparably undermined by the selection of the team to play Clare and the team’s predictable performance in that game. For me. the main element in Cahill’s coaching armoury has been his ability to motivate players, and once that bond was shattered, I reckon the game was up for him.

In the circumstances, the Waterford County Board should have grasped the nettle and acted quickly and decisively, thanking Cahill for his services and moving on in search of a replacement. This would have put them in a strong position by appearing to be strong, purposeful and ambitious. Instead, the Board chose to let things lie, with the result that Cahill’s own decision to move on has greatly weakened their position, putting them on the defensive and forcing them into a rushed process which, I fear, could lead them towards the panicky appointment of a worse replacement.

Even prior to the circumstances which produced the flat performance against Cork and meltdown in Ennis, I had growing doubts about Liam Cahill’s (and Mikey Bevans’s) ability to take Waterford forward, especially with Limerick in the way. When Cahill first took on the Waterford job, he openly admitted that it would be a learning experience for him. However, whatever about learning the nuts and bolts of managing an elite county senior team, it is not at all clear that he made any great progress in other areas during his three-year stint in charge.

For instance, I think that in no circumstances should a manager publicly criticise his players’ performances in games, thereby refusing to accept that the buck stops with him. Cahill did this after the championship game in Clare last year, and he did it again after the championship game against Cork this year.

More importantly, I did not see much evidence of evolution in Cahill’s game plan during his three years in charge. As I see it, Waterford’s undoubted achievements under Cahill (especially the wins over Cork, Clare and Kilkenny in 2020 and the wins over Galway and Tipperary last year) were in large part due to Cahill instilling high work rate and intensity into a talented and experienced group of players. Otherwise I have seen no evolution in what strikes me as a rather primitive and old-fashioned game plan, with no puckout strategy apart from hitting long balls out of defence, no lateral movement of the ball across the field to unmarked players (a key element in Limerick’s and Kilkenny’s game plans) and no short-passing triangles to get possession to players running forward into space.

The heavy training imposed on the players in the three-week period between the Limerick and Cork games suggests that Cahill was obsessed with matching Limerick physically. This contrasts with how Brian Cody used the four-week period prior to Kilkenny’s All-Ireland semi-final with Clare to work on a new game plan focused on players linking up in quick passing movements (“It was all hurling”, he said in interview). Similarly, Galway had clearly worked on a game plan based on short stick passing in advance of their semi-final against Limerick. In both cases, the idea clearly was to move the ball quickly to avoid being caught in possession and being gang-tackled, a key element in the Limerick game plan.

That approach worked quite well for Galway for much of their game against Limerick, but you could see, as the pressure mounted with the game entering the last quarter, they began to fall back on older ways of doing things, thereby yielding up the possession which Limerick used effectively to get over the line. As regards Kilkenny, Enda McEvoy has suggested that, in the final, they never implemented the game plan which worked so effectively in their semi-final against Clare, relying instead on immense work rate and physicality which, in the end, wasn’t enough.

Apart from Galway and Kilkenny, Clare are another team which made great progress this year in improving their game plan. There was no sign of similar evolution on Waterford’s part. The rigidity of the Waterford game plan was never more apparent than in the game against Cork in Walsh Park. In that game, Waterford actually played some good hurling in the first half and were four points up after 29 minutes. However, in the closing seven minutes of the half, Cork were in complete control and managed nine shots at goal, six of which went over the bar. Most of these points came from out the field, as Cork used their short-passing game to get the ball to shooters who, with the wind at their backs, found it easy to hit the target.

This provided Waterford with a template for how to win the game in the second half – work the ball to free players in the midfield area from where they could shoot for points. However, there was to be no deviation from the normal game plan. All but one of Waterford’s 15 second half puckouts were hit long, even though Cork won nine of them. When Waterford did manage to get possession they either ran into trouble or hit aimless balls into the full forward line. Despite playing with a stiff wind, Waterford managed just eight points after half-time. This was clueless stuff, and Cahill blaming the players for poor decision-making was a cop-out.

In the search for Liam Cahill’s replacement, I am surprised that little mention has been made of the possibility of bringing the Ballygunner management on board. I have been very impressed at the way Ballygunner have developed a game plan which suits a team which is very skillful but lacks physicality and ball-winning ability in key sectors. In this, they have copied two key elements of the Limerick playbook i.e. flurries of short passes to put players in the clear, and placing free players on the sidelines as a target for outballs and to change the point of attack. They have been particularly successful in finding ways to get good ball into Dessie Hutchinson. They will be even more dangerous when they have Patrick Fitzgerald as an alternative target for these balls. It strikes me that when Liam Cahill came in, he was focused on getting Waterford to play the kind of game that he favoured, rather than developing a game plan suited to the players at his disposal.

If, as I understand it, David Franks is the brains behind the Ballygunner game plan, then might it be an idea to get him on board as coach to the Waterford team, with someone else in charge of overall management, along the lines of the John Kiely/Paul Kinnerk arrangement in Limerick? One possibility for the John Kiely role might be Jason Ryan.

One final point. Following the All-Ireland Final, the media in general have been putting Limerick on a pedestal and more or less predicting that they will dominate hurling for the foreseeable future. However, compared to previous years, when Limerick were swatting aside their opponents, this year they had to work very hard for their success. Of the seven championship games they played this year, they drew one and won four of the other six by three points or less (including one game which went to extra time). While one must admire their resilience and composure in closing out all of these games, they were still vulnerable to a late sucker punch in all of them. I was particularly amazed that Kilkenny didn’t lob a ball into the square in the closing seconds of the final (especially in view of how Tipperary robbed Offaly in the minor final). Teams are beginning to figure out ways of a least keeping close to Limerick, in which case a couple of lucky breaks could make all the difference. I still believe that Waterford, with the right management, have it in them to take that extra step.

Thank you for the long and interesting post .I was very bullish about Waterford giving it a serious lash this year . Fast forwarding to next year’s championship we have some serious work mentally and physically to get back where we belong .If anything I am even more impressed with limerick this season despite in some of the games they had crucial players missing and some close finishes they got it done it’s the sign of a terrific team . We are back down in base camp one now , but the reality is we got to eventually close the deal here , can’t just be waiting for limerick to wain before other teams regroup . Honestly the least we should be achieving is to finish in that 3rd place in Munster . Anything less and it’s back to what is wrong with Waterford GAA the players , the set up , the fund raising committee we have a small window with this current squad to seal the deal .

Darren Gleeson interviewed for the managers job apparently

Hard to see him taking it esp with all the travelling required

Wlr reporting this time last week a new manager will be appointed 'very soon' but obviously not

Shane Ahearne

Michael Walsh ( City and Co manager)

Cunningham is based in Athlone which i just checked is 2hr 15mins from Carriganore, reckon Cunningham will almost certainly be intercounty hurling next year weather its ye or not I'm not sure.

Might be manager of Dublin or even Laois