Cork GAA Discussion Thread

Jesus that was a bad defeat when Cork were in a winning position.I thought Cork would win and could have won if they had played there key men in their best positions.Everything i feared with Cronin at centre back came through tonight.Its a joke that he was left there for the whole game.I said he lacked mobility and the ability to sweep up loose ball,he was destroyed by Kelly.Kelly ran him all over all the shop.Cronin stayed where he was,he doesnt have the legs for centre back,or the the legs to follow he's man.The whole half back line was in trouble as a result.
How they left him there for all the game defies logic.They made a forward that came close to an all star look awful tonight.I dont blame cronin,he was played out of position.
Not only did the half back line struggle but he helped the Clare half back line dominate the match as Cork had no man that could compete in the air up their.Clare had an all star in Bulger at half back,he cleaned up with Donnellan.If Cronin was there or even at midfield at least cork would have limited hes infulence on the game.As he would have been forced to move out to stop him winning the puckouts.Mcloughlin should have been swtiched with Cronin.Croinin was not only exposed as a centre back but one of Corks most dangerous attacking weapons was now out of the game.He scored 3 points for Munster in the Inter pro a few weeks back,off Niall O Donoughe at half forward
.Thats shows how good he is as a half forward or even at midfield.
Physically again Cork were blown away.Last week in the first half there were outmuscled,they stood up in the second half,but Clare were a level above that today.
Galway and Kilkenny are at another level.
Cork are still blown off the ball too easily.
Cronin should never be centre back,it is awful to make such a great player look so poor.
Naughton was poor when he was brought on.A great goal chance he fluffed it.
I said after the tipp game that not much should be read in to it.The tipp game should be erased from memory as Tipp did not turn up in the first half.
The waterford game showed Cork had character,and to be fair they battled to the end today.I have great time for JBM but he learned nothing from the Waterford game.Prengerast exposed Cronin,yet he leaves him there for the whole game,when it could be seen early in the game he was in trouble.Cork are now in a relegation dogfight with Waterford more than likely.
It will tough against Galway but Kilkenny will be a huge test to over come in Knowlan Park.
Someone posted here after the tipp game that Cork would win Munster.I said it then and I will say it now were a long way from winning Munster.

ShamoBuc wrote: »

Cork 0-12 v Donegal 0-10 FT

What a second half performance. Cork scored about 7 in a row to ensure victory....beating 3 Ulsbutter teams on the trot....bring on those boys from next door!! Bring them on!!!!!

A great victory.This was always going be low scoring and a war of attrition.A huge win in that we came from behind to beat Donegal which few teams actually do.And to stop Donegal winning 3 in a row over us was vital .
It is awful to watch from footballing view point,but im not bothered as if you cant beat the system you may as well join it.A lot of anyalsts will be quick to criticise Cork new style now but when Donegal and Dublin do it,they just call it good counter attacking.Its more easier to watch than the lateral hand passing we done in the past.
We are not the finished article yet but at least the forwards are getting some ball in space.
Cork gave Donegal a dose of their own medicine,it was great to see them looking so frustrated with so many cork players in defence.At long last Cork are getting cute,Murphy going for goal,Cadogan could not get the ball but he got the man,gave away a free instead of a goal.Cadogan was immense,Mark Collins covered a lot of ground,and Aidan Walsh was superb again.
Ken O Halloran was very good,and Quirke will have a tough battle to regain the No 1 jersey.
Most teams are cynical in terms of fouling so Cork should be no different.Cork have been left with no choice to do this now and it does slow the game down and make it horrible to watch but the powers to be have allowed other teams do this consistently ,Cork like many other teams have been forced to do the same.
I had hoped we would have no more injuries but it was a nightmare to see Colm O Neill go down.Brian cuthbert was saying after the game he hopes it is not he's cruciate.If it is thats hes third,and is really awful luck.I hope it is not that bad but it looked very similar to the last time he done hes cruciate(i think it was against Galway).
Cork have the most woeful luck with injuries in the forwards.Sheehan,Doc,Kelly,O Neill and Goulding and pearse o Neill are all injured.
We do have endless talent available but when you have that many injured at the same time and the U21s not available were thread bare at the moment.
Andrew sullivan playing as a forward shows the options are slim.He done well in fairness,he is not a natural forward but he was superb tonight.Liam shorten too had a good game.He seems very hard working and got a nice score from 3 attempts but i would wonder is he a natural scoring forward in the mould of Goulding,O Neill,Sheehan .From the U21s,MacEoin and Hurley and O Rourke seem to have more ability as scoring forwards than him.
If Colm O Neill is out its a savage blow to Cork.Our most lethal goalscorer.
It seems like Cork are cursed with injuries in the forwards.When Mayo beat us in 2011 we had Sheehan,O Neill,Goulding and Barry O Driscoll out.When we had to bring on a Sub we had to bring on a back Denis O Sullivan.Donegal have only 2 real scoring forwards Mcfadden and Murphy and there never injured.We seem to have 4 or 5 out at the one time.
A great victory but overshadowed by O Neills injury.

ShamoBuc wrote: »

I said it before, I could not understand why Cronin was CB.
We have defenders that could play there, we don't have players for the half forward line.
If he starts there again......JBM really needs to question his reasoning.
He should never play CB again, plain and simple.

Apart from that, Cork showed the good in the first half and the very bad in the second half. Well played Clare though - savage second half performance.

Agree totally with cronin.Kelly was off target with a few but still destroyed Cronin.
The penney should drop now,2 games hes been exposed.The sad thing is hes a great player being made look awful.Prengerast and kelly are fine players,but their is a level above them.Donnellan or Burke will Crucify cronin.Or god help us if they put Joe on him.
Kilkenny with richie power would be the same.Joyces confidence must be destroyed after a good tipp game he was not trusted for Waterford or Clare.He needs games at 6,and has be denied 2 games to grow.Now he could be thrown in at the deep end.I think he will be the future no 6 but you coudnt fault him if he was shaky in the next game after not being trusted for the last two games.

zetecescort wrote: »

people reading too much into league results. sure there are problems such as Cronin at CB, not winning ball at half forward etc but we are not as good as against Tipp nor as poor as last night. standard is high in the top division and realisticly we are just about a top 6 team.

good win for the Footballers, good to see a change in tactics. signs that management are taking on board the way the game has changed in the last few years. Gutted for O'Neill, hope its not as serious as feared

Colm is going for a scan the next few days so they will know more then.It looks bad though very similar to 2011 when he went off against Galway.If it is a third cruciate in 4 years and on the same knee its terrible luck and i would really fear about he's future in the game.The only thing is he is 23,but jesus 3 cruciates on the same knee you wonder about that knee.
They say that having a cruciate increases the risk on the other knee.I have rarely heard a player to get three cruciates in such a short time.David moran ,kerry got two in ten months.He is still on the way back.Rory o Sullivan last year U21 captain had 2 also,and has missed about 3 years of football.Dermort earley and Paddy bradley also had had two in the space of 18 months.Shefflin had two but he had them over a 3 year period.I hope its not a cruciate but if it is i hope he recovers fully .If he came back from that it would be remarkable.
Cork in general have awful luck,Sheehan and David Gould another talented forward have suffered the same injury as O Neill.
In relation to the Hurling,I would regard it as very worrying.The spine of the team is very weak and not at all settled.We have no full back,the half back line is not settled,Midfield and Centre forward and Full Forward is a problem.At least Cronin can solve either the midfield or Centre forward position depending where they play him,but that still leaves us in trouble in one department.In the middle of March when you want to have some idea of the team,and to be finding form,Cork are miles of the pace.It is vital that we have a good league as Cork are not playing until June.
Thats a long enough wait but worse if you are coming off a poor league with confidence low.Galway will have the St Thomas players back and will pose Cork serious problems.Another worry is in all three games Cork have only played one half of hurling.
Relegation is a real possibiltity now.I hope waterford loose their games as that might be our saving grace.We would have a chance against them in a neutral venue.It would be a disaster for Cork to be in Div 2 next year.That would be a huge set back.
The same weak spots in the team from last year still exist.That is why I would be worried.