Clare GAA discussion thread

Watching the match on TG4. I see another beauty of a referee making crazy decisions. Is it the sun or what that's affecting them?:mad::mad::mad:

footballers deserve a mention for pushing kildare all the way in newbridge a late point in injury time wining it for the home side , results went there way too as regards relegation as down and fermanagh would both need to win and clare to lose next week for us to go down , hopefully we can kick on after todays performance and spoil meaths promotion push next week

letowski wrote: »

I felt we tired a good bit in the 2nd half.
Waterford are an incredibly difficult team to play against, they pack the backline. When we were fresh in the 1st half we were able to get good ball up the Shanagher and McInerney and pick them apart but that service went downhill as the game went on.

they attacked us like a rugby team in the second half in groups of 4s and 5s lining accross the pitch making it hard for layers to pick up oncoming runners , they deserve credit for the way they canceled us out and for some of them scores they got against the win from distance but the goal was soft and killed what ever momentum we had left

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

they attacked us like a rugby team in the second half in groups of 4s and 5s lining accross the pitch making it hard for layers to pick up oncoming runners , they deserve credit for the way they canceled us out and for some of them scores they got against the win from distance but the goal was soft and killed what ever momentum we had left

I think this was the issue Donal approached the referee at halftime. Waterford were tackling the Clare lads by holding their arms back, as you said cancelling out our support play, which basically is our management's gameplan. The game was played at an open fast pace in the first half, but when it got more psychical we struggled. They were just that bit more cuter than us, they were also excellent at manufacturing those 5/6 more frees that was the difference. Waterford are a good team, no shame in losing to them, the game was very beneficial to both teams.

eoins23456 wrote: »

Where will the relegation playoff by played?

coin toss for venue as both teams have played 3 home games , i taught it would be on in dublin as they played us here , but its a coin toss tomorrow with the game fixed for next week as far as i know

letowski wrote: »

I think this was the issue Donal approached the referee at halftime. Waterford were tackling the Clare lads by holding their arms back, as you said cancelling out our support play, which basically is our management's gameplan. The game was played at an open fast pace in the first half, but when it got more psychical we struggled. They were just that bit more cuter than us, they were also excellent at manufacturing those 5/6 more frees that was the difference. Waterford are a good team, no shame in losing to them, the game was very beneficial to both teams.

very beneficial , and to be fair for a team in transition i have been happy with how we performed in nearly all our games , the cork game was probably the forgettable one , would prefer to be still involved in the 1/4 finals though and the chance of two or 3 more games rather then just the one against dublin

as regards our psychical side we are still a bit short and we have tried out as many big players as available , we probably will need to come up with a plan B for the championship in this regard but as far as a transition is concerned i would be happy enough ,just hope we avoid the drop now

letowski wrote: »

Yeah it would be very disheartening to be back in D1B. Even though we came 5th we still played some very good huring and there's alot of positives to be taken from our performances.

I think maybe the biggest positive has been Podge, he really seems to be one of the main leaders in the squad and is brilliant form. He is proably averaging 3/4 scores a game now which is very good for a player who does so much tracking back. The goal he got today was special.



I thought this was a great team score too.

the goal was outstanding , looks better from a tv angle then where i was standing today , kellys point was outstanding also , think the wining of the game for waterford was how little space they gave us in the second half , look at the amount of space in midfield for kellys point

Barbie!sBitch wrote: »

To be blunt I don't give a sh!te about the league, what I care about is the All Ireland.

I see a massive problem with this team, that being they can get up for big games but area flat for games they feel are "below" them, last year we beat Tipp and KK in the playoffs playing FANTASTIC hurling, then to go flat, this year we give KK a trimming and then do nothing. We shouldn't lose at home, we should beat Dublin, we should beat Limerick.

agreed about the league but to be fair , there is nothing for us to be gained by playing a laois or offaly team trying to avoid relegation or a kerry or antrim or who ever no team is learning from this process , ian galvin jason mccarthy jamie shannahan arron shannaher cathal mac have all had good league campaigns against descent opposition playing these guys in a 15 point win in o'moore park would do nothing for them ,

i dont mean any disrespect to any of the teams mentioned but as you said we are trying to build so we can get back to wining an all ireland most of the counties in division 1B are just trying to survive at the moment and that dose us no favors

clare have always been one of them counties that dont really push on againt teams that we are expected to beat , the wexford game in 2013 and again in 2014 are examples but i put both games one extra time win and an extra time replay defeat down to tactics used on the day , in order to move away from that we need to be far more clinical and we were not in the second half today with a strong wind at our backs

Barbie!sBitch wrote: »

IMO there should be a 8 team division 1, 4 out of Clare/Dublin/Galway/Limerick/Wexford wouldn't be bad, at a push go for a 10 team Division 1 and add in another team. Why hurling and football has to have the same timetable I'll never know.

And we go back in time 20 years that way. Dead league matches when there are only two teams in contention for a semi final place and two already assured.
I remember Laois coming into Division 1 and getting hammered every day.

There was a relegation match.. Div 1 bottom vs Div 2 top.. Division 2 top never won.
The current system is the best there has been, it's competitive and there is a bite to it. Clare took the piss out of the league when Lougnane was in charge. Dummy teams, over trained etc.

The focus should be on investing in improving the bottom teams from Div. 2. Laois are getting more consistent. Offaly now and again show some promise.

Figerty wrote: »

And we go back in time 20 years that way. Dead league matches when there are only two teams in contention for a semi final place and two already assured.
I remember Laois coming into Division 1 and getting hammered every day.

There was a relegation match.. Div 1 bottom vs Div 2 top.. Division 2 top never won.
The current system is the best there has been, it's competitive and there is a bite to it. Clare took the piss out of the league when Lougnane was in charge. Dummy teams, over trained etc.

The focus should be on investing in improving the bottom teams from Div. 2. Laois are getting more consistent. Offaly now and again show some promise.

I think the days of teams not taking the league seriously are long gone, despite what Derek McGrath is trying to convince the media.

This current structure is by far the best, there is no other structure that has been used which is better, nor is there any suggestions on making it better. I seriously can't believe there are still people who want to change back to the old system.

So far this year we've already had some fantastic games in both 1A and 1B. For anyone who was interested, 2A and 2B even seemed to have some cracking games. With 6 knockout games, plus huge stakes relegation play offs to come, we're probable only at the halfway point in terms of quality games.

Also it seems Clare have home advantage for the play off, I don't know if it's a home and away agreement or if there was a coin toss but they say on Sunday Sport last night that it's in Ennis.

Should be a close game but home advantage might swing it for Clare. Would ye say ye are any way close to knowing the best 15 yet?

Django99 wrote: »

I think the days of teams not taking the league seriously are long gone, despite what Derek McGrath is trying to convince the media.

This current structure is by far the best, there is no other structure that has been used which is better, nor is there any suggestions on making it better. I seriously can't believe there are still people who want to change back to the old system.

So far this year we've already had some fantastic games in both 1A and 1B. For anyone who was interested, 2A and 2B even seemed to have some cracking games. With 6 knockout games, plus huge stakes relegation play offs to come, we're probable only at the halfway point in terms of quality games.

Also it seems Clare have home advantage for the play off, I don't know if it's a home and away agreement or if there was a coin toss but they say on Sunday Sport last night that it's in Ennis.

Should be a close game but home advantage might swing it for Clare. Would ye say ye are any way close to knowing the best 15 yet?

Fully agree, if it was an 8 team league this year, yesterday's game would have been a mid table clash with not much to play for, most likely leading to a challenge match type game. All six teams benefited hugely from the games over the weekend.

For me nailed on starters are David McInerney, Fitzgearld, Cleary, Colm Galvin, Kelly, Podge, Conlon, Conor McGrath, Reidy and Aron Shanagher. That's 10, with Morey and Dillon in the highly likely category, despite the fact there are real concerns about their defending in the full back line. THe last 3 spots will go to a ball winner in the half forward line (Malone likely), a back ( I think Pat O'Connor) and an inside forward where I think Cathal McInerney's performances are beating Shane O'Donnell's. That 15 however would mean 2 of Reidy/Galvin/Kelly at midfield which we know won't work, so there's still a good bit of figuring out I think.