The Tipperary GAA (Club and intercounty) Discussion thread 2014

windy shepard henderson

Xenophile wrote: »

Football game should never have been played in Clonmel, it should have been played in Thurles, could yet cost us promotion. Imagine the distance people in Borrisokane have to travel to Clonmel. Good job Philly Austin came down. On the other hand Waterford supporters just had to travel in the road from their football heartland.

i think the players should have the final say where they play , most clare players dont like playing outside of cusack park for intercounty games be it football or hurling, so realy it should be the players call i think

Deleted User wrote: »

Quite incredible when you consider how instrumental Podge is to the Clare hurlers esp last year. Arguably as important as Tony Kelly and if not perhaps not far off him.

it is but he still lives at home ... and sit across the kitchen table from his father every evening so it was probably hard for him to say no to the footballers....

Xenophile wrote: »

Anyone want to sponsor a club competition for 2015, well there is a high profile football competition without a sponsor for next year.

i did notice and correct me if i am wrong but the hurling championship in tipperary last year was sponsored by a west clare recycling company (clean ireland recycling) which i found strange as they would'nt be the biggest firm in the world, is there a general lack of interest in terms of sponsership at the moment down there or is it just a case of bad marketing from the county board? or should that not be part of the skoda sponsorship deal to cover club championships aswell

Comordha

What type of changes do you expect to Tipp hurling team to face Clare this wkend? Will Bergin, Forde hold their places up front with potential comebacks of Corbett & maybe even Kelly? I notice it will not be televised. I would have thought it was the pick of the lot. KK vs. Galway getting airtime instead.

premierstone

Comordha wrote: »

What type of changes do you expect to Tipp hurling team to face Clare this wkend? Will Bergin, Forde hold their places up front with potential comebacks of Corbett & maybe even Kelly? I notice it will not be televised. I would have thought it was the pick of the lot. KK vs. Galway getting airtime instead.

Its always virtusally impossible to predict EOS line-ups but personally I would like to see something along these lines -

Gleeson
Paddy Stapelton Paidi Maher Cathal Barrett
Shane McGrath Conor O Mahony Mikey Cahill
Brendan Maher Noel McGrath
Bonner Maher Bergin Niall O'Meara
Bubbles Seamie Callinan Lar Corbett

Would like to see Egan get sometime in the goals as it would be folly to enter a championship with a sub keeper that has never played senior championship in the goals, but I suspect he will be give gametime in the Dublin game. I would have those 6 backs as my starting 6 come championship. Re the forwards, Lar looked fully fit to me last saturday so should be ready, not sure about Niall O'Meara fitness and Bonner needs gametime. Bubbles needs to shed a few pound but is definitely a better championship prospect than Forde for me. Conor Kenny probably deserves a look at aswell and possibly Denis Maher although neither fill me with any great confidence.

Xenophile

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

i think the players should have the final say where they play , most clare players dont like playing outside of cusack park for intercounty games be it football or hurling, so realy it should be the players call i think

I agree.

premierstone

Tipp team named - Tipperary SH team v Clare – Darren Gleeson (Portroe); Paddy Stapleton (Borris-Ileigh), Conor O’Mahony (Newport), Cathal Barrett (Holycross-Ballycahill); Shane McGrath (Ballinahinch), Padraic Maher (Thurles Sarsfields), Michael Cahill (Thurles Sarsfields); Brendan Maher (Borris-Ileigh – Captain), James Woodlock (Drom & Inch); Kieran Bergin (Killenaule), Noel McGrath (Loughmore-Castleiney), Paddy Murphy (Nenagh Eire Og); Jason Forde (Silvermines), Seamus Callanan (Drom & Inch), Shane Bourke (JK Brackens)

Not really sure what Paddy Murphy and Jason Forde have done to deserve a third opportunity but other than that happy enough, would like to see FB and CB switch for at least part of the game aswell.

tippspur

Back line and the middle is ok but of the forwards only Callinan and Mc Grath are showing any form.

GerB40

premierstone wrote: »

Tipp team named - Tipperary SH team v Clare – Darren Gleeson (Portroe); Paddy Stapleton (Borris-Ileigh), Conor O’Mahony (Newport), Cathal Barrett (Holycross-Ballycahill); Shane McGrath (Ballinahinch), Padraic Maher (Thurles Sarsfields), Michael Cahill (Thurles Sarsfields); Brendan Maher (Borris-Ileigh – Captain), James Woodlock (Drom & Inch); Kieran Bergin (Killenaule), Noel McGrath (Loughmore-Castleiney), Paddy Murphy (Nenagh Eire Og); Jason Forde (Silvermines), Seamus Callanan (Drom & Inch), Shane Bourke (JK Brackens)

Not really sure what Paddy Murphy and Jason Forde have done to deserve a third opportunity but other than that happy enough, would like to see FB and CB switch for at least part of the game aswell.

Murphy & Forde play superb at club level. Given time and experience they should both be outstanding at county level. And what better time than the league to give them that experience?

premierstone

GerB40 wrote: »

Murphy & Forde play superb at club level. Given time and experience they should both be outstanding at county level. And what better time than the league to give them that experience?

Forde has played excellently at club intermediate level and Murphy has had as many dire games for Nenagh as he has good, neither are bleesed with pace and you can get away with that at club level as it is a yard or two slower and its easier to make a bit of space, that doesn't happen at senior intercounty level.

Forde certainly has talent and potential and I would persist with him as an option but Im sorry Murphy is miles away from the required level, his club had two better forwards than him alone last year.

premierstone

Football team named for Sunday aswell and is as follows -
Tipperary (NFL v Clare) - Paul Fitzgerald; Alan Campbell, John Coghlan, Andrew Morrissey; Robbie Kiely, Peter Acheson, Donagh Leahy; Steven O'Brien, George Hannigan; Philip Austin, Barry Grogan, Conal McCullagh; Brian Fox, Michael Quinlivan, Conor Sweeney.

tippspur

GerB40 wrote: »

Murphy & Forde play superb at club level. Given time and experience they should both be outstanding at county level. And what better time than the league to give them that experience?

I hope you're right,no doubt they have the talent but haven't been showing it recently on the field.

The Lost Sheep

tippspur wrote: »

I hope you're right,no doubt they have the talent but haven't been showing it recently on the field.

Don't be harsh. They both are still quite young. 24 and 20(and Forde only turned 20 the very end of last year). They can be much better and will show that over next rounds of games

hawkwing

premierstone wrote: »

Not really sure what Paddy Murphy and Jason Forde have done to deserve a third opportunity

God knows,hopefully it's not just cos they are from the North or something.At least 80% of people i know are fairly downbeat about the current setup-let's hope things will turn around but the form graph is still going downwards gradually since 2010 almost akin to 71/91 (not as bad)/2001 at the moment,come on lads ffs!

Spirit of 67

Team named for the Under 21 game V Waterford in Waterford next Wednesday night :

Gearoid Slattery (Cashel King Cormacs); Niall O’Sullivan (Moycarkey-Borris), John Meagher (Loughmore-Castleiney – Captain), Conor O’Sullivan (Galtee Rovers); Ross Mulcahy (Moyle Rovers), Seamus Kennedy (Clonmel Commercials), Bill Maher (Kilsheelan-Kilcash); Steven O’Brien (Ballina), Colin O’Riordan (JK Brackens); John McGrath (Loughmore-Castleiney), Ian Fahey (Clonmel Commercials), Greg Henry (Killenaule); Josh Keane (Golden/Kilfeacle), Michael Quinlivan (Clonmel Commercials – Vice Captain), Sean Flynn (Fr Sheehys)

Alpha Dog 1

Any reason why the hurling is on first?

Surely would have made nmore sense to have it the other way around.

Xenophile

Alpha Dog 1 wrote: »

Any reason why the hurling is on first?

Surely would have made nmore sense to have it the other way around.

Yes it would have been great for the footballers to get priority. Hope the hurling folk stay on to give the footballers a lift.

Red Crow

9 goals in 2 games. Pretty dreadful stuff and Gleeson stopped 2 more.

9-35 conceded in two games. Absolutely shocking. Tactically we were destroyed today. EOS tried to follow Clare's 3 midfielders and we left acres of space.

Also if COM was fit to come on why didn't he start. Looking like a big ask for this group to beat Limerick in June now. Lots of work to do.

Spirit of 67

Great result in the Football , thought we struggled in midfield but we got the goals just went it looked like Clare were about to get on top . Carlow produced the shock of the season so far beating Antrim , ending their chances of promotion and with Leitrim beating Wicklow it looks like its between us , Leitrim and Clare , with the Banner having played a game more . Also surprisingly London beat Waterford in the battle for the Wooden Spoon !

Mixed day. Tbh let me first say that i don't care whether we win the league or not. I honestly couldn't care less. Glorified challenge matches if you ask me.

But i am concerned that we could get relegated and concerned about the teams general level of application. We do need to at least remain in Div 1A for competitive games that could give us the bit of extra leg work going into the championship.

Still i do reckon we'll do enough to remain in the top ranks and anything after that is a bonus. The real acid test is always the championship and ill only judge the team overall based on that. When the u21 football is over we may have access to a considerably few more players that could bolster our team and Lar will be there too. Keep the faith for now.

Well done to the footballers. We're nearly there now keep it going lads. Was impressed with Clare today and i think we'll meet them again in the league final id say

windy shepard henderson

Deleted User wrote: »

Mixed day. Tbh let me first say that i don't care whether we win the league or not. I honestly couldn't care less. Glorified challenge matches if you ask me.

But i am concerned that we could get relegated and concerned about the teams general level of application. We do need to at least remain in Div 1A for competitive games that could give us the bit of extra leg work going into the championship.

Still i do reckon we'll do enough to remain in the top ranks and anything after that is a bonus. The real acid test is always the championship and ill only judge the team overall based on that. When the u21 football is over we may have access to a considerably few more players that could bolster our team and Lar will be there too. Keep the faith for now.

Well done to the footballers. We're nearly there now keep it going lads. Was impressed with Clare today and i think we'll meet them again in the league final id say

fair play the footballers deserved there win very strong forward line took there goal chances when they got them barry grogan was outstanding , great goal in the first half and a fine point from a free late on in the second to put the game out of sight

for clare to make the top 2 now will be a big ask considering they have a game extra played , we would probably need to beat carlow by about 15 points to get back into contention

as for the hurling , these games are no more then glorified challenge games i always feel individual performances are sometimes more important then the result itself ,
clare are starting to look predictable on there own puck outs and tipp were very quick to act on that in the second half cutting clare back to 2 points at one stage ,
paddy stapleton had a good game despite his man getting a hatrick ,he could have found himself unluckey not to get a free out for the first goal , but eamon o sea has to start tightening up the defense, personaly i dont rate him as a good enough manager at this level.

i watched him closely in munster semi final last year and he looked way out of his depth, and seemed to lack ideas , i remember him loseing it with some of the players on the sideline early in the first half and with seamus callanan for missing a free in the seccond half, these are the type of things that turn players off the game, he has them a million miles away from where they were with sheedy a few years ago

The Lost Sheep

Deleted User wrote: »

Mixed day. Tbh let me first say that i don't care whether we win the league or not. I honestly couldn't care less. Glorified challenge matches if you ask me.

But i am concerned that we could get relegated and concerned about the teams general level of application. We do need to at least remain in Div 1A for competitive games that could give us the bit of extra leg work going into the championship.

Still i do reckon we'll do enough to remain in the top ranks and anything after that is a bonus. The real acid test is always the championship and ill only judge the team overall based on that. When the u21 football is over we may have access to a considerably few more players that could bolster our team and Lar will be there too. Keep the faith for now.

Well done to the footballers. We're nearly there now keep it going lads. Was impressed with Clare today and i think we'll meet them again in the league final id say

I think it is crazy to only use how you do in championship as benchmark and using the phrase "glorified challenge matches" is bonkers. A strong league campaign with loads of games that actually mean something and where a bit of success can lead to silverware is a lot more than "glorified friendly matches". Success in the league boosts confidence and helps build(drive) success into the mindset of players ahead of game 1 of the Munster championship.

windy shepard henderson

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

fair play the footballers deserved there win very strong forward line took there goal chances when they got them barry grogan was outstanding , great goal in the first half and a fine point from a free late on in the second to put the game out of sight

for clare to make the top 2 now will be a big ask considering they have a game extra played , we would probably need to beat carlow by about 15 points to get back into contention

as for the hurling , these games are no more then glorified challenge games i always feel individual performances are sometimes more important then the result itself ,
clare are starting to look predictable on there own puck outs and tipp were very quick to act on that in the second half cutting clare back to 2 points at one stage ,
paddy stapleton had a good game despite his man getting a hatrick ,he could have found himself unluckey not to get a free out for the first goal , but eamon o sea has to start tightening up the defense, personaly i dont rate him as a good enough manager at this level.

i watched him closely in munster semi final last year and he looked way out of his depth, and seemed to lack ideas , i remember him loseing it with some of the players on the sideline early in the first half and with shane o brien for missing a free in the seccond half, these are the type of things that turn players off the game, he has them a million miles away from where they were with sheedy a few years ago

I take your points. I wont write Eamonn off yet though. I think if he has a flaw it might be perhaps that he is too loyal but its still only the league. If we are out of the C'ship early then my sentiments might be stronger. No way for example would Cody have brought Shane Mcgrath back after last year but tbf Mcgrath has done really well so far. The forwards are not working hard but Eamonn cant run on to the pitch and do that for him. I am surprised though that for such a speed merchant himself,

I do think Sheedy brought the little extra to the setup though. Its almost like Clough and Taylor in a way, a fantastic meeting of minds but neither probably as wonderful individually.

Well done on Clare's performance today in both codes. Your right when you say the footballers perhaps hadn't the same clinical-ness as our forwards ala the same way our forwards in hurling lacked the obvious tenacity and hunger of your own forwards. The likes of little Tots o'Connell chasing lost causes ferociously is actually nice to see despite it being against my own team. Its like Gary Neville said regarding Barcelona, 'A team of midgets' and yet here they are putting it up to the big guns.

The Clare fans are a real good bunch too. A real nice family (3 generations of them) sitting in front of me stayed on for the football match and the passion for their county was nice to see. They faced a drive back to the west coast of clare after the game. Had a good spirited conversation with the father throughout the football game. What the GAA is all about at the end of the day - solidarity. Apologies to Willie Fraser up north for pushing my fenian agenda

The Lost Sheep

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

I think it is crazy to only use how you do in championship as benchmark and using the phrase "glorified challenge matches" is bonkers. A strong league campaign with loads of games that actually mean something and where a bit of success can lead to silverware is a lot more than "glorified friendly matches". Success in the league boosts confidence and helps build(drive) success into the mindset of players ahead of game 1 of the Munster championship.

I dont agree lost Sheep tbh. Take Galway for example against Kilkenny in 2012. Were hammered by 25 points in the league but blew them out of the water in the Leinster final. Take the fact that the two relegation finalists contested the All Ireland final last year.

What im trying to say is that ok while you play against the very best teams i also think that its not an accurate gauge as to how the championship will pan out. As for the silverware argument, id swap every single league trophy that Tipperary have for even half the amount of All Ireland's Kilkenny has won the last decade and a half

Look i understand the frustration with the lack of work-rate today don't get me wrong. I was wincing in the stand for much of it. But if for example we perform well in the championship then who in all honesty will give a shíte about the league? Give me 1 all ireland over ten leagues any day.

I think also people need to be patient with Eamon a bit more. He is essentially firefighting the absolute shambles that he inherited where an All Ireland winning team was reduced to their top scorer following a wing back around the field.

Bit of a mistake playing hurling before football today. At first i thought there might have been method in the madness but it was almost eerie sitting through the football after the hurling. I think having the football on earlier the crowd would have gradually built up over time and the atmosphere would have grown with the crowd. Instead we had a situation where the atmosphere was buzzing and then all of a sudden it was killed stone dead. Tbf to the co board perhaps they tried something new and were right to experiment with it but id hazard a guess that it wont be tried again

Premier View

Same self delusion from a lot of posts. only the league, ah lads. It was only the league final last year, we will beat them in championship. what happened same scoreline. Thats the losers attitude, we wait for later in the year. ye all wrote the same posts last year.
only the league, were waiting for the championship, etc. excuses, excuses, our focus is on limerick, it was last year too. WHENEVER THIS TEAM GETS EVEN A BIT OF A CHALLENGE, THEY FOLD. no defence, no attack, no midfield. who are you trying to kid here. of course your not worried about the league, it would mean some honest harsh words, about one of the poorest panels ever to represent tipperary. it was a dreadful effort., we shoud have no points, waterford were better than us. this team hasent put in a good 70 minutes in over three years, so stop making excuses.

Premier View

Premier View wrote: »

Same self delusion from a lot of posts. only the league, ah lads. It was only the league final last year, we will beat them in championship. what happened same scoreline. Thats the losers attitude, we wait for later in the year. ye all wrote the same posts last year.
only the league, were waiting for the championship, etc. excuses, excuses, our focus is on limerick, it was last year too. WHENEVER THIS TEAM GETS EVEN A BIT OF A CHALLENGE, THEY FOLD. no defence, no attack, no midfield. who are you trying to kid here. of course your not worried about the league, it would mean some honest harsh words, about one of the poorest panels ever to represent tipperary. it was a dreadful effort., we shoud have no points, waterford were better than us. this team hasent put in a good 70 minutes in over three years, so stop making excuses.

If we get relegated then ill agree with you but other then that ill wait until championship time to make a more informed decision. Loser talk is accepting championship defeats which tbh i can never accept them but id encourage you to hold off and see how the championship pans out for now. 'Self delusion' is your own opinion but can you honestly say you'll even remember today if we turn it around come summer? Im not suggesting winning the All ireland but we can certainly cause an upset still

evolving tipperary

we hammered Clare in the league last year...what did that do for you?!?!! The League...yeah...


We are trying to blood players and get players to challenge the top players - have a proper competitive panel...when you do that in the league it comes with a price as many teams have found out - including Cork.

There are issues with the squad. There have been many issues with the squad. There have been many managers - and a core bunch of the same players. I don't agree with pointing the finger at the manager...

Beating Limerick is everything...

evolving tipperary

Despite a second defeat in two weeks, O'Shea was in upbeat form afterwards, trading in as many positives as he could find. Defensively, there were none but then they weren't at full strength, but further afield produced enough enterprise to suggest better times ahead.

Chief among the plus points was the number of chances Tipperary created, a healthy development noted by O'Shea. They took 20 of them but wasted a lot too.

"We had 15 wides, four shots dropped into the keeper's hands and he also made two good saves," reflected O'Shea.

Wild shooting apart, it was Tipperary's bad luck that they met Clare on a day when the Banner men were on a retrieval mission after a sloppy performance against Dublin.

Captain Patrick Donnellan spoke afterwards of how that defeat stung them badly because they had dropped below the high standards they have set for themselves.

Fitzgerald returned to his theme that Clare would be patchy this spring.

"I knew we would have dips. We got up very high for the Kilkenny game and dropped back for the Dublin game.

"There was no comparison between how we played today and that day. I said from the start that we'd go from high to low to high. I expected that. There was a big push to get a performance today, especially after the way Tipperary beat us in the Waterford Crystal," he said.

Clare's determination was evident from the start, rising to an intensity level which greatly troubled Tipperary. McGrath's first goal set the agenda and while Tipperary matched Clare point-for-point, their defensive lapses cost them dearly.

Podge Collins, a 25th-minute sub for Darach Honan who damaged his hamstring, set up McGrath for his second goal after the Tipperary defence had been easily wrong-footed and Conlon, who finished on 1-3, struck just before the break.

It laid the platform for a win which leaves Clare in a comfortable position after winning two of three games.

Fitzgerald claims to have set Clare the rather modest ambition of remaining in the top flight but, in reality, it's highly likely that they will advance comfortably to the quarter-finals. After that, who knows?

"I just want to stay up because that is the name of the game. I would rather be involved in a quarter-final than a relegation play-off so we can try out more players and see what the story is.

"We have to manufacture a point or two out of the next two games (against Waterford and Galway)," said Fitzgerald.

Tipperary's situation is altogether more pressing, not least the requirement to seal the defensive gaps.

"We were opened up but it happens sometimes. We're still trying to work hard, trying to improve. Last year we won games but it didn't tell us where we were in terms of personnel; this tells us exactly where we are and how much work we have to do," said O'Shea.

While Tipperary supporters in the crowd of 8,133 will have various opinions on where exactly their team stand, O'Shea remains committed to an approach which he believes will ultimately yield dividends.

"I'm trying to get the lads to enjoy what they're doing and if they do enjoy it, they can play better. That's really the task for me – to make sure when they come out they can play with a bit more freedom.

DISAPPOINTED

"We'd be disappointed today but certainly wouldn't feel that we're out yet in any sense," he said.

For Clare, it was a matter of restoring their efficiency levels after the drop against Dublin. Conor McGrath, John Conlon, Patrick Donnellan, Brendan Bugler, Patrick O'Connor, Cian Dillon and Donal Touhy led the way in a game where free-taker Colin Ryan hit an uncharacteristic off-day. He missed four frees that he would normally point with ease but Clare's goal haul enabled them to absorb the losses.

Their workrate was first class and while they lost their way for a while in the second half, they had the confidence to rebuild their game to a level which Tipperary couldn't reach.

It leaves Tipperary with one win from three but if O'Shea is feeling the pressure, he certainly wasn't showing it.

"I don't feel it to be honest, I have a lot of things to be pressurised about and this isn't one," he said.

Comordha

evolving Tipp is right. You experiment & try blood and it can be costly. Good to try it all the same but unfortunately for Tipperary it would seem as though the new players they have tried are not that up to scratch. I think Barrett might be the exception. In terms of finding new players who might contribute to an All Ireland win I would say Kilkenny, Clare and possibly Dublin have been most successful. Corbett, Kelly, Bonner Maher and the likes should get a chance next weekend against Galway though I feel. Has John O'Brien finished up? Haven't heard anything of him.

Paddico

Spirit of 67 wrote: »

Team named for the Under 21 game V Waterford in Waterford next Wednesday night :

Gearoid Slattery (Cashel King Cormacs); Niall O’Sullivan (Moycarkey-Borris), John Meagher (Loughmore-Castleiney – Captain), Conor O’Sullivan (Galtee Rovers); Ross Mulcahy (Moyle Rovers), Seamus Kennedy (Clonmel Commercials), Bill Maher (Kilsheelan-Kilcash); Steven O’Brien (Ballina), Colin O’Riordan (JK Brackens); John McGrath (Loughmore-Castleiney), Ian Fahey (Clonmel Commercials), Greg Henry (Killenaule); Josh Keane (Golden/Kilfeacle), Michael Quinlivan (Clonmel Commercials – Vice Captain), Sean Flynn (Fr Sheehys)

Whats happened to Liam McGrath. Very fine footballer.
Really hoping for a Munster win this year

Paddico

Paddico wrote: »

Whats happened to Liam McGrath. Very fine footballer.
Really hoping for a Munster win this year

Yeah Liam is on the senior and u21 hurling panel.

Colman kennedy is a real loss as is Evan Comerford