Waterford GAA thread - mod warning post #1 and #51

puzl

Just sitting down after a long day. Traffic was a nightmare afterwards.

Heartbroken that the summer is over by June 10th. Hopefully we play for pride next weekend in Thurles.

If it turns out that we beat cork, then it will have been that dodgy umpiring that decided third place in Munster.

Jjjjjjjbarry

Just an awful day. Outworked and outplayed and outfought all over the field. Well done to Limerick who were absolutely brilliant today. They put some serious pressure on us and gave us no time on the ball. Having said that, we were just not at the races. Apart from Devine and Tommy Ryan there seemed to be no pace in their legs at all today. A very disappointing performance and hard to take anything from positive from it at all. We basically got cleaned out all over the field and none of our leaders were able to cope.

The minors were terrific though and played some lovely direct hurling at times. They seemed to do all the simple things well, playing the right passes at the right time and made it look easy and hit some great points from all ranges. Caolan MacCraith from Ring and Mikey Kiely from Abbeyside were brilliant I thought.

Deisegodeo

Absolutely desperate stuff from us today. Just weren't at the races at any stage. Even basics like picking a ball and striking was woeful, limerick seemed to have extra players all over the field. Maybe last week's fiasco at the same venue knocked the stuffing out of us, but that was a terrible performance today. Game was over after 20 minutes in reality.

Really, really disappointing day and season overall. Relegated in the league and knocked out of championship in early June. What more can be said

Jjjjjjjbarry

Every time one of our lads got the ball it seemed like there were four Limerick lads all over him straight away. Reminded me of KK in 2008

chinguetti

Right so, summer's over and so last year was above average. Derek didn't work the oracle but you can't fault him for effort.

If anyone in the County Board is reading this, ring Anthony Daly now or message him on Twitter. Best guy around but knowing the County Board and the mess they made years ago about making a county ground decision years ago, they won't.

Ropaire

Plenty of time for club at least, we might even get the county champions into Munster in both codes this year.

PTH2009

chinguetti wrote: »

Right so, summer's over and so last year was above average. Derek didn't work the oracle but you can't fault him for effort.

If anyone in the County Board is reading this, ring Anthony Daly now or message him on Twitter. Best guy around but knowing the County Board and the mess they made years ago about making a county ground decision years ago, they won't.

and the Dungarvan music fest thing

I hope they set up a sub comitee with some of the current hurling squad involved to find a new management team which is sutabile, the players will respect and hopefully move us to the next level. One thing about Derek Mcgrath is that the players would die for him and theres huge respect there

make a list if suitable local candidates for the job and its a fairly depressing read. Denis Walsh former Cork manager has managed a few Waterford clubs and he could get the job cause the county board mite feel hes the right man with a proven record

Ropaire wrote: »

Plenty of time for club at least, we might even get the county champions into Munster in both codes this year.

In the hurling We have 1 round of the group stages left and then the QF playoffs, QFs, SFS and final. Were playing the Cork champs in the Munster Club QF on Sunday 28th Oct in Walsh Park and if they win then the Clare champs a week later

Motivator

PTH2009 wrote: »

and the Dungarvan music fest thing

I hope they set up a sub comitee with some of the current hurling squad involved to find a new management team which is sutabile, the players will respect and hopefully move us to the next level. One thing about Derek Mcgrath is that the players would die for him and theres huge respect there

make a list if suitable local candidates for the job and its a fairly depressing read. Denis Walsh former Cork manager has managed a few Waterford clubs and he could get the job cause the county board mite feel hes the right man with a proven record



In the hurling We have 1 round of the group stages left and then the QF playoffs, QFs, SFS and final. Were playing the Cork champs in the Munster Club QF on Sunday 28th Oct in Walsh Park and if they win then the Clare champs a week later

Good god not Denis Walsh.

lim4ev

Lads was at match today won't say much as it was one of those days for ye McGrath has brought ye as far as he can he came close he's a gentleman but needs to move on. Genuinely believe a new voice could re invigorate ye for next yr. On a plus yer minors won comfortably even though ye scored 2-1 in last few minutes ye were the better team.

're those limerick apes in the terrace unfortunately they're in every county and definitely don't represent me. Pack of idiots with their soccer chants in my opinion

Moggy13

puzl wrote: »

Just sitting down after a long day. Traffic was a nightmare afterwards.

Heartbroken that the summer is over by June 10th. Hopefully we play for pride next weekend in Thurles.

If it turns out that we beat cork, then it will have been that dodgy umpiring that decided third place in Munster.

That was my first thought after that no-show today. The performance was so disappointing. Between Shane Fives going off and Stephen O'Keeffe's mistake there were clearly lads also on the pitch who were not match fit. Waterford supporters did not travel either and when we got a score there was barely a clap.

This whole campaign has had a certain air of inevitability about it..injuries, no home advantage and underperformance.

puzl

Oh yeah.... What about that sok point?

Deise_2012

Anyone here mentioning Sean Power would want to cop on. The man has never even managed at club level. He’d be way out of his depth.

Looking forward to seeing new fellas being given a chance next year like Séamus Keating and Conor Prunty. McGrath had too many pets who shouldn’t be close to the starting 15 like Dillon and Mcnulty.

Really would love to see Jimmy Barry or Liam Sheedy being appointed. Daly would be a step up but he’s very defensive and I’d rather not see a sweeper next year

mickmackmcgoo

Deise_2012 wrote:

Anyone here mentioning Sean Power would want to cop on. The man has never even managed at club level. He’d be way out of his depth.

Very true.
You will be hearing all the usual names for the next few months. Sean Power . Skully Ryan. Kevin Ryan. Dan. Hartley. None of those would get it id hope.
Liam Sheedy is prob a non runner . Daly the same . Hard to know who but hopefully someone from outside

PTH2009

Deise_2012 wrote: »

Anyone here mentioning Sean Power would want to cop on. The man has never even managed at club level. He’d be way out of his depth.

Looking forward to seeing new fellas being given a chance next year like Séamus Keating and Conor Prunty. McGrath had too many pets who shouldn’t be close to the starting 15 like Dillon and Mcnulty.

Really would love to see Jimmy Barry or Liam Sheedy being appointed. Daly would be a step up but he’s very defensive and I’d rather not see a sweeper next year

But he did win minor and u21 AIs with most of the current senior crop and if u look at other counties who appointed former underage successful managers (Limerick, Tipp, Clare, Galway etc)

Maybe Sean as a selector and more experienced lads with him. Although Jason Ryan is football man he could be good as a fitness coach

Do we have the funds for outside big names who in fairness there's not many left or who would consider taking the job ?

upthedeise16

Waterford were poor today but I thought limerick were outstanding. Their movement in the forwards never stopped, seemed to always have options with one player usually hugging the sideline as an option, they ran our defense al over the place and many of their puckouts were won uncontested as we couldn’t live with their movement, a sure sign of good coaching.
Also, had never seen O’Donavan at midfield properly and thought he was just a worker beside Lynch but he is a great hurler, very athletic and scored a great sideline, really thought they got the better of Barron and Roche/Moran and midfield have been a particular strength of ours the last few years.
Their full back line also looked very solid with Casey very aggressive, an old style full back and Finn and English tigerish in the corners, our inside forwards couldn’t get free all day.
Their forwards are well balanced with pace, size and accuracy with downing from frees (think he got 13) a huge advantage to have and their subs also looked lively.
Limerick have beaten Tipp and ourselves and drew with Cork with 14 men for the majority. I think they’ll win in Ennis next week and themselves and Cork will be a great Munster final and will probably tell us who Galway’s biggest challengers are.

As for ourselves, injuries and a shocking decision from an unpire had a huge impact on our year. I hate highlighting referees but if we had beaten Tipp last week, we would be facing Cork in a do or die battle next weekend despite today’s result. Things went against us and we didn’t get the rub of the green even today with Shane Fives injury and SOK making a mistake which are like hens teeth.
In McGraths defense, you take the first choice full back (Coughlan) sweeper/centre back (TDB) wing back (D Fives) and add Mahony and Gleeson for the trip to Ennis and Noel Connors at half time. Then Maurice and Moran the last day and Fives today as well as Shane and Kieran Bennett opting out. That’s a huge number of players from last year, any team would struggle missing that quantity, never mind quality.
McGrath gave his all, was very committed and while I didn’t agree with his style of play, he gave it an honest go and just fell short but his reign will be remembered positively I have no doubt.
As for Brick, although he hurled a lot of ball today, he struggled on Morrissey and to keep up with him. I hope he starts next week and gets the record for appearances. What service he has given to the county winning All-Stars in al 3 sectors of the field.
I hope these lads enjoy their summer now and the county board make an appointment early for the new manager to scout the county championship to try improve our panel and build on the panel Derek has built and maybe take us to the next level.

flatty

It would be very interesting to see how many outside managers have ever won an all Ireland. Vanishingly few. As a galway man, even when we were in the depths, I'd have hated to see a mercenary like daly given the job, absolutely hated it. Cody was plucked from relative obscurity. I'd be looking for an outsider, but from inside the county.
Waterford have been fantastic. I thought they'd beat Limerick, but Limerick are very very strong. The stars aligned against the Deise this year. I still think they were an uncharacteristic wide away from beating us in the final last year.

nlrkjos

Injuries and "ghost goal"didn't help your season but these are things every team has to deal with...Cork should have an all Ireland from 2013...but for the ref adding on time! I don't really like McGrath's style of hurling, but maybe he's learned his lads can hurl as good as anyone after the Tipp game, his sweeper system is beatable,and not really needed.....he should get another year in charge, he's about the only one who can advance this team as he knows them all, and in fairness they seem to give him everything on the field. Hope they give us a good game next week, just to give Brick a good and proper send off.

Tramore84

Two teams that went out of Munster played 4 weeks in a row.

mickmackmcgoo

Tramore84 wrote:

Two teams that went out of Munster played 4 weeks in a row.

We only played 3 weeks though

JeffKenna

Tramore84 wrote: »

Two teams that went out of Munster played 4 weeks in a row.

In fairness Waterford have only played 3 in a row yet

namloc1980

Tramore84 wrote: »

Two teams that went out of Munster played 4 weeks in a row.

Waterford have only played 3 games so far

Squinters

I still think Derek is this team’s best chance of getting over the line. This year has been bleak enough but the combined effect of all the bad bits of luck done for us in the end. Once there’s buy-in and unity in the dressing room the talent and belief to win an All Ireland is there and I don’t really see a list of candidates that would obviously get much more out of the lads.

In any case, I’ve had a few great days and plenty of positive memories from the past few years, and when it’s all said and done I think people will look back fondly on where Derek and his team brought Waterford hurling.

We need to play our home games in Nowlan Park next year. Redeveloping Walsh Park is the wrong move but if it’s to be done, do it quickly.

cul beag

nlrkjos wrote: »

Injuries and "ghost goal"didn't help your season but these are things every team has to deal with...Cork should have an all Ireland from 2013...but for the ref adding on time! I don't really like McGrath's style of hurling, but maybe he's learned his lads can hurl as good as anyone after the Tipp game, his sweeper system is beatable,and not really needed.....he should get another year in charge, he's about the only one who can advance this team as he knows them all, and in fairness they seem to give him everything on the field. Hope they give us a good game next week, just to give Brick a good and proper send off.

Oh my god make it stop! Another year? Are you serious?(And breathe)

Tramore84

namloc1980 wrote: »

Waterford have only played 3 games so far

Two teams that are out will have played 4 weeks in a row....not great as an excuse after week 3 , agreed.

Ropaire

To be honest I thought Derek should have stepped aside after the final last year. He's brought no new ideas to the table this year and when we had a full panel during the league we were as flat and lifeless as we've proven to be in Munster. Only highlight of the year was last week against Tipp, where he was forced to go on the offensive due to a lack of defenders.

I've been beating this drum for a while but anyway, once more with feeling. The game plan hasn't worked, the sweeper system has been sussed out and there is no evidence that he'll come up with any other approach that will work at this stage based on the game plan for the Clare game (route one down on big men around the D) and today (send every puckout at DJ Foran, a player he found by accident last week after ignoring him for years). The injuries paper over a lot of issues, time for a fresh approach.

cul beag

Squinters wrote: »

I still think Derek is this team’s best chance of getting over the line. This year has been bleak enough but the combined effect of all the bad bits of luck done for us in the end. Once there’s buy-in and unity in the dressing room the talent and belief to win an All Ireland is there and I don’t really see a list of candidates that would obviously get much more out of the lads.

In any case, I’ve had a few great days and plenty of positive memories from the past few years, and when it’s all said and done I think people will look back fondly on where Derek and his team brought Waterford hurling.

We need to play our home games in Nowlan Park next year. Redeveloping Walsh Park is the wrong move but if it’s to be done, do it quickly.

5 years in charge- 1 National League title. FACT. Butter it up whatever you want but his term has been a failure.
NEXT!!

cul beag

nlrkjos wrote: »

Injuries and "ghost goal"didn't help your season but these are things every team has to deal with...Cork should have an all Ireland from 2013...but for the ref adding on time! I don't really like McGrath's style of hurling, but maybe he's learned his lads can hurl as good as anyone after the Tipp game, his sweeper system is beatable,and not really needed.....he should get another year in charge, he's about the only one who can advance this team as he knows them all, and in fairness they seem to give him everything on the field. Hope they give us a good game next week, just to give Brick a good and proper send off.

Oh my god make it stop! Another year? Are you serious?(And breathe)

Squinters

cul beag wrote: »

5 years in charge- 1 National League title. FACT. Butter it up whatever you want but his term has been a failure.
NEXT!!

Every Waterford Manager’s term has pretty much been a failure so. You don’t go three generations without winning an All Ireland by having successful Managers. That’s the reality of being a Waterford hurling fan. The joyous and exciting 00’s ultimately came to nothing but I’d still consider 2002 - 2008 as pretty good ones, regardless and despite it being capped with an absolute hammering by KK on the biggest stage of all.

Deise_2012

Alright no need for the sarcasm cul brag. Lads I was a big fan of McGrath but it’s time for a change. The man has had 5 years with this group of players.
What really annoyed me was his attitude towards the league this year. He went out and played his usual starting 15 and didn’t give any of the young lads like Foran, Keating, Prunty or Roche a chance to blend in with the regulars. It was either start his normal 15 or throw 10 new lads in together. He knew that we were going to need a decent panel this year but he never gave the subs a chance.
Mcnulty has been on the panel since 2015 just floating around as well as players like Ian Kenny and Colin Dunford. Either these players are good enough or not, we’ve seen yesterday that the former is not good enough for this level which is why the new manager needs to be a neutral and pick a panel based on ability. Once again I hope and pray by some sort of miracle that Jimmy Barry or Sheedy get drunk one night and accept the job because we can’t afford to waste any more years with this talented group of players. Thanks to Derek for the good days out like KK 1st game 2016, KK game 2017, Cork League final 2015, Cork semi final AI 2017. At the end of the day he’ll be judged on trophies which we have been lacking. The players are entering their prime years. SOK, the 2 Mahony’s, Darragh Fives, Brian O H, will be hitting 27 / 28 while Noel Connors, Barry Coughlan and Tommy Ryan will be 29. Kevin Moran 30/31 and we’ll see what happens with the Brick. All the rest of the lads will be middle 20s and We’ll have the return of the 2 Bennett’s. Someone has said Tom Devine won’t be available next year I don’t know how true that is but one of the first things the new manager will have to do will be to take care of that. Deise Abu!

Cake Man

Disaster of a year overall, at least with Tipp crashing out as well it kind of spares our blushes a bit and takes the spotlight off a little as they were expected to go all the way by many whereas nobody gave us a hope. That’s what disappoints me a lot, before the championship everyone wrote us off and predicted we’d finish bottom of Munster. At the time I laughed at their dismissal of our chances and smugly thought we were waiting in the long grass and would prove a few wrong come June. It’s painful to not be able to shove it back in their faces and admit their predictions were spot on.

Hard to know where that leaves us now. Surely the end of the road for Derek and the next management team that comes in will be crucial. I really don’t know who that’ll be though.
It may not be a bad thing to be in 1B of the league next year, it’ll allow the expected incoming management team to try out players/tactics without having to also try get results against the likes of KK, Tipp, Cork. Hopefully build momentum whilst getting a few challenging games and finding a style that suits the squad we have (and not just the usual 15 or so).

I guess the questions for any new management team is obviously who they’d be and what they expectations would be. Would it be realistic to expect an AI to be delivered in the first year? What would represent progress or at least moving in the right direction? Would the public have the patience to accept spending a season or so finding a settled and consistent 15 with a system that suits?