Mayo GAA Discussion - Part 4

James2020App

David Clarke has been some servant for Mayo, over 130 matches, eight provincial wins, two All-Stars and an AI club title.

How many All Ireland Final defeats did he play in over the past 20 years?

HBC08

I think today is a day to thank Clarkie for all he has done for Mayo.
Its not even a question that he's the greatest Mayo keeper of all time.
The game moved on a lot since he started playing and he didn't have the kickout abilities of a cluxton or Patten,however he was the best shot stopper ive seen in GAA (I wonder what his stats on penalties saved was? I'd wager the best of all time)
Also the best keeper in the air and to command his area.
Somebody mentioned he wasnt comfortable on the ball? I'd have to disagree with that,he never looked comfortable with his weird running style but often came out soloing and didn't get caught.
He worked hard on his kickouts the last few years and had a huge performance on kickouts under extreme pressure in the final.
There is a massive gaping hole in our team now.
Thank you Clarkie for winning so many games for us and best of luck in your retirement.

Audioslaven

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

We need a keeper who is comfortable on the ball. Neither of the two who have been in place for the past decade were.

That's not true. Clarke was excellent in the air, brilliant shot stopper. He very rarely gave the ball away when in his hand. His problem was his kick outs which he improved. People think he was not comfortable with the ball because he solo the ball out from himself. It was a very old fashioned way to do it.

wirelessdude01

Audioslaven wrote: »

That's not true. Clarke was excellent in the air, brilliant shot stopper. He very rarely gave the ball away when in his hand. His problem was his kick outs which he improved. People think he was not comfortable with the ball because he solo the ball out from himself. It was a very old fashioned way to do it.

We all have our opinions. Regardless of his faults he was a damn fine keeper.

blowitupref

That's a surprise, first choice goalkeeper all year and had a few more years left I think. Best of luck to him a fantastic servant for Mayo

The Supporter

Big loss David Clarke retiring, the best Mayo Goalkeeper I have seen. Eamonn Fitzmaurice on David in the All Ireland Final "I was also very impressed with Clarke’s first-half performance. He could do little about the two goals and he kicked excellently winning 100% of his kickouts, including four long kicks. What most impressed me though was how vocal he was. Most keepers are and need to be vocal but it was the content of what he was saying.

Clear, concise instructions to his backs to help them. “He is gone to your left Lee but he is going to go right; Oisín you are the plus one drop slightly in front of Chris; Paddy, support the man in possession, he is going to go left Stephen; Diarmuid push at the ball”.

It was seriously effective communication. He was putting a name and an action to each call and his players responded to it. He was constantly reminding players of their roles as the ball moved up the field and was in many ways like an on pitch manager." If David was in goal in 2013, Bernard Brogan would not have flicked the ball to the net, David would have claimed the ball. He should have been Our Number One Goalkeeper for the past ten years. Thanks for the memories David.

The Supporter

Big loss David Clarke retiring, the best Mayo Goalkeeper I have seen. Eamonn Fitzmaurice on David in the All Ireland Final "I was also very impressed with Clarke’s first-half performance. He could do little about the two goals and he kicked excellently winning 100% of his kickouts, including four long kicks. What most impressed me though was how vocal he was. Most keepers are and need to be vocal but it was the content of what he was saying.

Clear, concise instructions to his backs to help them. “He is gone to your left Lee but he is going to go right; Oisín you are the plus one drop slightly in front of Chris; Paddy, support the man in possession, he is going to go left Stephen; Diarmuid push at the ball”.

It was seriously effective communication. He was putting a name and an action to each call and his players responded to it. He was constantly reminding players of their roles as the ball moved up the field and was in many ways like an on pitch manager." If David was in goal in 2013, Bernard Brogan would not have flicked the ball to the net, David would have claimed the ball. He should have been Our Number One Goalkeeper for the past ten years. Thanks for the memories David.

seligehgit

David Clarke owes us nothing.

He really would have been numero uno from 2012 without the unnecessary flip flopping only for sole weakness on the kickouts.

I am however optimistic that a position in which on the whole we have been well served with since the days of Eugene Lavin will continue to be so.

Colm Reape,Matthew Flanagan,Kenneth O Malley or young Luke Jennings polish those boots up.

Gael85

seligehgit wrote: »

David Clarke owes us nothing.

He really would have been numero uno from 2012 without the unnecessary flip flopping only for sole weakness on the kickouts.

I am however optimistic that a position in which on the whole we have been well served with since the days of Eugene Lavin will continue to be so.

Colm Reape,Matthew Flanagan,Kenneth O Malley or young Luke Jennings polish those boots up.

Clarke was great shot stopper. His restarts were excellent in All Ireland final. Great servant to Mayo GAA.

Is Conor O'Malley playing any club football since came home from England? Thought read somewhere he wanted to play with Mayo.

seligehgit

Gael85 wrote: »

Clarke was great shot stopper. His restarts were excellent in All Ireland final. Great servant to Mayo GAA.

Is Conor O'Malley playing any club football since came home from England? Thought read somewhere he wanted to play with Mayo.

Nil a fhios agam. Although I don't believe so.

Ta an ceart agat.

I managed to dig this article out which confirms your belief.

https://www.mayonews.ie/sports/35204-soccer-star-open-to-mayo-gaa-call

TBH I totally forgot about Conor O Malley.

Fr Tod Umptious

Audioslaven wrote: »

This is it. I hope someone new comes in as Hennelly is not the answer. Hennelly is grand at club level but intercounty is beyond him.

I think you are being a bit harsh on Hennelly here.
Of course he has his limitations but he is also a seasoned intercounty goalkeeper.
The can has been kicked down the road but it's very handy to have someone with his ability and experience in the squad while the, long overdue, search for a long-term keeper is ongoing.

Many teams really are totally lost when a keeper the quality of Clarke retires, but in Mayo's case Hennelly can slot in very easily even though he is not the final answer.

km79

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

[/b]
I think you are being a bit harsh on Hennelly here.
Of course he has his limitations but he is also a seasoned intercounty goalkeeper.
The can has been kicked down the road but it's very handy to have someone with his ability and experience in the squad while the, long overdue, search for a long-term keeper is ongoing.

Many teams really are totally lost when a keeper the quality of Clarke retires, but in Mayo's case Hennelly can slot in very easily even though he is not the final answer.

Yeah that’s probably a fair assessment of it alright

Even if Horan is planning on playing Hennelly for the championship next summer (as I am certain he is ) he simply HAS to give at least one other keeper significant league game time

muddle84

I really do believe that Horan bases it all on training and in game performance. So if nobody is coming in to knock Hennelly off the perch i fear we may be stuck with him. I hope i'm wrong.

On the other side of it, the dynamic has now changed completely for him where he always someone of Clarkes ability breathing down his neck. He is now the default and it has to be said best option based on experience at intercounty level. Maybe that will help with his mental preparation and resilience in game? Maybe i am being optimistic but sure its January!

Mayodad

Agree. That's a bit harsh on Robbie. After all he was number 2 and the fact that he was elevated to no. 1 by Clarkies retirement should not go against him. What we need right now is an experienced keeper and he has been part of the squad for so long now he knows the ropes. It would be very difficult for a new 'better' keeper to come straight in and carry on where David left off.
Stick with Robbie and get the new understudy up to scratch pronto as Robbie will be gone in the next 2 years or so as well.

muddle84

Robbie is only just gone 30 i believe so he has plenty years left him physically.

wirelessdude01

muddle84 wrote: »

Robbie is only just gone 30 i believe so he has plenty years left him physically.

The question is does he mentally have the ability to take it on. Remember this is the lad who left the panel for a while at the start of the championship. Also he lives in Dublin and is newly engaged.

freddie_

If we go into the championship relying on Robbie we are in trouble. He is a decent goalie but seems to struggle with pressure, can you name a big game where he performed or at least didn't cost us the game?
I would take a chance on a rookie instead and got from there.

muddle84

freddie_ wrote: »

If we go into the championship relying on Robbie we are in trouble. He is a decent goalie but seems to struggle with pressure, can you name a big game where he performed or at least didn't cost us the game?
I would take a chance on a rookie instead and got from there.

I'm not a fan of Robbie and i agree there is huge questions over mental strength to do the right thing throughout a game but there is examples of big games where he didn't make a huge mistake, national league final in 2019 is the one that comes to mind. There is others but in championship you would probably have to go back before 2015.

Euphoriasean

freddie_ wrote: »

If we go into the championship relying on Robbie we are in trouble. He is a decent goalie but seems to struggle with pressure, can you name a big game where he performed or at least didn't cost us the game?
I would take a chance on a rookie instead and got from there.

On the other hand,there will be far less pressure on him in the knowing that he won't get dropped for Clarke if he makes an error. Who knows but it could be the making of him.

I just hope they refrain from letting him take long distance frees. Every missed free just saps the life out of everyone.

Bunny Colvin

I think Hennelly is a decent number 2 but isn't reliable enough to be starting. We should be trying other options.

Audioslaven

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

[/b]
I think you are being a bit harsh on Hennelly here.
Of course he has his limitations but he is also a seasoned intercounty goalkeeper.
The can has been kicked down the road but it's very handy to have someone with his ability and experience in the squad while the, long overdue, search for a long-term keeper is ongoing.

Many teams really are totally lost when a keeper the quality of Clarke retires, but in Mayo's case Hennelly can slot in very easily even though he is not the final answer.

But am I really. He can play absolutely brilliant and then do something that would cost a game. I hate to see high ball coming in with him in goal. These are not isolated instances and with all his experience, there is a pattern there.
I am not saying he doesn't have the ability or skill, but more his decision making - when to make your move, see the danger and making the correct decision to go and take all. Clarke was absolutely brilliant at this, gave so much protection and confidence to the team when he did this.

I would love if he fixed those issues but his number one role is to protect the goal and if this means taking man and ball when a high ball is pumped in then do it. He is not that kind of keeper and we need to look elsewhere. If we stick with him, we will probably be grand until we hit CP. In CP, weaknesses are exposed and more so in finals. I would take my chances with the best new guy Horan finds on the basis that he develops and steps up.

Euphoriasean

Tom now too!

https://twitter.com/MayoGAA/status/1346427824790511616?s=19

yop

Best of luck to the 3 lads.
The experience of watching them and meeting them on a few occasions was a pleasure.
Clarke was a man mountain in the goal and was a lad who seemed to be incredibly unassuming.
Donie was a work horse and did so much of the heavy lifting, again a "pro" who gave us so much.
Tom P just an incredible athlete and individual to return from that near lift changing injury to come back to play at this level again.

It does seem like the end of an era.

muddle84

I wonder who will it be tomorrow......

Cartman78

Ah jaysus....this is torturous altogether.

They should just all get together and announce a mass retirement rather than the death by a thousand cuts approach

yop

muddle84 wrote: »

I wonder who will it be tomorrow......

SOS, Boyler, Zippy to come yet.
Barret, Doc maybe?

Is that it then?

homewardbound11

Im gutted for Tom . If ever a player deserved a Celtic cross. They don’t give them out for bravery, honesty, unyielding character and a gentleman . An inspiration to all athletes to overcome what he has gone through .
Recover we will as mayo always do and by f...k when we do win an all Ireland every last one of these greats will be a part of it. Their legacy will live on in the children who know nothing else but Mayo at the top tier of football and what it takes to be a Mayo county player and the respect they deserve .

Bunny Colvin

Cartman78 wrote: »

Ah jaysus....this is torturous altogether.

They should just all get together and announce a mass retirement rather than the death by a thousand cuts approach

In fairness I think they deserve an individual eulogy if that's the approach they're taking!

muddle84

yop wrote: »

SOS, Boyler, Zippy to come yet.
Barret, Doc maybe?

Is that it then?

Thats all the likely candidates i would think. Unless Harrison due to injury. You would hope not all those names call it a day, Boyler and Zippy especially. But if they are not making the team.........

Bunny Colvin

homewardbound11 wrote: »

Im gutted for Tom . If ever a player deserved a Celtic cross. They don’t give them out for bravery, honesty, unyielding character and a gentleman . An inspiration to all athletes to overcome what he has gone through .
Recover we will as mayo always do and by f...k when we do win an all Ireland every last one of these greats will be a part of it. Their legacy will live on in the children who know nothing else but Mayo at the top tier of football and what it takes to be a Mayo county player and the respect they deserve .

Agreed. Even without an All-Ireland, that Mayo team will be talked about for decades to come. Just for the commitment they showed and the great days out that they gave us. We'll all look back fondly.