Kilkenny GAA Thread

jamesbond2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123551907#Comment_123551907

I don’t know that to be honest

I’m only speculating but he was probably the best candidate with his background in various areas and couldn’t do it full time along with his other commitments and the Co board either went the penny pinching route and made it a part time role or at the risk of losing him for the role although offered it to him on a part time basis

But again I have no inside knowledge just what I heard him saying being interviewed

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123551953#Comment_123551953

One trend i do see over the last 7/8 years at minor is that my own club James Stephens and Dicksboro are populating minor squads with 10/12 players on it each year, 75% of these players then seem to be gone by the time they are 21 even at club level.

thesultan

seemed a very small Kilkenny minor team

Nedflanders02

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123552056#Comment_123552056

I think you hit the nail on the head, I think he was best and most qualified person for the job and rather than risk losing him and going for someone else they slightly altered the role so that he could do both jobs, I think he is doing a good job and if he is asking for more bodies to help out I think he is doing what he should be doing. I understand that the CB mightn't be able to give everything we need but if he's not looking and demanding these things we'll never get them. I think we're beginning to go in the right direction and let's not forget he's probably only in the job maybe 2 years now, this is probably only into his second full season and these things tend to take time to come into fruition so hopefully over the next few years we'll see continued improvement.

tbiggertycome

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123551907#Comment_123551907

But then he shouldn't have been selected, although the whole interview process seemed like it was preordained for him to get it. I think he is the right man for the job but if he doesn't want it full time then maybe we need to look at someone who will commit to the role fully. I'm not criticising Fennelly here I know he does a huge amount outside of his hours particularly when college is finished but in reality he shouldn't need too and he should be doing the role full time.

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123552374#Comment_123552374

They may find someway of bringing a bit of physicality back into it. Both the minors and u20 from no.5 to No.12 were dominated physically and athletically, too many lads dropping back looking for easy ball, i know its part and parcel of the running game but there needs to be a balance, we need to win some dirty ball and one v one duels.

Sir Chaz

Still the clubs that decide who goes in as far as I know, but we're a very small county in relative terms, and nobody really misses out if they're good enough.

Might be a few marginal calls on U20 and Minor panels, I'm sure there is everywhere but no standout examples of lads getting raw deals from what I'm aware anyway. Arguable that that 20's didn't have their best 24 on the panel this year, with some very good players not making match day squads but that wasn't the case with Minors from what I can see. There are a couple of Celtic Challenge lads maybe that can feel hard done by, that were maybe better than some on extended minor squad. Lot of that stuff can be subjective though and influence by bias either way.

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123552621#Comment_123552621

How was Evan Murphy not on the 24, he is surely better than, Kelly, Hickey, Lyng and Mcphillips, he is very pacey and a fine athlete, exactly the player we were calling out for. Maybe i am missing something but he is a player that we could have moulded into a player we need.

realdanbreen

Anticipating and looking forward to a decent traditional Tipp v Kilkenny final this year.

jamesbond2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123552287#Comment_123552287

Exactly we’re moving in the right direction and everyone is doing great work but I think supporters want to see more proof of improvements on the field

Even the most professional of outfits in rugby and soccer find it hard to make changes and implement the culture they want in a short space of time any they have big budgets

I think a lot of the people involved along with m Fennelly are hamstrung by old boys club that is the Co board atm

jamesbond2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123552374#Comment_123552374

I’d say your right he was the only man that was getting the job and it was built around him in that respect but again I don’t know that for certain

I don’t know who else would have applied for the job Sean Kelly from thomastown maybe ??

As you say it’s no Criticism when it comes to Fennelly were so backward in how everything is done the shear scale of what needs to be done and implemented is off the chart I’d imagine working with the current Co board is like trying to push water uphill aswell so fair play to him and others for getting involved and trying to bring the thing forward for the good of kk hurling

Sir Chaz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123552645#Comment_123552645

Very surprised Murphy didn't make the 24. Connellan from Thoamstown as well.

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123552879#Comment_123552879

3 years on the trot our half back line has been cleaned under Mark Dowling, simply not good enough

tbiggertycome

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123552830#Comment_123552830

I know of some top candidates from professional sports applied. People who have run professional development at academy level in other sports. I know one in particular such candidate was not even called for second interview.

Now we're obviously dealing with an amateur sport not professional but the organising and putting in place the structures making sure the coaching level is adequate, is the role from my understanding. Someone who does that and has done it in multiple professional setups seems like someone who perhaps would be worth a second interview. I think the phrase didn't have enough/any hurling experience was used.

To me that misses the point, while knowledge of the game is important, sport and player development comes down to some basic and universal factors that translates across multiple team sports. Often an outside perspective on the sport from a professional can bring radical change. Look at Mick Dempsey, Paul Kinnerk, I know their both GAA men but predominantly football before they moved to hurling and both have had huge effects on the respective teams.

I'm not saying that candidate was the right one or would have been better than Fennelly, I don't think Fennelly can do anymore in a part time role and I'm very grateful someone of his caliber has stepped up. I'm very happy with the role he is carrying out. Even if they had picked one of the candidates from a professional sports background they likely wouldn't have been willing to pay the wage bill.

The other major factor and much like Phil Hogan's report and Mick Dempseys report, both outlined multiple things that needed to be put in place. Other than the hiring of M Fennelly and the purchase of the land in Dunmore most things in these reports are not been acted on and progressed. There should be a review committee (just a few members of the wider county board) set up when these reports were presented to review the progress of each of the recommendations put forward in these reports. Check ever 6 months how far each recommendation has progressed. No one is in charge everyone is waiting for someone else to do it.

The level and standards of coaching in the county overall are very poor and this needs to be a huge focus of the county board if we want to remain competitive. We need to encourage as many as possible to get into coaching but I would nearly say more importantly would be to coach and train players to play how we Kilkenny want to play the game. If that's lumping long ball I to the square then we need to develop players who can catch these balls, so they need to train for it especially with defenders trying to just knock the ball down to the ground.

We need to decide what is Kilkenny hurling and what skills are needed to play it and coach those allowing for the modern game. We also need to train the coaches how to spot patterns in the oppositions way of playing and devising ways of counteracting it with our own positional or tactical approach to different aspects of the game be it defending or attacking. This is a huge issue at intercounty level for Kilkenny currently we can't respond effectively to changes other teams make to exploit our weaknesses.

At the minute Kilkenny has moved away from our traditional game in large part and that is understandable given the change in the modern game. It very much looks to me like we're trying to mimic other teams rather than adapting our traditional strengths and using them to exploit and change the modern game. Now some might say we don't have the players but I also don't think that a style of play has been devised, tested, adapted and settled on then rolled out across our teams. None of that is easy by the way but in an ideal world that would be the aim we would be working too. Unfortunately from the top of the county board down it's just all a bit aimless and firefighting immediate problems rather than any great overall strategy.