Clare GAA discussion thread

Clareman · 28-01-2018 09:39PM

I'm noticing a bit of a split in opinion for SoD, people either think he is awesome or he's not playing well

windy shepard henderson · 28-01-2018 09:45PM

Yeah completely forgot about o Donnells impact in the game 2nd half especially . Agree totally aswell with conlon inside far more affective

While Tipperary were in experiment mode it was no harm to take advantage of that today . Kilkenny will probably be something simular next Sunday so hopefully we can avail of the 2 points Down there also . It is much more beneficial for us to be active in the latter stages of the league then another relegation battle .

Plenty of time to experiment later on . But I would have liked the line to make changes quicker in the second half and bring on the likes of gudgy and deasy a little sooner

windy shepard henderson · 28-01-2018 09:48PM

Clareman wrote: »

I'm noticing a bit of a split in opinion for SoD, people either think he is awesome or he's not playing well

Deserves huge credit for the amount of dirty ball he won today also won a large number of frees which were converted into scores .

Conditions were poor today taught he done well considering

letowski · 28-01-2018 10:09PM

Just on another topic of today's game, Colin Ryan made a point on twitter.

https://twitter.com/Ryan5C/status/957626789890752512

I'd be in agreement of him. OK Peter Duggan missed 3 first half frees but the first one was a pot shot on the sideline near his 40. He had two other missed frees then on 70 yards that he should have got but hardly terrible misses.

The thing is Reidy took over but for me Reidy isn't a championship level freetaker. He doesn't have the power in the wrists, like a Dowing, Horgan, Canning, (few have tbf) but Duggan definitely hits a crisper ball. Reidy's shots from about 50-60+ will always tail as we saw last year. I would have persisted with Duggan and see how he would have finished. He showed for his club he is excellent from placed balls.

Gael85 · 28-01-2018 10:15PM

letowski wrote: »

Just on another topic of today's game, Colin Ryan made a point on twitter.

https://twitter.com/Ryan5C/status/957626789890752512

I'd be in agreement of him. OK Peter Duggan missed 3 first half frees but the first one was a pot shot on the sideline near his 40. He had two other missed frees then on 70 yards that he should have got but hardly terrible misses.

The thing is Reidy took over but for me Reidy isn't a championship level freetaker. He doesn't have the power in the wrists, like a Dowing, Horgan, Canning, (few have tbf) but Duggan definitely hits a crisper ball. Reidy's shots from about 50-60+ will always tail as we saw last year. I would have persisted with Duggan and see how he would have finished. He showed for his club he is excellent from placed balls.

Where has Bobby Duggan gone to? He looked a decent freetaker. It essential Clare get the freetaking as seem to be chopping and changing in a lot of games over the years.

windy shepard henderson · 28-01-2018 10:22PM

letowski wrote: »

Just on another topic of today's game, Colin Ryan made a point on twitter.

https://twitter.com/Ryan5C/status/957626789890752512

I'd be in agreement of him. OK Peter Duggan missed 3 first half frees but the first one was a pot shot on the sideline near his 40. He had two other missed frees then on 70 yards that he should have got but hardly terrible misses.

The thing is Reidy took over but for me Reidy isn't a championship level freetaker. He doesn't have the power in the wrists, like a Dowing, Horgan, Canning, (few have tbf) but Duggan definitely hits a crisper ball. Reidy's shots from about 50-60+ will always tail as we saw last year. I would have persisted with Duggan and see how he would have finished. He showed for his club he is excellent from placed balls.

Definitely not getting the credit from management . Best playe in the county last year and from what I hear the best performer in challenge games and training and lived off scraps in terms of game time . When he did get a look in it was too late in the championship last year

Today he was taken off when his hight was needed most with 5 minutes remaining and the game in the balance . Hopefully he gets a chance next week on the frees again and is kept on them for the game

letowski · 28-01-2018 10:22PM

Gael85 wrote: »

Where has Bobby Duggan gone to? He looked a decent freetaker. It essential Clare get the freetaking as seem to be chopping and changing in a lot of games over the years.

Seems he hasn't came through as we would have hoped. Wasn't on the panel today.

Gael85 · 28-01-2018 10:29PM

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

Nonsense . Sexton is played nowhere near his best he might have shown for ball but he didn't have a good game by his standard

Cleary is wasted on the 40 and a far better inside forward but he got on loads of ball and launched several attacks especially in the second half

The entire full back line are all playing out of possition because our original full back line is unavailable . While that was killian Roche's first game at senior level is he not entitled to make a mistake . Good knows how many joe hayes made in his time in goal from kick outs

I have no idea where you are going to get all these players from as these are the only players making themselves available for the county

I don't blame any of the younger lads makeing debuts and a few mistakes I blame the older guys or more experienced players for not doing enough yesterday

Lack of bench seems to be proving costly again? I know there 4/5 lads back and good to see new players been brought in this year. Where has Joe Blake gone to? He started the waterford game.

Clareman · 28-01-2018 10:36PM

Puck out strategy, subs and frees are our biggest problems at the moment. Something else that I noticed was how easily we were shouldered off the ball or over the sideline.

danganabu · 28-01-2018 10:44PM

Clareman wrote: »

Puck out strategy, subs and frees are our biggest problems at the moment. Something else that I noticed was how easily we were shouldered off the ball or over the sideline.

While Tipp were missing more than half a team, they did have a very physical team out, Alan Flynn (who had a fine debut), Cathal Barret and Ger Browne are the only three who arent significantly over 6ft.

windy shepard henderson · 28-01-2018 10:47PM

Gael85 wrote: »

Lack of bench seems to be proving costly again? I know there 4/5 lads back and good to see new players been brought in this year. Where has Joe Blake gone to? He started the waterford game.

Joe Blake missed alot of training after the Waterford game due to work commitments .

Sean O'Donahue and kerian malone tried hard when they came off the bench . Problem with the full back line at the moment is we have to make use of what we have and most are playing out of position

We would have won comfortable yesterday but for a period of 5 minutes in the 2nd half . I would be more angry with Brennan for his black card then killian Roches mistake

caddy16 · 28-01-2018 10:47PM

Clareman wrote: »

I'm noticing a bit of a split in opinion for SoD, people either think he is awesome or he's not playing well

I don't know why to be honest he's involved in so many scores, real team player very unselfish.

Clareman · 28-01-2018 10:52PM

danganabu wrote: »

While Tipp were missing more than half a team, they did have a very physical team out, Alan Flynn (who had a fine debut), Cathal Barret and Ger Browne are the only three who arent significantly over 6ft.

Clare are never going to out physical any team so it's not a huge issue but David McInerney was shouldered over the sideline a couple of times, that's not a good sign of a centre back.

Clareman · 28-01-2018 10:54PM

caddy16 wrote: »

I don't know why to be honest he's involved in so many scores, real team player very unselfish.

A lot of people are just looking at his scoring, no scores again today.

Personally, I think he's being given a terrible role to play, a target man and a feeder whereas I think he's best as an out and out finisher in my opinion.

danganabu · 28-01-2018 10:56PM

Clareman wrote: »

Clare are never going to out physical any team so it's not a huge issue but David McInerney was shouldered over the sideline a couple of times, that's not a good sign of a centre back.

McInerney got very little help from his midfielders, if McInerney is going to hold the centre when marking someone like Noel McMcGrath then one of the midfielders needs to give him a dig out.

I said it here a couple of weeks ago, playing Tony Kelly at this time of the year after the 18 months he has had is lunacy and the man is a physical wreck.

windy shepard henderson · 28-01-2018 11:03PM

danganabu wrote: »

McInerney got very little help from his midfielders, if McInerney is going to hold the centre when marking someone like Noel McMcGrath then one of the midfielders needs to give him a dig out.

I said it here a couple of weeks ago, playing Tony Kelly at this time of the year after the 18 months he has had is lunacy and the man is a physical wreck.

Yep and leaving him on for the full game was ridiculous also

noel McGrath was excellent in the first scored some excellent scores against the wind . Looks like ye finally found a position for toss hammil who had an excellent game at full back
Conditions were terrible though so the new players like fox ,curren and Browne would be entitled to a second chance alan Flynn and conor kenny did very well first time out too

Claregaafan18 · 28-01-2018 11:03PM

Clareman wrote: »

Puck out strategy, subs and frees are our biggest problems at the moment. Something else that I noticed was how easily we were shouldered off the ball or over the sideline.

That is a great summary Clareman re issues that need addressing ahead of next week and beyond. Yeah I noticed it alright that in tight areas i.e. around the edge of the sideline the Tipp lads were far more physical than we are. When we play Kilkenny next Sunday, the cats will bring huge physicality with high workrate from both forwards and backs, so we must be ready physically and mentally for what will be a huge challenge going to the lions den that is Nowlan Park.

Re the Shane O'Donnell debate to be fair I saw him a good few times around defensive areas and tracking back. The problem is he wasted doing all that unseen, hard grinding work, rather being close to the square causing problems for opposition defenses? The latter would be my preference most definitely.

Finally I thought management have also issues they need to address themselves. Duggan being taking off frees with management making that call was a bizarre decision considering he was shooting from over 70 yards at times, albeit with a very strong wind in his favour. He is a confidence player and you can see he did not perform well in the 2nd half and was taken off in a critical time of the match (like taking off Galvin too, another bizarre call). I also agree with what windy shepard henderson said regarding the subs bench and management slow to make changes.

So overall a decent performance but with plenty to work on ahead of the KK game in 7 days time. I still think that Clare are that bit behind Galway and Tipperary in the race for Liam McCarthy but obviously early days this year. But hoping to see more impact from the subs bench, better puck out strategy and to see the free taker staying on frees for the whole 70 minutes for next week would be my wish list.

Gael85 · 28-01-2018 11:05PM

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

Joe Blake missed alot of training after the Waterford game due to work commitments .

Sean O'Donahue and kerian malone tried hard when they came off the bench . Problem with the full back line at the moment is we have to make use of what we have and most are playing out of position

We would have won comfortable yesterday but for a period of 5 minutes in the 2nd half . I would be more angry with Brennan for his black card then killian Roches mistake

Is there any players you would call up to football panel who are not involved? I know KIB players bar 1 or 2 have never committed to intercounty but could do with more of them.

danganabu · 28-01-2018 11:08PM

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

Yep and leaving him on for the full game was ridiculous also

noel McGrath was excellent in the first scored some excellent scores against the wind . Looks like ye finally found a position for toss hammil who had an excellent game at full back
Conditions were terrible though so the new players like fox ,curren and Browne would be entitled to a second chance alan Flynn and conor kenny did very well first time out too

Hamill is a fine player when the mud is flying, would get destroyed in somewhere like Croker of the top of the ground, very good squad player though. Unfortunately pace is one thing you cant train a lad, either have it or not.

windy shepard henderson · 28-01-2018 11:14PM

Gael85 wrote: »

Is there any players you would call up to football panel who are not involved? I know KIB players bar 1 or 2 have never committed to intercounty but could do with more of them.

There isnt that many really most of our backs are out injured or away at the moment . You would be talking about 4 or 5 experienced intercounty players Hartnett McMahon dean ryan seanie malone sean Collins ,Aaron Fitzgerald from Eire Og is been tried out back there also but he is out injured

After that everyone else would be too inexperienced at this level to bring in

Running Balance · 28-01-2018 11:32PM

windy shepard henderson wrote:

After that everyone else would be too inexperienced at this level to bring in

What about young downes from naomh eoin (I know it's junior/intermediate) - played a good bit for the underage teams probably - about early 20s or so now.

windy shepard henderson · 28-01-2018 11:37PM

Running Balance wrote: »

What about young downes from naomh eoin (I know it's junior/intermediate) - played a good bit for the underage teams probably - about early 20s or so now.

Cathal downes ? Think he is ocurrys . He was on the extended panel before Christmas . Problem with him is he is way too easy going towards playing the game (if we are talking about the same lad ) very good prospect all the same

letowski · 28-01-2018 11:48PM

Clareman wrote: »

Puck out strategy, subs and frees are our biggest problems at the moment. Something else that I noticed was how easily we were shouldered off the ball or over the sideline.

That's true. The squad has lost alot of experience and depth over the winter. Right now, O'Brien, Shanahan, Hayes and McInerney are injured, we could do with getting those boys back over the coming weeks. I think Hayes is someone to look out for, a real sticky corner back.

Bugler, Honan, Donnellan and Colin Ryan, with Conor Ryan forced to retire hurts the squad for leadership. For me Colin Ryan is the worst. He would have been an excellent sub to have this year as he works so hard but always uses the ball well. We don't have experienced heads to bring in for the last 20, so its up to others now to step up to the plate.

Cunningham and Shanagher are losses up front also. That's 11 players mentioned which is quite a number to be without.

windy shepard henderson · 28-01-2018 11:49PM

danganabu wrote: »

Hamill is a fine player when the mud is flying, would get destroyed in somewhere like Croker of the top of the ground, very good squad player though. Unfortunately pace is one thing you cant train a lad, either have it or not.

Conor Cleary is our hamill so if thats the case . Problem with us is we have a team of midgets so we need one or two big players starting

windy shepard henderson · 28-01-2018 11:51PM

Clareman wrote: »

A lot of people are just looking at his scoring, no scores again today.

Personally, I think he's being given a terrible role to play, a target man and a feeder whereas I think he's best as an out and out finisher in my opinion.

I probably was one of those who criticised him in his days under fitz . I believe the new management have used him better

In fairness today was not a day for playing the ball.into space . He got through some work all the same

Gael85 · 29-01-2018 09:53AM

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

Cathal downes ? Think he is ocurrys . He was on the extended panel before Christmas . Problem with him is he is way too easy going towards playing the game (if we are talking about the same lad ) very good prospect all the same

Think he is referring to Conor Downes from Naomh Eoin.

Townie212 · 29-01-2018 10:16AM

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

Nonsense . Sexton is played nowhere near his best he might have shown for ball but he didn't have a good game by his standard

Cleary is wasted on the 40 and a far better inside forward but he got on loads of ball and launched several attacks especially in the second half

The entire full back line are all playing out of possition because our original full back line is unavailable . While that was killian Roche's first game at senior level is he not entitled to make a mistake . Good knows how many joe hayes made in his time in goal from kick outs

I have no idea where you are going to get all these players from as these are the only players making themselves available for the county

I don't blame any of the younger lads makeing debuts and a few mistakes I blame the older guys or more experienced players for not doing enough yesterday

by his standard? why do you know what standard he sets himself? it was very hard for our full forward line to get anything considering Cavan had deplored two sweepers and the ball we were kicking in was awful. Cleary might have got on ball but did nothing with it bar the last score he got - he needs to learn to pass to the player in a better poisition, I rate him highly but this is his one downfall. Some of the scores he went for was ludicrous - also should have put the ball over the bar when Sexton put him through on goal.

Well we need to find someone for full back out of posistion or not - Cillian Brennan is no where near Inter county standard. It was not just Killian Roche short kickout that I have a problem with - its his kickouts in general - they hang too long in the air and are killing us as we dont seem to have the physicality to wing breaks.

Blame the older guys? The only reason we lost was because our keeper had a mental ffs. Call a spade a spade. U must be from the chapel gates.

windy shepard henderson · 29-01-2018 11:40AM

Townie212 wrote: »

by his standard? why do you know what standard he sets himself? it was very hard for our full forward line to get anything considering Cavan had deplored two sweepers and the ball we were kicking in was awful. Cleary might have got on ball but did nothing with it bar the last score he got - he needs to learn to pass to the player in a better poisition, I rate him highly but this is his one downfall. Some of the scores he went for was ludicrous - also should have put the ball over the bar when Sexton put him through on goal.

Well we need to find someone for full back out of posistion or not - Cillian Brennan is no where near Inter county standard. It was not just Killian Roche short kickout that I have a problem with - its his kickouts in general - they hang too long in the air and are killing us as we dont seem to have the physicality to wing breaks.

Blame the older guys? The only reason we lost was because our keeper had a mental ffs. Call a spade a spade. U must be from the chapel gates.

By the standard he sets himself by his own performances . Thats all I can base him on .

Older guys or more experienced players I was talking about . Brennan was poor again by his own standard . Pearse lillis also not great either that's what I was on about

BnB · 29-01-2018 02:49PM

Clareman wrote: »

I'm noticing a bit of a split in opinion for SoD, people either think he is awesome or he's not playing well

I can't understand how there would be a split RE his performance on Sunday. He won lots of hard ball, drew in defenders and laid off the score. He was directly responsible for at least 4 points from play. I'd love to see the ball delivered in quicker to a FF line with him in it.

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

Definitely not getting the credit from management . Best playe in the county last year and from what I hear the best performer in challenge games and training and lived off scraps in terms of game time . When he did get a look in it was too late in the championship last year

Today he was taken off when his hight was needed most with 5 minutes remaining and the game in the balance . Hopefully he gets a chance next week on the frees again and is kept on them for the game

I'd agree to a point in that I think he does deserve more game time, but I do think he had to come off yesterday. The full back was able to match him for strength and was out in front of him all day. He just had his number. I would still like to see him start again next weekend.

letowski wrote: »

Just on another topic of today's game, Colin Ryan made a point on twitter.
....
I'd be in agreement of him. OK Peter Duggan missed 3 first half frees but the first one was a pot shot on the sideline near his 40. He had two other missed frees then on 70 yards that he should have got but hardly terrible misses.

The thing is Reidy took over but for me Reidy isn't a championship level freetaker. He doesn't have the power in the wrists....

I don't think they changed at all. I reckon that Duggan was on far out frees and Reidy (probably for the reasons you said RE power) was on them closer to the goals. Just in the order that we got the frees in the match, we had a few far out ones first and then closer in ones afterwards so it looked like Reidy took over. - But that was just my reading of it.

Speaking of free taking, the free taking on Saturday for the footballers was poor enough and seemed to chop and change a lot with 3 or 4 different players taking them including Cathal O Connor who I never saw taking a free before - But then again I don't know that much about football so I am certainly open to correction there.

Claregaafan18 · 29-01-2018 02:59PM

Very sad to hear of Conor Ryan's retirement from hurling. An outstanding gifted hurler personally he was on the brink of becoming of being the nearest thing to Seanie McMahon, such was his presence in the number 6 jersey of Clare. His performance in the Clare v Cork All-Ireland Final first match in 2013 was one of the finest given by a Clare player in Croke Park and deservedly got man of the match for his efforts.

However a combination of injuries and fatigue put Ryan's career on hold and the Cratloe man confirmed yesterday to Marie Crowe in the Sunday Independent that on doctor's advise that he is to retire from the sport at the age of 26.

A gentleman and a fantastic warrior for both club and county, Ryan's hurling career ended at least 7 or 8 years prematurely. Best of luck on your retirement Conor and I wish you every success for your future. Here is the link re that interview with Marie and Conor below.

https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/the-doctor-told-me-my-body-was-broken-how-all-ireland-winner-conor-ryans-life-was-turned-upside-down-36537941.html

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