Kilkenny GAA Thread

Good morning Nick, ye I said it already Derek needs to go now there is no point in him hanging onto now and give a bit of time for us to solve this in the interim. Dereks departure isn’t going to solve all our problems by any manner or means, the C B is the problem there has to be a heave ho.they have basically failed in everything they have done, no plan no finances, no development no long term plan.

The golf classic was a Hugh success probably due to the fact that the CB weren’t involved that much. The Dunmore development has great men on board, Terry Cluan, David Beirne, Johnny Holohan, MattyWalsh, and led by Eddie Buckley. (I hope I haven’t excluded anyone) personally I think any if not all of these men could run the CB successfully maybe alongside the likes of Phil Hogan who would gather good men around them.

We have to start with a change at the top of the CB maybe not all of them, but they should know that they are flogging a dead horse and should resign there positions, this isn’t a knee jerk reaction this is coming down the line a long time. The fact that we always hear whispers that Ned Quinn runs the show that if true that says it all. If so then they don’t know when to quit either. Ned had his day and was head of the last revolution and was an excellent chairman but it seems these men don’t trust anyone else with the reins and thats a lot of our problems. We need a relatively younger set up like the lads mentioned above to bring us forward, and Ronnie was right name 2030 as our target and see where it brings us.
Hi Ho Hi Ho it’s off to work I go.

maybe we should all be emailing into the C B voicing our dissatisfaction and at least it would be on record and sign your name to it, no insults or name calling just a few simple words that get to the point.

@tbiggertycome I totally agree with you on Cody making the mistake of saying the same quality of players weren’t available to him…. it sent out an awful message to the players in his dressing room at the time.

I’ve always maintained on here that I believed we do have the players in Kilkenny to contend for honours, not the same as the eight from ten years All Ireland winners… but no team in history were as good as that and it’s an unfair comparison anyway.

This current group absolutely has enough talent to compete and contend ( and certainly to get out of Leinster) . As you said we should have won the last two semifinals but let them slip.This team is not lacking players to the extent some would have you believe, it’s being very poorly coached and is lacking self belief and confidence.

Three coaching teams in three years says a lot about our setup and how could it be anything but confusing for the players? They had to start from scratch at the start of every season. The best hurling I’ve seen us play in Lyngs tenure was the first 20 minutes of last years semifinal against Tipp… the lads looked hungry,were using the ball well , and got some fantastic well worked team scores and were on top and controlling the game. We then coughed up a silly goal and you could see the confidence drain from our players…. but my point is the coaching looked like it was working and bearing fruits, maybe with a bit of confidence we could have built on that..,,,but we started all over again with Corcoran at the start of this year and we all see now where that confusion has led to.

The constant talk in the media, and on all platforms that this is the worst KK team ever eventually seeps into the mindset of the players too . If you are too positive or optimistic on here even, someone will throw it back at you after a bad resul, and I’m not having a go at anyone there as it’s understandable that people believe that narrative . I’ll always believe that Kilkenny have plenty of quality hurlers , but they need the right coaching, structure and support around them to give the best chance to get the best out of themselves. I include county board, S&C, facilities, psychology support, and support from our own people in that. They need all the help they can get because other counties are getting it and getting it in a big way. Our players are being badly let down at the moment in that regard.

I’m not sure about that JJ but I did hear that Doherty wasn’t happy with how hex was treated by the county board.

Was there a reason a few weeks ago when kilkenny played kildare in the park that the minor game was on hours before it??

The reason I ask is the game Saturday is straight after the Limerick Clare game.

I think it's probably premature to be talking about other candidates as I would fear we could very easily have no change of management again this year. I think it was obvious to many last year that Derek had done what he could and an extension of tenure would likely be unwise. He either convinced himself or allowed others to convince him he was still the right man and to be a manager you need a strong sense of self belief. Many will knock you and question your decisions especially when things don't go right. However a manager also has to be able to assess the whole setup, players, etc and to recognise what is best for the team as ultimately it's about the players and the team. I hope Derek is able to be honest with himself as he's a smart and genuine guy. I would fear his return would lead to the disgraceful Nicky Brennan booing situation again and no one wants that.

I saying that I'm still going to talk about some potential candidates. I think they can be put in 2 categories, what this county board will pick and what would be good for Kilkenny.

What the county board will pick are below in likeliness of actually happening if Derek leaves.

Eddie Brennan

Henry Shefflin

Brian Cody

As with all things with this county board, promote from within, he's done his time with KK, he's part of the setup. Eddie being the closest to the current setup would be the easiest option for them and therefore the most likely. I like Eddie and I think he would be good in many ways but he's clearly not a forwards coach and being a manager is different. If he got it we'd hope he's a better manager than coach. He seems to bring Corcoran with him where ever he goes and that wouldn't inspire confidence. Eddie with a different coaching ticket might work but I wouldn't be punching the air in excitement.

Shefflin would be in the running and if he put his hand up he would probably squeeze in there ahead of Eddie and with the correct set up I think Henry would be good. I believe he would need a David Herity to be fully effective though.

I can very easily see and we have already heard a few cries for Cody to come back. If for some reason Eddie said no and Henry felt it was better to bide his time with the U20's I could see the CB going to Cody cap in hand. While I think he'd consider it as he would do anything for Kilkenny. I believe ultimately he would refuse it and rightly so in many ways. He has given enough time to Kilkenny and deserves to be able to relax but also players attitudes have changed and the Cody way would be much harder to enforce now without significant change to how he operated. Anyway it's not a runner, shouldn't be a runner but it will be mentioned plenty if Derek steps aside.

What would be good for Kilkenny (the ones I think anyway)

Brian Dowling

Tom Mullally

Henry Shefflin

I think the work that Brian has put into teams at all levels speaks for itself and with better players which Kilkenny possess, I think he could be hugely effective.

Likewise with Tom Mullally with limited resources he has brought teams to heights they likely never imagined. Put him in charge of the KK setup and I think you'd see a marked difference.

Henry discussed above.

The CB seem to have something against Tom Mullally or maybe it's the other way around but how he hasn't been asked to get involved with teams in KK up to now is strange and the same with Brian Dowling.

There seems to be this strange perception in Kilkenny that any man who goes outside the county boundary is a mercenary and will only take over a team for money or get involved if there's a pay check. I think Henry and Eddie disprove this notion but it still persists. When I helped out my own clubs senior team I gave freely of my time, days worth of work a week and didn't ask or receive anything for it. When I finished with them, I was approached by a few other clubs to help them and I did in a very small way but if they wanted anything more I would have been looking for some fee.

I have no issue with Henry, Eddie, Brian Dowling, Tom Mullally going to other counties to get experience and if they get paid there, fair dues to them. I don't believe they would look for anything beyond expenses when with our own county. Cody and his setup were amazing in that they didn't even take their expenses but they spoiled our county board and the management teams are giving up a lot the least they should get is a few quid for petrol.

I have to say the kilkenny people hurling coverage is so so poor. As much coverage on golf classics and greyhound racing as kilkenny exiting the championship.

Any other local papers in other counties I've seen have far better gaa coverage .

suspension given out by one of our own ffs

I asked this question over several posts in the last year and got no satisfactory answer. 1/ why was Brennan and Corcoran brought in. 2/who requested them Lyng or the CB. And what roll were they to play.

Answers please on a postcard.

100% agree especially about the CB the very small bit I know of them individually is that their genuine in their efforts to help but they seem to think that they are the only people capable or willing to do the roles. Unfortunately it's been shown that the drive to deliver on projects is not there. Reports are commissioned good people give their time and then little or no action on the recommendations happens. Mick Dempsey did one on under age structures, Phill Hogan did one on finances and sponsorship. At a guess 1 possibly 2 action points have been enacted properly from these reports. No follow up, no review committees, no progress updates. Just reports for the sake of being seeing to take action but the action doesn't come. We need people with a track record of delivering projects. From my own club I can think of two amazing candidates that if they went in as part of a new wave into the CB would bring huge energy and get things over the line. I'm sure every club has people of the same calibre but most clubs want to keep these people for their own work which is a huge problem.

The other good thing about Dowling and Mullally is I think they would provide as clear a break as is possible from the Cody era. Dereks tenure has effectively been a Cody-lite in terms of many aspects from the bits an bobs I've heard. The issue was Derek doesn't have the aura of Cody. All the guys who played under Cody all seem to have blind spots particularly when it comes to improving players. For instance you have Henry, Brian Hogan, Tommy Walsh, Larkin and Jackie who are all involved in teams that have had young Mc Dermott for the last year. He's a huge man but is poor in the air. All those listed above were great at catching a high ball and catching it contested or under pressure. Yet Mc Dermott the target man for the U20's struggled all year to catch contested high ball. They surely see the issue, do they think he'll just figure it out, wouldn't it be better to show him how to do it and design contested drills in training and make him do it over and over again until he gets it. If he doesn't get it then don't make him your target man and come up with a different tactic. I think a break from that Cody group would do the county no harm at all and while Dowling and Mullally spent time under Cody as players they spent more time under other managers and would have picked up a lot of different ways to slice the cake.

as was said above the CB seem to take the easy option. That’s why we need time to get candidates in .

Yeah I'd agree with all of that, the follow through on these reports is really poor! It must be so frustrating for people who are putting time nd effort into these things and see no follow through on any of them. I remeber being at the meeting when Phil Hogan gave his report on how they could increase revenue/improve facilities etc.. and what 2 years later very little appears to have been followed through on. At that time all the talk was of putting in floodlighting in Nowlan Park, recently I asked the chair and secretary if there was any update, I was told that after discussions with residents and their concerns it was put on hold. I took this as a genuine and reasonable excuse as to why the project had halted but I have recently found out that residents weren't consultd and that this was just used as an excuse!

Yeah that's a good point regarding Dowling and Mullaly, if they did come in for the first time in nearly 30 years there would be a fresh break from Cody's tennure, I always felt that Derek should have tried to distance himself from what Brian had done before he came in as manager and created his own team but in reality it was still Cody's team with Derek trying to get a last kick out of it. Tommy Walsh mae a good point on Monday when he said that we were spending too much time on what we're bad at and not enough time on the things we are good at.

thanks Ned clarity is a great thing. I was wondering had the CB brought them in as a handy replacement?

I think you might be right about Cody’s disciples, just because they were iconic players does not translate into good coaches, communicators,, I feel they have all blind spots. I’ve been to most of u/20 games, that young lad caught some balls v Galway the first and was fantastic v Dublin and was un markable that night, but again Galway last week he was pummelled, dragged , fouled under a lot of those high balls. Galway learned so much from the first and hammered our strong points. Shefflin, Hogan were totally out manoeuvred there. Oloughlins and Galway records would not inspire. Eddie keher was similar, disastrous tenure over kk,,,,, look at the Dublin manager, did he hurl much,, very organised, aggressive, simple plan carried out meticulously. I can’t see or know of any coach, manager between all the senior, intermediate clubs whose name jumps out.Maybe mullaly, Dowling . Herrity but search me,,,,,,, we got to hit the ground running early next year,, we will be firm favourites for relegation and momentum is everything. Man I don’t envy anyone who takes it on, it’s so negative out there on the door steps.

Finally Andys rants on Monday night are pathetic, ill informed, attention seeking,,,, he is the babs of Kilkenny. Someone stick a batterred sausage in his gob between 6/7

the league next year is going to cause all sorts of issues because Dublin and Clare are promoted the only two teams we bet last year were the two teams relegated. So a difficult start for a new manager