Cork GAA Discussion Thread

I have a feeling - with the right type of ball, that Hurley could be our ace in the hole.
He is bang in form and could come in 'under the radar' as it were. Might look into odds on him getting the man of the match, as if Cork win , I think he could have a big part in it.

ShamoBuc wrote: »

I have a feeling - with the right type of ball, that Hurley could be our ace in the hole.
He is bang in form and could come in 'under the radar' as it were. Might look into odds on him getting the man of the match, as if Cork win , I think he could have a big part in it.

Yeah he could have a huge bearing on the game.

No price in him for MOM yet but hes 10/3 to score a goal any time or 11/2 to score corks first goal.I might be tempted myself.

Cork have the footballers to win but i just hope Counihan doesnt mess it up by picking the wrong team.

The titanic was a great ship but it sank due to a captain that hadnt a clue how to sail the ship.
The Cork footballers are in a similar boat.The team is being announced tonight but it will be another dummy team.

D'Agger

Who plays the iceberg then in this hilarious piece of imagry? :pac:

H'on the Kingdom! Can't wait for it now lads!

D'Agger wrote: »

Who plays the iceberg then in this hilarious piece of imagry? :pac:

H'on the Kingdom! Can't wait for it now lads!

Well, the iceberg was huge and white.....so my guess is someone small and ginger:pac:

Treble20

What's the story with Aidan Walsh not starting? Canty and O'Neil at midfield are a duo that wouldn't fill me with any great confidence. I have little faith in our footballers but you'd think Walsh should walk on to that team? Something tells me all is not well in the camp between Counihan and Walsh? If it's part of a dummy team the sooner the GAA do something about this practice the better!

Treble20 wrote: »

What's the story with Aidan Walsh not starting? Canty and O'Neil at midfield are a duo that wouldn't fill me with any great confidence. I have little faith in our footballers but you'd think Walsh should walk on to that team? Something tells me all is not well in the camp between Counihan and Walsh? If it's part of a dummy team the sooner the GAA do something about this practice the better!

its a dummy team ,id expect and hope Walsh starts.Id say Clancy wont start but O leary will also.If that is the team we will loose.

Its a joke, I really look forward to Cork and Kerry games but its a pain in the hole that we cant anaylse the game in any great detail as we can not with any degree of certainty predict Corks starting team.

Id say O Neill will bring in a rule about this while he is president .

Christy O Connors View:

IN PRIVATE conversation recently, one of the top football coaches in the country said that Kerry would win this year’s All-Ireland. Why?

In his opinion, they still had the best forwards in the country. Is there one more lash still in Kerry? They feel they have the experience to compensate for any perceived deficit in pace and athleticism. But is that enough to sustain another bid for an All-Ireland? Nobody will really know where Kerry are at until they fetch up in an All-Ireland quarter-final.

Yet for all the doubts and question marks about Kerry, there are just as many surrounding Cork. Have the older players gone off the boil slightly? Although they kicked 1-20 at their ease against Clare, which Cork forwards would currently make the Kerry team? Especially when Darran O’Sullivan, Bryan Sheehan and Kieran O’Leary couldn’t get in to that starting 15 against Waterford.

With Colm O’Neill out injured, the reflex response would be to say Ciarán Sheehan. Yet he couldn’t make the starting 15 for the Clare game. Is that a sign of Cork’s superior strength this season? Or is Sheehan’s form an indication of how the Cork attack is no longer the force it was? Donncha O’Connor’s has been injured but his form seems to have slipped too.

O’Connor was always crucial to Cork but has the wear and tear of O’Connor and some of his team-mates finally caught up with them after so many years on the road? Of course flaws can be picked in that argument, especially when Cork have introduced so many new and young players this season. And especially when they could spring Sheehan, O’Connor, Aidan Walsh and Alan O’Connor off the bench the last day.

You could also ask if Cork are comparable to Tyrone around 2009-10. They are still a serious threat but their older players may just have too much mileage on the clock, while their younger players are just not good enough yet to win an All-Ireland.

Cork got the job done against Clare but much of their play was devoid of structure. They played too much lateral football and didn’t play with any clearly defined system. Once more, they also struggled to break down a defence that got bodies back in numbers. That was reflected in their creation of just one clear goalscoring opportunity. There were still positives. They kicked 1-20 at their ease. Their free-taking was exceptional in tricky conditions.

At face value, Paddy Kelly seemed to have had a quiet game. His 20 plays were well below his average of at least 30 but he had seven scoring assists. Economy was the key that kept unlocking the door.

Brian Hurley, Daniel Goulding, Fintan Goold and Paul Kerrigan made a combined total of just 42 plays but they mined 1-11 from play from that return. Cork have also unearthed a real diamond in the former Antrim player, James Loughrey, who was their best player by a distance against Clare, making more plays than any other player.

On any other day, Loughrey would have been man-of-the- match but Clare’s Gary Brennan was the game’s most influential player. Physically, Cork couldn’t compete with him under the dropping ball, or any 50-50 ball that was played in his direction. He scored one goal, should have had another and he set up five scores from 24 big plays.

The damage Brennan caused will be a concern if Kieran Donaghy is in fetching form on Sunday. Cork will also be presented with a different challenge than normal from Colm Cooper, who now has a play-making role at centre-forward. Although Kerry hammered Tipperary, Cooper gave an exhibition in how to control a game.

From 32 possessions, he had six scoring assists and he gave the ball away just once. Yet he also had six shots at the target and managed four scores from play. Cork played Paudie Kissane Loughrey centre-back against Clare but Sunday will surely demand a reconfiguration from Cork in the middle third. Are Cork better off to go with a man-marker on Cooper at centre-back?

If they play Graham Canty at midfield, he will sit back like he did against Clare but Aidan Walsh will surely have to come in to the side to partner him. Cork are good enough to shade the midfield battle against Anthony Maher and Johnny Buckley but getting the balance right between winning enough primary possession and providing a sufficient shield to the half-back line is paramount. Kerry were tipped to win this Munster final from the outset of the summer, which was primarily based on Colm O’Neill’s absence and Cork’s slippage in form during the spring. Yet how good really are Kerry? Kerry have responded to question marks around the age profile of their defence by introducing Fionn Fitzgerald and Peter Crowley. But Cork will still look at that defence and feel they can open it up. Kerry may have the best forwards in the country on paper but are those players that good anymore?

Has the wear and tear caught up with them too? If Kerry’s forwards click, they could do damage but this game still looks almost set up for Cork. And there would be no bigger pronouncement than winning in Killarney for the first time since 1995. A win on Sunday would represent more than just another Munster title. It would galvanise the squad and pump them with huge confidence ahead of an All-Ireland quarter-final. Then Cork, and everyone else, will know where they’re at.

We wouldnt want to loose to Limerick next week.KK with all due respect to waterford should beat them.It could be closer than what people think but it is hard to see past KK.

Clare should beat wexford so it looks like KK.I really thought they were their for taking tonight but they will only get stronger from now on with so many backfrom injuries.

A quater final is probably the best time for Cork to meet them as it would be in thurles but Id rather avoid them for as long as possible,such is the work in progress we are.

Having seen Tippereary tonight it takes the gloss of Limericks win a bit.

Tippereary have serious problems up front yet could have had two goals against Limerick.Corbett like he proved tonight was a big loss against Limerick.
I could not see Luke O Farell missing like Callian did.
Limerick had a full panel,while we beat clare with a depeleted squad.
It will be very close but Id have more hope after tonight even with Murphy out.

Mcloughlin hopefully will be fit .

darragh_haven

Great day for the Munster final in killarney today. Full House expected. Hoping for a win but with our bad record there I'm not confident at all. I rekon a 4 point loss will be our lot, but would love to be wrong

darragh_haven wrote: »

Great day for the Munster final in killarney today. Full House expected. Hoping for a win but with our bad record there I'm not confident at all. I rekon a 4 point loss will be our lot, but would love to be wrong

A super day for the game.The weather is savage for it.Heading down shortly.As far as Im aware the Cork team are up in the Lake Hotel out the Muckross Road.

I will go out on a limb and say Cork to finally do it.The likes of Cahalane,loughrey ,Hurley,O Halloran snd O Rourke have not the baggage of previous Cork teams down here and their drive and energy combined with the expierence of Canty,Kerrigan,Kelly etc we will finally deliver.

It is hard to know as were unsure about what the Cork team is but im hoping we pick the right team and get the match ups right.Even a blind man on the street can see the Do's and Don'ts for today.
Surely to christ lessons have been finally learned of from past failures.

Theres talk Kissane on Copper.Bad enough to start him but if that happens we are F****D.

Your own club man Hurley will have a huge bearing on this.I have every faith in him.He is sum talent.Collins could have a big role from the bench also.

Cork by 4.

shamrock55

What time is throw in today lads?

shamrock55 wrote: »

What time is throw in today lads?

Horse84

Watching that rubbish in the first half has made me realise again what turned me against counihan and cork football.
Take nothing away from Kerry. They've been excellent.

rubbish is too generous a word tbh - very slow pondorous buildup that has lost Cork many games. Kerry in contract attack straight up the pitch, hard running which Cork used to do. Same again from Cork

Alan O Connor on for Damien Cahalane now, Canty gone from midfield. Cork have to come out and start playing direct football, we have dangerous forwards inside but they are once again starved of possession. Shocking passes from Cork, directly into trouble on a number of occasions. Don't know which Cork back put the ball directly over the sideline from a kickpass under no pressure, shocking!

Kerry should be out of sight only for poor shooting. Kerry don't do dummy teams - obvious Fitzmaurice has a team that is hard running and hard working, very obvious you don't put huge immobile men into the full back line then! Cork's midfield being outdone, the backs are being absolutely roasted. Its basic football, you don't give the Kerry forwards or middfielders five or six yards of space ffs!

Its hugely frustrating to watch, same Cork, no urgency and if they keep that up, they fully deserve to be hammered by Kerry

Mountainlad

shamrock55 wrote: »

What time is throw in today lads?

I thin the Cork lads might have been told it was 3pm :pac:

Think ye'll be much better in this half. That game a few years ago when ye were 8 down and only lost by a point and I think Kerrigan kicked a goal chance over. Should be the team with the better legs. Dunno that that will be enough for ye to win however, if Donoghue had scored the goal though this game would be over.

This is shocking...absoultely woeful.Couinhan still hold the casting vote in terms of the team and the rest of the set up are just pawns. He has taken this team has far as he can go.The team clearly lacks any belief now in him and need a new manager. We have another year with him.

Kissane is useless,a pure work horse but no talent.He was clean in o goal but gave a stupid pass.O sullivan like i feared roasted him.I said all week he had no pace .He was burned again. Canty is being made look what he is a man with no legs.The only way to play him was in a sweeping role but now they have a half backine of him with Kissane and O Leary.

We have learned F**k all. Gould is fine at midfield but should stay there.He is not a forward but to pick him at the expense of Sheehan is a disgrace. We need to save the game we bring on O connor.For jesus christ .,,,its a shambles. Sheehan and Kelly need to come on.DOC hasnt touched a ball.For corks new sytstem it was pivotal we had a centre forward in a quaterback role.No kelly.what a joke. If he was injured then Collins should of started.Cahalane was awful and deserved ti be subbed but he was the scapegoat.

Take off the young lad but no way would he Kissane ,the prodigal son,a favourite under him. He wont make changes til ten min to go.

I thought we had a chance with the new set up but unless Couhinan is as far away from this team we wont win anything.The team today has no bite,they are clearly a tired demotivated team and even our good players are flat.Its is better we get hammered out the gate now.Questions may be asked.But then again CCB feel Counihan is unanswerable as he won us an allireland.

The comeback is the worst thing to happen.Same old ****e.A narrow defeat hides the flaws and Counihan will use it to mask over the team he started.

He picked the wrong team .Sheehan was immense when he came on.O Connor done well but in truth Maher and Buckley were flat out and Kerry dropped the pace.Hurley looked good but starved of any ball.

And like i said when you need Gould at a vital time to score a point he misses.
Oh but he got 3 in tralee or 4 against clare.He needs to be anywhere bar the forwards.No paddy kelly....what a joke.

Kerry in truth beat us off the park and there were flat out at the end.Kerry took the foot of the pedal and knew a 2 point win is more sickening to us than a hammering as we will think of what might have been.

Dont be fooled.We were outhought and out fought.Counihan won us one all ireland but cost us how many.The worse thing is in two years time when a new guy come in their will be so much damage done to this panel of players it wont be an easy fix.

Cork will come through the qualifers now in round 4 even if we get tyrone.
A big team like tyrone will suit Cork.

But then you meet either Mayo,Dublin or Donegal who will all win their provincal titles.

Jim Mcguinness,Horan or Jim Gavin are all far better managers than CC unless we meet Kerry again.We have the players but a clueless manager.

The defeat is worse than i expected as it is the same old failings again.And Counihan ,its not that he just cant see them but he wont accept them either.

STB

Very strange decision by Daniel Goulding to go for a point with 30 seconds to go. What was that all about ?

Yet again we go to the Kingdom, play pure shíte in the first half, open up well in the second only to be narrowly beaten.

Counihan has cost Cork football a number of victories. His tactic of having 67.5 passes before we cross the half way line is so one dimensional it's not funny. Fast ball into those Cork forwards will reap rewards - as it did again in the second half comeback. But that's not good enough - locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Some will say Kerry were super in the first half - I don't care about them, we allowed them play their game with a starting 15 that was wrong and an outdated tactic, where the defenders work up a sweat getting the ball out of their half and then do it again seconds later when they've lost it and on a burning hot day it was always going to spell disaster...and it will again. Not against a weaker team of course but against an All Ireland contender we will lose more often than we will win - as has been the case in recent years.

I would love to see fast ball coming out of the defence - high or low balls, it wouldn't matter - our forwards are big enough to gain a fair share of possession.
Hurley was anonymous in the first half - because he saw no real ball. Second half he saw a lot more and was dangerous each and every time.

I saw Counihan talking back to the crowd in the first half - I presume he was getting grief of some sort. Maybe he listened and will change the tactics in the future, I won't hold my breath. I had enough of him lat year - I must sound like a broken record at this stage, but Cork football deserves better than him in charge - plain and simple.

Kerry should have been out of sight at half time, it was shocking from Cork. Counihan must go after that - put the strongest team out on the pitch rather than this crap of picking dummy teams. Everyone knew what the three changes would be, it was completely obvious!

Outfought and outthought by Kerry - Kerry don't do dummy teams, yet Counihan expected Donaghy to start. Big immobile men in the fullback line when we needed fast mobile players. Backs were absolutely roasted.

Paddy Kelly not even on the pitch, Ciaran Sheehan a sub? Ridiculous!! Kelly is the playmaker for the team, superb footpasser which was needed. Fast ball into Hurley, Goulding and Sheehan if on and they were capable of getting scores. It was almost like Counihan expected Donaghy to start, the disorganisation and lack of man marking in the first half cost Cork dear.

Once again, left completely disappointed by Counihan and this Cork team - what was worse was the comeback that showed some of the potential to actually win this game if they started like that

Sham, he was calling a sub down from the bench or to one of the selectors as far as I could see.

The more I think about the game, the more depressed I become tbh

Dirty Dingus McGee

I am not even from Cork and I am seriously pizzed off with that team under Counihan. Consistently when they play ponderous football like in the first half today they look very mediocre and yet whenever they play direct football they are very dangerous and look like a very good team.Will Counihan ever cop on and tell them to play direct football from the start.

Just reading some of the comments and I am glad to see that the Cork fans are fed up with Counihan aswell. In my opinion Cork since 2009 have had the strongest panel of players in ireland and should at least have 2 all irelands since then.I just can't understand why they continually persist with such ponderous rubbish football instead starting games like they played in the second half today.Surely if they don't win the all ireland this year the county board will get a new manager in.

mr bungle.

Feckin gutted

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

Sham, he was calling a sub down from the bench or to one of the selectors as far as I could see.

The more I think about the game, the more depressed I become tbh

Cheers, it was hard to see from where I was.

I see the Camogie girls had a seriously impressive win against Dublin last night, 5-23 v 0-04...as pure a drubbing as you are likely to see.

I find it truly hard to follow Coiunihan's belief that his one and only tactic can win games against the top teams. Beggars belief really. Surely the players are píssed off aswell - I know I would be. So much talent going to waste.

yomtea98

Just Disgusted

Cork v Kerry in the ladies football next weekend - should be a great game!

despite watching the tennis and the hurling, still so disappointed about the football and Counihan!

Poor_old_gill

Today was phenomenally strange from Cork!

It seems the only reason to not start Sheehan is that it was so expected- Counihan thought that he was being overly clever- the game changed when he went inside.

It was strange to see Cadogan play so poor and I was surprised that he didn't come off earlier as he got roasted from both players he was marking.

Cork showed some fight at the end which is promising for them but I just don't get the team selection/poor starts.

I'm not a Cork man so don't know the reason for it but surely someone must have an opinion on why these games follow the same pattern all the time.

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

Kerry should have been out of sight at half time, it was shocking from Cork. Counihan must go after that - put the strongest team out on the pitch rather than this crap of picking dummy teams. Everyone knew what the three changes would be, it was completely obvious!

Outfought and outthought by Kerry - Kerry don't do dummy teams, yet Counihan expected Donaghy to start. Big immobile men in the fullback line when we needed fast mobile players. Backs were absolutely roasted.

Paddy Kelly not even on the pitch, Ciaran Sheehan a sub? Ridiculous!! Kelly is the playmaker for the team, superb footpasser which was needed. Fast ball into Hurley, Goulding and Sheehan if on and they were capable of getting scores. It was almost like Counihan expected Donaghy to start, the disorganisation and lack of man marking in the first half cost Cork dear.

Once again, left completely disappointed by Counihan and this Cork team - what was worse was the comeback that showed some of the potential to actually win this game if they started like that

Thank F**k there is some one singing from the same hymn sheet as myself.

He has already ruined one group of players and he will now ruin the young guys.Guys Like hurley clancy,Cahalane
,O Rourke etc have reguarly beaten kerry at underage but will now fear them from being beaten at senior.

I have a better chance of picking the lottery numbers than CC picking the right team.He couldnt pick hes nose in relation to the team in fairness.

Old tactics,slow lateral hand passing,play two thirds of the 2010 half back line at the start then in the end make it the full set was a Joke.

Cahalane was swamped at corner back as he had no help from half back.He was poor but then to play him at midfield where he hasnt played reguarly since minor was just woeful.

Can Cork regroup???If we picked the right team and dropped Kissane,O Connor,Gould as a forward and picked our best team we can.But we wont.

Couhinan has always given Kerry teams a lead and then chase the game.Its a given in football that most of the time Kerry win games from the front.

A bit like driving on the road and the old age rule,you do not cross a continous white line as if you do beware of danger ahead.

The same applies you do not give kerry a big lead espiceally in Killarney and expect to win.

Paddy Kelly is not only a superb kick passer but he can create scores and sees a pass that others cant even think about.Add in hes a superb forager and a superb engine it was madness not to play him.People talk about Dricco and Donaghy being dropped this week,Kelly was in the same context but in Kellys case he is still very young.

He is our nearest thing we will ever have to Brian Dooher.The vital kink between defence and attack in the new system.

That pissed me off also,we did not do a blanket defence yet allowed canty in a one one on Kerry.The guy cant play that role.He was good in the second half clearly adding a bit of fight to the team.

This gets worse.We have another year of CC.He wont resign.For such a nice mild mannered man there is a stubborness and defiance in him.

I remember a few years back he said the most important thing he never wanted to do do as manager was let the Job become him.That a managers job was to win but not get lost in reality.That you can gets so obbessed with wanting to wi you become blinkered to an extent.

Well someone needs to tell him the job has become him.He wants to win another all ireland fair enough but truth be told he hasnt the skills to win one in the current system.

Want and ability are two different things.I want to be like Usain Bolt but i have no where near hes ability.
There is a difference between reality and fantasy.CC is in fantasy land if he thinks he can win Cork another all ireland.