Waterford GAA thread - mod warning post #1 and #51

PTH2009 wrote: »

and the Dungarvan music fest thing

I hope they set up a sub comitee with some of the current hurling squad involved to find a new management team which is sutabile, the players will respect and hopefully move us to the next level. One thing about Derek Mcgrath is that the players would die for him and theres huge respect there

make a list if suitable local candidates for the job and its a fairly depressing read. Denis Walsh former Cork manager has managed a few Waterford clubs and he could get the job cause the county board mite feel hes the right man with a proven record



In the hurling We have 1 round of the group stages left and then the QF playoffs, QFs, SFS and final. Were playing the Cork champs in the Munster Club QF on Sunday 28th Oct in Walsh Park and if they win then the Clare champs a week later

puzl wrote: »

Just sitting down after a long day. Traffic was a nightmare afterwards.

Heartbroken that the summer is over by June 10th. Hopefully we play for pride next weekend in Thurles.

If it turns out that we beat cork, then it will have been that dodgy umpiring that decided third place in Munster.

namloc1980 wrote: »

Waterford have only played 3 games so far

Squinters wrote: »

I still think Derek is this team’s best chance of getting over the line. This year has been bleak enough but the combined effect of all the bad bits of luck done for us in the end. Once there’s buy-in and unity in the dressing room the talent and belief to win an All Ireland is there and I don’t really see a list of candidates that would obviously get much more out of the lads.

In any case, I’ve had a few great days and plenty of positive memories from the past few years, and when it’s all said and done I think people will look back fondly on where Derek and his team brought Waterford hurling.

We need to play our home games in Nowlan Park next year. Redeveloping Walsh Park is the wrong move but if it’s to be done, do it quickly.

cul beag wrote: »

5 years in charge- 1 National League title. FACT. Butter it up whatever you want but his term has been a failure.
NEXT!!

Gardner wrote: »

Well what’s another year.

I was sitting with 2 former players from the late 90’s in the Mackey stand and we were discussing before the game how we are going to setup. Both said they were happy with how we were lining out as per the program but my argument was if we did we would be on the back end of a bad trimming. Limerick got their man management off to a tee. You cannot have an Austin Gleeson at 50-60% fit sitting in the most important position on the field, you cannot have a 35 year old Brick Walsh man up with Gearoid Hegarty who can run 100 metres under 11 seconds (source: offtheball) you cannot play midget Roche in a half forward line if you’re going to be continuously pumping long high balls down. That type of game would suit Jake Dillion if you were to compare apples with apples. Derek made that change at the 50 minute mark when it was evident it was a problem at about the 10 minute mark. Another gripe of mine was the 2 subs at half time. Why wait till half time to make these decisions? If you know after 10/15/20/25 mins etc. that you have a problem then make the sub then.

Being honest we all can rant on about yesterday but the deciding factor lays deeper in all this. Take a step back and look what we’re facing pre and post the Clare game. A very valid point was raised by Daithi Regan yesterday and echoed by DMG to a lesser extent. Post Clare Game we had 5 of 7 of our AI final defenders gone. No team can sustain that whatsoever, in any code or any sport. Pre Clare game we had 8 week lead in time from the league to get setup for the Championship.2 weeks out we lose Gleeson and Mahoney to injury and within 40 min of the Clare game we have lost Fives, Connors, Coughlan and TDB. The whole 8 weeks has gone up in smoke, our game plan is gone up in smoke, our plan for the year have gone up in smoke and everything since January has gone up in smoke.

One thing that is clearly evident though in all this, the notion of us beating a team 15 on 15 has been put to bed. We simply don’t have the players and the myth that DMG has been holding us back has been exposed for the myth it always was.

blue note wrote: »

The injuries ruined our season - it's as simple as that. We took it easy during the league and I reckon we were taking a bit of a gamble (like Tipp) in hoping we'd get through Munster without peaking. And if we were serious about the All Ireland I think we needed to do that. Galway were the same - they're just lucky enough to be in Leinster. But if we were at our peak now, we'd be on the wane after that. Getting through a semi-final / final against the likes of Galway would be a step too far. Even if we hadn't had the injuries I think there was always a chance we'd crash out in Munster anyway, but I do think it was the right strategy.


But with the injuries we just didn't have a hope. The Tipp game was great, but it was also a bit of a freak game. We didn't have a wide for 22 minutes or something. And that was with the likes of Jamie Barron putting two over from our own 65, Mahony getting one from out on the sideline on the 21 and a snap shot under pressure from the half-way line. Our two goals were from high balls into the square. Usually they're bread and butter for a defence, but in particular for the second goal we got lucky and got two chances. Of which we converted two - again not something you can normally rely on. And then from Tipps point of view they hit some terrible wides. And there were a couple of times when it looked like they might break through our defence for a goal, but we managed to foul them. Again, you can't always get the foul in or even if you can if it's the same man twice you can end up with 14 players. We were lucky here too. When they had a man sent off I really thought it was just our day. Of course it was a complete reversal of luck in the second half, entirely in the form of bad decisions from the officials.

But it really was a bit of a freak game. A very entertaining one, but one that people read far too much into. People seemed to consider it proof that McGrath's tactics were wrong for the last few years and if we'd played like that all the way along we'd have done much better. And I'm not remotely convinced that that's the case. Last year we were racking up bigger scores than any other team going into the final. Galway probably had a higher average after the final, but barely. And as far as I could see, this was with forwards of less quality than Tipp, Galway and Cork at least. We were the only ones scoring goals too. We worked very hard for our scores - often playing it around a lot to get the ball into a scoring position, but I think we had to. Because our forwards weren't the most clinical or best at winning their own ball. Jamie Barron and Brick aren't the most clinical of finishers. They're good for a couple of scores each game, but also a couple of wides. You could probably say the same of Aussie, but in the half forward line he's actually not that bad for wides. The Brick doesn't really shoot so it isn't an issue. Then Dillon / Bennett - Dillon wouldn't be a sharp shooter. And I don't think Bennet really was either.

My point is basically that without the best forwards we were scoring more than anyone else. This was somehow seen as a failure of management. The solution to creating more chances and therefore scoring more (even though we were top on both of these stats) was to play another forward. These criticisms have just been so weak for so long as far as I can see. I'm open to the idea that I'm not seeing it, but when week after week I'm reading things like Pauric Mahony doesn't contribute anything from play I just think the people writing these things just don't have a clue.

So as disappointed as I am with the result yesterday, I'm also slightly glad that playing a more traditional system it just didn't work. I didn't have much hope of a win anyway - we just had too many guys injured. The Tipp game was enough proof for some people that we're more suited to a traditional 15 and those people were happy to ignore all the freak factors in the game. We had the same team plus Kevin Moran this time and we were hockeyed. Partly because we were missing players / playing guys carrying knocks. But also because that system doesn't work for us. We don't have the players for it and virtually no-one does.