Galway Hurlers

[FTJC]

A number of questions after yesterday....

Is Loughnane any closer to having a settled team since he started his great adventure?

When are the management going to wake up and smell the starbucks regarding David Fordes inability to hurl?

Should Fergal Healy just be re-named The Fall Guy?

Has Damien Joyce disappeared into the Twilight Zone?


Yesterday the Galway hurlers were akin to the shambles of a team that got hockeyed in Thurles in 2004 by Kilkenny. Clueless, misdirected, devoid of imagination, wrong players in the wrong positions, poor decision making from the sideline but most of all poorly managed. Richie Power missed 6 scoreable frees. The defeat should have been by 10 points not 4. We were lucky in the extreme to get away so lightly.

This is the only conclusion we could come to in the post match analysis in the Newpark Hotel yesterday. This team are being poorly managed. Loughnane & Co. have managed to take a wrecking ball to a defence where pre Ollie Cannings retirement the only problem position we had was centre back. John Lee has rightfully been allowed to claim his pace at No.6 however all of the other 5 postions have been tinkered around with so much that no one knows what they are at. Our half back line should be Hardiman, Lee and Collins. However Ger is trying to turn the Mullagh man into a full back and Collins into a midfielder. It won't work Ger. Play them together where they should be played and let them grow. Shane Kavanagh put down a stamp for full back yesterday with his aggressive no nonsense defending. Fergal Moore had a fabulous game in the corner. So what about a full back line of Joyce, Kavanagh and Moore?

Eugene Cloonan yesterday took a step back to Thurles 2004 when he was overpowered by Noel Hickey. Brian Hogan got the contract to carry out the demolition job yesterday and one must wonder if Eugenes back problems and state of fitness are able for this intensity anymore. It's only going to get faster and harder from her on in and therefore I feel a lesson was learned yesterday. Cloonan is no longer capable of hurling at this level of intensity. He should not be around for the summer. Missed frees and holding up the progression of the attack were his only real contributions yesterday.

The Galway forwards in general lacked direction yesterday. Due mostly to their inability to deal with the intensity of Tennyson, Hogan Tyrrell and JJ and the class of Tommy Walsh(who was worth the admission fee alone yesterday). I actually could not make head nor tail of Loughnannes team at all yesterday or else he just chose to ignore the warning signs Tipp gave last week. If he heeded Tipps warnings Hardiman wouldn't have started at full back, David Forde would have been left in Clarenbridge, Tony Og wouldn't have started at midfield(baffling decision), Mark Kerins would have started at No. 11 again to see if he's capable of hurling against the likes of Tennyson and Fergal Healy would have started(not brought on as a sub and taken off again?).

Three disillusioned heads made their way back over the bridge in Portumna yesterday evening and the only conclusion we could come up with is that Loughane knows his team already and he's just sending out smokescreen teams in the league to try and fool us all. It's working Ger...keep up the good work....you have us all and even yourself fooled at this stage i'd say!!!

[bottlethrower7]

certainly a strange one alright. One has to wonder about what Loughnane thinks about the league at all. He never gave it much sway with Clare after the '95 final, and even 'allegedly' threw games. That might have worked in Clare with an early start to the championship, but Galway are fecked if they don't last out til the end of the league. Its too long a gap with no competitive hurling otherwise.

The team selection was baffling. Not only the starting lineup, but the amount of moving around during the game. Reverting Hayes back into the corner and Healy back to mid, before taking him off. The messing with the backs. Not starting the named keeper, etc. I'd be frustrated as hell if I was from Galway this morning. Its all well and good trying out different lads in different positions to find out your best team, but as you said, there was little or nothing to be learned from yesterday (other than the fact that Fergal Moore is the ideal man to mark Taggy Fogarty).

Decent enough performance from Kilkenny. The game will bring them on a tonne. It was an error-ridden performance, but it is only april after all.

Strange decision by Eugene not to have a rattle for goal with the penalty. For me that turned the game on its head. KK scored 1-2 without reply straight after. I doubt it was the bould Euge's call though. Cloonan of old would never have thought twice about going for goal.

[cicfada]

They played portumna in a challenge  last week and ollie Canning was the best back on display!!Hoe they might miss him now and Joe Canning as well.I mean is Cloonan really worth his spot now.You're bangon about forde as well, useless altogether!!Does loughnane know his team at all??I think we should start a competition here......name the Galway team and the  winner would get maybe 10 out of the 15 right!!

[johnneycool]

It was really confusing trying to understand what the final Galway team ended up at the final whistle..

Did Mahon not end up full back late on in the second half when Hardiman was called ashore? Number 3 certainly is the main concern for Loughnane at this minute. I liked the look of John Lee in centre back not much got passed him and he plays decent low balls into the forwards which they should of done more with, especially Cloonan who didn't win one 50/50 ball all day. Everything that went down his channel came right back out and surely must also be a worry for Loughnane, can he afford to carry him for his free taking and not contribute from play??? I'd of thought not.

Loughnane should nail his colours to the mast for the semi final now and stick with that 15 for as long as possible to allow them to get used to playing beside one another. The time for experimenting is surely over.

[mouview]

Reasons to be negative;
* No sign yet of a proper full-back or indeed a settled line on the field
* Kilkenny, the current benchmark, were missing Shefflin, Cha and possibly Reid
* For the second time in a few weeks a KK team was slicker than a Galway one
* Inconsistency continues
* Players are perhaps being moved too quickly, not giving them time to settle

Reasons to be positive (slight)
* The emergence of John Lee and, possibly, Tannion and F Moore
* Subsequent meetings won't be in Nowlan Park
* For all the pessimism, Galway controlled the game for long spells - the goal was the obvious turning point
* Gerlock is talking KK up - no harm
* Some of KKs other forwards aren't particularly brilliant, e.g. Comerford the 2 Eoins, Fogarty. Like their Galway counterparts they flitted in and out of the game. Power was windy off frees.

Other thoughts; M Kerins is better started. E Cloonan is going to be there so get used to it. He lacks pace, yes, but he still takes watching. The half-forward line needs to learn how to catch high ball or the goalie to vary the puck-outs. Wouldn't read anything into the differences between the starting team and the program, the team was named on Saturday, too late for the printers probably. Ryan was always going to resume in goal.

The year is long yet!

[FTJC]

My problem with Cloonan is not that he lacks pace as such it's that he slows up the play so much when he gets on the ball. Galways forward line, and any forward line for that matter, works best when the ball is swept up the field at pace and backs are caught unawares. It's no coincidence that we have failed to have a shot on goal in the 2 games against Tipp and Kilkenny. We're too slow to get the ball up the park into the danger zone and when it does make it into the danger zone Cloonan gets bottled up too easily.

I'd agree with your point that Mark Kerins should be started and not brought on. He definitely should have been started yesterday to see how he'd fare against Tennyson as I have my reservations about how he'd fare in a pacy aggresive environment as well.

I would love an explanation as to why Fergal Healy was taken off yesterday and also why David Forde remained on for the full 70 minutes?

[FTJC]

Loughnane - "We have three months now to change attitudes and mindsets about how we go about our hurling in Galway. The same problems that have been with Galway hurling for a few years are still there now."


Yet he still insists on playing the likes of Mark Kerins, David Forde and (wait for it) Eugene Cloonan while also going back to include Greg Kennedy as part of the squad. I feel Loughnane has begun to listen to alot of bluster from oul' fellas who haven't been at a club, let alone a county, match in 10 years. 3 of those guys are finished and the other isn't able to hurl. Yet they are seen as integral in some quarters to build a "new" Galway. Whats new about them? Cloonan is broken up, unable to hurl with the bluster and abandon he was capable of 5/6 years ago due to the injuries and ongoing treatment he recieves. He is only serving to further stagnate and hinder the progression of a potentially pacy forward line that might catch defenders out and nick a few goals. Mark Kerins looks like a geriatric surrounded by speed merchants. Even when he wins the ball he's too slow and dithery to do anything with it. The last good game I saw Mark Kerins play for Galway was the 2001 All-Ireland final against David Kennedy. That was 6 years ago!
I won't go on about David Fordes lack of ability any further, i've said enough on the subject. Then there's Kennedy who hasn't even featured in the league really, yet is considered to be luying in wait for the summer time. He was slow enough in 2001 also. I doubt if the intervening 6 years has turned him into an olympic sprinter.

Without sounding too pessimistic I feel the League has brought on John Lee a ton. He's looking lean, fit, strong and mobile. Exactly what Loughnane and Galway are looking for in a centre back. If Iarlaith Tannion is left alone to make his mark at centre forward I feel he could be a match winner also.

I could go on ad infinitum about things like Fergal Healy being moved to the corner at half-time when he was hurling well at midfield last Sunday and numerous other faults. But i'm secretly delighted Kilkenny and Wexford have given Loughnane a lesson 2 weeks running. Just imagine if we had won those games by a point each.....

After attending all the league games i'll leave you with what I feel would be my best fifiteen. Keeping in mind that Galways game should be based on pace and aggression. We simply don't have a Dan Shanahan type player to stand under high balls. Therefore a pacy fast ball into quick forwards running game is our only hope.


Goalkeeper:
Aidan Ryan

Full Back Line:
Damien Joyce
Shane Kavanagh
Fergal Moore

Half Back Line:
Derek Hardiman
John Lee (Long range free taker)
David Collins

Midfield:
Fergal Healy
David Tierney

Half Forward Line:
Alan Kerins
Iarlaith Tannion
Ritchie Murray

Full Forward Line:
Kevin Broderick
Kerrill Wade (free taker)
Damien Hayes

[Kerry Mike]

FTJC: do you think young Kerril Wade will make it this year, I heard he is out injured at the moment.

[FTJC]

At the moment he is. It's a pity we didn't get to see him against Kilkenny or Wexford. I feel he is one of the guys who could come in for championship. Remember Galway will have a round robin group which they should come through before the real championship stuff begins....so they have one chance to get it right!

[Kerry Mike]

I have extended family links to Wade so have been following his progression over the last few years, he was a great underage talent but may be a bit young to throw in against a seasoned full back just yet, but then what would I know about hurling.

[GalwaySham]

Loughnane has turned into a joke. I was delighted when he was appointed but my god, he likes to make changes. He hasnt given anyone a chance (except John Lee & look at well hes doing) to grow into their position.
Players must have being picked in the half-forward line now because they know they wont make it to the 2nd half!