Allianz Hurling League 2016

[on the hop]

really need to shore up the backs at the moment, if we are going to come through against kerry. There is a serious lack of pace and at times intensity in marking. kerry have scored goals which we hasn't and i would really think of dropping a man back. to me darren maher despite his great heart has not got the pace for corner back and was exposed a few times. have to cut down on the fouling. half back line were poor at times today, the no. 10 and 20 got 8 points between them from play and matthew only got going in the second half after been at sea in the first. he should have been closer to chin at the end.

i would really differ in the opinion on cha. despite his great effort he drives me mad at times. he had five wides all of which would have been great scores if they come off, but he does this in most games. He is a wide shooter.  ln the end he got blocked down twice and gave away numerous cheap frees. i would love for him to take a second and bring others into the game.

[les Antiques]

https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofLaoisHurling/posts/531038780401308:0
Bus to Tralee Saturday week

[FOLH15]

Thanks for posting that up Les antiques, took forever to get registered here, my own fault but nonetheless.

So the BUS IS GOING. We have enough to fill at least a mini bus and perhaps more of others still want to go along. Our players are sweating blood, our management are putting their souls into it, let's give them our support!

The bus will leave from midway and do a pick up at Borris on the way. Surely we can get down more to come along?

[FOLH15]

If any any are interested please contact us on FACEBOOK or email to friendslaoishurling@gmail.com, or contact Bosco at the phone on FB

[County Man]

Best of luck to our hurlers in Tralee today.

[redsetanta]

Crazy carry on with both Dunphy and King sent off for indiscipline. Very poor from them considering how important this game is.

[Helix]

Any report of the match? Seemed like an absolute shambles from Twitter. Seem to be learnin from the footballers on how to defend.
Very disappointing to succumbing to defeat to the likes of Kerry (no disrespect to them). Maybe I'm being quite harsh but very frustrating for all the talk of Laois improving we find ourselves in the brink of goin to the 3rd tier of hurling.
Hopefully lads pull themselves together for Westmeath (probably in Tullamore) next Saturday! We can't afford to be playing 3rd tier hurling!

[Keyser Söze]

Conceding crazy scores.
Round 1 v Kerry was a shock to the system, and you'd have hoped things would have picked up.
It didn't happen.

Lost for words or to see a way out of it now.
Defeat next week would have extraordinary consequences. Whatever about blooding lads for the Leinster Championship in 1B, doing it in 2A next year would be worthless.

You'd hope things will somehow turnaround in the next 6 days, but after Round 1 I'd have felt the same about playing Kerry again in a Relegation playoff.

Westmeath will smell blood big time.

What the hell is going on defensively? Who in the backroom team has specific responsibility for this?

As far as I'm aware the backroom team is;

Cheddar- Manager
Seamus Dwyer- Selector
Ger Cunningham- Coach & Selector

Brendan Cummins- Goalkeeping Coach?
Name escapes my mind- S & C Coach

And then there is Fanning from Waterford. What does this fella do? If it's a defensive coach then it's time he was thanked and told to f**k off back to WIT. 17 points in 35 minutes to Kerry?

Scores conceded to Kerry;

Round 1-
First Half- 1-11/Second Half- 0-13

Relegation-
First Half- 0-17/Second Half- 2-10

No disrespect to Kerry, but they are not exactly world beaters and they play in a very conventional way.

It might be a bit out there, but after next weekend we have 8 weeks until the Leinster Quarter Final.
Go get someone in for those 8 weeks to focus on coaching a defensive organisation/plan.
Martin Fogarty, Brian Lohan, Frank Lohan, JJ Delaney, Brian Hogan, Christy O' Connor, Anthony Daly, Donal O' Grady.

Some of the above would have to be available. All are within travelling distance.

I wasn't in Tralee yesterday, but defensively we clearly have problems and as far as I can think it has to be one of the below;

1) We have no defensive plan
2) We haven't got an adequate defensive plan
3) The players are not carrying out our defensive plan.

Whichever it is, we have 8 weeks after next weeks unwanted fixture. Whoever is currently in charge of the defensive plan needs to go. If they are an outsider they need to be asked to leave the set up. Even if the players are wrong and are not carrying out the plan as prescribed now is not the time to go having that out.

Cheddar is an intelligent man, I just hope he recognises that if we continue, for the next 8 weeks, doing what we have been doing for the last 8 weeks, we will only get the same results as we have been getting.

If it means we have to neglect time spent on our attacking play to get the defensive side right then so be it. And if that means we stand still in 2016 and neither progress nor regress on 2015 then so be it. Stay in Div 1B, beat the Qualifer Runner Up and lose the Leinster Semi (playing with a sweeper). Give a good account in the qualifier game (for first time ever). Start afresh for 2017.

f**k it, if we have to play negative for the next 3 months just to stand still in 2016 then so be it. As of 3/4/16 I'd take that.

We cannot afford to be blinkered and allow the last 3 years progress slip away.
If Cheddar walked away at the end of the 2016 campaign and we had stood still on our 2015 progress would he have achieved anything? Yes, he would have returned Laois to there standing of mid-late 90s. Perennial Division 1 team, in the "best of the rest in Leinster" category, and better than Westmeath, Carlow, Antrim, Kerry etc in Championship. That's some achievement after the debacles of 2011 & 2012.

Cheddar, get someone in and give him control of our defensive game for the 8 weeks leading up to the Leinster quarter final. If we have to play a sweeper, play a sweeper. If we have to play a sweeper next weekend, play a sweeper. We cannot go on conceding the scores we are conceding.

Be negative, f**k the cribbers on here and at matches, stand still in 2016. I'd have taken 3 Leinster Semi Finals in 4 years at the start of 2013.
The only one we missed out on was 2014, when we lost a quarter final to Galway by 0-23 to 1-22.

All is not lost. But for those like me, who presumed Round 1 v Kerry was a one off and we'd recover, its time to stop hoping, presuming and guessing.
Organisation, hard work, honesty (and dare I say it a splash of pragmatic negativity) for the next 9 weeks will see us preserve our 1B slot for 2017 and qualify for a Leinster semi final. Loads of new players bedded in, goals for 2016 achieved, in the long run it won't matter how we did it.

I trust Cheddar's judgement and pragmatism.
Laois Abú.

[burdizzo]

I hope you're right, Keyser, but I think staying as we are would be a massive achievement. Whatever about beating Westmeath (not a given, without Willie, and Zane), I just can't see them beating Offaly or Kerry in the Leinster championship. I think the drop has been remarkable, and this thing of having lost a load to retirements doesn't hold water. John A and Joe Fitz would've been the only ones starting, as far as I could see. Or perhaps it's the old thing of only being able to play in O'Moore Park - which, again, doesn't bode well for the weekend.

[Ogie]

The players held a meeting after the Limerick beating and as well as many other things spoke about being less defensive and hurling more open and positively.

As I've said here already I think Cheddar has overstayed his welcome, and it is obvious from body language & attitude of the players that it's not a happy camp, played are sick of it.
The very least Cheddar needed to do was to change and freshen his back room team if he himself was stayin on,
We never perform & are not good enough to perform unless we are mentally in top gear, I fear for this year and the coming years again,
Westmeath will smell blood, and are we good enough to beat Kerry in the championship? At the moment I don't think so
With Willie, Zane, Matt, probably Cahir to go next year, ...
Glad I was there to enjoy the Offaly win

[blueandwhite1]

Our only hope is that there is a grain of truth in that the players are training at full pelt still and are sluggish as a result. If we taper off on time, we may peak when other teams are off-peak and our fitness and first touch will prevail. That and of course the return of Zane, Willie, Roddy etc. The big concern is that this team is operating at it's potential, which would mean that we are in reality a Division 2 side for a while.

[finbar o tool]

The big concern is that this team is operating at it's potential

i haven't been to any of the games recently so i haven't been commenting here, but the above is a fairly big statement.
i would disagree with that. if the lads are pissed off with the set up, be it tactics or management or training or whatever, then they are not playing at their full potential. but that is where the main problem lies. Cheddar and the coaches need to figure out how to get the most out of what they have, i don't think they are doing it so far.

[blueandwhite1]

The big concern is that this team is operating at it's potential

i haven't been to any of the games recently so i haven't been commenting here, but the above is a fairly big statement.
i would disagree with that. if the lads are pissed off with the set up, be it tactics or management or training or whatever, then they are not playing at their full potential. but that is where the main problem lies. Cheddar and the coaches need to figure out how to get the most out of what they have, i don't think they are doing it so far.

My comment was a proposition rather than a statement - I really hope we are operating well below our potential. I believe that we are playing well under our potential. If I am wrong and IF this team are operating to their potential then we are rightly screwed for 2016 and beyond. I don't believe that any of the players are blaming the setup, they seem to see it as their responsibility to turn it around which is fair to a point. There are reports of the players being mentally and physically exhausted which can be partly remediated between now and the championship. If they are fresh and energized going into May, then maybe we will see different performances.

[finbar o tool]

sounds a bit like you're back tracking to me... 

when you see 3 lads getting sent off like that in a match its a sure way of knowing that mentally, something aint right!
can i ask what sort of set up have the team been using in the last few matches? 3rd midfielder? sweeper? or did they go traditional 15 on 15 in any of the last few games?
if Ogie is correct and the players spoke of wanting to play more positively and being less defensive then i presume they have been doing something like a 3rd midfielder etc?

[redsetanta]

It's going to be a tough ask on Saturday. Tullamore has never been that kind to us anyhow. The loss of Hyland and King because of the red cards along with reports that neither Picky or Matthew Whelan will be available leaves us very short. Already we were without Keenan and Collier.
Westmeath will relish getting a shot at us being short so many. I can see them targeting Cha as well and he is so important to us that he will need to be very disciplined because we cannot afford to lose anyone else.

FAir enough we deserve to be where we are as the table doesn't lie and Westmeath under normal league rules would be promoted without having to play us however we have another bite of the cherry and every Laois man should leave their last ounce of sweat and tears on the pitch to try and preserve our place in Div 1b.

We need this win as much as any we've had over Cheddars reign.

Any idea what 15 will take to the field on Saturday?