Unlikely. How would it even work? Would one club have to start at the bottom?
Inagh Kilnamona deserve a thesis which I may or may not release to the forum prior to January 1st 2026.
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I think it would be absolutely bananas if Inagh Kilnamona tried to cut players of All Star class like Aidan McCarthy and David Fitzgerald loose. Youâve got to make it work.
Fitzgerald in particular just needs a defined role even if thats wing back rather than trying to be everywhere and doing nothing.
The McCarthyâs are tricky customers but Aidan is a serious player and no club can just tell someone like that to fuck off. Clonlara could have told a pair of brothers to get stuffed a few years ago but theyâd hardly have won the County Final in 2023 without them.
The biggest problem I see in Inagh is thereâs nobody in charge. You need a dominant family who everyone respects and will row in behind. Think the McGrathâs in Loughmore. With no history or tradition of winning that can be hard but for their own sake I hope they get it together because otherwise they are wasting a generation they will never again have.
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They need a massive figurehead manager to get them over the line. Derek in Doon, Sheedy in Newmarket, Considine in Garryspillane.
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Sheedy was in my beloved Newmarket, not Clarecastle.
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A situation developed in Inagh a few years back where in round one of the County Championship, they used 19 players and lost, and then for round 2, players who werenât used in round 1 started.
Hurling is a game of chemistry and you canât create it doing things like that.
And because of stunts like that they had over 25 lads who can only hurl senior last year, lot of lads at training who know theyâve no chance of playing championship which is no good for anyone
Clubs need strong leadership. You need to know your best team and persist with it.
Its like anything, if you think youâve two Derby Horses, you probably have none.
Thurles Sarsfields used 27 players in Tipp this year in three games before being eliminated at the group stage. I saw Kilmacud Crokes in Dublin who have about 25 players with Inter County experience get hammered in a Dublin Semi Final.
Inagh are similar and need to be more ruthless and say barring injuries this is who weâre going with. Fellas coming in and out of the team and ripping up the script after a loss is a vicious circle. Wouldnât be the worst thing if a few of them fucked off to Oz and a smaller, tighter panel was left.
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Gas man
â However, one thing that Brian Lohan doesnât entertain are excuses â
A few moments laterâŚ.
âThe Munster League we feel is a good competition and that was taken from us last year at the last minute which was disappointing. Of course it was the same for all counties but from our perspective it was a big disadvantage to us as weâve always used it as a means of giving players some competitive game-time. â
You understand the difference between a journoâs statement and a direct quote? Take your time now
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Fair play to management standing their ground.
Wouldâve just ended up a mess again the second there was any issue with McCarthy not starting/getting subbed off and throwing another fit
CLAREâs All-Ireland winning freetaker Aidan McCarthy will not be part of the county panel for this coming year.
Top scorer for Clare in the epic 2024 All-Ireland final win with 1-7 to his name, Aidan was dropped from the county squad in the middle of the Munster championship.
The Clare Echo has learned that Aidan made an approach to Clare senior hurling manager Brian Lohan in advance of collective training resuming in the middle of November.
Lohan is understood to have taken a full week to consider the matter after receiving a phone call from McCarthy. After engaging with his management on the offer, the four-time All Star contacted Aidan to thank him for his offer but that they were planning without him for 2026. A return in the future has not been ruled out.
As the second youngest starting member of the Clare attack in the 2024 All-Ireland final, the decision not to bring McCarthy back to the fold is considered strange not least because of his ability but also with the view that several of the experienced Clare hurlers are likely to retire within the next two to three years which would necessitate the need for younger players like Aidan to step up in a greater leadership capacity.
Wounds between the Inagh/Kilnamona attacker and the Clare senior hurling management have not healed in the seven months since his exit from the squad.
âI did not walk off the Clare senior hurling panel. I was willing, ready and able to line out for my county against Tipperary on Saturday evening if selected,â he confirmed in a statement in May regarding his departure from the panel. Remarkably his exit has never been reported by either The Clare Champion or Clare FM. âHeâs not on the panel, Weâve loads of guys on the panel, and thatâs who weâre going to talk about. Aidanâs not on the panel,â Lohan said following Clareâs final outing of the championship last season when questioned on the matter by national reporters.
McCarthy released the statement after eyebrows were raised when he was omitted from the matchday twenty six for Clareâs third outing in the Munster SHC versus Tipperary, a game they ended up losing which ended their All-Ireland defence. His exit came during a run where Clare were greatly hindered by injuries.
Prior to this, he had been substituted in Clareâs first two championship outings of 2025. He was taken off with sixty minutes played in the first round draw with Cork and with forty seven minutes on the clock in the second round loss to Waterford. He was Clareâs top scorer in the Cork draw, hitting 1-7, six of which came from frees. He failed to score in the Waterford game and had four wides.
Newly appointed Clare senior football manager, Paul Madden approached McCarthy about joining the football set-up but he turned down this request, The Clare Echo understands. His only appearance of the 2025 Clare SFC was his introduction as a substitute with sixty minutes played as Kilmurry Ibrickane lost to St Josephâs Doora/Barefield in the quarter-finals. He only linked up with the Bricks after the championship commenced but is believed to be involved from an earlier stage for 2026.
He captained Inagh/Kilnamona in this yearâs Clare SHC where they exited at the quarter-finals to eventual winners Ăire Ăg. He scored 1-10, all but the goal coming from placed balls as Inamona fell to a 3-21 1-17 defeat to the Ennis side. Aidan was part of the clubâs U16 management who in recent weeks won the A championship with victory over Corofin/Ruan.
McCarthy made his championship debut for the Clare seniors in 2019 and in 2021 was nominated for Young Hurler of the Year. Before this, he had been named at wing back in the Electric Ireland Minor Hurling Team of the Year for 2027.
A workplace accident which saw him sustain a broken bone between his leg and ankle in December 2021 left him sidelined for the start of the 2022 campaign. Around this time, Lohan was reportedly very helpful to McCarthy and is said to have played a key role in helping him secure employment with AIB in Ennis.
For Lohanâs first year as manager in 2020, Aidan featured in all championship outings in the half-back line and scored a second half goal in Clareâs All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Waterford. The following year, he was infamously sin-binned in a controversial decision by James Owens which had a big impact on proceedings in their provincial semi-final loss to Tipperary.
Hard believe Lohan could be stubborn
Sweep sweep
Local papers are generally hamstrung with reporting as they know which side their bread is buttered on. I know the gestapo donât be long getting in touch with a Limerick journalist if they write anything even mildly controversial.
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Surely reporting a fact like a county player being dropped from/leaving the panel should still be possible
A bit like the national media really.
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Youâd think, wouldnât you?
Itâs bizarre the culture around it now. Unless youâre a freelance podcaster/writer who wouldnât care about upsetting people, youâre humstrung.
Derek Dormer made a few comments about Clare Camogie over the last year that were spot on, but of course itâs being said heâs too harsh etc. The Manager made some bizarre comment about Dormer needing to watch more Camogie and yet Derek probably watches more of it than anyone else in the County.
Itâs still extremely parochial.
The Clare Echoâs Paraic McMahon doesnât help himself at times though.
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Not too many inside the county would pay any heed to anything from that paperâs notoriously unreliable sportâs section.
Still providing news though. Good to have some sort of content