Clare GAA Thread 🐐

Conor McGrath will hardly leave? He’s one of the best players in the country ffs. Forget O’Donnell’s hat-trick which was put on a plate for him, it was McGrath who won them the replay last September.

If he leaves then Davy will really have lost it.

Is Kinnerk leaving of his own free will or was he pushed?

[QUOTE=“dodgy-keeper, post: 1014530, member: 1552”]Conor McGrath will hardly leave? He’s one of the best players in the country ffs. Forget O’Donnell’s hat-trick which was put on a plate for him, it was McGrath who won them the replay last September.

If he leaves then Davy will really have lost it.

Is Kinnerk leaving of his own free will or was he pushed?[/QUOTE]

Conor McGrath left the panel already this summer. The week before the drawn Wexford game, but he was persuaded to come back.

Conor McGrath is a rich mans John O Dwyer

Tiime for the cratloe boys to come home, they are limerickmen anyway and agent Galvin will sort it out. We will go 50/50 for senior hurling and senior football squad

Clare football manager Colm Collins claims the county’s hurling management didn’t seek to negotiate regarding his sons SĂ©an and PĂĄdraig playing both codes.

As it stands, the Collins brothers will only play football for the county in 2015 after hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald issued them with an ultimatum and his football counterpart insists that the decision was taken unilaterally.

“The hurling management decided that they weren’t going to have any dual players,” he said.

“The players decided they were going to play football and that’s where it is. We’re not happy about it, we were happy to accommodate them in any possible way.

“I’ve nothing to do with this, absolutely nothing. I was strongly of the view that things could stay going as they were. I suppose it’s good news for us [football team], but it’s not really news that we wanted. Both of them are mad sportsmen and they’d love to play both. As a father, I’d love to see them play both but it’s not to be.

“The decision was made by the senior hurling management, so there were no negotiations. If they’re going to reverse it then that’s their decision too.”

Collins, speaking to Joe Seward on the Square Ball programme on Cork’s LifeFM 93.1 last evening, believes dual players are too easy a target when things go wrong.

“I would feel that it wasn’t an issue,” he said. “I’d dearly love if all players were judged by the same yardstick as dual players are. I think in Cork that seemed to be the situation here too.

“If you judge every player in the same way then that’s fair enough but there are some people who think if you touch a football that you’re contaminated and there are probably people on the other side who think the opposite.

“The player that’s going to do it is going to have to be a very dedicated guy. He’s going to have to make a lot of choices and he won’t have the down-time of another player but if he’s prepared to do it then I don’t think there’s any problem whatsoever.”

With Cork having three dual players — Aidan Walsh, Eoin Cadogan and Damien Cahalane — this year, the issue may be raised on Leeside during the winter, but Collins doesn’t feel that the Clare situation will influence matters.

“I think that Brian Cuthbert and Jimmy Barry-Murphy will do things their own way, they won’t be following anybody’s leads,” he said.

“I’ve never had an angry word with Davy Fitz, never. I felt that the arrangement was fine but the hurling management didn’t and they’ve made their decision.

“It wasn’t a 50-50 arrangement last year, it was three-quarters hurling. I’m on the record as saying that I’m totally for dual players.”

© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

There is a lot of stuff which Davy has done wrong or handled incorrectly this year but I don’t have much of an issue with him giving Podge Collins the ultimatum. If his father wasn’t over the senior footballers then he wouldn’t even be comtemplating playing I/C football, let alone choosing it over hurling. He is in a tough position but I am of the belief that duel players will only work to a point and eventually the hurling suffers especially the longer the summer goes on where ballwork and speed of touch goes up a few notches.

Podge is a well liked lad in the dressing room though and as things stand 2015 will be Davys last as it looks as though a lot of damage to relationships with key players has taken place in 2014, most of it his own doing. It can be turned around but only by Davy relaxing a bit in his man management, but i don’t see it happening. Will be interesting to see who will be in his backroom team next year

Agree with the broader point but Davy should have spoken with Colm Collins before making this decision, it is incredible he didn’t, He’s a very reasonable man and may even have encouraged Podge to play hurling , you should never burn bridges unless you have to

[QUOTE=“chewy louie, post: 1014564, member: 1137”]There is a lot of stuff which Davy has done wrong or handled incorrectly this year but I don’t have much of an issue with him giving Podge Collins the ultimatum. If his father wasn’t over the senior footballers then he wouldn’t even be comtemplating playing I/C football, let alone choosing it over hurling. He is in a tough position but I am of the belief that duel players will only work to a point and eventually the hurling suffers especially the longer the summer goes on where ballwork and speed of touch goes up a few notches.

Podge is a well liked lad in the dressing room though and as things stand 2015 will be Davys last as it looks as though a lot of damage to relationships with key players has taken place in 2014, most of it his own doing. It can be turned around but only by Davy relaxing a bit in his man management, but i don’t see it happening. Will be interesting to see who will be in his backroom team next year[/QUOTE]

Since he’s giving the minor and U21 jobs to personal friends I expect he’ll bring in Sox and Brian Culbert.

Seriously though if he keeps going like this we might actually have to kill him.

Podge Collins comes across very poorly here. Seemingly trying to undermine his manager, an All Ireland winning player and manager, to give his Dad a dig out in some non-descript low level football matches. Davy is absolutely correct to plough on without him.

They are nothing alike apart from they are both good forwards

:eek:

[QUOTE=“chewy louie, post: 1014564, member: 1137”]There is a lot of stuff which Davy has done wrong or handled incorrectly this year but I don’t have much of an issue with him giving Podge Collins the ultimatum. If his father wasn’t over the senior footballers then he wouldn’t even be comtemplating playing I/C football, let alone choosing it over hurling. He is in a tough position but I am of the belief that duel players will only work to a point and eventually the hurling suffers especially the longer the summer goes on where ballwork and speed of touch goes up a few notches.

Podge is a well liked lad in the dressing room though and as things stand 2015 will be Davys last as it looks as though a lot of damage to relationships with key players has taken place in 2014, most of it his own doing. It can be turned around but only by Davy relaxing a bit in his man management, but i don’t see it happening. Will be interesting to see who will be in his backroom team next year[/QUOTE]
Completely incorrect. An ultimatum will get you nowhere, the response of most strong minded people to an ultimatum is fuck you anyway if you want to force this ill do the opposite of what you want. Davy is the manager, his job is manage. The situation could have been managed, he’d have had more of Collins than the footballers anyway and would have sole custody before long once the footballers were knocked out. Poor judgement on Davy’s part to force this decision. I imagine from the point of view of panel morale he’d have been better to show he is reasonable and accommodating and keep Podge in, than force him out.

This may be an obvious question. Why would lads in Clare be interested in playing football anyway. I wouldnt have thought that the Clare footballers are going to be competing for honours at any kind of a high level anytime soon. Thats not trying to be disrespectful, more a reality with a county the size of Clare trying to succeed in both codes. Would it not be bettter for everyone to row in behind one code and give 100% commitment to it rather than the bolloxing thats going on here. What appears likely to happen is that neither hurling or football will advance with this scenario. I suppose from a KK point of view we dont, or wont have these issues, or maybe we dont have then because we know we’d be at nothing trying to compete in both championships with a small population.

Because they enjoy the game, are relatively good at the game and their daddy is managing the team.

For the most part hurling and football are pretty much split on geographical grounds in Clare. The west of the county is football while the east is hurling country with some notable exceptions and aside from maybe Barefield, Eire Og, Wolf Tones and in more recent times Cratloe there aren’t oo many proper duel clubs. But as I said there wouldn’t even be a choice for Collins to make here if anyone else was managing the football team, he would choose hurling every time. That is not to say that his auld lad is forcing him to play football but he obviously wants to be involved and help his dad out.

I hope it isn’t a decision he comes to regret

[QUOTE=“chewy louie, post: 1014633, member: 1137”]
I hope it isn’t a decision he comes to regret[/QUOTE]
I doubt it. He has many years to come playing hurling. He obviously loves the football too and is in a time of his life when he maybe has an opportunity to play both for maybe a year or two. And with his father managing the team, and doing a good job of it it seems, he will hardly have a better opportunity in his life to do it. I imagine he’ll be playing hurling only for county for many years yet. Davy was stupid to force the issue.

[QUOTE=“chewy louie, post: 1014633, member: 1137”]For the most part hurling and football are pretty much split on geographical grounds in Clare. The west of the county is football while the east is hurling country with some notable exceptions and aside from maybe Barefield, Eire Og, Wolf Tones and in more recent times Cratloe there aren’t oo many proper duel clubs. But as I said there wouldn’t even be a choice for Collins to make here if anyone else was managing the football team, he would choose hurling every time. That is not to say that his auld lad is forcing him to play football but he obviously wants to be involved and help his dad out.

I hope it isn’t a decision he comes to regret[/QUOTE]

Of course he’ll regret it. As you mention, he wouldn’t contemplate playing football only his father manages the team. Is he 9 years old or something? It’s not as if he’s madly passionate about it. It seems like a very immature and silly course of action to take - the same traits he displayed in getting sent off against Wexford this season. On this evidence, Clare are better off moving on without him.

Has anyone stopped and thought that Davy is quiet happy to continue on without Podge? It’s not like Clare are short* on exciting young forwards coming through the ranks at underage level.

If he is happy without the small lad on the panel, it makes a great gesture of “fall in” to the panel for next year. A kind of " Steve Staunton " I’m the boss statement.

*excuse the pun about short arse P Collins

[QUOTE=“carryharry, post: 1014658, member: 1517”]Has anyone stopped and thought that Davy is quiet happy to continue on without Podge? It’s not like Clare are short* on exciting young forwards coming through the ranks at underage level.

If he is happy without the small lad on the panel, it makes a great gesture of “fall in” to the panel for next year. A kind of " Steve Staunton " I’m the boss statement.

*excuse the pun about short arse P Collins[/QUOTE]
Why would anyone follow Steve Staunton’s example as a manager? Davy showed insecurity in not being able to manage this situation.

KK and Kerry are both headed for 40 senior AIs and that’s in no small part to them always seeming to get the little things right and always looking at the big picture. Winning AIs.

Counties like Clare on the other hand routinely shoot themselves in the foot and generally welcome mediocrity. Forcing an enormously dedicated and refreshing character like Podge into a corner is lunacy and hampers the team for next year before this season is even over.

It would make you want to puke.