Galway were beaten by 11 points in the replayed All Ireland Final of 2012 and by 4 in the 2015 final (reduced from a losing margin of 7 to 4 with a Joe Canning goal from a placed ball with the last puck of the game). That’s not nearly winning an All Ireland.
If Anthony Cunningham was at the helm in Galway in 2016, you were looking at a Limerick 2010, Justin McCarthy style team. That’s why I’m certain Galway would not have won an All Ireland in 2016 with Cunningham at the helm - they probably would have lost to Westmeath first day out.
For someone so keen to engage in conjecture about Galway in 2016 and the prospect of Anthony Cunningham delivering an All Ireland win in 2016, it should be noted that Galway only lost the All Ireland semi final to eventual champions Tipperary by 1 point after losing their best player Joe Canning to injury before half time and also losing one of their best defenders that day Adrian Tuohy to a first half injury.
My narrative is not outcome based. If you took the trouble to read my posts from October 2015, you will that I called the players actions in looking for a change of management, the correct course of action.
+1. It would be remiss (cc David Burke) of us not to acknowledge that Galway were only in the final this year because Tipperary got done over by the referee in the semi-final. Micheál Donoghue would in all likelihood have been out on his ear after overseeing two semi-final defeats to Tipperary in succession, as would have been the case had the game been refereed properly. Give me a lucky general any day as the man says. Now he’s a hero.
Once the knife is wielded there is no going back and Cunningham could never survive.
The point is the players should have manned up in the first place rather trying to shift the blame, which they did.
They’re lucky that Micheal Donoghue turned out to be a very steady hand at the wheel, because it could easily have gone tits up had a less able man taken over, as could easily have happened.
They players knew. Cunnningham wasn’t up to the job and the players indicated that O’Donoghue was the man for the job. Yet you dismiss all that as luck.
Cunningham quite clearly proved he was up to the job - his Galway teams beat and drew twice with Kilkenny teams which went on to win the All-Ireland, and beat Tipperary. He had to face better teams in 2012, 2014 and 2015 than Galway faced in the entirety of 2017.
You’re just trying to be controversial for the sake of it. Cunningham for all his merits made terrible tactical and personnel decisions in 2012 and 2015 and allowed a mini revolt in 2013 that potentially cost Galway at least a shot at an AI final or title.
Do you seriously think Donoghue would have played a one armed goalkeeper?
Haven’t most Galway goalkeepers have been one armed?
The chap in the final this year certainly looked a bit one armed when he let a harmless ball into the square go through him for a goal.
What match did Galway lose because of a “one armed goalkeeper” under Cunningham because I certainly can’t recall any.
Wouldn’t the players be to blame for a “mini-revolt”?
And what “terrible personnel and tactical decisions” did he make?
The substitution of Harte in the 2015 final is commonly cited. His replacement David Collins was the only Galway player to play well in the second half of that final.
IINonsense out of you.
Mike Conneely won the 80 final for Galway, John Commins was an excellent keeper and we had plenty other good keepers, except for the Tipp gobshite in the 79 final. Skehill conceded a goal in 2012 that should have been stopped.
I wouldn’t actually say Callinan was at fault for either goal, but have to watch the second one back. The defenders were at fault for not keeping the square protected, it was a very difficult ball for a keeper to deal with, given he had a forward in on top of him.
I wouldn’t disagree with Harte being withdrawn and there’s an argument he should have been withdrawn around the same time last Sunday, but we had no one to replace him unlike 2015, Loftus is too green for an AI final.
I havnt time to be arguing with you, but Donoghue hasn’t got a call wrong all year and prepared his team brilliantly for every game.
What would a rugby head know about the intricacies of playing in goal in hurling? The first thing you expect is your defenders will defend and not allow a forward in on top of you. It was an incredibly hard ball to deal with, anyone saying otherwise really hasn’t a clue. Look at it in real time, bit slow motion.
