That could well be the end of the road for a fair few names. If we are looking at both Condon & McCarthy in the fullback line again next year we may as well throw our hat at it. Same with Browne & Ryan at midfield. Hopefully we have seen the last new boots & helmet combo from Slippy Hickey. POB shouldnât have been near the panel this year, never mind the team. A bit of brainlessness has crept into GOMâs play this year and his placing at 6 this year was more a stopgap solution than any long term plan.
There is a bit more youth up front but its shit or get off the pot time for a few of the 2011 U21s. Hannon showed flashes of aggression earlier in the game today and I think gets unfairly scapegoated some of the time and is worth persevering with. Downes is the real enigma, we are probably coming to the realisation that he will never reach the potential shown when he started out for Limerick and shown on a regular basis for Na Piarsaigh. Dowling shouldnât even be starting for Na P, never mind Limerick.
Whoever gets in next (please Christ let it not be Daly), pace has to be big on the agenda. We have persevered with too many big-name plodders up front for too long. it says it all when our best ball winner up front is probably the 5â9ââ midget who can run a bit and isnât afraid of a few belts.
I thought Jim-Bob was very good today, especially in the 2nd half. He showed his worth, just huge work rate and he gets on a huge amount of ball. Sometimes, he should make better use of it but he scored two lovely points today and got through an amount of work. Sadly, Browne wasnât at his best again today.
I reckon Cian Lynch is the most talented player in the Limerick team but he didnât look right today at all.
Hegarty was very good when he came on, and how Nash wasnât on sooner, I have no idea.
I thought Downes was going to be set for a good game after his early score, but the ball inside was woeful and by the end, he wasnât even challenging for it. Hannon & Dowling were both pretty much non-entities from open play, Dowling missing a good goal chance. Hannon barely got a sniff.
Byrnes stepped up with physicality and some great long-range points and he did help drive us back into it. Condon didnât do well on Shanagher, went about it the wrong way completely. McCarthy did alright, I suppose.
The fact that we were still in it in the end shows Clare are not a very good team, at least not a top level one anyway. We were wiped out on puckouts until we pushed right up on the Clare sweeper with 10 minutes to go but it was too late by then. Clare always had an extra man, they ran rings around us in the middle third- Galvin, Reidy & Collins in particular and we gave up some very soft points.
At least we showed a small bit of fight in the end, we didnât go out as hopelessly as against Tipp. Scant consolation really but I think we all believe that there is real talent there. The next management appointment is huge. Donal Moloney please.
Some positives - Byrnes and English have shown they are more than up to senior hurling. To a lesser degree Nash has shown flashes as has the two Morrisseys, Hegarty and OâDonovan âŚbut theyâve all been blooded and while the performances were not great from the team overall they had 3 championship outings and hopefully can all push on next year.
Hegarty is the big plus to me from his cameos in the championship this year. We always knew Byrnes and English had it, but apparently Hegarty was far too slow to ever make it at intercounty. Throw him wing-back next year ta fuck.
Think Nash has flattered to deceive a bit, started well in the league but faded, still a good prospect though. Morrissey will be another enigma.
Richie McCarthy, Richie English, Gavin overall bar the sideline, Diarmuid Byrnes and Mulcahy tried today at least.
Hego also did well when he came on, other then thatâŚwe really have to have a hard look at ourselvesâŚat least weâve been put out of our misery for the year.
Forwards that lined out today didânt get the ball in required fair enough, but the pathetic attempts at trying to win a ball from some of the starting forwards was absolutely disgraceful from some fellas that have been bigged up as huge stars for years.
I expected as much under this management, but it doesnât make it any easier to stomach,
A note towards next year, heart and pride in wearing the jersey should take precedence ahead of ability.
In all fairness though lads, we can give out about our forwards all we want but the ball in is absolutely shocking stuff. There are Junior teams in Limerick who try to play better ball into their forwards and thats not an exaggeration. Fucking terrible. Tis easy blame the forwards ffs. Countless examples tonight and the lads hitting it in were under no pressure.
Very disappointing with that this evening. Iâm finding it extremely difficult to support the Limerick senior team. Theyâve let me down too many times now. The players flopped again and I cannot see anything to be positive about . Iâm shouting for Waterford from now on, at least their players try.
I donât think I ever felt relief after getting knocked out of championship but I do tonight,well done to Clare they got the job done and the result is all that matters in knockout.We all knew after the league game in Ennis the year was already a write off for us.The Seanie Tobin incident was a massive warning shot early on and the subsequent fall out between the NAP players and the managment.Iâm already looking forward to hopefully getting in a good manager with a quality coaching staff who are up to date on the modern game,Ideally id love Liam Sheedy to take over with Kinnerk as coach and John Kiely as a selector but plenty of time to mull over all that.Gonna head into the Ennis road tomorrow and enjoy the day hoping for win for our minors and the Waterford seniors.We have had shit days in the past and more will come ahead of us but they make the triumphant ones all the more special when they do come rare as they are! Luimneach abu.
While I wouldnât leave the forwards off completely, thereâs plenty of truth in this also. Byrnes, OâBrien but particularly Richie McCarthy are guilty of just driving the ball high and long and they in enough space to stand up and hit it. The forwards though arenât a whole lot better when it comes to interplay either. Downes came to collect a ball on his own 45 at one stage in the first half and drove it as far over Hannonâs head and the hectare of space in front of him as he could physically manage. Dowlingâs attempt at passing the ball to another forward usually involves whacking the ball to whichever sideline is furthest away from him before he passes out. Lynch has toned down on the overhead flicks but seems to have lost any power he had to get through tackles and to be honest isnât in the kind of shape youâd expect from a man with Carey breeding. Is this Joe OâConnor lad a complete spoofer?
From general play Mulcahy has easily been the best of the bunch in the championship.
Sheedy and Kinnerk can both fuck off. Kiely is the man for the job. Pure and simple. The county board need to go to him.and beg him to take over the job and give him everything he requests. Byrnes, English, Nash and a few of those u21 lads are made of the right stuff. They have that edge, that bit of drive, that bit of needle to their play. They are the future and they respect kiely. Give him the job now
The gimp should have saved himself the sleep, and just tendered his resignation tonight. Christ almighty, heâll âsleep on itâ Was he watching the same match as the rest of us tonight? Or any of the shit on a stick performances dished out these last 24 months?!
Tonight went exactly as I expected. I think it was Einstein who said 'insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different outcome". By that measure, Teege is a potential 5B candidate. Nothing changed tonight. Just the same aimless, hit and hope, buffoonery. Itâs very hard to watch this shit served up over and over again, and most Limerick fans rightly voted with their feet - Clare had more supporters there tonight, and that rarely happens given our bigger fan base.
If John Kiely doesnât want the job, then Sheedy or Quaid shout be first in the CBâs thoughts.
As a complete neutral I thought the Limerick defenders were Herculean. Lads complaining about the quality of ball they delivered, ffs the ball was coming back as quick as they delivered it. The Limerick forwards were absolutely atrocious, lumbering around like old donkeys. Byrnes was magnificent, a joy to watch.
Was he watching the same match as the rest of us tonight? Or any of the shit on a stick performances dished out these last 24 months?!