Chaps, I think Lee Chin should hold the centre back position even if Richie Hogan is roaming to get on the ball. I reckon we could see OâKeeffe playing a deeper role and he might be tasked with keeping an eye on Hogan. That could in turn see Waters or Byrne dropping back to partner Redmond in midfield. I presume weâll look to leave 2-men inside with McGovern, Morris and McDonald rotating.
Bored off my fucking tits in Nowlan Park. This minor match is a serious fucking dirge.
Lock the thread and start the 2016 one
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How did the senior game match up after?
Grim day, fellas. Outclassed but seemed to lack the requisite desire too. We pretty much gave up, which was very disappointing.
Said before the first round game that we still look a handful of players short and I wasnât impressed with our league campaign either. I didnât think our hurling or tactical set up had evolved from last year and we still had an unsettled spine by the time we finished in the league.
And while I felt we were likely to tweak our lineup from the first game, we started a defensive six away to the All Ireland champions in an unfamiliar alignment. Theyâve all played in the individual positions but never together (as far as I know).
Why didnât we play Liam Ryan full back in the league? Moore and Kenny were exposed in the corners and I think itâs time for some of the younger players to be given a chance. We also have a reliable sub keeper in Niall Breen whoâs more assured and has a better puck out and better judgement.
We also have to find a midfield partner for Redmond if Chin is going to be centre back (and it was a surprise to see him start wing back today, albeit he played centre back for most of it in the end).
We probably have 4 forwards that will retain their places for definite in Byrne, McGovern, Morris (early injury withdrawal) and McDonald but we could do with Guiney back.
I didnât expect to win but I wasnât expecting such a capitulation.
Hard luck bandage
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Thanks, pal. Best to avoid the Galway juggernaut for now. A nice home draw tomorrow morning and weâll come again.
I was in Kilkenny last night and took a wander down to Nowlan Park as an interested neutral. I was shocked at how bad Wexford were and how much theyâve regressed over the last two years. The biggest factor as has been touched on seemed to be a lack of desire. Wexford looked completely flat and just not up for it from the very start. I didnât think Kilkenny were any great shakes first half but they were gifted scores through any amount of unforced errors - two topped sidelines, a short puck out from Fanning to Ciaran Kenny, that was fumbled out over the line and came straight back over the bar and comical defending for two of the first half goals.
I was on the city (town) end terrace and had a birdseye view of the Wexford defensive line up in the first half. Fanning is a very poor inter-county standard goalkeeper. He lacks size, presence and his full back line didnât seem to have any confidence in him. Wexford needed to drop men back. Madness going man to man on the Kilkenny forwards.
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Itâs almost like last season never happened and weâve reverted to the team we had a few years back. Bandages points on the defence structure are spot on. Why do it for the first time against the best team in the country. Ridiculously deflating stuff.
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I forgot, our minors won the Leinster League. At least the future is brightâŚ
So weâre not as bad as that but today we were so we were.
In 1999 Offaly hammered the shit out of us. In 2000 they did the same. In 2001 Kilkenny hockeyed us. And so it went and goes.
And yet we havenât sorted ourselves out. Itâs everyoneâs fault pals.
Some more thoughts in no particular order:
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We seemed to have developed support play over the last 18-24 months and worked some great goals last year. Nowhere to he seen today. Whatâs happened with that?
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Related to the above, our use of the ball was very poor. We were fairly static and we didnât offer great options for either short or long ball.
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We were all over the place tactically. Iâve already posted about the positions our defenders were selected in but we didnât offer them protection as a unit either. If someone was meant to be screening in defence then they didnât do it properly. Conor McDonald won a few early balls into him. Itâs Holdenâs first test at full back too. So we stop hitting the ball into him. Bizarre.
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I prefer when keepers stand up tall when facing a strike on goal rather than falling backwards to the ground.
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Dropping Guiney from the squad was ridiculous, as I said during the week. A player who was out with him played in the game FFS sake. Ridiculous scapegoating and unnecessarily diverting attention away from the task at hand.
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Throwing in the towel, albeit when youâre getting overrun by a much better team, doesnât hint at the happiest of camps. I mentioned a Roy Keane comparison the other day too.
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We need to being through another 2 or 3 of the younger players.
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Our ball watching in defence is criminal at times. A plays diagonal ball to B and he pops the ball off to C running through at pace. Meanwhile Câs man is oblivious to the run as heâs watching B playing the pass. If you go man to man at the back and donât track runs then youâll get opened up easily.
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Fucking hell. That was shit today.
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Following on a bit from that bandage, the defensive positioning was utterly baffling. Granted, I didnt attend the game today so hard to gauge on TV, but was O Hanlon full back for the game? He was out of position so often it was ridiculous. Big gaping holes and then heâd come rushing in with a last ditch tackle. And if it wasnt him, then whoever should have been full back wasnt minding the house as they should have been.
Eoin Moore actually turned and looked at Hogan as he was making his run for the first goal, but he only reacted to cover him after Hogan got the ball.
I think Dunne has taken the team as far as his abilities can take them. And Iâve thought that for a long time now. Good to get a spark, but hasnt the tactical, man management or overall development skills required to get up the next step of progression.
Some of the skill errors today were shockingly poor.
I lost interest watching it early in the second half and made sock puppets, and then got more fed up and went outside to play on the swings and trampoline so saw fuck all of the lack of interest late on.
@Gman, we lined up in defence at the start as follows:
Kenny, Ryan, Moore;
Chin, OâHanlon, Shore.
OâHanlon moved back in full back in the first half but it was after the second or third goal.
It is fucking depressing waking up and seing a scoreline like that. Fucking hell.
Will Guiney even return to the panel for the rest of the campaign if invited? Interesting piece by Dermot Crowe in the Sindo today on it all with some input from Dave Guiney as well.
It was madness dropping him. Its one thing Cody acting tough with the likes of Charlie Carter or Cha Fitzpatrick or even not picking Tommy Walsh or Shefflin last year. Cody has any number of able replacements he can call up. When youâve only got 10-11 players that are up to the requisite level for inter-county standard, its a different story.
Guiney is hardly an inter-county player, he wouldnât have helped much yesterday, just blended in with all the other awkward touch less mollockers.
All very inevitable especially after dunneâa outburst .not focussed on the job. A ridiculous overreaction. The waters and Bremen experiment further outlining his stubborn character. Time to blood the young lads and get JJ in pronto.
Sorry meant Fanning instead of Breen . I prefer a keeper without shit puck outs who doesnât fall down!
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