Jinxie (Meath) - Posts: 6158 - 16/01/2012 10:42:34    1094275

Does anyone know if thomas walshe is gone for good or will he be back in March. Cos if there is any way of getting him back it should be pursued as he is an enormous loss to us as witnessed yesterday and last year when he wasnt picked for antrim game.

pennypincher (Carlow) - Posts: 777 - 16/01/2012 11:15:24    1094285

The way its coming across to me is, theres lots of questions to be asked with no guarantee of answers, like, who is responsible for motivating the squad, ie putting fire in their bellies and getting that extra 10% out of them, what role if any does Anthony Rainbow play with the senior squad, he was and still is a household name in Kildare of legendary stuff, he has huge experience, played under Mick O, and McGeeney played in two all Ireland finals,has won himself leinster medals,he has a lot to offer, so does he have any input into the senior squad or not or is he involved with the under twenty one's only. Questions like those should have been asked, sorted and put to rest, during the winter shut down, going into the game with Laois I wasn't expecting a win but at the same time if we had won I wouldn't have been surprised for all sorts of reasons that were all reasonable. There was a time not so long ago when we found it almost impossible the put together a squad of eighteeen or twenty players, now we have a squad in numbers and we're still not happy, my self included, but that's human nature I suppose. I'm not going to fall into the trap of blaming the players, they have a part to play but its only a part.
Every ten years or so we seem to be able to produce a house hold name ourselves that would be as good as the best in the country, this time it happens to be Brendan Murphy, some would critise him though for holding on to the ball too long, well I don't blame him at all for that because he's so confident in his own ability he see's no reason to let it go, like yesterday for example, he moves with shuch speed and strength that if hes in scoring distance at all he'll assume responsibility knowing that he'll either be fouled or score. If we go back a short couple of years and remind ourselves of that great goal Thomas Walsh scored against Offaly that had all the hall marks of a Brendan Murphy run, and wheather we like it or not Thomas Walsh was and still is a great player, and then if we remind our selves of the great Paddy Quirke, one of the best I have seen, head down, barging forward at speed and strength, score or free guaranteed, or for that matter the great Johnny Nevin the same applies, or if we look at the mighty Willie Quinlan who defied all the odds and waltzed around the pitch as if he was on his own scoring or making scores at will.
Unfortunatly with the exception of Brendan Murphy, we don't have players like that any more, so we have to find a way of getting that extra 10% out of what we have and if we can do that, well that's more than a start.

PS -- Don't be surprised if we see Thomas Walsh in the Carlow jersey before the league is over, ------remember where you read it first.

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 1946 - 16/01/2012 11:49:28    1094303

Jinxie
County: Meath
Posts: 3718

1094275
Onion Breath
County: Carlow
Posts: 354

1094060 Poor performance today no question but its only the second week in January and we have played two Division 1 teams in a week. We won't play anything as good as either this year until we play Meath in June. We have four weeks now to the most important game of the year for us v. Leitrim. Win it and we are set up for a good crack at the league as we can build momentum with the fixtures we have to start off, we could/should be 8/8 after 4 games. Lose to Leitrim and the wheels could well come off the wagon. Hopefullly we can get a big crowd out for that Leitrim game and a big performance.

Im sure supersub will be on very quickly to point out that its Wicklow ye will be playing in June. No question about it.

Well actually Jinxie, I was just about to do that and I have to stress theres no disrespect to Meath football its more of a compliment to Wicklow than any thing else, but thats how I see it, I do think Wicklow will come good in that one, obviously you have other ideas, well we'll see.

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 1946 - 16/01/2012 12:02:05    1094312

Supersub - when asked about the loss of Thomas Walsh, Luke Dempsey said that he would be a loss but that last year he had slipped out of the starting 15 as others were pushing for places. Now i don't know who he was talking about when he referred to who had put Thomas out of the starting lineup but i remember that Willie minchin was started ahead of him against Antrim? Where is Willie, Pat Hickey this year? Luke is fixated on bringing youth onto the team - which is fine if you can fit them in along the more experienced players. But our more experienced players seem in general to have left or not been asked into the panel. Theres not point talking about John Hayden etc -he has more than given to his county and you can understand how he would want to concentrate on his club when nearing the end of his career. Its a sad affair when your experienced players are only 24/25ish!

I really hope the lads do well in the league campaign for themselves and that Anthony Rainbow who yes was a great footballer but does that mean he will make a great trainer can bring some confidence and new ideas to the squad.

dual supporter (Carlow) - Posts: 772 - 16/01/2012 12:43:07    1094337

Lads yesterday was disappointing but a bit of perspective please - we have played two Division 1 teams back to back and we already have folks sharpening the knifes for the manager!! To be fair lads there are a heap of injuries to probable starters like Cashin, Darragh Foley, Lawlor, John Murphy - Shane Redmond will also be back from UCD duty. What it does point up is the lack of depth in the county versus the likes of Laois. We will miss, Tom Walshe but he is gone for the year. Mark Brennan is travelling and to be fair the hurlers would have first call on him. Some of the other Old Leighlin lads mentioned were called in but declined … dunno if they are the answer either - to be fair they were outclassed in the Leinster club c/ship. I think there are one or two other Tinryland lads on the panel but are currently injured - again dunno if that team has that many of the necessary standard. The three names in the county that are standout omissions in my mind are JJ Smith - on a break, Paul Broderick - you can be sure he was asked in, dunno why he didn't commit - and Alan Curran who had an awful accident a while ago and to be fair can be certainly excused.

Also criticising players who commit to what is an unpopular (in some quarters) cause is unfair and perhaps dis-encourages others to do so. For some in their first year at this level it will take time to adapt. While a better performance would be welcome it is very early days yet …

Bainisteoir (National) - Posts: 454 - 16/01/2012 13:12:04    1094352

it was a poor performance but we must remember we were short key players, and that laois and dublin are div1 and even a weakened laois would be much stronger than us, we tried the eire og tactic in the forward line of lining the forwards from the 45 to the goal thia probably didn't suit the type of forwards we have, we ad enough ball to win 3 games but our execution was very poor, in saying that it's early days and we need to get down to serious work in the next few weeks before the league

Barrowsider (Carlow) - Posts: 1243 - 16/01/2012 13:21:34    1094358

I said last week that I didn't want to be negative this early in the year re decisions made by the management during games. Unfortunately after yesterday it is clear that we are being hamstrung by them at this stage. Too slow to see what was happening on the pitch. Two extra men and yet we left a spare man in defence when we were chasing the match. And when the ball did go down the field the Laois forwards still had extra player. How is that? From the stands it looked as though players were asking the line where they were meant to be playing which is terrible to see at this level.

Last year against Louth we were almost beaten because we failed to use the extra man.

As for the match, well the silence at the end summed it up. The Carlow crowd (usually relatively forgiving) couldn't even muster up a consolation round of applause. Some of the players aren't up to it at intercounty, but you can't blame the players that are there if they make an effort. However, yesterday I got the feeling some players sat back with 10-15 minutes to go. That make the result even harder to stomach. And I don't agree with the line that we were playing a Div 1 team. Laois were far from Div 1 standard yesterday, bar some nice point taking at times.

An embarrassment.

St.John (Carlow) - Posts: 202 - 16/01/2012 13:28:12    1094362

Yesterday a bit disheartening - some lads not at the level required - we need all our guys back - we can't afford to be missing anyone if we are to compete - I would like to see Walsh back also - hickey too - I got in late yesterday and missed the laois goal, but they competed well in first half after that - 2nd half display was wretched though - there will be good days and bad - all aboard the red, green and yellow rollercoaster

MOH (Carlow) - Posts: 121 - 16/01/2012 14:03:30    1094388

Good to see the opinions and objective posts and indept analysis here but I think people have lost the point, I like a lot of people believe Carlow players have Hugh potential, they are young, ambitious, they have size and are athletic, so what's the problem causing way under achievement??? For me it's down to management and preparation. Over the past 3 years I have watched Carlow (senior/ U.21) compete and the inept fitness, the lack of tactical awareness and bad decision making is obvious to see. We will continue to under achieve under this management and blow a great opportunity to progress as sooner or later players will walk away or be so devoid of confidence that to much damage to repair will be done.

Fenaghman (Carlow) - Posts: 28 - 16/01/2012 15:11:29    1094443

Terrible display yesterday as has been said already. After doing quite well last week it was a bit of a letdown. Really went to that game expecting a win, which we would have got if we'd played like last week. Laois were poor enough, and that was nowhere close to being their full team.

Management are a big problem, far too slow to spot problems and change things. And as for their use of 2 extra men, well that was a joke. Made no sense having the 2 free men sitting back when we were losing and needed scores. Everything went thru the middle where it was bunched and crowded.
A lot of work to be done before the Leitrim game.

A strange interview too from Dempsey after the game where he seems to be saying that going down to 13 men suited Laois! His part starts at 3.37 or so

Interview

The Real 1944 (Carlow) - Posts: 1102 - 16/01/2012 16:51:36    1094515

St. John all your points are well made.How despairing to look down on pitch yesterday and see us outscored by 13 men even tough we played free men in defense. Responsibility for tacticts and team selection must be delegated quickly.

Bimb (Carlow) - Posts: 425 - 16/01/2012 17:50:42    1094547

1944 - could you give us another link to that interview - i cant seem to get it with the one you put up please?

dual supporter (Carlow) - Posts: 772 - 16/01/2012 17:53:08    1094549

dual supporter,- I understand what your saying and you could see in the game with Wexford he was playing below himself, but this is a new year and the powers that be will keep in touch with him especially if he intends coming home next year, come championship time he will be raring to go, if he was never to kick a football his very presence in the squad would give a big lift to all. I never had a problem with loosing, its how I lost that I had the problem with.
On a separate note, because I'm not in the scene anymore, I did not realise that Alan Curran had a serious accident 'till I read it here so I wish him a speedy recovery and hope he makes it back sooner rather than later, he's sadly missed, so yeah, maybe we're overreacting a bit, theres better days ahead.

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 1946 - 16/01/2012 18:14:35    1094565

Supersub - Alan Curran had been injured over a year ago and thankfully has fully recovered but he is actually off traveling for a year so he wont be included in the squad.

dual supporter (Carlow) - Posts: 772 - 16/01/2012 18:49:16    1094589

Thanks for that dual supporter, I sort of knew he picked up an injury back then but I thought no more about it 'till I read a post this morning, and heres a bit of it,"Alan Curran who had an awful accident a while ago and to be fair can be certainly excused." I thought I was missing out on something, so that's a bit of good news then that all's ok with him, thanks again.

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 1946 - 16/01/2012 19:18:43    1094611

If my information is correct the team are training on the outside pitch at Dr Cullen Park tomorrow if anybody wants to come out from the safety of their keyboards and talk face to face with players....

followmeup (Carlow) - Posts: 3 - 16/01/2012 19:48:53    1094641

Wonderboy is fairly accurate all right. I saw the 2 games against the Dubs and Laois yesterday. The Dubs are the All Ireland champions and the difference was clear to be seen. We were competitive and the players tried very hard. Some good work shown and definitely there was hope for all Carlow people in the performance.
As for yesterdays game... some might feel that the performance was very poor and the fact that Laois were down to 13 adds to the dismay. iI for one hope that I am realistic and believe that Laois are in a different class and the reason for this is that their club championship is a little above ours and they have been playing at a different standard or level for many years. Our players have not reached that standard yet. They are trying and trying their best and its plain to see that more effort and better use of the balll is needed.
The speed of supporting players from Laois was impressive and their economy in front of goals was also impressive. Their speed of passing and the directness of Laois was also good.

Our players need to work on these aspects. They tried to get the ball in faster to the full forward line in the second half but the forwards were not given good ball overall to gain possession and so threaten Laois. But our players tried hard and they must be congratulated for this and more importantly be continually encouraged to keep improving.
Its very early in the season and there will be plenty of knockers... so lets encourage instead of condemning... after just 2 games!

I think a few players are not up to the standard but quite a few need the exposure to better football to improve their game and their confidence. I am looking forward to the games in the coming weeks in the League and later- the championship.

carlowman (Carlow) - Posts: 1487 - 16/01/2012 20:28:23    1094700

@ followmeup i think you will find most posters here would not be as honest in that position:)

lads we tried out a few things yesterday the didn't work let's not be putting a downer on things yet, add lawlor mcelligot redmond john murphy and foley to that team yesterday and the result could have been different, we are a very small county with a small pick so our strength in dept would not match laois or any other div1 or div2 side, after two games alot of lads have been given game time and dempsey has tried a few different tactics, so lets see how we do in the first few league games before with start with the finger pointing

Barrowsider (Carlow) - Posts: 1243 - 16/01/2012 20:47:59    1094729

Disappointing perforamnce yesterday but people are way too quick to criticise in my view. We played two Div 1 teams and lost both games by 7 points - played very well in one game and putrid in the other. Remember we are Division 4. Neither Leix nor Dublin were at full strength but neither were we and unlike both of them we don't really have the depth of talent to expect to beat either if they turn up which both did - in fairness that Leix team was a strong one, look at the subs they brought on as well.

Onion Breath (Carlow) - Posts: 1158 - 16/01/2012 21:05:19    1094752