Its hard to think of another Keeper who has kicked a winning point in an All Ireland Final and lifted Sam more times or had a whole team set up a game plan to counter an aspect of a goal keepers game or had other players try and mimic. as someone else said hes impact on the development of the game in this era is probably greater then any other, for a goal keeper its revolutionary.

I never really like these debates as it will come down to subjective opinion and county loyalty, but history will judge him well i think.

TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 23/06/2017 16:53:19    2004103

well in my 40 years going to matches he is far far away the best keeper iv ever seen, noone can come near him, he has changed the game totally, in the 80s i was manager of my clubs senior team, i got this idea to try manage our kick outs, i brought the 2 keepers and 2 midfielders in to the pitch, after 45 min work the club chairman came over , said it was a stupid thing to do and told them to go home, and me being young and insecure, i abandoned the idea, plus we were only ever allowed to have one football and time i ever asked for more i was told u only play with one its enough for ye,

Stmunnsriver (Wexford) - Posts: 2842 - 23/06/2017 17:24:30    2004116

A thread best left until he's retired at least.

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8592 - 23/06/2017 17:28:32    2004117

Johnny Geraghty of Galway. Goalkeeper on 3 in a row Galway team of 1964/65/66.
Difficult to compare head to head with Cluxton, as goalkeeper's role has changed, but Geraghty was very good.

Rockies (Cork) - Posts: 947 - 23/06/2017 17:53:22    2004121

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 23/06/2017 22:29:24    2004192

He's a great keeper but he's no Eugene Lavin. I'll leave it at that!

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7346 - 23/06/2017 22:50:14    2004204

At what traditionally people looked for in a goal keeper he is an OK shot stopper and not particularly commanding under the high ball. For kick out strategy he is by far the best, his kicks are very accurate and he has the quickness of thought to go for the right man. He (and the outfield Dublin players making runs for the kick outs) were the first to bring this into the game so he revolutionised the game (prior to this it was just kick the ball as far as possible). Hard to compare this with goal keepers from years ago as without kicking tees they could never have possibly done kick outs nearly as accurate even if they wanted too.

bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1352 - 24/06/2017 13:45:14    2004289

It is unusual for a keeper to command the plaudits that are regularly heaped on Cluxton by other players and ex-players citing his importance to Dublin and his influence on big games, these kind of comments are usually reserved for top-class forwards or maybe an outstanding mid-fielder. He is unorthodox, no doubt, but the way he commands the defence and directs the game from his goal area, is second to none, best goalkeeper in the traditional sense , don't know, best player to wear the No.1 jersey, definitely.

sligo joe (Dublin) - Posts: 684 - 24/06/2017 15:07:18    2004309

What will the clux do when the GAA change the rule where kickouts will have to go beyond the 45?

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 24/06/2017 15:57:44    2004322

Dear Dubs, why is he not being utilised for frees anymore? Slower legs to get back? Rock more accurate?

Morty (Westmeath) - Posts: 209 - 24/06/2017 16:16:25    2004327

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8592 - 24/06/2017 18:12:42    2004374

It wouldn't be a normal month on HS if Liam didn't start a thread about Cluxton ;)


Look, O'Leary said it himself - the game changed, Cluxton just changed with it. They were getting beaten by the Westmeaths of this world and getting cleaned out by Padraic Clancy of Laois regularly. They also fell short against Armagh and Tyrone when those 2 started using a blanket defence, so the only alternative was to use short kick-outs and build from the back.
It took another few seasons for Dublin to unearth players good enough to play that running game from back to front, but when they did, all of a sudden the best way to beat Dublin was to prevent these players from getting easy possession (if you were a good team) or to pack your defence (if you didn't fancy pushing up). When teams sit back (which all but Mayo and Kerry do) then Cluxton plays it to the unmarked corner back - nothing special there, although he is quick at restarting. When Mayo or Kerry push up, he goes long. This has had mixed results. Fenton and Kilkenney made some outrageous catches in last years final replay which made the kickouts look better than they were - look at Kilkenney's in the 2nd half in particular, he was actually double marked so in truth it was a poor kick. Against Kerry, it has worked well over the past few years as Kerry's legs have given up with 10mins to go. This year's league final was a different story and David Moran in particular ate Cluxtons kickouts for dinner, costing Dublin the game.

In terms of shot stopping and commanding high balls, as said in most posts above, there are many better keepers.

cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5012 - 24/06/2017 18:36:14    2004386

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7346 - 24/06/2017 18:50:16    2004392

gormdubhgorm (Dublin) - Posts: 990 - 24/06/2017 19:39:49    2004407

Arguably the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the GAA.
But one of the worst at the speeches!

He came a long way from getting sent off against Armagh over ten years ago and costing the win.

Cluxton must have really worked damn hard at this game to get where he is now.
He is prone to the occasional error these days. But he is still crucial to Dublin

When he goes it will be the beginning of the end of Dublin's dominance.

gormdubhgorm (Dublin) - Posts: 990 - 24/06/2017 19:47:32    2004414

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8592 - 24/06/2017 19:56:59    2004419

BaldyBadger (Cork) - Posts: 311 - 24/06/2017 20:26:52    2004437

Laois76 (Laois) - Posts: 1270 - 24/06/2017 22:45:01    2004541

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 24/06/2017 23:06:41    2004559

Great player,the most influential keeper of all time who changed the game.

Great kick-outs and command of his area and a very good shot stopper, his reading of the game is great where he regularly over the years prevented goal chances from developing due to him moving off his line and closing of the goalscoring angle.He went about 10 years without any major errors in the championship and although he's declined in the last few years but for the ten years up to 2013 he was impeccable.

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) - Posts: 1296 - 24/06/2017 23:10:15    2004561