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Wexford Intercounty Hurling 2023

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Replying To Yellow:  "Please spare us all the 96 lads need to come in and rescue us *****.

Not a single good manager came from that group bar Liam Dunne who proved himself to be a terrible man manager

We need a Wexford manager who cares about the county - not a Tipp man or a Clare man who only care about fleecing the coffers and making themselves rich and improving their CV.

When Davy left - 5 years of coaching expertise left with him - same now with Egan

And lads who are criticising each other for being critical of a team who lost a 17 point lead against Westmeath need their head examined.

It was a shameful result from a decent crop of talented players. The worst in the history of Wexford hurling.

If your gonna play that badly then you can expect criticism- if you can't handle that then you shouldn't be playing sport.

Egan out ASAP"
Agree fully nobody from the 96 team should be the next manager none of them have proved themselves good enough. We need to move on from 96 its heading on 30 years ago now. I hear the chairman on the radio calling on 18k people to come to the park this weekend. There will be 4 or 5k max there people have had enough. I know myself yesterday I left the park totally deflated

Afinestick (Wexford) - Posts: 999 - 22/05/2023 10:47:19    2480374

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Replying To Viking66:  "What rubbish? That we don't have the players to play a long game? We seem to have a keeper who isn't confident to puck it out short? Or a manager that's instructing him to puck it out long the whole time to lads who repeatedly aren't winning it like Jacko yesterday? Or playing 2 other lads in the half forwards and barely hitting a ball towards them for some reason, possibly injury in which case why are they starting at all ? Or how we don't have the players to play 15 on 15 when we gave ourselves a 16 point headstart and weren't able to beat them 15 on 15 in a half of hurling? Am I wrong in saying any of that?"
Not one players name mentioned or singled out yet you cant resist getting a dig at jacko. You have spent months trying to convince people that he aint good enough to start ahead of lads who shouldnt be anywhere near the panel. I didnt make the match myself but i was told we were septic from midfield back. How did your young lad get on?

Waltermitty2 (Wexford) - Posts: 272 - 22/05/2023 10:50:30    2480377

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We've become hurling's version of Tottenham which says it all really.

TerribleFootwork (Wexford) - Posts: 1760 - 22/05/2023 10:53:53    2480379

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Replying To tearintom:  "And there it is, the final piece of the jigsaw, the last reflex action, we have the "Wexford way" and the "drive it long in to the big men in the full forward line" and lastly, "let's go back to 96"!!!

Sweet Jesus it's obsessing about the past rather than the opposite that has us in this mess to begin with."
If they mixed their game plan to include high balls "into the big men" and practiced it in training, our backs and goalkeepers might have been better able to deal with the "high balls". Our inability to effectively deal with "high balls" landing around our square had been the cause of so many losses in the last few years. Brian Cody's mantra that "a backs first job is to defend" still applies.

Joe1 (Kildare) - Posts: 52 - 22/05/2023 10:55:37    2480381

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Sheedy seems to think ye're grand lads, just some of yere defending wasn't 'Wexford defending' that's all, nothing to worry about. According to Sheedy, Galway are the team with the problems, just not consistent since 2012 etc, which wan will show up, and all that bla bla.

Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 4263 - 22/05/2023 11:01:40    2480385

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Replying To Waltermitty2:  "Not one players name mentioned or singled out yet you cant resist getting a dig at jacko. You have spent months trying to convince people that he aint good enough to start ahead of lads who shouldnt be anywhere near the panel. I didnt make the match myself but i was told we were septic from midfield back. How did your young lad get on?"
Jacko didn't play as badly overall as some of the more experienced lads so I'm sorry if that post sounded like a dig at him. He was poor earlier in the season and didn't seem to be trying which is why I was critical of him back then. It was a dig at management for repeatedly pucking the ball out to him when he wasn't winning it. Why have we no short game to speak of any more?

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 16416 - 22/05/2023 11:01:49    2480386

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Replying To TerribleFootwork:  "We've become hurling's version of Tottenham which says it all really."
As a Tottenham fan, I concur.
Sorry, but I was saying on here months ago that this did not look good, the display v Clare in the league was the worst I ever saw yet I was called negative and so on that we were trying new things.
It is a big call, do you hit the pan-pan today or let them see it out to the bitter but maybe disastrous end?

ExiledInWex (Dublin) - Posts: 1405 - 22/05/2023 11:05:05    2480388

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Players downed tools in the second half. Simple as that. Work rate non existent from an experienced group of players. The fact we couldn't beat a team beaten by I think 22,12,34 points in their previous 3 games sums up where we are at.

HurlingBuzz (Wexford) - Posts: 554 - 22/05/2023 11:07:34    2480391

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If we're focusing on under-age, I think we're better off focusing on U20 results and not Minor. Galway win the All-Ireland Minor every second year yet have only won one Senior All-Ireland in the last 30 years. On the flip side, Clare got their backsides handed to them at Minor level by Cork in 2021 yet went very close to them last week at U20.

I think it makes sense to use Kilkenny as a barometer at U20. I'm not saying they've been wonderful but they still generally are one of the better teams in the country consistently.

2010: Wexford lose to Dublin AET in Leinster Final; probably at least as good as KK that year
2011: Beat KK in LQF, lose by 10 to Dublin in LF
2012: Lose heavily to a very good KK side in LSF; a decent few Wexford hurlers did end up coming from that side though
2013: Beat KK in LF
2014: Beat KK easily in LQF; win Leinster
2015: Beat KK heavily in LF
2016: Lose to Dublin in LQF but a lot of good players end up coming from this side
2017: Lose heavily to KK in the LF, only Cathal Dunbar emerged from the 1996s
2018: Lose to Galway by a point in the LF; probably around KK's level; had they had U21 the following year, I think we'd likely have won Leinster
2019: Lose to KK by 2 points in the LF; quite a poor crop though
2020: Lose by 8 points to Dublin in the LQF; quite a poor side again
2021: Lose to Kildare in the LPQF; very poor crop
2022: Lose to KK by a point in the LF; KK win the AI
2023: Lose to Offaly by 2 points in the LF; beat Kilkenny in the LSF

I accept that the above is not All-Ireland winning form but 2019-2021 aside, it should still be good enough to be relatively competitive with KK at Senior level IMO. Could we do better at underage level? Absolutely. Are our underage crops dire? Not really (Barring our current 22yos, 23yos, and 24yos).

I don't want to be here taking a deliberately rosy-eyed view of proceedings and I understand that people are very angry right now. But I don't think everything is quite as bad as some make it out to be. Under-age processes take time to implement and moreover, they take time to bear fruit. We won't really know how good/bad our U14s are until they are U20 in all honesty

ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 585 - 22/05/2023 11:08:30    2480392

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Replying To hunting:  "I know it's sore tonight lads, but we have to park it for the moment and turn out in big numbers next Sunday,I know the management dont deserve the support and maybe some of the players mighn't either giving their performance of late, but this game goes beyond all that. it's the biggest game in wexford's long proud hurling history, lose and we are gone from the leinster championship next year(Antrim will beat Westmeath). Believe me, I know how genuine Wexford fans feel tonight, I been going to wexford game sense my dad brought me at 5 years old and there has been far more downs then ups but that second half today was the lowest of the low."
Totally concur with this, the jersey was let down yesterday, the repair work needs to start at 2pm next Sunday.

TerribleFootwork (Wexford) - Posts: 1760 - 22/05/2023 11:09:16    2480396

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Travelled to the game yesterday expecting a statement and boy did we get a statement!

Even though we led easily at HT, the team did not play especially well and it looked like they were expecting it to happen. Panic spread in the last ten minutes and let`s be honest there were some very strange decisions with a free count of 22-8!
Having said that we got ourselves into the mess and something is broken with players very low on confidence.

wexfordwin (Wexford) - Posts: 191 - 22/05/2023 11:11:56    2480401

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Replying To Waltermitty2:  "Not one players name mentioned or singled out yet you cant resist getting a dig at jacko. You have spent months trying to convince people that he aint good enough to start ahead of lads who shouldnt be anywhere near the panel. I didnt make the match myself but i was told we were septic from midfield back. How did your young lad get on?"
He's not my young lad but I do know he's very disappointed although I wasn't talking to him. As far as the game went he did OK for what was his first ever championship start. He followed his managers instructions and wasn't responsible for many of their scores, bar one point where he batted the ball as per instruction and a Westmeath man stuck it over the bar. But from going to all the games this year that's what Egan has been telling them to do he must've shouted to the players to get it to ground hundreds of times in the games I was at this year, not sure why he won't let lads catch the ball. He scored a point, his ground hurling was good as usual, he played one ball straight into Rorys hand off the ground which was fairly impressive in this day and age. He got on ball and made some good runs, although not all were spotted by his team mates.
Jackos sidelines were excellent he has some skill for a big man, and I couldn't fault him for effort this time.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 16416 - 22/05/2023 11:17:16    2480403

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Did you guys go to the pub at half time instead of full time ???

sponger (Wicklow) - Posts: 2953 - 22/05/2023 11:22:57    2480410

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Replying To ExiledInWex:  "As a Tottenham fan, I concur.
Sorry, but I was saying on here months ago that this did not look good, the display v Clare in the league was the worst I ever saw yet I was called negative and so on that we were trying new things.
It is a big call, do you hit the pan-pan today or let them see it out to the bitter but maybe disastrous end?"
There was a collective and unacceptable downing of tools in the 2nd half yesterday, they need to man up this week and start the repair work of the mess they've caused, yesterday had nothing to do county boards, historic underage set ups etc. in my opinion, they just paid the ultimate price for a rotten attitude in the 2nd half.

TerribleFootwork (Wexford) - Posts: 1760 - 22/05/2023 11:28:28    2480413

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Replying To HurlingBuzz:  "Players downed tools in the second half. Simple as that. Work rate non existent from an experienced group of players. The fact we couldn't beat a team beaten by I think 22,12,34 points in their previous 3 games sums up where we are at."
Jackie Tyrrell certainly didn't hold back on the senior players, "spineless". Pity some influential types in Wexford GAA didn't do likewise, even go back to the league semi final defeat to Waterford last year. A similar down tools effort. The league game v Clare this year, the experienced players let the inexperienced ones take the heat. I can't see KK ever doing something like that but if they did their ex players and supporters just wouldn't tolerate it. Yesterday obviously the all time low but the second half v Antrim reeked of arrogance and laziness too if we are honest. Complete lack on field leadership, same as when we blew it v Tipp in 2019.

Darragh Egan seems a very nice guy, by all accounts has done a super job with his club and was very well regarded by an AI winning Tipp setup. But in any other sport (or county), yesterday would have been his last day at the helm and still should be. I was in favour of dispensing with her services earlier in the season as I could just sense something wasn't right. But he's a long way from the only problem in Wexford hurling. I'd give Rossiter the game v KK and see if he can get a reaction out of them.

Timbertony (Wexford) - Posts: 430 - 22/05/2023 11:47:37    2480426

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For what it's worth I'd give Rossi the job next year, if Wexford hurling is to rebuild over the 2-3 years I think it will have to be based around the 2022/23 u20 teams.

TerribleFootwork (Wexford) - Posts: 1760 - 22/05/2023 11:51:56    2480427

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Replying To TerribleFootwork:  "There was a collective and unacceptable downing of tools in the 2nd half yesterday, they need to man up this week and start the repair work of the mess they've caused, yesterday had nothing to do county boards, historic underage set ups etc. in my opinion, they just paid the ultimate price for a rotten attitude in the 2nd half."
Some lads have posted on this that players will be walking away from the panel if we get relegated. If they do so after the performance in that 2nd half they will lose all respect they ever had in the county.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 16416 - 22/05/2023 11:53:48    2480430

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Well I didn't expect that. We'd a family event yesterday so I didn't get to the game or indeed to even a score update until we came out, turned on the radio and heard a devastated Tom Dempsey trying to process what had just happened while Spratt needled him. This has been truly an Annus Horribilis, my wife (not from Wexford) even said how far we'd fallen from the high of a full Wexford Park in January and how the wheels have fallen off since. We now face humiliation being heaped upon us with the prospect of relegation of Joe McDonagh. This from a team that won Leinster and was within a whisker of an All Ireland final appearance in 2019 and how should have made an All IReland Semi Final LAST YEAR. To lose was awful but to lose from a position of total dominance (17 points up at the peak) is baffling, fair play Westmeath BUT we threw this one away.

In general I'm a solutions not blame orientated person BUT you have to start with honesty, with yourself and others. The numbers don't lie, we are underperforming on too many levels and then expecting that somehow we can over perform at intercounty senior and it feels like the chickens are coming home to roost now. I said it here last week that the atmosphere around the team and Wexford hurling in general had turned toxic, well it's now positively radioactive. The Sunday Game spoke about hurling being a game of momentum and we saw this yesterday again but the wider momentum is now pushing back against Wexford hurling, it feels like decline is inevitable but its not, it's a perception. I'm slow to heap blame on players in particular especially given concerns about mental health BUT the players have to accept their share of blame, management may bear ultimate responsibility but as elite players, many with significant experience they can't avoid criticism. I'm not sure where excuse making stops and reasons start but we have had a perfect storm this year - injuries, shipping big beatings and this has obviously taken a huge mental toll on this team, this can't be dismissed and we supporters can't pretend we haven't played a role in shaping this too, so do clubs and the county executive.

Sunday against Kilkenny is as was said above, the single biggest and most important game Wexford have played since 1 Sept 1996, arguably it's even more important. Morale is sub zero, the pressure will be crushing, the atmospheres in the run up toxic, it simply the worst set up imaginable and yet they HAVE to win. The lads dug this hole and have a responsibility to themselves, to the jersey, to the supporters to dig deep and eek out a win. I'll be there Sunday to play my part shouting them on. Its last ditch, backs to the wall, showing what you are made of stuff now - for the team and the county. One game to define a career. Yes it is suffocating and you wouldn't wish it on anyone but that's where we are now. Do we follow the script that looks to have us relegated or tear it up?

BTW I've seen talk of retirements if they go down to Joe McDonagh, feck that, these lads have a responsibility to pull us back up if the worst happens.

Off the pitch we have to ask how come we still do not have a best in class development structures? The model county how are you! If we don't use this crisis to drive change then we deserve our fate as painful as that may. Mediocrity can no long be tolerated.

wexford2012 (Wexford) - Posts: 119 - 22/05/2023 11:57:28    2480431

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Replying To Yellow:  "Please spare us all the 96 lads need to come in and rescue us *****.

Not a single good manager came from that group bar Liam Dunne who proved himself to be a terrible man manager

We need a Wexford manager who cares about the county - not a Tipp man or a Clare man who only care about fleecing the coffers and making themselves rich and improving their CV.

When Davy left - 5 years of coaching expertise left with him - same now with Egan

And lads who are criticising each other for being critical of a team who lost a 17 point lead against Westmeath need their head examined.

It was a shameful result from a decent crop of talented players. The worst in the history of Wexford hurling.

If your gonna play that badly then you can expect criticism- if you can't handle that then you shouldn't be playing sport.

Egan out ASAP"
Liam Dunne was good enough to take over from Colm Bonnor after another Tipp man had left us in some mess. Nobody wanted to take over the team .
Liam had to build a new team and had to be pretty good at man management with the team he handed over to Davy.
Davy blamed the players after he made a total cock up on the line v Tipp 2019, Fantastic man management from him.Our lads have been flogged for 7 years now playing a Sweeper system. Total Joke . Two Munster Managers and sometime be careful what you wish for . Darrage Egan will take a heavy fall now and the great Davy walked away after leaving our team on its knees .

castletownman (Wexford) - Posts: 262 - 22/05/2023 12:02:58    2480433

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Replying To Wexpurebred:  "A 96 management team needs to brought in at this stage. Weford hurling is losing its momentum. The game may have changed since then but pride and passion will always be there and that is the ingredient this team needs now i am sure the players are completely fed up with outside managers who dont bring the real pride and passion an intercounty team needs.All the big munster teams have all there own county men in charge. Look at the job brian lohan is doing with clare and he was an early nineties hurler. That is a truely ridiculous statement by you that the game has changed. I hope the westmeath lads go easy on you today. !!"
Others here can comment but the inclusion of the men from 96 on management teams has not paid dividends. From memory weren't Tom Dempsey and maybe Martin Storey over a good Minor team that somehow lost v 13 players one day in Croke Park? Could be wrong there but I remember Tom joking about it years later

We aren't going to be competitive for next few years so there's no point spending huge money on outside management teams or pre season trips to Portugal. Start with someone like Joe Fortune who might be a bit excitable but has lots of experience and will give it his all. Give him the authority to get some overrated egos off the panel, which he won't shy away from, and let's go back to basics and restoring pride in the jersey starting with the first league game. Spend big on outside coaches at underage level if we need it to improve standards, that's what Limerick did.

Timbertony (Wexford) - Posts: 430 - 22/05/2023 12:04:39    2480435

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