Year in Review II - Fantasy Football It Was Not

Where to start? What tone to take? Depending on the stage of the year you asked me this, the response may have been different. For now I remain philosophical. With so much infighting gripping so many G.A.A. teams, we can draw hope from the fact that our squad of 30+ players departed Maastricht on the last day of the season disappointed but together. Here is my take on it...

Training
In terms of drills, we moved on a bit this year, creating more game-specific situations; one on ones and that kind of craic. Also, we added a few more conditioned games and focused alot more on these, especially towards the end of the year. Fitness wise, I tried the approach of 'running with the ball' but found the intensity drops in many of the drills due to poor handling. One thing i'd like to do better is have a more orderly structure to the training as a whole. I varied it alot this year to keep things fresh and also because there was no point in doing things in blocks because fellas weren't there consistently enough to get the benefit from it. We'll look to improve this next year but will also look to lads improving their attendance and concentration levels.

Challenge Games
We had three main events in this regard. Dubai provided the backdrop for the early season 'training camp'. It was a whistle stop tour, but had that trip of a lifetime feel to it. We travelled through the night but made every minute there count. On the football side, we beat Abu Dhabi and Clonmel to top our group but fell to a strong Dubai side in the semi-final. On a social side, we partied away the Sunday night and most were at their desks in Brussels on the Monday morning.

Next we welcomed Mitchells from Coventry and the famed Clare Island to our modest surroundings in Parc50. Victory on the day was especially sweet as Chairman Gill was in opposition. At the tail end of the year we took on Tir Chonnail Gaels in a match borne out of the creative thinking of Conan. The idea was to pit the 2008 European and British champions against eachother. We won, 1-20 to 2-16 in a real hum-dinger in the Parc. These games provided the highlights of the year and showed us that we can compete with lads who play more regularly.

Benelux Tournaments
There is a school of thought that said these are only a series of extravagant friendlies and we should keep the powder dry for the Pan-E Championship. I disagree though and feel that doing well in them is important in building things up during the year. We flopped and went out at the semi-final stage at each tournament. The most galling was in the final round when the referee got the scores wrong in the semi against Amsterdam and forced us into extra-time. We capitulated and were beaten. It was at this point of the season when I was most twisted up with frustration. We always had decent numbers at training but the 'A' players were conspicuous by their absence. The 'B's, who endured a difficult Benelux section, were proving the more enthusiastic bunch.

Pan-E Tournaments
This section saw some improvement as players started to become more available although not to the extent which I would have liked. We didn't qualify automatically for the Championship section and so had to apply to be allowed in. Before applying, I sent everyone an email telling them of the need to do this and highlighting the fact that we would need to increase the effort if we were to be competitive. If fellas replied and said they wanted to play Championship, it would imply they were going to give greater commitment.

I received some animated responses. Those who know me best appreciated the element of devilment and gave more thoughtful responses. Some attacked me sighting a 'loser mentality' and the like. This goaded me no end and the exchanges became a little hot. Crusher was the only one who said the A team should enter the Shield and his reasoning was simple, we didn't deserve to be in the Championship based on what went on this year. Of course, deep down I don't believe he meant this. Also, as long as I am in charge or still playing, we will always enter the Championship. Win or lose, a club of our size should always compete for the top prize and want to play at as high a level as possible. Amsterdam opted to go into The Shield even though they finished ahead of us in Benelux because they thought they could win it. However, they discovered that The Shield is minefield and their season deteriorated.

The responses mad a hard bed for lads to lie in and whilst there was some improvement afterwards, what was said in the emails was not always matched afterwards. This pissed me off no end. If a fella is straight up with me then that's ok but hiding or avoiding telling me something isn't on.

In Munich we qualified for the final and we would have led at a crucial stage had it not been for a missed penalty. Copenhagen saw us needing to beat Paris in gail force conditions to get to the final. They got some fortunate goals which gave us a mountain to climb. It still wrangles with me because we peppered their goal in the second half but fell just short. We were the better team that day. It was a different story in Rennes though. We faced them again in the final but on this occasion they had all the momentum and deservedly beat us. The final tournament in Maastricht was the highest standard we faced all year and we went out after losing to the Hague and Budapest. Whilst losing is always disappointing, they were good tough games and we weren't a million miles of the pace.

Comings and Goings
There were many. Gearoid Sayers and Micheal O'Flynn are as good, if not better than there is in European and they were massive losses. Others made fleeting visits but those who stayed were the likes of Ciaran Hudson, Dave Bourke, Johnny O, David Collins and Paul Quinn. Phil Cushen was a massive loss because he is a low maintenance, reliable and determined defender. He just gets on with it and needs little watching. We didn't see as much of Emmett as we would have liked but have no complaints. Naturally, his new baby girl, Ruby, would take more of his time. To his credit though, he travelled to the Pan-E tournaments, even if he needed a little extra pressure to go to Rennes!! Unfortunately, when there, he damaged his ankle and that finished his season. Who knows what our squad will look like next year but if we keep what we currently have, it will give us a good basis from which to attack.

The Killer B’s
Their formal formation was a big achievement this year. Conan, Johnny and Ruairi led a committed group who can be proud of their dedication in travelling around Europe and following a steep learning curve. Being the only B team is a major disadvantage as they will lack the handful of class players that every A team has. There will no doubt be some simmering annoyances with myself and Conan about how we handled selection and the like but by and large fellas understood the difficulties we also faced. The improvement in play was visible during the year and now the challenge is to continue that into 2010.

Final Comment
I found this year very frustrating for many of the reasons outlined above. In addition, I had to deal with a mystery throat problem as well as ankle and back problems right up until the Rennes tournament. Against the back-drop of the training ground irritations, it made it very demoralising. Over a pint in The Hairy, Olof confirmed what I knew already; that my mood and the enjoyment fellas will get from training, are heavily linked. It is unlikely I will change so to remedy this, I would urge fellas to have a think about what they need to do!!! Of course, I might tinker with a few things too!!

In the end, I loosended the grip and was less demanding in terms of the little things. I handed over the warm-ups, mostly to Olof, to bring a fresh voice to training. However, by not chasing fellas to the same extent, you see their standards drop and whilst in most cases they don't recognise it, it all matters. In the end, my perspective changed slightly and I focused more on the enjoyment I wanted to get out of it. It worked and the last two months were some of the most enjoyable trainings and I felt it in how I played in Rennes and Maastricht too. The hunger started to come back and the legs started to move again.
Already, I'm thinking of next year and how to improve things. If someone else were to put their hand up and say they wanted to take over than I wouldn't take it to heart. It's not ideal to be training the lads you play with and drink with. I'm still up for it though and the challenge we face now is enticing. If we can get lads in the right frame of mind next year and understanding how they can best contribute to the team then we'll be in good shape.