With respect to all, that was an absolutely maddening display yesterday full of so many of the same inadequacies we have seen for years, but it is just one match.
Clare did very well last year after being beaten the first day out. Cork with mostly the same players recovered well from first day defeats in 2021 and 2022. We thumped Waterford the first day last year and didn't win another game. Also Waterford have some very good players who have won most of the prizes in the game including leagues and fitzgibbons and club all irelands and were probably considered to be Limerick's closest challengers for the period from 2020 to 2022 with much the same team. With them playing well, a very conservative and ultimately proven poor Cork team selection, a major misfire on the day and a couple of pivotal refereeing decisions that went against us (I see even Brian Gavin thought both calls against Cork players were a mistake) we lost a tight game by a narrow margin.
The management have to take responsibility for this loss and I've no doubt they will. They have their own achievements which are many and a broader (if not definitely deeper-we won't know that until it's tested) pool of talent to pick from than we've had for a long time. The time to pass judgment is the end of the season. I think lads calling for sackings and Davy Fitz (!!) and an uprising against the board should probably cool the jets for another month at least.
