How Cluxton turned a Kerry bull into Messi
WHATEVER else, don’t ever think that Stephen Cluxton is unable to find his voice when the need arises. He has the persuasive ability to be the kind of coach to tease talent out of the most barren ground and, given recent events, it is a road he is now free to go down.
Indeed, he once turned Darragh into Lionel Messi.
It was an International Rules test in Croke Park and as Darragh chased a ball down the Hogan Stand sideline, he was tracked hard by Barry Hall, the 6ft 5in AFL star with a background in boxing.
Instead of stooping to pick up the ball, Darragh – whose first touch in soccer was usually as destructive as a bull let loose in a china shop – back-heeled it in an instinctive act that was more about self-preservation than exhibiting his skillset.
‘Was I f**k going down on it, I would have ended up in the stand alongside the boys who had paid to get in,’ he explained afterwards. And Cluxton’s role in all this? Early in the game, the Dublin goalkeeper had clashed with Hall but the latter’s opportunity to exact further physical retribution was limited by the Dubliner’s position and whatever else Hall could sell himself as, a goal-sniffing inside forward was not one of them.
Instead, Darragh had the pleasure of his company but every ime they got within ear-shot, Cluxton would go off on one.
‘Hall, you big useless baldy f**ker,’ he would roar, and each time Hall would replyby hitting Darragh an elbow into the ribs.
Darragh, realising that negotiations with Hall were pointless, pleaded with the source of the trouble at half-time.
‘Clucko, will you shut the f**k up or you will get me killed,’ he said.
And the mischievous glint in Cluxton’s smiling eyes, Darragh reckoned, was those of a man who had already posted the Mass card.
Right now, though, the prayers that are being offered up by Dublin supporters is for the career of the greatest goalkeeper of all time and the most influential figure in Gaelic football over the last half century.
I get why people think this is a rather messy way for such a stellar
career to end, even though it was never going wind up any other way.
Cluxton is simply not the retiring type; certainly not in the way that we have come to understand it with the press release posted on social media.
He could, however, have allowed others to convey the message that he was finished. Because in not doing so, he has left the team he led so magnificently in an uncomfortable place.
It is not so much that Dessie Farrell is in the dark over Cluxton’s
intentions but the very public uncertainty has become a burden.
I remember one year when Tom O’Sullivan ducked for cover during the Allianz League, Jack O’Connor let him know that if he was not back by the first week in April he could stay away.
The following week, you could not see the road from Rathmore to Killarney with the dust rising.
That explains why there is no open door in the Dublin camp despite Farrell’s public pronouncements last weekend
There are new players on the Dublin team, most notably cornerback Seán McMahon, who need to build a relationship with their goalkeeper and that man is now Evan Comerford.
The problem with the public uncertainty over Cluxton is that it becomes tiresome for those within the Dublin camp. As much as we missed his presence in the summer of 2008, the most damaging aspect of Paul Galvin’s suspension was that we could not budge without being asked on the street about it. Will he get off? Will he back? Will he walk away?
DUBLIN players will now face such intense questioning in the coming weeks. The public will feel the players have an insight into an issue that should have been long put to bed. In a game of supposed inches, you would be surprised how much these issues can set a team back.
Anyhow, no matter what way you seek to dress this up, his absence is a huge blow for the champions and, for the first time in seven years, we can declare with some confidence that they have been brought back closer to the pack.
That is not a slight on Comerford, he is a fine goalkeeper but he has impossibly big boots to fill.
We spent hours in team meetings analysing Cluxton’s kick-outs and I believe we made a better job of it than most – but to no avail.
In the 2006 semi-final, we really thought we had him rattled with a full-court press on dead ball plays which gifted us two goals before half-time. However, he emerged in the second half unfazed and kicked right through us.
It was often said that Tiger Woods’ great strength was his capacity to park a bad shot or a bad hole. Outside of his exquisite skills as a goalkeeper and a kicker off the tee, the same can be said of Cluxton whose mental strength was simply on a different level.
It also makes him irreplaceable and that may not become evident until it is too late.
Comerford is getting Championship experience under his belt but neither Meath, Kildare nor Westmeath have the ability to truly test his nerve, in a way that Kerry, Donegal, Mayo or Galway can.
And his test will come the day he makes that first mistake, when the opposition press even harder knowing they are no longer facing Cluxton.
Make no mistake, he is not coming back.
But Dublin are.
‘CLUCKO, WILL YOU SHUT
THE **** UP OR YOU’LL GET ME KILLED’