Dublin must keep Stephen Cluxton in set-up, says Paul Bealin

Even if it is Evan Comerford in goal, Bealin doesn’t anticipate Dublin will have to redraft their kick-out strategy

Stephen Cluxton: Football’s greatest keeper can have a huge role if he steps into coaching. Picture: INPHO/Tommy Dickson

Stephen Cluxton’s former club manager Paul Bealin says the goalkeeping great must be retained in the camp should he not be available this weekend or has decided to bring an end to his inter-county career.

The 1995 All-Ireland SFC winner learned in his two years in charge of Cluxton’s Parnells that second guessing the legendary custodian is a fool’s errand so he won’t suggest he knows the plans of the 39-year-old.

However, he would like to see the seven-time All-Ireland winning captain retained in a coaching or advisory role if he is not ready this weekend or last December’s win over Mayo, his 111th SFC game for Dublin, was his last in the blue and navy.

The uncertainty surrounding his future has been more of a talking point than Sunday’s Leinster SFC quarter-final against Wexford. Bealin knows Cluxton won’t want to be a hindrance for the group.

“He’s his own man, he’s his own mind. I managed him in dressing rooms and he’s a great guy to have around the dressing room so if he’s not starting to have him around the camp will be very important.

“What Dublin don’t want is a distraction and the topic to be all about Stephen Cluxton. We have moved away from that and I’m sure Dessie (Farrell) and Mick Galvin don’t necessarily want to be talking about Stephen Cluxton but everybody else is before this particular game.

“He’s one man you could never guess what he’s going to do. Stephen could easily retire and go off into the sunset and never chat to anyone again. Nothing would shock me. I don’t think he will want the big hurrah because he’s a very private person and very well admired and loved by Dublin players and supporters because he changed the game.

“It was even unheard of for goalkeepers to be coming out and kicking 45s, he kicked that wonderful score in 2011 and then almost every goalkeeper started doing it. If he was playing a club game last weekend then it’s hard to see him there on Sunday and in fairness to (Evan) Comerford he’s done extremely well. There is a time to change the guard but it’s not for me to say it should be now.”

Even if it is Comerford in goal, Bealin doesn’t anticipate Dublin will have to redraft their kick-out strategy. “They don’t always target Brian (Fenton) all the time.

“They’re very clever with the low trajectory ball with pace and they don’t hang around in taking them. They play it to the half-forward line too and you’ll see Con O’Callaghan coming out for it too.

“If you’re athletic enough and can move between the parallelograms easily then you’re a viable target for the kick-out and you can play a role in midfield alongside Brian.

“I don’t think you need another out-and-out midfielder alongside him. It would be nice to have that consistency but it’s not necessary. The way Dublin set up, I don’t think it’s a huge deal. Comerford has learned an awful lot from Cluxton and he gets the ball out sharp.”

Up to before the start of the league when work commitments meant he had to move to Brussels, Bealin’s son Jonathan had been part of Shane Roche’s panel so Wexford-based Bealin had an idea of just how much effort that players were putting in. With that in mind, he had fancied Wexford to surprise Wicklow last weekend.

As for what they can hope for against a team three divisions above them, Bealin says: “Wexford hadn’t won their first game in Leinster in three years, which is phenomenal really. They would have been thrilled with that win and it’s a huge weight off the manager’s shoulders.

“He’s done a great job under the circumstances, picking up the reins when Paul Galvin left last year and continuing on.

“Wicklow had a fantastic year to stay in Division 3 and they were in a good place but what Wexford did to them was huge. Their fitness levels are really good. They had put in a huge amount of work but I don’t think I would like to be playing the All-Ireland champions if I were a Wexford footballer.

“I hope there is a game of some description and that it is watchable and I mean that with respect because where Dublin and where Wexford are is poles apart.

“It’s a home game and Wexford are in bonus territory. They’re going to find it difficult and they’ve a couple of key injuries from the Wicklow game but they will have it all to do just to contain this Dublin team.”