Brian Lohan’s Clare: A Tactical Breakdown

Brian Lohan doesn’t do press conferences the way some managers do. No grand speeches. No mind games. Short answers, steady gaze, back to work. His Clare team plays the same way. They don’t dazzle you. They grind you. And when you look up at the scoreboard with ten minutes left, you’re somehow eight points down wondering where it went wrong.

Four wins from four in Division 1B. An All-Ireland title in 2024. A brutal 2025. And now a squad rebuild that’s working faster than anyone expected. That track record demands a closer look at how Lohan sets up his teams.

The System: Short Puck-Outs, Patient Build-Up

Watch any Clare game from the last three seasons and you’ll see the same structure. Goalkeeper (Eibhear Quilligan or his replacement) goes short to the half-back line. The ball moves through two or three pairs of hands. A runner breaks from the half-forward line at pace. The pass hits them in stride.

It looks simple. It is not simple.

Against Kildare on a rain-soaked night in Newbridge, most teams would have abandoned short restarts. The pitch was heavy, the sliotar was greasy, and Kildare were pressing aggressively on Clare’s puck-outs. Lohan didn’t blink. Short restarts continued. Clare conceded three goals – all from Kildare turnovers forced by their press – and still won by five points.

That’s coaching conviction. It’s also the reason Clare don’t panic when things go wrong. The system is the system. Trust it.

📊 Key Stat: Clare have outscored opponents by an average of 0-6 in the final fifteen minutes across four games. No other Division 1B team has a positive scoring difference in the closing quarter. (Source: RTÉ Sport)

Defence: Aggressive but Disciplined

Lohan was one of the greatest full-backs in hurling history. His defensive setup reflects that. Clare don’t sit deep and absorb pressure – they push their half-back line high and force turnovers in the opposition half.

The three goals Kildare scored all came from breaking Clare’s press. That’s the trade-off. When you push up, you leave space behind. But the maths works in Lohan’s favour: teams that try to counter-attack against Clare’s press score goals occasionally, but they get far fewer scoring opportunities overall. Down managed 0-15 in Round 3. That’s what usually happens.

The full-back line – whoever fills it – plays a tight, physical game. No passengers. If you’re on the Clare panel and you don’t tackle, you don’t play. Lohan’s teams are built from the back.

The contrast with 2025 is telling. Clare conceded 2-27 to Limerick in last year’s Munster Championship. This year’s defensive record – an average of 19 points conceded per game in the league – suggests Lohan has tightened things considerably.

Attack: Five Different Scorers Every Game

Here’s what separates Clare from a lot of hurling teams: they don’t depend on one free-taker to put up the numbers. Against Carlow in the 2025 championship, Clooney-Quin relied on Peter Duggan for nine of their twelve points. Clare’s Éire Óg side, by contrast, had five scorers in the final.

The inter-county team mirrors that. Shane O’Donnell, David Reidy, Tony Kelly (when fit), Danny Russell at club level – the Banner spread the scoring load. That makes them harder to plan for. You can’t just man-mark one player and shut Clare down.

The six new panelists add another dimension. Lohan has used them off the bench to inject pace in the final quarter – exactly the period where Clare have been most dominant this season.

The Question Mark: Championship Intensity

Every tactical system works until it meets an opponent good enough to disrupt it. Limerick spent four years exposing the weaknesses of every team they faced. Cork found a way past them in 2024. Tipperary won the All-Ireland in 2025 by adapting mid-game.

Clare’s system was brilliant in 2024. It fell apart in 2025. The difference wasn’t tactical – it was physical. Injuries, fatigue, and the loss of key players meant the system couldn’t execute at the required intensity.

Lohan’s job this spring is to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen again. The league is a proving ground. The Munster Championship is the exam. If the system holds against Limerick in May, Clare are genuine All-Ireland contenders. If it breaks – as it did last summer – the 13/2 odds start to look about right.