Former Offaly All-Ireland winner Daithi Regan believes the loss of a fear factor has cost Clare in the last two years.
Davy Fitzgerald's side crashed out of the All-Ireland championship at the qualifier stage at the hands of Cork this weekend.
Daithi was on Off The Ball tonight alongside former Tipperary All-Star Eoin Kelly to look back on the weekend's hurling and the Offaly man scrutinised what is ailing 2013's All-Ireland champions.
"Unfortunately for Clare in the last couple of years, in successive run of defeats, even teams that aren't of the same quality don't fear them anymore. And great sides will bring that aura about them. Clare to me have a lost that, although I still believe they've the makings of a great side," he said, adding that manager Davy Fitzgerald deserves time to put things right.
Daithi and Eoin also gave their take on Tipperary's Munster final win over Waterford, with the former seeing positives for both sides when it comes to the rest of this championship.
But Daithi also had questions about Waterford, saying: "To win All-Ireland finals, you need a clinical forward line, who on a 50:50 can pick up a ball and put it over the bar. They had a lot of unpressured wides yesterday. Invariably the great teams that win All-Ireland finals have great forward lines. Waterford have a great system but it doesn't mean they have a great forward line."
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