Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kingdom
My own take on Donaghy is that he offers nothing positive, and plenty of negatives, while detracting from the teams performance. He's the proverbial elephant in the room. While pointing to your own social media pages are never a good indicator, if I was to image my Fb updates and tweets on the days of Kerry games for the past 2 years then it would display the disgust I have for him and his antics for the past while, along with being selected. He is immobile, and doesn't appear capable of winning his own ball anymore. He is not inter-county standard at midfield either.
The punch, let's call it what it was, on the Clare player - a much smaller player too - was unforgiveable, low and cheap. Part of me hopes the ccc take a look at it, and decide to ban him, because it removes one of the problems for Kerry.
In fairness if he's been riling you up can you imagine what he's been doing to the rest of us?
I got banned on boards for 2 days on Sunday for calling him a scumbag after the punch. And whilst I should have used less flowery language, I don't think scumbag is beyond reproach in this instance. I mean come on. How about thug?
I only got to see the match live from about the 20th min (the punch happened on 17) as I was out with the missus, but I was keeping abreast with boards and RTE text commentary. And then of course I went looking for the video of the incident as everyone on boards was going mad about it.
RTE had NOTHING to say about it. Absolutely nothing. It's these things that (what are brought up further down your post) lead the rest of us to believe there's a conspiracy or some sort of "ah sure it's Kerry" and on it goes.
My natural distaste (cos ya know, I'm a Dub) for the Kerry team has evolved into this almighty hatred since around 2009. And it's usually as a result of one man. Game after game he's defended for stuff like this and game after game he gets away with it. "Poor oul Star"
Like I said, if it Philly McMahon or Neil McGee that threw the punch it would have been headline news but as it was a Kerry player there was nothing. Even in the reviews of the game it was all talk about.
In the studio O'Rourke brought it up ever so briefly only for Brolly and Lyster to change the subject about how Kerry were "bored" out there.
As of today nothing mentioned in The Irish Times!
Quote:
I think it also is high-time to start questioning Eamon Fitz. He definitely started off well, his coaching at colleges level is apparently legendary, and he has racked up an All-Ireland already. However, and it's a big however, he just doesn't look to believe in an alternative to the plan that he has in place at the moment. There has long been a worry that senior club football in the county is in a bad place and has been for a long time.
In my post before I posted it I called Fitz a spoofer. But I thought that it might come across as tempestuous.
But tbh I can't see how he couldn't be construed as such.
He manged to bag an AI with a fairly average team after resorting to hit and hope against a naive Mayo side and a handy ref in the SF. You would have thought at that point he would have said to the likes of Donaghy, O'Mahony and Cooper etc. Good luck and thanks. And then with that done set about blooding younger players that haven't really gotten a chance.
With that AI in the bag he had time to establish a new squad and a new ethos and draw a line under that other era of players. Instead as you said you have this mish mash of styles abilities and fitness and he's, for whatever reason, persisting with it.
Quote:
I never go in for (in GAA) the talk of "how many players would play on the Dublin team?" because it's not clever, and different counties do have different styles and traditions (something McGuiness spoke well about for once). But the Kerry squad is a worry.
[...]
Part of me looks at Fionn and thinks he'd be excellent in a system Dublin employ, but it's counter-productive to do that. It's a huge worry that Marc Sé and Aidan Mahony are still go-to-guys, particularly when there is more exposure for weaker clubs in the Kerry Championships than ever before.
[...]
I track it all back to when Ger Brennan literally stopped Declan O'Sullivan in his tracks. That was the turning point in the Kerry-Dublin relationship.
It's a fun thing to do though. I think that the prospects of the younger players as you've mentioned have been hampered by who's around them.
I also like that you hate Kealy as much as I do. Well hate is too strong, I love seeing him in goal, but it kills me he has an AI medal.
Quote:
I'm no sports psychologist (obviously) but I think that the managers and the squads themselves do work in funny ways. Look at Dublin now.
[...]
*The reverse is true for Kerry. There is always a mindset about Down that has transcended generations. There is the hang-ups with Tyrone (which there isn't with Armagh)
You're onto something there alright. It's funny, Kerry were a nothing team when I was growing up, like Brazil, and dining out on their glorious past... then 1997 happened.
The Down hang up is gas. As was the Tyrone one. Which despite the victory last year I don't think is gone.
----------------------
Quote:
Bonnie, on a fair level, what do you call the big 5? Dublin, Tyrone, Mayo, Monaghan, Donegal? Mayo beaten by Galway, who in turn were beaten by Tipp, who were in turn beaten by Kerry (although you could argue they were beaten by the occasion)?
The big 5 I was referring to are Tyrone, Mayo, Dublin, Donegal and Kerry. Until Monaghan get to AISFs consistently (or at all then they'll stay with the "rest")
Quote:
Kerry will not win an All-Ireland this year, nor were they ever. The win two years ago was very much a bonus All-Ireland, because the young players that won the All-Ireland down in Limerick in the replay, have either not kicked on, or just had an exceptional 6 weeks of football for ordinary players.
As I said above they weren't allowed kick on.
Quote:
Maybe I'm insulated from it, being of Kerry stock, but I never feel that you get from Kerry people speaking on a National stage any aura of arrogance or self-hype. I certainly don't feel Kerry are ever en-vogue or lauded from the hills a-la Donegal or Tyrone.
You certainly are. The commentary on Newstalk and RTE was nauseating. I'm sorry to say that it's rare that I meet someone from Kerry around matches that have anything complimentary to say about Dublin or whoever.
I'm certainly not levelling this at you, but there is definitely a holier than thou attitude when it comes to football with Kerry people (again not all); like they are the keepers of the flame. I know the internet isn't representative but some of the stuff be it on Hogan Stand or Boards, is bordering on potty from your compatriots. And yet I don't see the same coming from other counties. Even the most mental of Rossies isn't as bad.
Quote:
The level of hate that there is for Kerry here I find somewhat upsetting. I can understand hate towards individuals (for Bonnie, read Kingdom, and for Donaghy read MDMA - even writing MDMA wants me to punch the wall), but not towards the county.
It's only a natural upping of the ante. I think the rise of Ulster ball in the noughties certainly made more Kerry people bristle at the notion that they weren't kingpins anymore. I was once in Kilorglin and I was chatting to the barman during the Dublin-Tyrone QF in 2010 and he hadn't a decent word to say about Tyrone. And this was the Tyrone team that gave a masterclass in 2008. There they were playing Dublin adn all he could go on about was the northern filth yada yada.
Now I know I do a fair amount of defending of Tyrone but that sort of blindness is annoying.
Quote:
Everyone seems to whinge that Kerry are dirty, or that Kerry portray themselves as holier-than-thou. We don't.
What I'll say about this is why do people think this?
The media is awash with Kerry-folk who peddle this sort of guff so naturally enough the rest of us get miffed at it.
Quote:
We know we've cynical tactics, no different to every other county that wants to win the big one. Aidan O'Mahony was the best centre-back in the country by a country mile, and then decided to have a moment of madness against Cork, and his career has never been the same. Donaghy has always been a scumbag on the field, but because he isn't contributing positively only the negatives are discussed.
[...]
Because it works for them, and because they are the ones winning, no attention is drawn to it.
Kerry have done over the years gotten away with their fair share. And yes the cynicism has always been there, but when that cynicism which we all see is coupled with blinkers then it gets up people's goats.
Like I said, I didn't grow up with these all-conquering Kerry teams or great Kerry teams so I just think of them as AN Other tbh so the antics of fans around me at matches over the years makes it a tad harder to take.
Quote:
Kerry were very poor in the All-Ireland final last year, and to be honest the rain and conditions probably helped Kerry keep the score respectable. We knew from 10 mins out that the goose was cooked. This years league final
[...]
The black card was definitely a turning point, but I agree with you Bonnie, I think age would have been the turning point anyway.
You see, this is why I enjoy these rants in here with you because they aren't blinkered. The consensus I got last year was that Dublin won because of the conditions etc. Bull. It was a three-point hammering if ever there was one.
---
I didn't properly get a chance to respond to this earlier.