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War of Words
As It Happened: Joe Brolly v Pat Spillane
It was heated, it was controversial and it was entertaining when Joe Brolly and Pat Spillane got to talking about Kerry football on The Sunday Game last night.
EVER SINCE HE penned his thoughts on Kerry football in The Derry Journal before their recent All-Ireland qualifier against Tyrone, Joe Brolly’s views have become a topic of hot debate.
Last night on The Sunday Game, he was asked to speak on the subject and trenchantly defended his position. Pat Spillane was none too pleased about the question marks over his county and particularly their attacking star Colm Cooper. Here’s how it unfolded as presenter Michael Lyster refereed
MICHAEL LYSTER: Joe Brolly, you upset a lot of Kerry people recently by comments that you made about the Kerry team, particularly about Gooch Cooper. You described him as a choker. Last night he became Kerry’s top championship scorer.
JOE BROLLY: When you’re looking at someone like Colm Cooper, who’s obviously one of the modern greats, really I was thinking about the Kerry team in general.
ML: Did you call him a choker or not?
JB: No I didn’t. I said if a stranger had come to see Crossmaglen playing the Crokes in the All-Ireland club semi-final and watched it, and you said “There’s one of the greats of Gaelic Football”, they would have said, “No, he’s choking”. Which he was. It may be because of the great skill that they undoubtedly have, and obviously when you’re assessing Kerry it’s like assessing Manchester United because you’re talking about one of the great teams.
On all occasions, this is a fact Pat, whenever a team, rather than crumbling as say Mayo and Cork did in those four All-Ireland finals, stands and stares them in the face for 70 minutes – Armagh, Tyrone three times and Dublin last year – Kerry have looked down first. You’ve got to ask yourself that. It’s a simple fact.
I don’t know what the big deal is. And I’ll tell you what the evidence is Pat, against a Division 2 team, that were past their sell by date four years ago, in Killarney last week, Kerry folk were absolutely delirious afterwards. Paul Galvin was in tears. They’re obviously one of the great teams but there is a question mark against them on each occasion that a team puts it up to them.
ML: How many All-Ireland’s have Kerry won?
PAT SPILLANE: When you’re explaining you’re in trouble. He’s digging, he’s digging.
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JB: Hold on.
ML: Can we get a bigger shovel for Joe please?
JB: Nobody’s digging. It’s a fact against Tyrone on those occasions and the Dubs last year.
ML: Were your comments misrepresented or are you now retracting them?
JB: I’m not retracting them. I’m interested in a fact of like. One explanation is that Kerry don’t have to go to the well that often, cruise control is enough to burn off 90% of teams. I have yet to see a Kerry team in the face of adversity coming through a game.
ML: Yes or no, is the Gooch a choker?
JB: I have never said that about him.
PS: You did.
JB: It’s a simple point.
PS: Three facts Michael. One, he called Gooch a choker and I read that article.
JB: That’s not true.
PS: The second fact, Gooch has now scored 19 goals and 240 points, the highest scorer in championship history. And fact three, and people talk about choker, the place to perform is in championship in Croke Park. Gooch’s scoring record in Croke Park is averaging over five points. There are two types of people in the world, people who don’t know and that’s me, and people who don’t know they don’t know and Joe falls into that category.
ML: Let’s ask you about another aspect of last night’s match…
JB: He’s a great player. Let’s put this into context, I have always admired Colm Cooper as everyone else has. He’s one of the great players. But I have to ask the simple question, when you’re looking at someone at that level, you’re saying to yourself, let’s see him lead his team in adversity.
PS: You asked the question when an average Crokes team were playing a superb Crossmaglen team. Sometimes when you’re playing against a team that’s far superior…
JB: Pat, I’ll tell you something else…
PS: He’s digging.
JB: Hold on. The big complaint about what I asked, the debate point was this is a lack of respect for Kerry etc, etc. I mean this is the man sitting beside me who described Tyrone as the purveyors of puke football. And who only after people saying this was beginning to sound like sour grapes, damned them with faint praise. The sort of faint praise that he damns Donegal with now. You’re very, very sensitive when someone asks a question about Kerry.
ML: Last comment on this.
PS: To paraphrase one of the gospels, forgive him Lord for he knows not what he says or writes many times.
JB: Well, it’s an absolute fact and we’ll see next week against Donegal.
At least it is better than the excrutiatingly dull soporific studio presenters that RTE have so fsr put together for the Olympics. How can the make the greatest show on Earth appear mind numbingly boring?
What a silly wind up comment yours is – the man is an Ulsterman from Derry – you might not be great on the old geography subject – but the last time I checked it’s still in Ireland .
You may also have heard of The Good Friday Agreement and the sharing of power in the Six Counties.
As for Brolly – he clearly is just being silly & cannot now dig himself out of the hole he has placed himself in !
He was rather a limited footballer himself – who choked very often in his games , I recall.
Gooch , doesn’t have to apologise to anyone for his skill level – he has great heart , skill and is such a nice guy to boot – one of the hardest working and highly skilled forewords that I have seen in my 55 years watching the greatest of games – Gaelic Football.
Eddie, I’m afraid it’s you that might need to brush up on your geography. Derry, or Londonderry to give it it’s full name is indeed part of the UK. The currency is sterling and the head of state is the queen. If you feel better to think of this as Ireland then go ahead and live the dream. Hopefully someday you will be right.
Look who agrees with u orange men from the north oh by the way how did it become part of england. Who burnt the Irish out of the homes and land and then called it part if the uk. Sad
I’m sorry – Brolly is spot on! Why is it ok for Spillane to completely put down a new form of GAA football as “puke” yet he can’t acknowledge that in any scenario on the past 15 years, any team who has stood up to Kerry, has in fact beaten them?!
Kerry’s winning history speaks for itself, certainly. But winning AI’s against Cork – who generally always bottle it in the face of Kerry’s assumed “prestige” in Croke Park – and weaker teams like Mayo, yet losing to Armagh, Tyrone and Dublin because they haven’t bowed down in respect means that when it comes to an actual crunch: Kerry do choke!
There’s no doubt that Colm Cooper is a stellar player. But I don’t think he has the versatility that other great players have. When the wind is in their sails, no-one can stop Cooper or Kerry. But rattle them, and they capitulate.
The old saying ‘you can only beat whats put in front of you ‘ and Kerry have done it plenty of times. We win some you lose its sport. That Kerry team has nothing to prove.
Kerry beat Armagh in 2006, they beat Dublin in 2009. They may not have been All-Ireland finals but they did beat them and go on to win All-Irelands both those years.
And as for calling Mayo a “weaker team” and Cork “bottlers”, that’s just plain disrespectful. Mayo beat Tyrone in 2004 and Dublin in 2006. That’s fair going for a “weak” team.
People keep going on about what happened to Kerry in 2003, ’05, 08. What about what happened to Tyrone in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. Or Dublin in every year up until last year.
Kerry played in six all Ireland finals in a row in the 00′s. There is no such thing as a soft All Ireland and its tantamount to that Kerry side that they made light work of a few of them.
Yesss.. but they’ve lost pretty much every time a team has put it up to them. That’s the point Brolly is trying to put across. It’s one thing to beat teams that are psychologically intimidated or of a weaker tactic/strength capacity. But when playing teams like Dublin, Tyrone and Armagh, where a team have gone up against them, teeth bared, this current Kerry team have always folded.
Look at the recent Kerry v Tyrone match. Kerry eased past a Tyrone team plagued with injury and in the process of rebuilding. There was no challenge from the Tyrone team, no confidence.. The forward line were non-existent an they lost pretty much every ball in mid field. Of course Kerry were going to breeze through that. But look at ’05 and ’08… where a fully fit, more coherent and stronger Tyrone team relished the opportunity to play this team. They applied pressure and confidence and Kerry fell. Kerry will win when it’s “put in front of them” but if things don’t go their way, they fold.
I think this Kerry team does have something to prove: and they may just do it this year. Coming in as underdogs, many pundits having written them off, Kerry will face a very tough Donegal match and then a Dublin or Cork game. If Kerry are able to come from behind (where they are perceived as being in relation to these teams), then this team will silence the naysayers. I’m excited to see if they can do it!
You are saying when they come up against strong teams like Armagh and Tyrone. Sure Kerry hammered Tyrone two weeks ago and Armagh were knocked out ages ago. I wouldn’t call them strong teams
I’m talking about Armagh and Tyrone in the last decade. Already admitted Tyrone are now of weaker stock and Kerry breezed through them. And sorry, despite Mayo’s there-or-thereabouts status, and their strong position within Connacht, they are currently not as strong as Cork, Kerry, Dublin. And in the last decade, I would add Armagh, Tyrone and Kildare to that list.
Great teams aren’t judged on their ability to “come from behind”. Great teams are judged on how many All-Irelands they win. Kerry – 5, Tryone – 3, Dublin, Cork, Armagh, Galway – 1.
Conor Garf O’Riordan – You’re missing the point though! What Brolly is saying is that those Kerry AI wins in the last decade were because they got “easy” matches. And I would be inclined to agree considering they were not able to beat teams who put it up to them. Of course, the history books will show Kerry’s wins and I totally respect their standard but this kind of conversation is interesting because now Kerry are seen as underdogs at the minute, if they can beat Donegal, Cork or Dublin and go on to AI success we’ll know that they were a versatile team who didn’t choke when a different style or more confident players went on the assault.
If the measure of choking is that you lose when teams ‘put it up to you’ then any time Kerry loses they’d have to be calles chokers. So they’re damned as chokers unless they win 100% of the time?
Kerry have nothing to prove – far and away the best team in the country over the long term, generation after generatrion. That they don’t win every year doesn’t make them chokers.
I hope their domination is over (or at least in abeyance for a while) and that the Dubs can start picking off a title or two, or three……..
Absolute rubbish. Armagh, Tyrone and Dublin beat Kerry in those finals because they were the better on the day, simple as that. You keep say ‘when it was put up to them’ what does that mean? By that I pressume you mean that Kerry are ALWAYS a far superior team and losing is purely down to them ‘bottling’ it as oppose to the opposition winning the game.
Anyway, Brolly is getting the publicity he wanted from making ridiculous comments about what is by far and away the greatest footballer of his generation
Yeah Neil, but to the eyes of a hypothetical American Tourist at the Crokes Cross game this year he would have been appearing to choke. A damning indictment if ever.
Brolly would have been better off admitting that he called Gooch a choker but still thinks he’s a top player. He sounded like he was trying to worm his way out of the article. Spillane talks alot of rubbish too so I wouldnt be overly bothered about anything he has to say
Pat Spillane is one of the greatest players of all time. Admittedly he can go on a bit at times but I still respect his opinion. Brolly is a clown who is full of hot air, waffle, and himself. I am a Dublin supporter who tries to see the best in all teams except Armagh, Tyrone, Derry, Antrim, Fermanagh, and Down.
So if a team is beaten by a better one on the day they are chokers. Oh right… And if they beat the so called ‘lesser’ teams and provincial champions like say Mayo, Galway or Cork, well…those All Irelands don’t really count because they got them handy and those teams didn’t merit being there in the first place. So let’s amend the record books to be fair. Any All Ireland in which Kerry did not beat either Armagh,Tyrone or Dublin should be discounted. What a load of tripe! Not only is it disrespectful to beaten finalists and the general standard of football, it also discounts the journey that both teams had to make to get there in beating strong opposition. Someone had to beat those teams those years. Kerry beat the likes of Armagh and Dublin to get to finals. What utter nonsense to claim that if Kerry beat Donegal next then it will finally debunk this ‘choker’ suggestion! That totally devalues any argument. It will be an interesting game, but there will be no medal for it and I would rather the medal thank you very much.
There is no such thing as a soft All Ireland and Gooch Cooper is no choker. Brolly is stirring sheat and his hands are a bit small to be using such a large spoon.
There are no ‘soft’ all Irelands just years where teams are much much better than any opponent. Consistency is what is happening here. Kerry have been, like Kilkenny, the most consistent team over the last 12 years or so.
Calling Cooper a choker is just for column inches and puerile TV debates.
It was an exceptional Tyrone team which had a short shelf life with talented individuals who couldn’t be replaced. 9 Kerry players from the 2008 final played last Saturday in Killarney, believe there were only 4/5 Tyrone players. Kerry managing to evolve their team, Tyrone not so much.
Managers and players have come and gone but Kerry still remain among the top 2/3 teams in the country.
I think maybe he was just trying to open a debate on whether they would stand up to a test against a tough Donegal team and make it interesting to watch. Kerry are pure class and I don’t need to pay my TV license fee for Joe Brolly to tell me that. He’s trying to open a debate on a weakness that perhaps they may have going into the next game.
Discussion is a healthy thing and gets us all thinking. Give him a break for god sake.
What nonsense from Joe. I’m a Dublin supporter so no allegiance to Kerry but come on! Cooper is the best forward I’ve ever seen play the game. He very nearly won the All-Ireland final for Kerry last year.
It’s nonsense to say that Kerry “blinked first”; Dubs just got the rub of the green with that free at the end. That’s sport, but Kerry certainly did not choke in that game.
Kerry have been a great time to watch for as long as I can remember. Meas mór!
Why cant it be a case of- Dublin played better and won/ Tyrone worked harder on the day and their tactics came off?
I’m from Kerry and dont understand how teams never seem to beat us in pundits eyes, we only ever throw them away
I don’t disagree. Dublin scored more and ergo deserved to win in my book. In terms of general play I think the teams were about even. The main point I wanted to make was that Kerry didn’t choke. Donaghy scored a cracker to equalise right before Dublin got the free at the end.
Can’t say I’m surprised an article on one of our national sports has turned into a debate in the comments section about the history of Northern Ireland once again! Change the channel girls! Yawn!
Just putting this out there if Kerry blitz Donegal on Sunday (doubt it) will these questions still have to be asked of Kerry given the amount of esteem this Donegal side has garnered this year? If you answer yes you’re an idiot.
Exactly! And this is what I look forward to seeing. If Kerry can beat Donegal then they’re showing Brolly he’s wrong. And if they go on to AI success, they will shut up all the naysayers for good.
I was alluding more to the point that some people seem think Kerry are only ‘tested’ when they lose, this is what this is all about. The sort of example your looking for is Monaghan in 07 who put us to the pin of our collar that day and if it wasn’t for a Dec O’S goal and a Tomas O’Se late fisted point we would not came out of it.
IMO u have two x-players that are like chalk and cheese. Brolly is all about ulster football full stop and always has been, Spillane can’t take any criticism about his beloved Kerry. Surely this is totally the opposite u have to have to be an analyst. Makes for good entertainment at times, but the rest of the country at times don’t get a look in.
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At least it is better than the excrutiatingly dull soporific studio presenters that RTE have so fsr put together for the Olympics. How can the make the greatest show on Earth appear mind numbingly boring?
Pat Spillane can say what he wants. Fact is that he has 8 All Ireland titles while Tyrone and Derry have four between them in their entire history.
Why is that Rocco? It is scientifically proven you don’t need a brain to play football.
Joe Brolly is the biggest idiot on Irish tv and that’s saying something. Luckily he’s from the UK so we don’t have to claim him as one of our own.
Brilliant Rocco!
Low brilliance threshold?
What a silly wind up comment yours is – the man is an Ulsterman from Derry – you might not be great on the old geography subject – but the last time I checked it’s still in Ireland .
You may also have heard of The Good Friday Agreement and the sharing of power in the Six Counties.
As for Brolly – he clearly is just being silly & cannot now dig himself out of the hole he has placed himself in !
He was rather a limited footballer himself – who choked very often in his games , I recall.
Gooch , doesn’t have to apologise to anyone for his skill level – he has great heart , skill and is such a nice guy to boot – one of the hardest working and highly skilled forewords that I have seen in my 55 years watching the greatest of games – Gaelic Football.
Eddie, I’m afraid it’s you that might need to brush up on your geography. Derry, or Londonderry to give it it’s full name is indeed part of the UK. The currency is sterling and the head of state is the queen. If you feel better to think of this as Ireland then go ahead and live the dream. Hopefully someday you will be right.
Yawn yawn yawn. These idiotic comments just get really boring and oh so predictable after seeing them for the hundredth time.
Funny, if I had to guess I’d say he travels on an Irish passport….
Look who agrees with u orange men from the north oh by the way how did it become part of england. Who burnt the Irish out of the homes and land and then called it part if the uk. Sad
Pat has no problem with Dublin, Cork etc branded chokers .Mention his beloved Kerry as Chokers and it’s all too much for him . .
I’m sorry – Brolly is spot on! Why is it ok for Spillane to completely put down a new form of GAA football as “puke” yet he can’t acknowledge that in any scenario on the past 15 years, any team who has stood up to Kerry, has in fact beaten them?!
Kerry’s winning history speaks for itself, certainly. But winning AI’s against Cork – who generally always bottle it in the face of Kerry’s assumed “prestige” in Croke Park – and weaker teams like Mayo, yet losing to Armagh, Tyrone and Dublin because they haven’t bowed down in respect means that when it comes to an actual crunch: Kerry do choke!
There’s no doubt that Colm Cooper is a stellar player. But I don’t think he has the versatility that other great players have. When the wind is in their sails, no-one can stop Cooper or Kerry. But rattle them, and they capitulate.
The old saying ‘you can only beat whats put in front of you ‘ and Kerry have done it plenty of times. We win some you lose its sport. That Kerry team has nothing to prove.
Kerry beat Armagh in 2006, they beat Dublin in 2009. They may not have been All-Ireland finals but they did beat them and go on to win All-Irelands both those years.
And as for calling Mayo a “weaker team” and Cork “bottlers”, that’s just plain disrespectful. Mayo beat Tyrone in 2004 and Dublin in 2006. That’s fair going for a “weak” team.
People keep going on about what happened to Kerry in 2003, ’05, 08. What about what happened to Tyrone in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. Or Dublin in every year up until last year.
Chokers don’t win five All-Irelands in a decade.
Kerry played in six all Ireland finals in a row in the 00′s. There is no such thing as a soft All Ireland and its tantamount to that Kerry side that they made light work of a few of them.
Yesss.. but they’ve lost pretty much every time a team has put it up to them. That’s the point Brolly is trying to put across. It’s one thing to beat teams that are psychologically intimidated or of a weaker tactic/strength capacity. But when playing teams like Dublin, Tyrone and Armagh, where a team have gone up against them, teeth bared, this current Kerry team have always folded.
Look at the recent Kerry v Tyrone match. Kerry eased past a Tyrone team plagued with injury and in the process of rebuilding. There was no challenge from the Tyrone team, no confidence.. The forward line were non-existent an they lost pretty much every ball in mid field. Of course Kerry were going to breeze through that. But look at ’05 and ’08… where a fully fit, more coherent and stronger Tyrone team relished the opportunity to play this team. They applied pressure and confidence and Kerry fell. Kerry will win when it’s “put in front of them” but if things don’t go their way, they fold.
I think this Kerry team does have something to prove: and they may just do it this year. Coming in as underdogs, many pundits having written them off, Kerry will face a very tough Donegal match and then a Dublin or Cork game. If Kerry are able to come from behind (where they are perceived as being in relation to these teams), then this team will silence the naysayers. I’m excited to see if they can do it!
You are saying when they come up against strong teams like Armagh and Tyrone. Sure Kerry hammered Tyrone two weeks ago and Armagh were knocked out ages ago. I wouldn’t call them strong teams
I’m talking about Armagh and Tyrone in the last decade. Already admitted Tyrone are now of weaker stock and Kerry breezed through them. And sorry, despite Mayo’s there-or-thereabouts status, and their strong position within Connacht, they are currently not as strong as Cork, Kerry, Dublin. And in the last decade, I would add Armagh, Tyrone and Kildare to that list.
“If Kerry are able to come from behind”
Great teams aren’t judged on their ability to “come from behind”. Great teams are judged on how many All-Irelands they win. Kerry – 5, Tryone – 3, Dublin, Cork, Armagh, Galway – 1.
Checkmate.
Conor Garf O’Riordan – You’re missing the point though! What Brolly is saying is that those Kerry AI wins in the last decade were because they got “easy” matches. And I would be inclined to agree considering they were not able to beat teams who put it up to them. Of course, the history books will show Kerry’s wins and I totally respect their standard but this kind of conversation is interesting because now Kerry are seen as underdogs at the minute, if they can beat Donegal, Cork or Dublin and go on to AI success we’ll know that they were a versatile team who didn’t choke when a different style or more confident players went on the assault.
If the measure of choking is that you lose when teams ‘put it up to you’ then any time Kerry loses they’d have to be calles chokers. So they’re damned as chokers unless they win 100% of the time?
Kerry have nothing to prove – far and away the best team in the country over the long term, generation after generatrion. That they don’t win every year doesn’t make them chokers.
I hope their domination is over (or at least in abeyance for a while) and that the Dubs can start picking off a title or two, or three……..
Absolute rubbish. Armagh, Tyrone and Dublin beat Kerry in those finals because they were the better on the day, simple as that. You keep say ‘when it was put up to them’ what does that mean? By that I pressume you mean that Kerry are ALWAYS a far superior team and losing is purely down to them ‘bottling’ it as oppose to the opposition winning the game.
Anyway, Brolly is getting the publicity he wanted from making ridiculous comments about what is by far and away the greatest footballer of his generation
In three of the four All-Ireland Finals where the Gooch has been on the losing side he has been either joint or sole highest scorer. Clearly a choker.
Yeah Neil, but to the eyes of a hypothetical American Tourist at the Crokes Cross game this year he would have been appearing to choke. A damning indictment if ever.
Brolly would have been better off admitting that he called Gooch a choker but still thinks he’s a top player. He sounded like he was trying to worm his way out of the article. Spillane talks alot of rubbish too so I wouldnt be overly bothered about anything he has to say
Pat Spillane is one of the greatest players of all time. Admittedly he can go on a bit at times but I still respect his opinion. Brolly is a clown who is full of hot air, waffle, and himself. I am a Dublin supporter who tries to see the best in all teams except Armagh, Tyrone, Derry, Antrim, Fermanagh, and Down.
Lol… It must have been a boring 10 years for you in GAA-land then.
Tyrone and Armagh won four All-Ireland between them in the last decade. Kerry won five. Must have been an ok decade for him.
Have they been told to be more like the soccer presenters?
They’ve been like that for years, same old guff, Brolly winding up Spillane and him biting.
Is it safe to say that Joe Brolly is a complete numpty and that his opinion of football these days counts for squat?
Indeed, indeed.
So if a team is beaten by a better one on the day they are chokers. Oh right… And if they beat the so called ‘lesser’ teams and provincial champions like say Mayo, Galway or Cork, well…those All Irelands don’t really count because they got them handy and those teams didn’t merit being there in the first place. So let’s amend the record books to be fair. Any All Ireland in which Kerry did not beat either Armagh,Tyrone or Dublin should be discounted. What a load of tripe! Not only is it disrespectful to beaten finalists and the general standard of football, it also discounts the journey that both teams had to make to get there in beating strong opposition. Someone had to beat those teams those years. Kerry beat the likes of Armagh and Dublin to get to finals. What utter nonsense to claim that if Kerry beat Donegal next then it will finally debunk this ‘choker’ suggestion! That totally devalues any argument. It will be an interesting game, but there will be no medal for it and I would rather the medal thank you very much.
There is no such thing as a soft All Ireland and Gooch Cooper is no choker. Brolly is stirring sheat and his hands are a bit small to be using such a large spoon.
what he said…
What’s a choker?
A w@nker
The term choker is usually applied to someone who is prone to f***ing up at key moments.
The record says it all.
Kerry are the most successful county team ever.
Cooper is the best forward of the past 10 years by a distance.
Sour grapes and jealousy are common in All Sports.
Usually put out there by under achieving players who played for under achieving teams.
Joe Brolly.
There are no ‘soft’ all Irelands just years where teams are much much better than any opponent. Consistency is what is happening here. Kerry have been, like Kilkenny, the most consistent team over the last 12 years or so.
Calling Cooper a choker is just for column inches and puerile TV debates.
It was an exceptional Tyrone team which had a short shelf life with talented individuals who couldn’t be replaced. 9 Kerry players from the 2008 final played last Saturday in Killarney, believe there were only 4/5 Tyrone players. Kerry managing to evolve their team, Tyrone not so much.
Managers and players have come and gone but Kerry still remain among the top 2/3 teams in the country.
I think maybe he was just trying to open a debate on whether they would stand up to a test against a tough Donegal team and make it interesting to watch. Kerry are pure class and I don’t need to pay my TV license fee for Joe Brolly to tell me that. He’s trying to open a debate on a weakness that perhaps they may have going into the next game.
Discussion is a healthy thing and gets us all thinking. Give him a break for god sake.
What nonsense from Joe. I’m a Dublin supporter so no allegiance to Kerry but come on! Cooper is the best forward I’ve ever seen play the game. He very nearly won the All-Ireland final for Kerry last year.
It’s nonsense to say that Kerry “blinked first”; Dubs just got the rub of the green with that free at the end. That’s sport, but Kerry certainly did not choke in that game.
Kerry have been a great time to watch for as long as I can remember. Meas mór!
Why cant it be a case of- Dublin played better and won/ Tyrone worked harder on the day and their tactics came off?
I’m from Kerry and dont understand how teams never seem to beat us in pundits eyes, we only ever throw them away
@brian,
In fairness Brian a fair bit of the Kerry public are the same when Kerry lose all Ireland’s!
@Bryan
I don’t disagree. Dublin scored more and ergo deserved to win in my book. In terms of general play I think the teams were about even. The main point I wanted to make was that Kerry didn’t choke. Donaghy scored a cracker to equalise right before Dublin got the free at the end.
There both knob heads sp looks like postman pat and jb looks like his cat
Really, is this what its come to?
Can’t say I’m surprised an article on one of our national sports has turned into a debate in the comments section about the history of Northern Ireland once again! Change the channel girls! Yawn!
O.K.girls lets settle this once and for all in true GAA style, “handbags at dawn ” !!!!!!!
Animals defending animals again!
Just putting this out there if Kerry blitz Donegal on Sunday (doubt it) will these questions still have to be asked of Kerry given the amount of esteem this Donegal side has garnered this year? If you answer yes you’re an idiot.
Exactly! And this is what I look forward to seeing. If Kerry can beat Donegal then they’re showing Brolly he’s wrong. And if they go on to AI success, they will shut up all the naysayers for good.
Plath-see you at Coppers.
I was alluding more to the point that some people seem think Kerry are only ‘tested’ when they lose, this is what this is all about. The sort of example your looking for is Monaghan in 07 who put us to the pin of our collar that day and if it wasn’t for a Dec O’S goal and a Tomas O’Se late fisted point we would not came out of it.
Ha! Classy Tyrone girls like myself don’t do Coppers ;) I’m used to the CityWest lol.
Brolly is a ball bag
I think he’s a choker!
Joe Brolly has jumped the shark. Idiotic analysis.
IMO u have two x-players that are like chalk and cheese. Brolly is all about ulster football full stop and always has been, Spillane can’t take any criticism about his beloved Kerry. Surely this is totally the opposite u have to have to be an analyst. Makes for good entertainment at times, but the rest of the country at times don’t get a look in.
Brolly’s a tool & ex choker!
Spillane was not much of a choker but is a super tool now!
Gooch is top class but does choke a bit from time to time…
Dunphy ang Giles in disguise!!!!!!!!!!