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Canavan is unhappy with Brolly for his criticism of Tyrone. INPHO/Presseye/Andrew Paton

'Joe Brolly is speaking absolute nonsense' - Peter Canavan

He also dismissed claims that cynical fouling was being “systematically coached” as untrue.

FORMER TYRONE FOOTBALLER Peter Canavan has reacted angrily to RTÉ pundit Joe Brolly’s recent remarks about one of the county’s current stars, Sean Cavanagh.

Brolly has previously been firm in his criticism of Cavanagh, after the player committed a cynical foul during his side’s win over Monaghan at the weekend.

Yet speaking on Today FM’s The Last Word, Canavan described Brolly’s claims as “absolute nonsense” and said that it was unfair of the pundit to “publicly humiliate one of Tyrone’s greatest servants”.

“He’s represented his club, his county and indeed Ireland with great distinction. He goes out to play football,” Canavan said.

“If you speak to any of these players who are playing the game, they would have done exactly the same thing,” he explained, adding that cynical fouling “has to be looked at and we have to do more [to stop it]”.

He continued: “The way Cavanagh was condemned was totally wrong. He has to go home to his wife and to work the next morning.”

The current Fermanagh manager added that analysts should focus more on the tactical side of the game, rather than looking at controversial incidents.

“Take a leaf out of what’s going on with the hurling – they’re talking about the game, the strategies,” he said.

“Joe Brolly made the point that this type of football is systematically coached – it’s definitely far from the truth. It’s a slight to the teachers and the coaches. If anyone doubts us, go to the schools where the coaching is taking place.”

Canavan added that he had sometimes behaved badly during games, and was not proud at having done so.

“At times, I’ve stepped over the line, but you regret doing those things,” he said. “Why did I do it? Because I wanted to win the game.”

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33 Comments
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    Mute Patrick Towey
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    Aug 8th 2013, 8:52 AM

    There is no bias there Peter canavan.!!!!!!
    Brolly was bang on the money. Kids reenact what they see there heroes doing, rugby tackle is not part and parcel of fair play.

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    Mute Little Jim
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    Aug 8th 2013, 9:23 AM

    It’s ok if you’re playing rugby, otherwise it’s cheating.

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    Mute Diarmaid Twomey
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    Aug 8th 2013, 8:54 AM

    Well it clearly is being trained into players in Tyrone Peter, anyone who watched the minor game of Tyrone v Kerry could see that cynicism in Tyrone football runs deeper than the senior team!

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    Mute kieran lynch
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    Aug 8th 2013, 10:36 PM

    In that same minor game the Kerry keeper “cynically” brought down the Tyrone forward through on goal. Keeper stayed on the pitch and Tyrone missed the penalty. Is cynicism being trained in Kerry too? Catch a grip, incidents happens in games in a split second. These allegations about Tyrone’s training techniques are bordering on the ridiculous.

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    Mute Emmett McNamara
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    Aug 8th 2013, 8:32 AM

    frank, this story will keep rumbling on because it gets ti the heart of a lot of issues in GAA. Cynical/ Professional fouling has become a problem and the rules need to adapt to it. The issue has also opened up an entire can of worms as regards how the country views and discusses the teams from Ulster and the distrust we have in the rest of the country of their “style” of play

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    Mute Tom Collins
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    Aug 8th 2013, 9:39 AM

    Brolly is clown. Try’s to get himself across as some intellectual pundit, absolutely painful.

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    Mute Paul Moore
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    Aug 8th 2013, 10:09 AM

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrwKIGD0H5Q

    A SONG FOR JOE TO GET HIM THROUGH THESE HARD TIMES!

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    Mute David Kelly
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    Aug 8th 2013, 9:21 AM

    Whether Cavanagh was right or wrong to do what he did is totally irrelevant,in my opinion. What it did do is send out a message to young kids that this is the way to play football now. Take the rugby tackle out of it for a minute, Tyrone (in particular Cavanagh)have mastered the art of making it look like they are being pulled to the ground themselves when they go into a tackle with or without the ball in their possession. It’s stifling the game and ugly to watch…….the rules need to be seriously looked at and I don’t think the black card system is for next season is going to solve it

    77
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    Mute Elrat
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    Aug 8th 2013, 10:33 AM

    No the message is it is ok to CHEAT !

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    Mute Kevin Manley
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    Aug 8th 2013, 9:01 AM

    I don’t watch football anymore because of the amount of stupid frees been given away. The games have no flow. Too much start and stop.

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    Mute Dingleberrycity
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    Aug 8th 2013, 10:09 AM

    I’m no fan of Brolly as he put some very unfair comments out there about the Cork players, both hurlers and footballers when they were trying to get a better deal for the ordinary player but he was bang on the money about the Tyrone style of play.
    They have perfected the art of cynical play and they have become the benchmark for other counties who want to win at all costs. The game of football is ugly to watch now. Spillane was right when he used the term puke football. Give me hurling any day.

    47
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    Mute David Kelly
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    Aug 8th 2013, 2:24 PM

    It’s even creeping into club games all over the country which is awful to see.roll on the weekend when we should see a decent high scoring hurling game between Cork/Dublin

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    Mute Tom Dolan
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    Aug 8th 2013, 9:13 AM

    This must be inter county rivalry in the North as the ordinary spectator of our great games will testify that spoiling tactics on the field of play is not in the spirit of our games.

    46
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    Mute David Jones
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    Aug 8th 2013, 12:02 PM

    Peter Canavan has just told a few bare faced lie here.
    Of course it was coached into the team.
    Bending and stretching the rules has been part of the Tyrone ethos for years.
    Take Ryan McMenamin as your yardstick for they believe the game should be played.
    Sneaky, petty, violent and yellow.

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    Mute John Clarke
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    Aug 8th 2013, 10:29 AM

    I wouldn’t have expected Canavan to say anything less in response to Brolly’s comments. Sure Canavan has been one of the greatest proponents of Tyrone’s cynical tactics throughout the years in what was once described as ‘puke football’ by Pat Spillane.

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    Mute Conor O'Neill
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    Aug 8th 2013, 10:39 AM

    It might not be getting coached but the younger players are being influenced by what the senior players are doing. The Tyrone minor game last Sunday is testament to that. While I think brolly was way overboard in his rant last week his point, which was lost in the rant, is that.

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    Mute Patrick O'Carroll
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    Aug 8th 2013, 9:54 AM

    I remember watching kerry v tyrone back in 2005 i think, I can recall peter canavan crashing into michael macarthy and macarthy getting a yellow card for it, who was cynicial their. I cant understand why legends of the game have to stoop to that level?

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    Mute frank mullen
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    Aug 8th 2013, 8:09 AM

    Stop giving Brolly the oxygen of publicity he obviously craves , MOVE ON PEOPLE !!!

    32
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    Mute Hugh Cookie Conway
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    Aug 8th 2013, 3:12 PM

    I don’t think Joe was being personal when he said that Sean was not a man,he merely was explaining it from a Players point of view that the foul was wrong and was not a manly thing to do so lets move on to the next Tyrone match against Mayo which has all the hallmarks as a very good game.

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    Mute richard ferris
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    Aug 8th 2013, 4:22 PM

    T Henry handled the ball in Paris against Ireland why did he do it? Because he wanted to win. It’s still cheating Peter, wanting to win doesn’t make it right. Afraid your the one taking rubbish Peter.

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    Mute Bertie Aherrin
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    Aug 8th 2013, 10:21 AM

    For those who actually played, and are beating Tyrone/Cavanagh with a big stick, I wonder if you ever did any of the following …

    Harassed a referee trying to claim the ball went wide when you knew it went over the bar (all teams at weekend guilty).

    Claimed a sideline kick when you knew you hit it out (all teams at weekend guilty).

    Didn’t give the full distance for a free (all teams at weekend guilty).

    Stole a few yards for a free or sideline kick (all teams at weekend guilty).

    If you did, then put your stones back in your pocket. All of the above is cheating my friends ….

    23
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    Mute Keith Maguire
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    Aug 8th 2013, 9:36 AM

    Strategies aren’t so much use when players effectively cheat to stop them.

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    Mute Who's Yer Man
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    Aug 8th 2013, 12:39 PM

    I heard this interview, and at no point did Canavan acknowledge the cynical fouling element of the game at all. He took issue with the suggestion that it was being coached, but for the rest of it, he didn’t seem to display any disdain for it. He was reminded of a fairly cynical foul he himself committed.

    Eugene McGee seemed to spend a couple of minutes highlighting that Brolly’s outburst was possibly tribalism, being from Derry, and having a rivalry with Tyrone and how players he knew from both counties back in his day had some rivalry. Which I thought was the biggest pile of horse manure. First off, Brolly’s mother is from Tyrone, and secondly, he sought to highlight how the game is being played all over the country, and this crap shouldn’t be allowed to creep in at all levels.

    I totally agree with Brolly’s comments. Fair play to him for apologising for a comment that would be construed as a personal attack on Cavanagh. But watching some of this consistent fouling is terrible, a few years ago I suffered through a Ulster Championship game and there was nearly a foul a minute. If I can find the stats for the game, it was awful.

    16
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    Mute The whistler
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    Aug 8th 2013, 12:45 PM

    Memorys not what it used to be but I seem to recall that the bould peter canavan was also a great man for mysteriously falling down when he got in point kicking range

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    Mute Wishie Jatt
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    Aug 8th 2013, 11:40 AM

    For a man who was nearly fouled out of existence at his peak surely Canavan would accept that Brolly’s message, if not the personalised aspects of the delivery are spot on?

    Tyrone county board opposed the new black card rules, hardly a coincidence now. New rules don’t suit their template, end of story.

    13
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    Mute Kevin Toner
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    Aug 8th 2013, 10:23 AM

    Brolly is nothing more than a hater, anybody in the same position as Sean would of done the exact same ,stop the goal

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    Mute Nivag Yeoh
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    Aug 8th 2013, 12:10 PM

    No they wouldn’t Kevin

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    Mute Michael Bullock
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    Aug 8th 2013, 11:49 AM

    Not gonna lie I’m loving the absolute hatred being levelled at Tyrone in these messages and from people.. The media have always hated us and now we have every man and his dog joining in! If mayo beat us then fair enough, but just imagine if we got to the final… The uproar and disgust would be delightful :-) Tir Eoghain Abu!!

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    Mute Nivag Yeoh
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    Aug 8th 2013, 12:09 PM

    cheats

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    Mute Michael Bullock
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    Aug 8th 2013, 12:21 PM

    You love us really :-)

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    Mute Jack Strong
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    Aug 8th 2013, 5:38 PM

    Eaten bread is soon forgotten. When Meath fouled and hammered the unholy crap outta ye in 96 there was uproar from Tyrone and the media rightly burned Meath that year. Now you’re at it and it’s “Tyrone vs. the world”. Get over yourself! It not football you’re playing this year, because if it was Roscommon would have take ye out in round 2.

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    Mute Jack Strong
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    Aug 8th 2013, 5:39 PM

    *taken ye out

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    Mute Michael Bullock
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    Aug 9th 2013, 2:20 PM

    What are we doing if not playing football? How did we manage all those scores? Jeebus there must be some dark arts at work totting up those scores! And yeah Tyrone did complain about Meath in 96 tho I don’t remember the media uproar.. And it’s def not Tyrone v the world, just seems like everybody in the gaa hates us :) and to quote the soccer fans, everyone hates us and we don’t care :) Tir Eoghain Abu!!

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