So, Gormley has retired. This is the Retiring GAA Stars thread.
Happy retirement Gormley.
In 30 years time, people will scratch their heads and muse about Canavan. Many will recall a small, baldy, niggly bastard from Tyrone who was handy enough.
Colm Cooper will spring to mind handy enough, much like I recall Sean Purcell or Sean O’Neill from 50 odd years ago.
Only those who had money on him to score a goal here or there will recall Bradley.
Go to bed…
[QUOTE=“Boxtyeater, post: 1065537, member: 246”]In 30 years time, people will scratch their heads and muse about Canavan. Many will recall a small, baldy, niggly bastard from Tyrone who was handy enough.
Colm Cooper will spring to mind handy enough, much like I recall Sean Purcell or Sean O’Neill from 50 odd years ago.
Only those who had money on him to score a goal here or there will recall Bradley.
Go to bed…[/QUOTE]
Cooper’s legacy has been built on a body of lies. Only us Ulster gaels know the true story, he wouldn’t have lasted 5 minutes in our world. The only time they faced off in a final it was Peter The Greatest who proved decisive. Cooper is a show pony.
Well until he actually retires, can you kindly fuck off out of here with your waffle?
None of it is waffle. I’ve exposed plenty of myths.
Stevie McDonnell > Cooper
FACT.
[QUOTE=“Il Bomber Destro, post: 1065540, member: 2533”]
FACT.[/QUOTE]
Ah - why didn’t you say that earlier and save all this ‘debate’.
I wanted to draw out the ignorance and lack of rationale in the trumpeting of Cooper.
Bomber has jumped the shark baby
[QUOTE=“Il Bomber Destro, post: 1065253, member: 2533”]In the 2002 All Ireland final with Kerry, Stevie McDonnell was the joint top scorer from play with 0-03 including the winning score.
In the 2003 All Ireland final against Tyrone, McDonnell was the joint top scorer from play with 0-02
In the 2005 All Ireland semi-final against Tyrone, McDonnell was the top scorer from play with 1-03
In the 2006 All Ireland quarter final against Kerry, McDonnell was the top scorer from play with 1-05
Big game, big player.[/QUOTE]
McDonnell’s inter-county career spanned 14 seasons from 1999 through to 2012. You’ve cited just 4 games in his entire career in a 4 year period from 2002-06 - which as has already been pointed out 3 of which Armagh lost. In the 2006 quarter final Armagh were hammered by Kerry by 8 points. Only a week ago you dismissed out of hand Declan Browne’s scoring exploits in a Munster Final in 1998 against Kerry where Tipperary lost by 4 points and in the 2002 Munster Final which they ultimately lost to Cork in a replay on the basis they weren’t match winning cameos. Your position last week in respect of Declan Browne was that none of his scoring exploits in games cited were worthy of discussion unless Tipperary were winning them.
The 2003 Final has already been discussed. A narrow 2 point defeat for Armagh by 0-11 to 0-9. McDonnell had the best goalscoring chance in the game in the dying minutes. Credit to Gormley for doing his job as a defender but McDonnell shat himself when he saw the whites of John Devine’s eyes and butchered a gilt edged goal scoring chance. That’s choking on an epic scale that few players have ever attained.
Cooper was already the talismanic go to man for Kerry in his debut season as a 19 year old in 2002. Its noticeable that you haven’t commented on McDonnell’s contribution against Meath in his debut season of 1999 when Armagh narrowly lost an All Ireland semi final to eventual champions Meath or McDonnell’s contribution in the draw and replay of the 2000 semi final where Armagh ultimately lost in extra time in the replay to eventual All Ireland champions Kerry or in 2001 when Armagh lost a qualifier game to eventual All Ireland champions Galway by 1 point.
you idiot…the Armagh players admitted they couldn’t mark Gooch in first half of all Ireland in 2002 so at half time they decided to try stopping the ball getting into him.mcentee dropped back…
bomber must shit himself everytime Manuel Zelaya logs on…he makes absolute shit of the poor Northie … 
Copy and pasted from your last text to that girl?
[QUOTE=“Manuel Zelaya, post: 1065559, member: 377”] Its noticeable that you haven’t commented on McDonnell’s contribution against Meath in his debut season of 1999 when Armagh narrowly lost an All Ireland semi final to eventual champions Meath
[/QUOTE]
I would imagine that’s because McDonnell didn’t play championship football for Armagh until 2000.
I would imagine that’s because McDonnell didn’t play championship football for Armagh until 2000.[/QUOTE]
Exactly. Made his debut for Armagh in 1999 but wasn’t even worth a run in Championship football until he’d turned 21 in 2000. As I’ve said Colm Cooper was already the go to talisman in the Kerry forward line at 19.
McDonnell spent Championship 1999 warming his arse on the subs bench.
[QUOTE=“Manuel Zelaya, post: 1065577, member: 377”]
Exactly. Made his debut for Armagh in 1999 but wasn’t even worth a run in Championship football until he’d turned 21 in 2000. As I’ve said Colm Cooper was already the go to talisman in the Kerry forward line at 19.
McDonnell spent Championship 1999 warming his arse on the subs bench.[/QUOTE]
Manuel jumping the shark here.
Cork and Mayo are better than most ulster sides on any given year. Cork beat Tyrone at their peak (according to themselves) and both are regularly in semi finals. Cork lost to the eventual winners in most years in recent times.
Donegal are right now the only All Ireland challengers from Ulster. To argue anything else is plain dumb.
He doesn’t understand the concept of collective play, and like any soccer mad young lad he thinks the whole thing revolves around the person who scores. I bet he has posters of Stevie Mac up on his wall.
Just so it doesn’t get lost in comparison, Stevie Mc was a fabulous footballer. He also seems like a sounder chap than Gooch, but this is about quality and performance and he trails well behind Gooch.
[QUOTE=“caoimhaoin, post: 1065582, member: 273”]Cork and Mayo are better than most ulster sides on any given year. Cork beat Tyrone at their peak (according to themselves) and both are regularly in semi finals. Cork lost to the eventual winners in most years in recent times.
Donegal are right now the only All Ireland challengers from Ulster. To argue anything else is plain dumb.[/QUOTE]
Its amusing that Armagh and Tyrone are seemingly the embodiment of what is not a choker in gaelic football and that’s why Kerry should be judged so harshly for losing All Ireland finals to them. Armagh have an awful record in All Ireland finals. They’ve lost 3 of the 4 All Ireland finals they’ve played in, a winning rate of just 25%. That’s a strike rate that’s worse than Galway’s 13 losses from 22 or Cork’s 17 losses from 24. Outside of their All Ireland winning year of 2002, Armagh’s team of 1999-2005 were a team that invariably lost any game that went down to the wire and often by just one point.
Tyrone blew it in their first two All Ireland finals in 1986 and 1995, the 15 point second half turnaround in 1986 from Tyrone going 7 ahead (when Kevin McCabe hadn’t the balls to go for a knock out blow and tapped a penalty over the bar) to ultimately losing by 8 is the biggest ever 2nd half collapse in an All Ireland. It was a lucky break for Tyrone they had Armagh in the 2003 final to allow them to finally fall over the line and break their duck.
A hiding in an All Ireland might just have something to do with the winning side being very very good. An exceptional Kerry team really turned on the style to beat Mayo by 8 points in 2004 and 13 in 2006. Outside of those two defeats, Mayo’s All Ireland final defeats in the last 25 years have all been in tight games - lost by 3 to Cork in 1989, lost by 1 to Meath after a replay in 1996, lost to 3 to Kerry in 1997, lost to Donegal by 4 in 2012 and to Dublin by 1 in 2013.
In the 1970’s, the great Kerry team hammered Dublin in 3 All Ireland finals - in 1975 by 7 points, by 17 points in 1978 and by 11 points in 1979. Outside of those defeats, Dublin’s losses in 130 odd years of All Ireland finals have never been by more than 4 points (save for the 5 point loss to Kerry again in the 1984 final). Its very seldom about choking. Usually the better team just wins and if its a very good or a great team, they can win well.
Several pages ago.
That’s a rather strange comment given that the concept of collective play has been around far, far longer in soccer than it has been in GAA.