1. #ThingsLeeDid
THE PHRASE STARTED trending on Twitter between the All-Ireland final and replay, as the scrutiny on the on-field tussle between Lee Keegan and Diarmuid Connolly intensified.
A host of ex-Dublin players condemned Keegan’s actions in the media, leading Mayo supporters to defend their star man with the use of a tongue-in-cheek hashtag on social media.
Gerry Flanagan / Twitter
Gerry Flanagan / Twitter / Twitter
Mayo Club '51 / Twitter
Mayo Club '51 / Twitter / Twitter
2. Aidan O’Shea and ‘dive-gate’
O’Shea’s tumble against Fermanagh in the qualifiers handed Mayo a lifeline as they tried to pull the game out of the fire.
O’Shea ended up on the deck with his arms raised after he went down after feeling contact from Fermanagh full back Che Cullen. Cillian O’Connor smashed home the resultant penalty to seal Mayo’s progression.
“I’m sure Aidan O’Shea woke up this morning and regretted his actions, because he cheated,” Pat Spillane fumed after the game. “He cheated.
“It wasn’t a penalty. It was a clear dive. We spoke about simulation over the last couple of weeks, it’s creeping into the game of Gaelic football.”
The Sunday Game / Twitter
The Sunday Game / Twitter / Twitter
3. Ex-Dubs can’t hide their disdain for Ger Cunningham
Conal Keaney caused a stir after Dublin’s defeat to Kilkenny in July, when he berated the tactical know-how of Ger Cunningham.
Keaney and Cunningham didn’t see eye-to-eye and the former announced his retirement in April. Keaney, Peter Kelly, Joey Boland and Danny Sutcliffe were among the 2013 Leinster medalists not to feature in the 2016 championship for the Dubs.
Conal keaney / Twitter
Conal keaney / Twitter / Twitter
Keaney’s tweet continued a trend of ex-Dublin players calling out Cunningham in public.
Michael Carton described the set-up in the capital as “toxic” in November.
4. Player power ousts Davy Fitzgerald
After a third campaign since their glorious triumph in 2013 ended in failure, Davy Fitzgerald faced an uncertain future in Clare.
Joint-captains Tony Kelly and Cian Dillon met with the squad and decided they required a change of voice in the dressing room. Fitzgerald stepped down as Banner boss, but reappeared as the new Wexford boss a month later.
You didn’t really expect him to stay away, did you?
5. Joe Brolly and the celebrity losers
In the space of a month, Joe Brolly managed to berate Mayo and their players in three Sunday Independent columns.
The remarks that gained most notoriety was his “celebrity losers” jibe where he heavily criticised the character of the Mayo players, even asking “what type of men are they?”
Then he somehow linked Rob Hennelly’s public profile as the head of a PR company to his poor display in the All-Ireland final replay: “Hennelly seems a good lad, but was no sooner out of the shower than he was embracing his experience, as though it were some noble tragedy.”
6. Jim McGuinness: The Movie
In 2015 came the enthralling memoir from Jim McGuinness, penned by Keith Duggan: Until Victory Always. In July, it was revealed that McGuinness’s tale is to be turned into a movie.
With Oscar-nominated Kirsten Sheridan rumoured to be involved in the writing of the script, the flick is set to be produced by Irish production company Fastnet Films.
No word yet on when we can expect McGuinness’s journey from Glenties to Glasgow to appear on the big screen.
7. Ger Loughnane’s beef with Kilkenny and Galway
Ger Loughnane picked fights with some of hurling’s big guns in 2016. Loughnane annoyed those in Kilkenny by describing the Cats as a “functional” team, but the real beef was between the former Clare boss and the Galway hurlers.
In the wake of their Leinster final collapse against Kilkenny, Loughnane said live on TV: “Galway are made of absolutely nothing. You can forget about this Galway team — they have no guts whatsoever.”
Former Galway star Ollie Canning, who played under Loughnane for the Tribesmen, defended the current squad days later on Newstalk. “When Ger was in Galway, a 10-point loss to Kilkenny was probably about the highlight of it,” Canning told Off The Ball.
But Loughnane couldn’t resist having a snipe back, this time he aimed his gun firmly at the Canning brothers.
I just wonder did it even dawn on him (Ollie Canning) just how much he unwittingly supported everything I said by referring to that match. Those final few minutes put into microcosm most of the ills that have hurt Galway’s chances of success over the last 25 years.
“What is laughable is that the one man that could have prevented that collapse was Ollie Canning himself. But he wouldn’t play that year because of some perceived injustice following a stormy county final where Loughrea beat Portumna. Joe (Canning) wouldn’t play either, giving the excuse that he was going on a world tour. I think that extended as far as Limerick.”
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Good on you, Joe Brolly. The best pundit, bar none, on GAA.
@Kevin Hayes: Are you wise? This is the same man who brought us the Black Card and what an omnishambles that has been.
@Tír Eoghain Gael: The black card rule was to be instated before that Monaghan v Tyrone match anyway. I can remember the proposed rule being described in the match programme that day!
@Tír Eoghain Gael: He didn’t get it brought in. He famously mentioned it after that toe rag Sean Cavanagh dragged Conor McManus to the ground, but it was passed by congress previous to that.
@Kevin Hayes: and by the sounds of it Joe is now also taking Tyrone training sessions!
Spoke with one of their players privately….. So that player wasn’t expecting it to be headline news a few weeks later Then!!!!! Joe brolly a man you can trust
@Anthony: what player was it? Brolly has protected his identity so the player(s) in question can have no issue with what he has said. I’m sure Joe didn’t torture him to get him to say it.
@Eireann go brach: you’ll have to ask Micky harte what player it is as I’m sure he’s currently in the process of finding out. So you think this player said this to Joe in order to publicise this to the wider public or he said it privately most likely in passing thinking it will go no further.
@Anthony: ah come out of the fog, the dogs on the street know if Brolly was told this about any squad in the country he would announce it in a similar manner when he felt it warranted it! Mickey Harte has been Tyrones most successful manager and he should be forever lauded for what he has achieved for Tyrone, both on and off the field, but maybe it was the member of the panel that felt if he was protected by anonymity, as an individual, then this should be made public knowledge. There is a reason he wasn’t given the full extension he was asking for, will he get another extension? I have my doubts.
@Eireann go brach: he spoke with one of tyrones really good players so it’s safe to assume it’s not a disgruntled player on the panel. Agree with your assessment on Micky harte but irrelevant to our discussion. Heres how I see this ‘private’ conversation go down. Brolly and a Tp meet at a funeral, function whatever in passing. Tp :hi Joe. BROLLY : How’s Tp, how’s training? Tp: going sh!te, lost the last couple of games it’s depressing stuff, cya later.
My point is Joe has a history of over exaggeration and read any of his paper articles he’s full of tales of people he met in passing who seemed desperate to unburden themselves with information that could harm them.
Anyways we’ll see in the summer where Tyrone are, my bet is they won’t be very far away at all…
Joe Brolly also said kerry football was finished as underage were poor. How many all ireland minors and schools have kerry won since? All joe wants with his comments is a reaction
@Tomf: kerry minors are unbeaten since he wrote that! Hard to take Brolly and Pat too seriously but they donget people talking which is their job I suppose.
@niall daly: ^ do get!
@nialk daly donget sounded better in a southern deep texan drawl
What a total runt.
@Tom Collins: Harte has to go
@Tom Collins: Be worst if he told him to say chase me chase me to the ones on the other team???
Joe is a master at self-publicity. Paper never refuses ink and Joe will commit anything to writing to keep his name in the spotlight whether that is slagging off Dublin’s ‘arrogance’, Donegal’s ‘puke football’, Kerry’s ‘demise’ or Tyrone’s defensive strategy, Joe doesn’t care because it get’s people talking about….Joe. You simply can’t take him seriously as a pundit because he’ll say anything to court controversy.
Brolly is the GAA version of George Hook, Hook is the rugby version of Dunphy, Dunphy is like a farmers foreskin……
@Bryan Holmes: Don’t even know what that means Bryan but gave me a laugh anyway!!
@Bryan Holmes: holyshit can’t get that image out of my head ,
Man Joe.Way to stir the pot .
I’ve a lot of time for brolly but this obsession for Tyrone is getting annoying now
Love Joe. Cares about the game.
Has lots of conversations with players without naming anyone.. can see obvious reasons for that, just find it hard to believe half them have actually happened!
Not likely to be spoken to ‘privately’ again Joe.
Has he money on Tyrone for the All Ireland!
Joe shut up please
@Joe Kennedy: Smelly, wrinkled and full of bullshit.
It really has become hard to watch. Enjoyment sucked right outa it.