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Best Of This Generation

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Michael Murphy has been the best player this past decade for me personally, Lee Keegan wouldn't be far off him.

Dublin will dominate all the history books and rightly so and I think Cluxton will be remembered as a true great of the game along with several of his colleagues but if I was starting a new team tomorrow and got my pick from every player in the country it would be Murphy without hesitation.

GeniusGerry (Kerry) - Posts: 1957 - 03/10/2020 17:54:08    2295454

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Replying To centerfield:  "Ya i agree the 2 OSheas were dominating all through that season and he took them out of the match with the accuracy of his kickouts.
It isnt just his kickouts either he's the best stopper and the best on the big day under pressure.
Then there's the winning free in the 11 final that only a couple of players in the country would have had the range to kick over."
His free in 2011 was a 35 yard free and about 20 yards in from the sideline , it was a kick to win the game and he knew the whistle was gonna be blown from the restart, it would have been interesting if it was a shot to draw the game then there would have been a bit of pressure on the kick.

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 11732 - 03/10/2020 18:12:14    2295456

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Football: The Gooch and
Hurling: Joe Canning.

Trump2020 (Galway) - Posts: 1082 - 03/10/2020 19:00:12    2295464

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Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "His free in 2011 was a 35 yard free and about 20 yards in from the sideline , it was a kick to win the game and he knew the whistle was gonna be blown from the restart, it would have been interesting if it was a shot to draw the game then there would have been a bit of pressure on the kick."
Jays Tommy and that was the first time that ever happened also. I nearly forgot about that. Some kick alright wasn't it ?

catch22 (USA) - Posts: 1647 - 03/10/2020 19:31:37    2295469

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Replying To Thomas Clarke:  "In order:

1. Stephen Cluxton
2. Sean Cavanagh
3. Michael Murphy
4. Colm Cooper
5. Jack McCaffrey"
All great players, but how can you not include james McCarthy? Dublin could (and did) manage without McCaffrey, an absolutely brilliant player, but I don't think they would have survived without McCarthy. By the way, I would have Murphy at number one.

midlands (Westmeath) - Posts: 221 - 03/10/2020 19:43:57    2295471

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Michael Murphy

GDL (Galway) - Posts: 438 - 03/10/2020 19:46:59    2295475

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Replying To sam1884:  "A lot has been said on DC this week and rightly so; but this is a good thread to sit back, forget about retirements and analyse the best players.

Dublin had an awful record after their All Ireland win in 1995; until around 2002 when it was clear they were going on an upward direction! Whilst they improved in the 00's in reality they were not good enough to beat Kerry, Tyrone or Armagh in that era and certainly had no hope of beating two of them to win an All Ireland.

Cluxton was part of that era and you could go through some big defeats for them from those three teams. Did Cluxton burst onto the scene and start the charge to Sam! During the era of 2001 to around 2010 there were better goalkeepers in the country than Cluxton; Tyrone might have had two GK's who would have started for Dublin.

Cluxton was in place for the transformation of Dublin; which was started by Gilroy. Dublin had good players but they needed someone to burst onto the scene and change the whole mentality of the team; to stop those big defeats and to take the game to the opposition. That player was DC; his performances in his initial couple of years raised the bar for Dublin footballers; his introducation went a long way to putting Dublin on the road they went on and brought Dublin back to their traditional style of football; attack not defend.

Cluxton benefited from the t, more mobile players and an attacking mindset and as a result became the best GK in the country from 2010 to now. In truth the top 5 should all be Dublin players but it's good to debate the rest.

People forget how close and how good Mayo have been in the last 15 years because they never got over the line. More than any other era from 2015 they'll be cursing their luck. That Mayo team has to be the best never to win Sam; the only reason they didn't win it is due to the greatest team to play the game; yet they came so close. That and being robbed in Limerick; I'm convinced they'd have hammered Donegal in the 2014 final. Keegan was the main contributor of that team and the only player to stop Connolly at his peak.

Murphy for his contribution to Donegal football has to be up there; I don't agree their success is solely down to him though. He benefited from a very talented Donegal era and the great JMcG. Ulster football was at it's weakest in 20 years from 2015 so winning it give no relevance to All Ireland's post McGuiness era. Tyrone won a few and didn't beat one of the big hitters in the AL series and Monaghan whilst winning it never got to an AL final; big difference from the 90's and 00's eras when Ulster titles were very hard won.

If we're going back to 2005 though of course Cavanagh was key to Tyrone but whilst they won in 05 and 08; the other 13 years have been fairly poor from Tyrone is terms of genuinely competing at the top level so it's hard to put their players in the top 5.

Kerry somehow managed to win an All Ireland in 2009 (throw up had a big bearing) and 2014 (crazy piece of luck in Limerick and the final) yet had big defeats in 05 and 08. They had decent teams but for me none of their players would push past the best in this generation for their contributions in the biggest games.

So my top 5

1) Connolly
2) Cluxton mainly from 2010
3) Keegan
4) McCaffrey - coming back pushed Dubs to the 5
5) Murphy"
Jesus those last two paragraphs are some tripe.

A team that won 5 All Ireland's and was in 6 finals in a row? You know, at a time when teams had to rely on just talent and not being thrown money by Croke Park.
A team that contained the O'Ses, Galvin, Declan, Gooch, Star?? And they're not worth a mention compared to lads these past ten years?


But hey whatever you think lad, you've the anti Kerry crowd slapping you on the back anyway :D

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 5828 - 03/10/2020 20:15:15    2295483

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Replying To TheHermit:  "Jesus those last two paragraphs are some tripe.

A team that won 5 All Ireland's and was in 6 finals in a row? You know, at a time when teams had to rely on just talent and not being thrown money by Croke Park.
A team that contained the O'Ses, Galvin, Declan, Gooch, Star?? And they're not worth a mention compared to lads these past ten years?


But hey whatever you think lad, you've the anti Kerry crowd slapping you on the back anyway :D"
The. World. Does. Not. Revolve. Around. Kerry.

lilylanger (Kildare) - Posts: 527 - 03/10/2020 20:39:31    2295487

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Replying To TheHermit:  "Jesus those last two paragraphs are some tripe.

A team that won 5 All Ireland's and was in 6 finals in a row? You know, at a time when teams had to rely on just talent and not being thrown money by Croke Park.
A team that contained the O'Ses, Galvin, Declan, Gooch, Star?? And they're not worth a mention compared to lads these past ten years?


But hey whatever you think lad, you've the anti Kerry crowd slapping you on the back anyway :D"
I had to laugh at the way he said we had big defeats in 05 and 08, a 3 point loss and a 4 point loss, sure we were massacred :-)

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 11732 - 03/10/2020 20:56:29    2295489

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Replying To lilylanger:  "The. World. Does. Not. Revolve. Around. Kerry."
Maybe. You. Should. Direct. That. Post. To. sam1884. So. As. It. Was. He. Who. Brought. Kerry . In. To. It.. :-).

Being. A. Kerryman. The. Hermit. Was. Quite. Entitled. To. Respond. To. Him.

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 11732 - 03/10/2020 21:01:46    2295490

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Replying To lilylanger:  "The. World. Does. Not. Revolve. Around. Kerry."
100% Agreed !!

superbluedub (Dublin) - Posts: 2113 - 04/10/2020 00:15:40    2295515

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Replying To lilylanger:  "The. World. Does. Not. Revolve. Around. Kerry."
My world does!

Try not to be so jealous I know it's a tough life being a Cork man.

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 5828 - 04/10/2020 02:18:41    2295520

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Replying To TheHermit:  "Jesus those last two paragraphs are some tripe.

A team that won 5 All Ireland's and was in 6 finals in a row? You know, at a time when teams had to rely on just talent and not being thrown money by Croke Park.
A team that contained the O'Ses, Galvin, Declan, Gooch, Star?? And they're not worth a mention compared to lads these past ten years?


But hey whatever you think lad, you've the anti Kerry crowd slapping you on the back anyway :D"
The thread started with "2005 to 2020"; that is 15 years worth of teams and players. Within that period we had a decade where the best team ever to play our game was at it's peak; a team that achieved something never achieved before and likely never will again ( 5 in a row). A team that when put up against his direct opponents in their era in big finals their big players performed; made a difference and ultimately never lost one of these big finals. The great JMCG caught them with his tactical ability but they learnt quick and didn't come back to lose more big games after it like good teams in previous era's or even this era.

Most neutral football people acknowledge and will acknowledge further how special this team is; it's ok for Kerry to mention money as you have done but conventient not to mention the significant sponsorship advantage Kerry had for years (that's another argument).

Of course Kerry had great players during 2005 to 2020 but it's my view they didn't perform in the big tests of 05 and 08; they didn't beat their main rivals in that era and have been fairly average from 2010 - 2020 winning the 14 final which again I thought they were lucky to do.

For those reasons I don't see any of their players in the top 5 from the period mentioned; if it was 2000 to 2010 then yes but over the past 15 years the top 5 I choose were well ahead of any Kerry players in that era but it's not a surprise when you look at the consistent performances over 10 of those years from them 5 and when you acknowledge just how special Dublin were; there could be argument all 5 should come from there.

All about opinions

sam1884 (UK) - Posts: 707 - 04/10/2020 07:30:14    2295523

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Replying To lilylanger:  "The. World. Does. Not. Revolve. Around. Kerry."
Yours seems to seeing as you do nothing else but comment about Kerry

oneoff (UK) - Posts: 402 - 04/10/2020 10:52:30    2295531

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Replying To TheHermit:  "My world does!

Try not to be so jealous I know it's a tough life being a Cork man."
Not as tough as being a Kerryman this decade it would seem!

lilylanger (Kildare) - Posts: 527 - 04/10/2020 11:14:40    2295533

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I Wonder if I was to start a thread on the East Limerick U12 camogie championship, would it somehow end up as an argument about Dublin/Kerry etc.

skillet (Limerick) - Posts: 710 - 04/10/2020 11:31:03    2295538

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Connolly the best I've seen since Graham geraghty. That is the highest compliment I can pay him.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 17035 - 04/10/2020 11:45:41    2295540

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Misread the OP. If we are going back as far as 2005 Colm Cooper is firmly one the conversation. I might still pick Murphy as the best overall but Colm is the best scoring forward of that time for me and probably the next best player.

His mistake (if we want to call it that) was coming back after that very serious injury in 2014. He was never going to be the same after, the accuracy was still there but that short area quickness and shiftiness that made him so great was gone. It's a pity that so many now want to use that time to discredit everything that came before that.

GeniusGerry (Kerry) - Posts: 1957 - 04/10/2020 12:45:30    2295552

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Replying To lilylanger:  "Not as tough as being a Kerryman this decade it would seem!"
Brilliant !!

superbluedub (Dublin) - Posts: 2113 - 04/10/2020 14:08:51    2295566

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Even as a Tyrone man I agree big Murphy is right up there; man is immense and has it all; If Tyrone had of been lucky enough to have had Murphy over this period now knows what they would have achieved; in many ways he is what they missed

hithimhard (Tyrone) - Posts: 20 - 04/10/2020 14:16:17    2295568

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