English V Carey

[5 Sams]

Well lads....watching Laochra Gael tonight featuring Nicky....I want to ask you was he as good as DJ?

I've seen both of them and as a bogballer...if I was asked... Nicky was the tops for me...and I have watched both of them... Nicky through the mid to late 80s etc and then DJ through the 90s and 00s..am I wrong??...if so why??

[Minder]

Ack f**k i forgot about that tonight, is it repeated?

[GalwayBayBoy]

Well lads....watching Laochra Gael tonight featuring Nicky....I want to ask you was he as good as DJ?

No.

Nicky wasn't even the best hurler of his era IMO. Joe Cooney was. That said he was a super hurler.

[Lecale2]

Sorry I missed that. English was a great hurler IMo but not as good a DJ. He was very unlucky with the injuries and missed a lot of important games.

[The Real Laoislad]

DJ wins hands down imho there was no better..
DJ was also a gentleman and always had time for you when you met him,I met English a few times and i thought he was a auld bollix

[squareballz]

DJ better,  but Nicky  (bow) my favourite player. He was the 1st real superstar i noticed. i met after Tipp threw away 10 point lead last summer against Limerick, he  was a pleasure to meet.  I have to say he was probably foulded (assaulted) much more than anyone else...... good auld Silvie. On another note, Is there somewhere you can get those loachra gaels ive seen a few but missed Nicky . I know alot of people looking for them. Very interesting especially the backgorund stuff , training etc

[GalwayBayBoy]

DJ better,  but Nicky  (bow) my favourite player. He was the 1st real superstar i noticed. i met after Tipp threw away 10 point lead last summer against Limerick, he  was a pleasure to meet.  I have to say he was probably foulded (assaulted) much more than anyone else...... good auld Silvie.

Nicky wasn't a stranger to taking a dive either.

[bottlethrower7]

DJ wins hands down imho there was no better..
DJ was also a gentleman and always had time for you when you met him,I met English a few times and i thought he was a auld bollix

thats harsh. I've met Nicky a few times and he was always the perfect gentleman.

I concur with what was said here. Cooney was better than Nicky by a street. DJ was better too, in my biased opinion. But they were different types of players really so its probably not a valid comparison.

[AZOffaly]

i've also met Nicky English, and I thought he was a very nice fella.

As for his relative merits vis a vis DJ Carey, I would have to give the nod to DJ. Joe Cooney was also special but being biased, I would put Brian Whelehan ahead of them all from this loose era. If we are talking about forwards though, I think Joe Cooney was the best natural hurler, DJ the best scoring machine and I would even put Nicky's teammate Pat Fox on a par if not ahead of him.

[johnneycool]

DJ better,  but Nicky  (bow) my favourite player. He was the 1st real superstar i noticed. i met after Tipp threw away 10 point lead last summer against Limerick, he  was a pleasure to meet.  I have to say he was probably foulded (assaulted) much more than anyone else...... good auld Silvie.

Nicky wasn't a stranger to taking a dive either.

Nicky was an exception hurler who just didn't have a good team around him as Tipp were in the throws of 'the famine' for most of his career. He must of been in his early thirties when he lifted his first AI against Antrim in 89 and subsequent one in 91 when DJ was a youngster on the opposing team. A fortuitous goal from a mishit Micheal Cleary free won the game for Tipp that day. Nicky then won a famous Munster championship when he came on 'smiling' against Clare who received a drubbing so don't ask a Clare man about Nicky.
DJ started out very young on the Kilkenny team and picked up AI's on a regular basis throughout that period. Was he helped by having a good team and a weak Leinster in the latter years is up for debate, but there's no doubt he knew how to get scores when they were most needed. He was always accused of not performing well in an AI final and he did have a few quiet ones especially against Cork but he had an exceptional touch, vision and pace but he had difficulty counting steps for some of his goals!!

Two good hurlers but I'd just think DJ had the greater impact.

Now Joe Cooney was some spud also but that's for another day 

[bottlethrower7]

Nicky was an exception hurler who just didn't have a good team around him as Tipp were in the throws of 'the famine' for most of his career. He must of been in his early thirties when he lifted his first AI against Antrim in 89 and subsequent one in 91 when DJ was a youngster on the opposing team. A fortuitous goal from a mishit Micheal Cleary free won the game for Tipp that day. Nicky then won a famous Munster championship when he came on 'smiling' against Clare who received a drubbing so don't ask a Clare man about Nicky.

that was all a lot of bullshit really. Who really thought twice about the fact that nicky was smiling that day against Clare when they were watching the game? Fact is that players will frequently display the fact that they're happy when they're winning a match. It was a typical Loughnane ploy, to invent something out of nothing, to try and spur on his own shower. Nicky was very hard-done by with the treatment he got at the hands of Clare (off-field treatment I mean). Nicky was no angel on the field. Not a dirty hurler by any means, but taking that dive against poor old Slyvie wasn't right. Still, he was blackguarded himself. In the drawn Munster final in 1996 Nicky was practically molested by Limerick. The collar of his jersey was covered in blood, yet he didn't get a single free from Joe O'Leary. Limerick went to the all-Ireland final that year, but should never have gotten past either Clare or Tipp (the first day).

DJ started out very young on the Kilkenny team and picked up AI's on a regular basis throughout that period. Was he helped by having a good team and a weak Leinster in the latter years is up for debate, but there's no doubt he knew how to get scores when they were most needed. He was always accused of not performing well in an AI final and he did have a few quiet ones especially against Cork but he had an exceptional touch, vision and pace but he had difficulty counting steps for some of his goals!!

thats not true either. DJ practically carried the Kilkenny team after 1993, until they re-emerged in 2000 under Brian Cody (lets forget about 1999 - an abherratton if ever there was one!). In his latter career it was certainly easier for him. He was given space during league campaigns to train at his own pace, he had Shefflin to take over free-taking, and had plenty of others to carry the can if he had a bad day. It wasn't all plain sailing for him though.

[turk]

Nicky was an exception hurler who just didn't have a good team around him as Tipp were in the throws of 'the famine' for most of his career. He must of been in his early thirties when he lifted his first AI against Antrim in 89 and subsequent one in 91 when DJ was a youngster on the opposing team. A fortuitous goal from a mishit Micheal Cleary free won the game for Tipp that day. Nicky then won a famous Munster championship when he came on 'smiling' against Clare who received a drubbing so don't ask a Clare man about Nicky.

that was all a lot of bullshit really. Who really thought twice about the fact that nicky was smiling that day against Clare when they were watching the game? Fact is that players will frequently display the fact that they're happy when they're winning a match. It was a typical Loughnane ploy, to invent something out of nothing, to try and spur on his own shower.

Nicky smiling? he was laughing, at the Clare lads "ahhh haa haa haaa" he was going, took the helmet off and laughed at them all, "ha ha!"

[Minder]

He never wore a helmet......

[TBT]

As  Kevin Cashman said in another context to compare Nickey English to DJ Carey is to compare the Sydney Operahouse to the Cork Operahouse. English by a country mile. Cooney became far too fat and slow too early to be considered great.

[johnneycool]

that was all a lot of bullshit really. Who really thought twice about the fact that nicky was smiling that day against Clare when they were watching the game? Fact is that players will frequently display the fact that they're happy when they're winning a match. It was a typical Loughnane ploy, to invent something out of nothing, to try and spur on his own shower. Nicky was very hard-done by with the treatment he got at the hands of Clare (off-field treatment I mean). Nicky was no angel on the field. Not a dirty hurler by any means, but taking that dive against poor old Slyvie wasn't right. Still, he was blackguarded himself. In the drawn Munster final in 1996 Nicky was practically molested by Limerick. The collar of his jersey was covered in blood, yet he didn't get a single free from Joe O'Leary. Limerick went to the all-Ireland final that year, but should never have gotten past either Clare or Tipp (the first day).

That was tongue in cheek, BT7, I think Nicky got a bad press from Loughnane for next to nothing as he used it as motivation in 95 and in subsequent years after that. He as you righlty said didn't do anything that any other player would have done.