Joe Brolly

Started by randomtask, July 31, 2011, 05:28:31 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

screenexile

Quote from: Rossfan on June 06, 2020, 11:45:03 PM
Does Brolly realise who the Q in QC is?

I'm sure he does given it's so prevalent in his profession... however he is not a QC!!

red hander

Quote from: screenexile on June 08, 2020, 12:09:16 AM
Quote from: Rossfan on June 06, 2020, 11:45:03 PM
Does Brolly realise who the Q in QC is?

I'm sure he does given it's so prevalent in his profession... however he is not a QC!!

I beg to differ... He's a Quare Cnut.

Dubh driocht

Listening to Joe on BBC Re-run of the 1994 Down v Derry game last night was a perfect example of what George Orwell  called Doublespeak.
Or what we in Down call a bitter bollox talking out of both sides of his mouth.
He says that he loved Eamon Coleman (and,of course, Eamon loved him) but blames Eamon for picking the wrong team and that's why Derry lost. Joe reckons Eamon wanted to give a game to boys that missed out on starting the previous year's final. Dermot McNicholl. Really?
He also blames Eamon for leaving his son Gary on Mickey Linden for too long. Mickey was player of the year in 94 and nobody could mark him.
Finally he chastised Karl Diamond for shooting rather than giving the ball back to him. The same Joe who,as a corner forward, literally never had a shot while Paul Higgins marked him.
Here is a revelation for a bitter and twisted pundit; the reason that Down beat Derry in 1994 is that on the day they were the better team and scored more than their opponents

thewobbler

No harm to ye, but if I fell out with every manager i disagreed with I'd lose a couple of my closest friends.

imtommygunn

I just fast forwarded past him. I was at that game but was quite young. One thing I thought noticeable was that down's distribution was just so much better. Derry kicked a lot of aimless ball especially from half back. Kane did that a bit for down but breen, Blaney and Greg McCartan hit some quality kick passes.  Linden was obviously fantastic but the quality of ball was also superb.

It can be hard to see on tv but I suspect the movement of the down forwards was much better leaving it easier to hit good ball in.

BennyCake

The difference in that match:

Down had Greg Blaney at CHF
Derry had Dermot McNicholl

Estimator

Quote from: BennyCake on July 20, 2020, 03:25:39 PM
The difference in that match:

Down had Greg Blaney at CHF
Derry had Dermot McNicholl

I'd agree. Watched the match again when it was shown on tg4. Blaney was head up looking for a pass, McNicholl was head down running. Barton would have made a huge difference, not only in passing and vision, but holding on to the ball and making the right decisions.

As for Joe's comments, I doubt there is anyone in Derry who disagrees with his view on getting McKeever switched over to Linden earlier in the game.  In the '93 game Scullion marked Linden (it was Tony's first game back after an ankle injury in the league). Linden give him the run around early on and Scullion got the Shepherds Crook, before half time. In the '93 AI Semi-Final, Quinn was getting roasted by Vinny Murphy. Coleman took Quinn off in the first half. Derry fans believe something similar should have happened in '94, ultimately it might not have changed the outcome. But I'd say every Derry fan still questions that decision.

And as for Brolly's own performance, the first couple of points he took where superb. Immediately after Higgins joined the fray the next two balls in that direction went straight over the sideline with Brolly out in front of Higgins. He might not have scored for the rest of the game, but the supply was poor. He still set up the goal and won a few scorable frees.
Ulster League Champions 2009

ONeill

There was a serious amount of football played in the middle third. It seemed like 20 brilliant players cancelling each other out. Ferocious tackling. If you made it out of the mire you were fcuked.
I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

imtommygunn

Quote from: BennyCake on July 20, 2020, 03:25:39 PM
The difference in that match:

Down had Greg Blaney at CHF
Derry had Dermot McNicholl

Yeah I thought similar. Bull in China shop versus measured and precise in possession. Mcnicholl had his place but was more off the bench in those days.

BennyCake

Quote from: imtommygunn on July 20, 2020, 06:07:20 PM
Quote from: BennyCake on July 20, 2020, 03:25:39 PM
The difference in that match:

Down had Greg Blaney at CHF
Derry had Dermot McNicholl

Yeah I thought similar. Bull in China shop versus measured and precise in possession. Mcnicholl had his place but was more off the bench in those days.

Leo McLoone played a similar role to McNicholl in 2014. Head down, slow to release the ball, running into traffic while Donegal's FF line were crying out for good ball in. Had Donegal a Greg Blaney like player then at CHF, Jimmy would've sailed off into the sunset with two All Ireland's.

ONeill

Quote from: imtommygunn on July 20, 2020, 06:07:20 PM
Quote from: BennyCake on July 20, 2020, 03:25:39 PM
The difference in that match:

Down had Greg Blaney at CHF
Derry had Dermot McNicholl

Yeah I thought similar. Bull in China shop versus measured and precise in possession. Mcnicholl had his place but was more off the bench in those days.

Thought McCartan was terrific too. Won frees he shouldn't have. Gormley up the other end was fouled a lot and Down got away with it.

Then again, Derry never really had a marquee forward.
I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

imtommygunn

Yeah I think brolly thought he was but wasn't quite that level and could be rattled to as Higgins did. I didn't realise but Derry had 5 changes from their ai final lineup. Maybe a few too many.

McCartan was hard to mark too. He did the same as Conor Laverty does and pulls the defenders arm over his shoulder to get the foul regularly so was a nightmare for a bigger man, which was almost every county defender, to mark. Apart from that he was exceptional too. There weren't many forward lines with three better forwards than blaney, linden and McCartan in those days. There probably very rarely have been.

Maiden1

In saying all that if Blaneys pass to Linden someone got a hand to the ball or Ciaran McCabe rattles the crossbar Derry would probably have gone close back to back. It's a fine line between winning and losing sometimes. If Carr misses that free against Derry in 91 who knows. If a team wins no one thinks about the mistakes but if they lose every decision is scrutinised.
There are no proofs, only opinions.

ONeill

There was a very fine line between Derry, Donegal and Down.

I don't believe Brolly's assertion that Derry were geared for a period of dominance only for the Coleman saga. Of those three, I'd have Derry 3rd.
I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

imtommygunn

Their midfield was fantastic and there weren't many better defenders about than Downey, McKee very or scullion but they didn't have it up front. Those three teams were great. I would have said 2nd of the 3.