Liam Hayes

[5 Sams]

Anyone else read this eejitt in the Tribune today....

He heaps praise on Jack O'Connor and the Kerry lads...he even apologises to Seamus Scanlon for what he has said about him in the past....then in the last paragraph he insults O'Connor by saying that because he was pictured in the Monday morning papers after the AIF celebrating and clenching his fist after the final whistle that "he is less gracious than he probably should be" and that "he is still not the equal of Mickey Harte".

Both men have always come across as pure gentlemen...I'd love to know the reason for this rant..

[Jimmy14]

Anyone else read this eejitt in the Tribune today....

He heaps praise on Jack O'Connor and the Kerry lads...he even apologises to Seamus Scanlon for what he has said about him in the past....then in the last paragraph he insults O'Connor by saying that because he was pictured in the Monday morning papers after the AIF celebrating and clenching his fist after the final whistle that "he is less gracious than he probably should be" and that "he is still not the equal of Mickey Harte".

Both men have always come across as pure gentlemen...I'd love to know the reason for this rant..

Very outspoken & critical for some reason, seen as how he never had any success as a manager himself!

[comethekingdom]

'Tis like this lads - why are ye even bothered wasting web space commenting on that pillock?

[whiskeysteve]

webspace has never been sacrosanct

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkbB-X9654s&feature=fvst

[Bogball XV]

Anyone else read this eejitt in the Tribune today....

He heaps praise on Jack O'Connor and the Kerry lads...he even apologises to Seamus Scanlon for what he has said about him in the past....then in the last paragraph he insults O'Connor by saying that because he was pictured in the Monday morning papers after the AIF celebrating and clenching his fist after the final whistle that "he is less gracious than he probably should be" and that "he is still not the equal of Mickey Harte".

Both men have always come across as pure gentlemen...I'd love to know the reason for this rant..

Very outspoken & critical for some reason, seen as how he never had any success as a manager himself!

he's a journalist, a former great on the pitch and he enjoys stirring a wee bit.  People are so bloody sensitive sometimes, for what it's worth, O'Connor has never come across to be a particularly gracious man (in my humble opinion, i have had extremely limited managerial success too - mostly online).

[orangeman]

Hayes is just a shit stirrer. Trying to be better, smarter, more eloquent and qualified than Spillane - fails miserably on most counts.

[INDIANA]

Anyone else read this eejitt in the Tribune today....

He heaps praise on Jack O'Connor and the Kerry lads...he even apologises to Seamus Scanlon for what he has said about him in the past....then in the last paragraph he insults O'Connor by saying that because he was pictured in the Monday morning papers after the AIF celebrating and clenching his fist after the final whistle that "he is less gracious than he probably should be" and that "he is still not the equal of Mickey Harte".

Both men have always come across as pure gentlemen...I'd love to know the reason for this rant..

Very outspoken & critical for some reason, seen as how he never had any success as a manager himself!

he's a journalist, a former great on the pitch and he enjoys stirring a wee bit.  People are so bloody sensitive sometimes, for what it's worth, O'Connor has never come across to be a particularly gracious man (in my humble opinion, i have had extremely limited managerial success too - mostly online).

Hayes contradicts himself every week. Even in that article he does it twice. As a writer he has no credibility left because he can't string an article together based on sensible arguments that actually makes sense.

[Bud Wiser]

Doh!
http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=13871.0

Sh&* stirrer like meself?

[ONeill]

Brolly gave him some touch in Friday's paper. Hayes seems to keep digging away at that hole.

[ONeill]

The Magic Kingdom

Kerry's dismantling of Cork has Jack O'Connor as an equal now in football terms with Mickey Harte, writes Liam Hayes

Praise for Jack O'Connor these past seven days could not be high enough. Last Sunday, by first stopping, and then clinically dismantling his All Ireland final opponents with amazing dexterity and speed, he proved beyond all doubt that his football brain was the sharpest in the land in 2009. This was not like before, when Cork have met up with Kerry in Croke Park. On this occasion Cork did not freeze. This time, a Cork football team was left in bits and pieces in an All Ireland final with almost half a game of football still to be played.

It was an astonishing piece of work brilliantly cooked up by Jack. At the end of this decade, he stands shoulder to shoulder with Mickey Harte, each with three All Irelands to their name, and the pair of them virtually inseparable for any of us attempting to judge Ireland's greatest living, breathing Gaelic football manager.

It doesn't really matter that they never got to play one another in the final game of the 2009 season! Of course, it might matter a little bit to Jack O'Connor, because he was denied the personal satisfaction of victory over Mickey Harte which, almost certainly, would have come his way had the two gone toe-to-toe last Sunday. Nevertheless, they end a long and enthralling decade as equals, and as it should be.

Last Sunday's game was, indeed, a strange one. The game itself as a contest, or as a work of sporting art, was entirely forgettable, but by the end of it, I was not only left enthralled by Jack O'Connor's excellence, I was also left applauding the four or five vastly superior individual performances within his team. And here I'm not talking about Tommy Walsh, who was once-again extraordinary in his general calmness and clinical point-scoring, or Declan O'Sullivan or Tom O'Sullivan who were both exemplary, at either end of the field. I'm actually talking about two of the characters whom, so often in the past, I have considered to be just below accepted standards for inter-county footballers.

Tommy Griffin, after such a stomach-churning beginning to the game for a full-back, gave one of the most courageous performances in true leadership which we have viewed on this great stage in almost a generation. Seamus Scanlon, however, for me, was the most inspired Kerry footballer of all on this occasion. A footballer who can give 100 per cent of his absolute ability on All Ireland final day is a rare enough breed. Scanlon is a footballer with the most basic, rudimentary skill levels, but last Sunday he must have performed at 200 per cent of his natural ability, and when Kerry needed someone to step up and stop Cork's early surge, it was Scanlon who was the first to be seen.

For so many reasons, he was my 'Man of the Match', and now is the right time for me to personally apologise to him and anyone who knows Seamus Scanlon, for being so consistently dismissive of his abilities and his role on this Kerry football team. I do so very happily. There was no score in the last 11 minutes of the game, which is one extremely strange statistic from last Sunday's final, but the real reason behind this lies in the fact that the contest had ended sometime before then.

The Cork football team did not freeze over, but their manager did appear to be incapable of doing anything about what was happening on the field, and right in front of his nose. Conor Counihan, all winter long and into the spring, will feel that the blame for this bitterly disappointing defeat lies, in the largest measure, with him. And so it does.

He watched his magnificent defence being made to look miserable, and he watched his powerful selection of footballers in the middle third of the field being entirely overpowered. Also, he watched 14 wides being kicked over the 70 minutes, most of them tame, most of them lily-livered in their execution – and one of the many, many things which will surely cross Counihan's mind in the months to come is why on earth he didn't put Michael Cussen into the middle of the field before half-time to do something about Kerry's complete authority there, and why on earth he then didn't shove Cussen into full-forward for the final 15 minutes of the game? Instead, Michael Cussen was sent onto the field in the 66th minute.

But Michael Cussen is just one of perhaps a dozen different regrets which Conor Counihan will have to labour his way through, and deal with in the best way he can, before we see him and his team again in 2010. How he deals with this self-analysis might be the making of him as an outstanding football manager. Unfortunately, however, even if Counihan comes back stronger and far smarter next year, the nature of his particular defeat is only going to be further debilitating for some of his senior footballers who should be forgiven if any of them choose to throw the towel in and forget about ever winning that one precious All Ireland medal.

Last Sunday, it was informally announced within this column, that the three or four years of domination which Cork enjoy over Kerry every quarter of a century was about to commence, if it had not already done so. Such a period of domination hinged entirely on victory, and any kind of victory at that.

This Kerry team, after five All Ireland titles in a busy, and truculent decade, is indeed pretty much over and out. Seven of the nine players who lined out last Sunday in defence and midfield are in their 30s, and some are three and four years past that point of no return. O'Connor has a whole pile of work ahead of him.

It's work, now, we know for sure, that he will enjoy – and should be allowed to enjoy, whether this work ends with further All Ireland titles or not.

In Cork, at the same time, a new team surely now has to be built, and if Counihan decides that he is the man for such a job (and he should!) then he's going to have to start thinking and planning without his most trusty warhorses, Anthony Lynch, Graham Canty, and Nicholas Murphy – and even start looking beyond the likes of Pearse O'Neill and Donnacha O'Connor, who are also moving fast to the 30-year-old mark.

Question is, will Counihan decide to regroup and afford this team one more year of a mighty, extraordinary effort? Most likely he will, and most likely that is a gamble which he or most other managers would choose to take. From looking certain for an All Ireland title in 2009, Conor Counihan is going to be into gambling with 2010.

As for domination? And domination over Kerry for three or four years? That must now be considered a giant-sized miscalculation which I and others bought into.

It was Jack O'Connor's day, and it was Jack O'Connor's year, and while he has much to do if he chooses to remain as Kerry manager for the first half of the next decade, it is now suddenly very hard to imagine any single team – outside of Tyrone – dominating Kerry in the immediate future.

The next decade will start as it should, with Kerry and Tyrone leading the way and building a whole new set of standards for everyone else. In many respects, it's tempting to think that the enthralling rivalry between the two counties is only just beginning, or is only halfway through. There's a pleasant thought to help us all through the next few months of rugby football and association football!

It was Jack O'Connor's year, and nobody else's in my view. He was gutsy and always strong when his team looked to quite distressed and disorientated in the middle of the summer. There's so much about O'Connor which I too admire. His trust and belief is made of rock. It showed, perfectly, in his answer to a big question asked of him within minutes of the final whistle last Sunday, when it was put to him that he must have been thinking twice about Tommy Griffin 10 minutes into the game when Colm O'Neill had a goal and a point scored, and a severe roasting looked on the way for the Kerry number three.

O'Connor, as an example to all up and coming manages, and club managers throughout Ireland, instantly replied that when Kerry needed Tommy Griffin's help and support by taking up the fairly treacherous offer of wearing the number three shirt in the first place, Tommy Griffin gave it to the manager and his teammates, and did so unconditionally. Last Sunday, as O'Connor rightly stated, was not a day for the Kerry management and the rest of the Kerry team to give up on Griffin after 10 lousy minutes. O'Connor and his teammates owed him more than that.

It was superbly acted, and superbly said by the Kerry football manager. It is a pity, it also has to be said, that Jack O'Connor is less gracious than he should probably be, and less respectful and humble in victory, than team bosses of his rare ability should be. Jack's big fist up to photographers, and in the face of the nation first thing Monday morning, does not do him justice. Neither does his need to instantly beat his chest in front of those of us who ever doubted him.

In the world of Gaelic football, Jack O'Connor is bigger than all of us who have raised small and big questions about him personally and about his team. Far bigger! In how he deports himself and presents himself, at this stage of his football life, he is still not the equal of Mickey Harte.

[blanketattack]

Brolly gave him some touch in Friday's paper. Hayes seems to keep digging away at that hole.

What paper was that?

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

What paper was that?

The Gaelic Life:

Sports journalists rejoice

Liam Hayes wayward predictions reaffirmed Joe's belief in the future of GAA punditry

Sports journalists! Experiencing writers' block? Feeling glum and listless? Experiencing strong feelings that there's no point in it anymore? Doubting your abilities? Lacking self-confidence? Fear not, there is an instant cure available at the touch of a button. Simply go to 'Sunday Tribune' and read Liam Hayes' hilarious predictions from the previous weekend. I promise, your confidence will be revitalised. Within moments, your sense of self worth will soar. This year, he has already explained why Gooch isn't a great player and complained bitterly about television pundits describing Kieran Donaghy as 'Star'. He tipped the Dubs (again) and capped another masterful season with his eagerly awaited prediction for the final.

Having won the coveted Father Ted Golden Pundit Award for four years in succession, he is now virtually certain to go home with the gong again this year. Kerry may have five, but they don't have five in a row. Before the Dublin game, Liam wrote that Kerry football was "at its lowest ebb for thirty years". The Kingdom, he said, "is finished, kaput. I give Kerry no chance of winning this afternoon." He went on to give the following fascinating insight "Dublin will work solidly for fifty or fifty five minutes in a business-like manner, rather than a holiday-like manner." Holiday like manner? What the .......... is that? Anyway, he concluded as follows: "Spread the two teams out on the table in front of you, weigh them up, shake them around, hell, turn them upside down (I thought he might have added, "Put their left legs in, their left legs out, in, out, in out, shake them all about..") and whichever way you look at it this day will end up in a Dublin victory." He finished with a flourish. "Dublin will win by a magical seven or eight points."

His crystal ball has been playing up on him for years. You may recall that before the 2004 final he confidently predicted that Mayo would "coast home" against Kerry. Last weekend, he didn't disappoint. He started with his usual imperious sweep: "There is very little doubt ('unimaginable' was thrown in later) that this Cork team is poised and ready to dominate Kerry for three or four years." Later, he provided the following fascinating insight: "Nicholas Murphy, Alan O'Connor and Pearse O'Neill, between them, will outplay and finally retire Darragh Ó Sé."

His finale was positively triumphant: "Cork can win, should win, and will win, and on a perfect day they will do so by four or five points. "

It goes without saying that noone (tell me you didn't) rushed to the bookies on foot of this and staked the pile on Cork. But Liam should not be dismissed, since he serves an important function in Irish life. He reminds us how silly all punditry is. Questions like "Talk us through that goal Joe" or "Do you think it was a penalty?" Or "Who will pick up Tommy Walsh?" are fun to discuss, but nothing more.

If Liam is a racing certainty for the punditry gong, then Marty Morrissey cannot lose in the prestigious 'Sports Interview of the Year' category. His interview with Tadgh Kennelly after the game was a thing of beauty. A fortnight earlier he had gone after Brian Cody in his moment of triumph by suggesting that a very soft penalty had changed the game's outcome.
Brian went from exultation to withering anger in a blink. It was the first time the public have had the chance to experience the legendary Cody eye. I heard a story about a talented U21 hurler from the county who was invited to the senior training to play in one of their in-house matches. When he took the field, he was sporting white boots. Brian called him over and sent him home with the words "This is the Kilkenny senior hurling team. We don't wear white boots here."

Marty provoked the same treatment. 1-0 Marty.

Roy Firestone, the legendary American sportscaster had an uncanny ability to make great athletes cry during interview. When he wrote his autobiography, he gave it the title "Don't make me cry Roy." He was so famous, he actually played a cameo role as himself in the hit film Jerry Maguire, when he made Cuba Gooding's character cry on air having presented him with his new contract offer. One after the other great boxers, athletes and basketballers would appear on his show promising Roy "You're not gonna make me cry Roy." One after the other, the master would reduce them to quivering wrecks. Roy would surely have been proud of the Clare man's technique last Sunday when he got Tadgh in front of the camera. Immediately sensing the opportunity, he began with effusive praise of the 'what a year, what a story' variety. Tadgh immediately gave the warning "I'm feeling quite emotional Marty." And so he was, lip quivering and eyes down.

Marty paused and it may have seemed to most as though he would move to matters football. After various attempts, the line that finally nailed it was, "I'm sure your father is looking down from heaven smiling" stopping Tadgh in his tracks and bringing tears to the eyes. "I'm feeling very emotional now Marty" blurted Tadgh. It was a terrific interview, and a fitting end another
terrific seven months of fun.

Which is all it is.

[muppet]

Brolly gave him some touch in Friday's paper. Hayes seems to keep digging away at that hole.

What paper was that?

Andrex.

[moysider]

Is there anything else this man can turn his hand to. I remember 20 years ago he wrote about his annoyance about being told by a Meath supporter to 'get the lead out of your arse today Hayes'. Spaceris how he was once described by a Meath fan publicly. The man is obviously away with the fairies.

[Billys Boots]

Gombeen, must be a constant source of shame to Meathmen everywhere.