Joe Brolly

[BennyCake]

Derry's HF line was probably the weakest of the 3.

Blaney and Martin McHugh were great players at CHF. Barton wouldn't have been as good or instrumental for Derry as the others were for their side.

[ONeill]

I'd extend that to the FF line too. But their defence was majestic and in Tohill they had the best player of the 3.

[APM]

Great era in football. We were spoiled and we didn't know it at the time.  Thought it would always be like this. 

Gormley was a hardy huir for a corner forward.  Off-topic, but the point off the left peg on the wing in the 93 AIF always stands out to me.  He had been punched off the ball by Niall Cahalane a few minutes earlier and after he scores, he lets Cahalane know he would get his revenge on the scoreboard.  Serious operator. 

[rrhf]

down were the best of the 3 by a country mile but I'd have had Derry before Donegal on the strength of their midfield and back line who made up for the lack of a productive forward line. Interestingly the so called golden period between 91-95 was an era of highly combative defensive football where forward lines except for downs were stop start things. Defemses dominated games and a strong attacking midfield or half back was often the difference between just about scoring enough to win. It was a dour era indeed.

[imtommygunn]

You're right actually. Even cork and Dublin wouldn't have had a load of star forwards in those days. The Connacht counties weren't really counting then. When you think of that Dublin era you maybe think of Barr, Curran etc and cork more O'Brien, counihan. Yes maybe redmond and then Coffey / odriscoll from cork but not quite household names.

Blaney, McCartan, linden as good as any era.

[sam03/05]

The Derry team of 93 from no 2-9 Were as good as anything there has been about since or before.
10-15 (forward line ) average enough and would not stand the test of time.
You could not compare them with the Armagh or a tyrone forward lines of later years.

Derry won their AI based on players 2-9
6 brilliant defenders and two top class midfielders - with Tohill an all time great.

[whitey]

The Derry team of 93 from no 2-9 Were as good as anything there has been about since or before.
10-15 (forward line ) average enough and would not stand the test of time.
You could not compare them with the Armagh or a tyrone forward lines of later years.

Derry won their AI based on players 2-9
6 brilliant defenders and two top class midfielders - with Tohill an all time great.

They won it because a Cork player got sent off for nothing

[imtommygunn]

They won it because they were better.

[BennyCake]

The Derry team of 93 from no 2-9 Were as good as anything there has been about since or before.
10-15 (forward line ) average enough and would not stand the test of time.
You could not compare them with the Armagh or a tyrone forward lines of later years.

Derry won their AI based on players 2-9
6 brilliant defenders and two top class midfielders - with Tohill an all time great.

They won it because a Cork player got sent off for nothing

Had the umpires done their job right, Cork would have been down to 14 players anyway.

Bar the first 5 minutes, Derry were the better team.

[rrhf]

Yes but that cork team was too old to play in an all Ireland final. Down lifted that era. The other 3 teams including Dublin were scrappy stuff but fair play. The 96 Meath team had forwards and midfield and defence as well

[Estimator]

Yes but that cork team was too old to play in an all Ireland final. Down lifted that era. The other 3 teams including Dublin were scrappy stuff but fair play. The 96 Meath team had forwards and midfield and defence as well

Cork had 7 players under 25 in their starting line up.
Derry had 7 players under 25 in their starting line up.

Cork had 1 outfield player 30+ in their starting line up.
Derry had 2 outfield players 30+ in their starting line up.

[imtommygunn]

Yes but that cork team was too old to play in an all Ireland final. Down lifted that era. The other 3 teams including Dublin were scrappy stuff but fair play. The 96 Meath team had forwards and midfield and defence as well

Should the referee have checked their birth certificates before they went on?

[tbrick18]

The Derry team of 93 from no 2-9 Were as good as anything there has been about since or before.
10-15 (forward line ) average enough and would not stand the test of time.
You could not compare them with the Armagh or a tyrone forward lines of later years.

Derry won their AI based on players 2-9
6 brilliant defenders and two top class midfielders - with Tohill an all time great.

Derry had a top class keeper at that point too.
Whilst the Derry forwards didnt all score heavily, they all were able to chip in with 2-3 points in any game.
We had 2 superb free takers in Gormley and Tohill which kept our scores up.
But, IMO, the single biggest assett of the Derry forward line was their strength. They could all win their own ball. Brolly could turn on a penny and tormented manys a defender. Damien Cassidy, Gormley, Barton and Brolly at that time would have made it onto any team in the country.
We had a terrific mix of power, talent, pace and desire plus a manager who knew how to get the best from his panel. That's why we won the AI and no other reason.

The sacking of Coleman cut Derry very deep and I'd imagine those outside the county wouldnt see the impact it had.
If you were to make a comparison, it would have been like sacking Mickey Harte when they got beat in 04 after winning the AI in 03.

[thewobbler]

More than a tad OTT. Cassidy and Barton would have been unused subs for Down of the same era, while only one of Brolly or Gormley would have started.

Or are you going to tell me that one or more of Carr, Blaney, Linden and McCartan would have made room, or that one of your four was a full forward (at that time)?

[caprea]

Koeman keeping the seat warm for Jimmy

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/why-do-you-say-that-jose-mourinho-was-only-an-assistant-joe-brolly-on-why-jim-mcguinness-could-manage-barcelona-35898159.html