Bradley quits Derry county panel

[supersub]

I was making a light hearted/sarcastic response to your post, that is all mass - touchy is ziggy and the moderator status  only messin zig!

[seamusthebard]

Great news that he's back, gives us a fighting chance against Monaghan at least.  I'm beginning to think that the Max/Cassidy rumours are true!

Have a look at Sonny Joe's posts as well. 

[dodo]

Great news that he's back, gives us a fighting chance against Monaghan at least.  I'm beginning to think that the Max/Cassidy rumours are true!

NO NO NO, no more fighting.

[Maguire01]

Bradley will lineout at full-forward on Saturday.
He has been assured of this by the manager.
That's why he has come out of retirement.

I think it would be stretching it a bit to call this coming out of retirement!

[GrandMasterFlash]

Paddy gets to play where he wants so the dummy is firmly back in the pram. I'm glad Vinny Corey didn't retire in 2007 when he was moved from full-back to full-forward. Given the distance between these positions on the pitch he'd have retired for at least a fortnight.

[bellaghy_lad]

Paddy gets to play where he wants so the dummy is firmly back in the pram. I'm glad Vinny Corey didn't retire in 2007 when he was moved from full-back to full-forward. Given the distance between these positions on the pitch he'd have retired for at least a fortnight.

and u know for sure that he spat the dummy out then? do u

[Maguire01]

Paddy gets to play where he wants so the dummy is firmly back in the pram. I'm glad Vinny Corey didn't retire in 2007 when he was moved from full-back to full-forward. Given the distance between these positions on the pitch he'd have retired for at least a fortnight.

and u know for sure that he spat the dummy out then? do u

I'd say that given what we know to date, and the fact that Bradley hasn't clarified the situation, it's a reasonable assumption. But who knows, maybe we'll see him happily wandering around the half-forward line on Saturday.

[full back]

I hope PB has a stormer on Saturday

If the umpires/linesmen keep their eyes open I dont think Monaghan will be able to handle him

[Maguire01]

I hope PB has a stormer on Saturday

If the umpires/linesmen keep their eyes open I dont think Monaghan will be able to handle him

Why? What has changed?

[full back]

I hope PB has a stormer on Saturday

If the umpires/linesmen keep their eyes open I dont think Monaghan will be able to handle him

Why? What has changed?

Since when?

[Maguire01]

I hope PB has a stormer on Saturday

If the umpires/linesmen keep their eyes open I dont think Monaghan will be able to handle him

Why? What has changed?

Since when?

Well Monaghan have been well able to handle him in recent times.

[full back]

I hope PB has a stormer on Saturday

If the umpires/linesmen keep their eyes open I dont think Monaghan will be able to handle him

Why? What has changed?

Since when?

Well Monaghan have been well able to handle him in recent times.

To be fair Maguire, on a few of the occasions the word handle wouldnt be the right phrase, moreso 'manhandle'.
Am just saying, if it is a fair (and Im not saying it will be) game of football, PB would do a lot of damage.
The same point would apply to Freeman

[irunthev]

Articles like that written by Paddy Heaney about Paddy Bradley really do not deserve to be printed either in the paper or copied on this site. It was a total love-in with Bradley, a man that Heaney in future times will be seeking out for interview and cosy little one to ones. Impartial he is not, added to the fact of course that he is a Derry man and is hardly going to want to upset the Oak Leaf camp too much, regardless of what his employers may want.

Alas for journos like Heaney, they live far detached from the real world of the average county footballers. After all, stories about some irrelevant sub for Cavan or Fermanagh don't sell papers, exclusives on Ricey, Bradley and the likes do and that is the way of the world.

Many of these stars who walk away have put a lot of effort into their football and if they feel they have nothing left to offer then it is their prerogative to walk away from it all. However, that is not to say that they have given any more or any less than many others who have played at county level. What they have had though is the good fortune of birth place or residence and the opportunity to play at the highest level with a big county.

There are plenty of guys, and I know some of them personally, who played county football for close on ten years and never missed a match unless they were injured or suspended. They did all the training and travelling required of them, spent Christmas in the gym and in a  by-gone day did those lonely miles on the road. They did it because it was what as expected from them. They postponed holidays and honeymoons, even missed family christening and funerals because of their county but never once did they ever have the opportunity to be the main man or to even experience a moment in the public eye. However, never once did they let their team or county down either. They had the misfortune of playing for the wrong county, however, it didn't make them any less of a player though.

These same guys also paid their own travel expenses, paid for their own physios, bought their own boots and gloves and never once had a team holiday or anything resembling a perk. Still and all, week after week, they turned up and did what was expected of them: the press didn't care and the public didn't care.

Heaney and the likes of them who gather around the tea bar in Croke Park, Clones and the likes every Sunday, drinking free tea, eating free sandwiches and swapping scandal have no interest in these guys, because there are no stories in them. Instead they would prefer to brown-nose some very talented and very well looked after footballer who feels he is having a tough time.

The likes of Bradley, Geraghty, Devenney et al head off to the States and Oz and get treated like royalty by the well-heeled ex pats, while other ordinary Joes have to bust their ass just to get a look-in when they get over there.

Many of these also rans are talented, many have provided much entertainment, but regardless of talent, had they not had the good fortune of being born in a strong football county, no one would care if they never kicked a ball again.

Andy Roddick said both before and after last week's Wimbledon final that he was a very lucky man that he was one of the very small percentage of people who get the chance to be applauded in their life. Bradley is also one of those lucky ones too and he loves the applause, if he didn't then the criticism wouldn't harm him so much.

If Bradley, for whatever reason, no longer wants the applause, let him go and maybe the likes of Heaney, Keys etc might start to broaden their horizon in terms of where they get their stories from.

By his own admission this one landed on his desk - mightn't do him any harm to start to go out and find a few for a change.

[Maguire01]

I hope PB has a stormer on Saturday

If the umpires/linesmen keep their eyes open I dont think Monaghan will be able to handle him

Why? What has changed?

Since when?

Well Monaghan have been well able to handle him in recent times.

To be fair Maguire, on a few of the occasions the word handle wouldnt be the right phrase, moreso 'manhandle'.
Am just saying, if it is a fair (and Im not saying it will be) game of football, PB would do a lot of damage.
The same point would apply to Freeman

That implies that the only way to stop Bradley having an influence on a game is by underhand means. It has been shown in the past that if the supply is cut off, he can be pretty ineffective. Whether or not Monaghan can be effective in doing this on Saturday is another question.

[full back]

I hope PB has a stormer on Saturday

If the umpires/linesmen keep their eyes open I dont think Monaghan will be able to handle him

Why? What has changed?

Since when?

Well Monaghan have been well able to handle him in recent times.

To be fair Maguire, on a few of the occasions the word handle wouldnt be the right phrase, moreso 'manhandle'.
Am just saying, if it is a fair (and Im not saying it will be) game of football, PB would do a lot of damage.
The same point would apply to Freeman

That implies that the only way to stop Bradley having an influence on a game is by underhand means. It has been shown in the past that if the supply is cut off, he can be pretty ineffective. Whether or not Monaghan can be effective in doing this on Saturday is another question.

Are you saying Monaghan/Derry havent used underhand tactics to stop either of the players?