Conor Gormley retires

[laceer]

Tyrone's go-to defender for the last 15 odd years. Superb footballer who never took a step back. The block on McDonnell in 03 summed him up. I wouldn't be surprised to see him lead Carmen to a county title before he retires. All the best Connor

[Fuzzman]

Haven't been on the board for a while but this thread reminds me of the good old days on here where yes you expect total bias from your main rivals but its great reading posts from more balanced neutrals who may have taken their fair share if slagging from your fellow county colleagues but are brave enough to stand up and speak the truth.
Conor Gormley was our best defender in my lifetime for Tyrone. He was a forwards nightmare and you knew you were in for a hell if a battle. Yes of course he was no angel but his darker side usually didn't stoop as low as some others I could name. Every team needs such a defender that strikes fear and self doubt into a player's mind.
Fair play to Stevie McDonnell for his excellent tweet and Conor Mortimer too but I'd say Oisin won't be so kind in his words.
Conor too had a bad impact on the Dubs with him closing out a lot of their best players with Alan Brogan in particular coming off worst perhaps.
Legend us a word often used for players like Canavan and Mickey Linden and Jack O Shea but to me Block is right up there. If Dublin had a defender like him now they would be hard to beat.

[tiempo]

A very good defender at his best..but he was a passenger for a couple of years now in fairness.
Some of his "antics" will not be any loss either though. Loved to drop the knee on prone opponents and the like. There's a photo of him taken a few seconds after the final whistle went in one of Tyrone's All Ireland victories in which he is roaring into a defeated opponent's face, which doesn't say a lot for his character.

I've seen a photo of Homer Simpson shooting JFK from the window of the Texas Book Depository... doesn't mean that's what happened. A legend to Tyrone people

Except, ya know, back in the real world, this actually happened...

The Kerry players face is clearly in the Croke Park turf, therefore Conor isn't roaring into his face

[From the Bunker]

A very good defender at his best..but he was a passenger for a couple of years now in fairness.
Some of his "antics" will not be any loss either though. Loved to drop the knee on prone opponents and the like. There's a photo of him taken a few seconds after the final whistle went in one of Tyrone's All Ireland victories in which he is roaring into a defeated opponent's face, which doesn't say a lot for his character.

I've seen a photo of Homer Simpson shooting JFK from the window of the Texas Book Depository... doesn't mean that's what happened. A legend to Tyrone people

Except, ya know, back in the real world, this actually happened...

The Kerry players face is clearly in the Croke Park turf, therefore Conor isn't roaring into his face

In fairness the Kerry players head is facing to the side and not into the ground. And Conor is hunched and facing into him!

[BennyHarp]

Maybe he's just cheering to himself and the Kerry lad just happens to be there!

[sensethetone]

No one knows if Conor has actually said anything?? Also it's hard to tell how much distance there are between the
two men rather than just assume Conor is directly over the Kerry lad. 

[imtommygunn]

Great player but renowned for that kind of behaviour...

I guess the positive spin on it is that he was a real winner who did what it takes. You can't argue with his medal haul. Will be  remembered much more fondly by tyrone fans than elsewhere!

[Syferus]

No one knows if Conor has actually said anything?? Also it's hard to tell how much distance there are between the
two men rather than just assume Conor is directly over the Kerry lad.

Oh come on. You sound like a SF supporter trying to spin that picture. He did it. Fin. Moving on..

[INDIANA]

Haven't been on the board for a while but this thread reminds me of the good old days on here where yes you expect total bias from your main rivals but its great reading posts from more balanced neutrals who may have taken their fair share if slagging from your fellow county colleagues but are brave enough to stand up and speak the truth.
Conor Gormley was our best defender in my lifetime for Tyrone. He was a forwards nightmare and you knew you were in for a hell if a battle. Yes of course he was no angel but his darker side usually didn't stoop as low as some others I could name. Every team needs such a defender that strikes fear and self doubt into a player's mind.
Fair play to Stevie McDonnell for his excellent tweet and Conor Mortimer too but I'd say Oisin won't be so kind in his words.
Conor too had a bad impact on the Dubs with him closing out a lot of their best players with Alan Brogan in particular coming off worst perhaps.
Legend us a word often used for players like Canavan and Mickey Linden and Jack O Shea but to me Block is right up there. If Dublin had a defender like him now they would be hard to beat.

Dont be worrying about whether we have defenders or not. I'd worry about whether you'll even be competitive this year. Signs aren't good.

[tiempo]

No one knows if Conor has actually said anything?? Also it's hard to tell how much distance there are between the
two men rather than just assume Conor is directly over the Kerry lad.

Oh come on. You sound like a SF supporter trying to spin that picture. He did it. Fin. Moving on..

The accusation was that Conor roared into a Kerry players face. How do you qualify a roar from that photo, it could have been a whispered "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssss"

[Main Street]

Tyrone fans are all too hasty to label Conor's actions as trampish, who can say what provoked such a display of 'in your face' exuberance towards the prostrate Kerry player..

Now that Conor's gone, that leaves Dick Clerkin -  alone he stands, true grit.

[LeoMc]

A very good defender at his best..but he was a passenger for a couple of years now in fairness.
Some of his "antics" will not be any loss either though. Loved to drop the knee on prone opponents and the like. There's a photo of him taken a few seconds after the final whistle went in one of Tyrone's All Ireland victories in which he is roaring into a defeated opponent's face, which doesn't say a lot for his character.

I've seen a photo of Homer Simpson shooting JFK from the window of the Texas Book Depository... doesn't mean that's what happened. A legend to Tyrone people

Except, ya know, back in the real world, this actually happened...

The Kerry players face is clearly in the Croke Park turf, therefore Conor isn't roaring into his face

In fairness the Kerry players head is facing to the side and not into the ground. And Conor is hunched and facing into him!

Was the reel of photos not produced afterwards which showed that he was turning back towards the goals to celebrate and that , out of context this looked worse than the reality.

IMO after the final whistle any further goading would not only be pointless but counterproductive.

[The Stallion]

Gormley was a good footballer but has been poor for about 5 years. And as has been pointed out he lacked class and basic respect for his opponents. Too many nasty digs with knees and fists.

[muppet]

That photo shows nahin. Apart from Donaghy abusing Justin.

And the ref doing a Premier League style celebration.

[NaomhBridAbú]

The picture says less about his character and more about yours