All-Stars 2008

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Won't happen Shane, but as you said earlier a nomination would suffice here -- that's the open goal that the GAA have presented. (And Walsh skinned everybody, just Mc Mahon a little less.)

[The GAA]

davy harte will be very lucky to get a gong i reckon. it'll be tomás

[The GAA]

Francie Bellew?? Mc Keever was Armagh's best defender this year... Francie was hardly staedy against Fermangh in both games, there is some strange decisions!!!

I think o'rourke was armagh's best defender this year. mckeever had a cracking game against down, good in the ulster final replay but poor against cavan, first ulster final and particularly against wexford. none of them deserve nominations though!

[itstartsfromnumber15]

im sure everyone agrees that cork have to get 1 all star.... pierce o neill will find it hard to break into half forwards with osullivan dooher and cavanagh.....canty will find it hard to get in to the half backs with jordan, harte  and o shea/mcmenaman ...........who does that leave??? Yep thats right ANTHONY LYNCH! Got one in 99 and 02...any opinions on that theory lads??

[stiffler]

How did Francie get a nomination, he got roasted in Croker, did he even have a man of the match performance all year?

[JMohan]

- To be honest Ciaran McKeever had one good game on Benny and not enough for an All Star
- O'Rourke did well, but failed the test when it counted
- Apart from the goal against Wexford Francie was outstanding
- Gallagher is only a mouth and certainly not an All Star nominee let alone an All Star
- Joe McMahon should have been nominated
- Dessie Mone is no where near All Star material - cleaned out by Fermanagh and Derry
- Sorry Screen but Damien Freeman is not good enough either ... play anyone as a free man in the half back line and he'll look good. When O'Kane went and marked him he never touched it and Derry nearly won!
- Jordan had a good year all round
- Ricey deserves one too
- Doherty is nominated because of his goal in the NFL final ... that apart his contribution in the Championship was nil
- Eoin Bradley (1-2 in each game against Monaghan, Fermanagh and Donegal) would have been better choice IMO and should feel hard done by
- Gordon and Carr were good but probably not consistent enough against quality opposition
- I think Tomas O'Se had a very good year as opposed to other years and Marc is still overrated IMO
- Meehan had one good game, Joyce had a great League and probably had more good games over the 2 competitions than any forward
- Gormley shoudl certainly get one

[give her dixie]

davy harte will be very lucky to get a gong i reckon. it'll be tomás

Are you mad?
Davy will be a shoe in for an all star.
1-7 from play this championship, and a fantastic footballer.

[JUMBODEMPSEY]

GPA Player of the Year (Joe Mc Mahon) anyone? 

I know that's tongue in cheek but come on - no one was mentioning Joe McMahon before his Dublin goal. Against Wexford? Played well against Kerry but of the 2 big men, Walsh had the better game with the lasting memory of Walsh skinning Joe undr the Hogan.

The only reason Walsh got away from big Joe was that Joe's boot had come off.....not easy to sprint in sock soles......

Watch it again and you'll see so hardly call it a skinning......

Dunno if he woulda got an all star but not even to be nominated is a disgrace when Walsh and Donaghy who were gonna cause so much mayhem did nothing..yet still got nominated....

[screenexile]

Francie Bellew?? Mc Keever was Armagh's best defender this year... Francie was hardly staedy against Fermangh in both games, there is some strange decisions!!!

I think o'rourke was armagh's best defender this year. mckeever had a cracking game against down, good in the ulster final replay but poor against cavan, first ulster final and particularly against wexford. none of them deserve nominations though!

- To be honest Ciaran McKeever had one good game on Benny and not enough for an All Star

Guys, how much of Armagh's games did you actually watch this year. From your analyses I suspect that yous were restricted to TV highlights and post match newspaper reports. C McKeever was most certainly Armagh's best defender on show this year and had more than 'one good game against Down'. In the Ulster final replay he was also very close to receiving the MOTM award for his marking job on Fermanagh's Ciaran O'Reilly, the guy who had received the MOTM award for the drawn match. In the first Fermanagh match and the quarter final against Wexford he nullified the threats of Ryan Keenan and PJ Banville completely. It pains me to think what might have been if he'd been given the job of controlling Mattie Forde in the quarter final, as in hindsight he so obviously should have been.

Anyway these are all moot points and are going off on useless tangents, but I just wanted to correct some very obvious inaccuracies.

For fciks sake are you Martin Carney in disguise?!! His name is Ciaran McElroy! Obviously he made an impression on you with his MOTM performance. O'Reilly hasn't played in donkeys becasue of injury!!

[Over the Bar]

davy harte will be very lucky to get a gong i reckon. it'll be tomás

[ONeill]

The only reason Walsh got away from big Joe was that Joe's boot had come off.....not easy to sprint in sock soles......

Watch it again and you'll see so hardly call it a skinning......

Joe's boot came off whilst hopelessly chasing him. Twas a skinning ok. Walsh is some prospect.

[The GAA]

- To be honest Ciaran McKeever had one good game on Benny and not enough for an All Star
- O'Rourke did well, but failed the test when it counted
- Apart from the goal against Wexford Francie was outstanding
- Gallagher is only a mouth and certainly not an All Star nominee let alone an All Star
- Joe McMahon should have been nominated
- Dessie Mone is no where near All Star material - cleaned out by Fermanagh and Derry
- Sorry Screen but Damien Freeman is not good enough either ... play anyone as a free man in the half back line and he'll look good. When O'Kane went and marked him he never touched it and Derry nearly won!
- Jordan had a good year all round
- Ricey deserves one too
- Doherty is nominated because of his goal in the NFL final ... that apart his contribution in the Championship was nil
- Eoin Bradley (1-2 in each game against Monaghan, Fermanagh and Donegal) would have been better choice IMO and should feel hard done by
- Gordon and Carr were good but probably not consistent enough against quality opposition
- I think Tomas O'Se had a very good year as opposed to other years and Marc is still overrated IMO
- Meehan had one good game, Joyce had a great League and probably had more good games over the 2 competitions than any forward
- Gormley shoudl certainly get one

Jaysus i thought o'rourke was armagh's bes player on the day against wexford.
bellew held his own, protected by o'rourke, but outstanding was never a word to use about him this year.
gallagher made some match winning saves for fermanagh this year to be fair to him.
I think mcmahons versitility has actually romanticised his effectiveness a bit.

[nrico2006]

I don't know how it has romanticised his effectiveness - in 2005 he came in to the problem full back spot and played a key role in helping Tyrone win the All Ireland.  This year he has came into the half forward line and offered a very different dynamic to your stereotypical No.12.  For the final Tyrone were facing the media darlings - the 'Twin Towers' and it was frequently proposed that they would wreck havoc on the Tyrone full back line - yet they did little damage come the game and this was partly down to Joe.  His efficiency at playing in the positions he has played is extremely high.

[Throw ball]

Have to agree with Martin Carney-sorry AFS- here. Having watched Armagh all year in McKenna Cup, National League and championship Ciaran McKeever has been Armagh's outstanding defender. Although it may not be popular to say it I think Francie was lucky to get his place in the championship team. On saying that bar one mistake he had quite a good championship.

[paddypastit]

The GAA have just handed the GPA a masterstroke of positive publicity

Spot on Fear - spot on

Masterson (sympathy vote) the Reilly nomination is a disgrace

Gormley, McMahon, Lynch (covers the 'need' on Cork; O'Se ultimately wasn't good enough this year)
O'Se, Jordan and a toss up between Harte and McMenamin
McGinley and Ryan (slight tokenism, O'Se undone by his indiscipline)
Dooher, Cavanagh and O'Sullivan - all notably ahead of the competion here
Clarke, Cooper and take your pick from Forde, Lyng or Donaghy.  For me Donaghy had more impact over the season. The thought of Forde rather than the actions of Forde scared defences and l;eft space for BAnville and Lyng but despite beingf a (double some days) marked man, Donaghy was still influential every day up to the AIF.