Who are the team of the decade?

[gorm agus bui]

who did kildare beat in the 98 all ireland semi? that 98 kildare team were no slouches and you're doing them a huge discredit there

a poor kerry team by their own high standards

Though still good enough to win the All-Ireland the year previously.

kildare were and are for the foreseeable a no-name product, galway 98 was not an all-ireland won against a brand leade

What's the definition of a brand leader? The only brand leader in football is Kerry and they weren't good enough back then to even reach the final that year. End of story.

Kildare may not be great now but they had a fine team for a number of years who came close to reaching another final in 2000.

Big name teams or brand leaders as you call it don't always have great sides out on the pitch year after year. That's why we play the games. Otherwise we'd just stick Kerry in the final every year and everyone else could play-off to meet them.

This revisionist devaluing of All-Ireland titles is nonsense IMO and noticably rarely seems to be applied to any Ulster teams strangely enough. You can argue that every opponent on the way to an AI title was either exhausted, stricken with injuries, had a bad dose of the trots on the day, got lost in the bus on the way to Croker, etc. It doesn't change the fact that invariably the best team in the country any given year will still lift Sam come September time barring the very odd exception.

[/b]

e.g 2002

[Mike Sheehy]

galway 98 was great to see but you admit yourself above that it was in a poor kerry year, if kildare reach an-ireland final then alarm bells start ringing and a stewards's enquiry is called for.

I am sure people like yourself will spend the next year expounding on the weaknesses of the present Kerry team and management yet this will not translate into a devaluation of Tyrones victory. That, in essence, is the problem with this revisionism, it is not applied equally.

Also, are you the same poster called 'Puskas' who posted here a few years ago  ?

[In the Onion Bag]

Puskass. your contributions here are rapidly losing you credibility. 

Let no one suggest that the 2008 Kerry team was a poor team.  The team was littered with greats ffs.  They were simply beaten by the sum of the parts of lesser gifted team Tyrone who, as a well gelled team, overpowered the individual and (prior to the AIF) spectacular greatness of the Kerry stars.

An added and significant factor was the superior brilliance in: understanding the game, in dealing with the opposition's strengths and weakness, tactical nouse and esp in managing the pre-match psychology as displayed by Micky Harte.  As in the hurling final, Micky is a candidate for MotM imho.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

A team of less gifted individuals is a debate for another day; let's just say that their (Tyrone's) medal haul in general, at all grades, defies betterment. Some inferiority.

Team of the Decade: Kerry, and will be unless Tyrone wins next year's All-Ireland, in which case Tyrone will indisputably be the team of the Decade (for whatever baubles that's worth). Not only have Kerry won the most AIs this decade (so far), they're also the only team to have successfully defended SAM, and that's an immense achievement, whatever way it's cut.

[magickingdom]

Puskass. your contributions here are rapidly losing you credibility. 

Let no one suggest that the 2008 Kerry team was a poor team.  The team was littered with greats ffs.  They were simply beaten by the sum of the parts of lesser gifted team Tyrone who, as a well gelled team, overpowered the individual and (prior to the AIF) spectacular greatness of the Kerry stars.

An added and significant factor was the superior brilliance in: understanding the game, in dealing with the opposition's strengths and weakness, tactical nouse and esp in managing the pre-match psychology as displayed by Micky Harte.  As in the hurling final, Micky is a candidate for MotM imho.

and i thought they won because they got 3 quick points in the last 3 minutes of the game after kerry had missed a great chance for a goal...its called breaks sometimes you get them sometimes you dont

[Tyrone Dreamer]

This craic about Kerry having the better players is nonsense. Tyrone have all round footballers all over the pitch. Look at the 3 players in full back line, all quality footballers who could easily go up the pitch and take a score. The Tyrones defenders are far better footballers than the Kerry lads - compare how much the back six scored from play this year to the Kerry 6. Then you have the likes of Cavanagh,McGinley and Dooher up the pitch. Add to that a bench that includes Mulligan,O'Neill,McGuigan,Hughes,Gourley,McCaul. The best footballers and best team won the All Ireland. This craic about Tyrone having inferior players to Kerry is an injustice to a great team that has beaten Kerry on numerous occasions since the minors in 97.

[the green man]

MAybe best to wait until the decade over, eh lads!

[magickingdom]

and where were those tyrone players for 7 of the last 10 years? two great teams played a great game on sunday and tyrone won by pulling ahead in the last 3 minutes. theres nothing else to it. as fear said above if tyrone win next years ai their the team of the decade, if they dont kerry are...

[puskas]

galway 98 was great to see but you admit yourself above that it was in a poor kerry year, if kildare reach an-ireland final then alarm bells start ringing and a stewards's enquiry is called for.

I am sure people like yourself will spend the next year expounding on the weaknesses of the present Kerry team and management yet this will not translate into a devaluation of Tyrones victory. That, in essence, is the problem with this revisionism, it is not applied equally.

Also, are you the same poster called 'Puskas' who posted here a few years ago  ?

Why are you sure? I am no fan of Tyrone, although I have gradually developed a deep respect for them over the last 6 years. Why are Kerry so people so touchy. You are the yardstick by which others are measured and will be unless another team strings a ru of titles together in a short period and dominates. At the hint of a suggestion that some of their recent All-Irelands were won easier than others in the past, they get very insecure. Curious.

To me it stands to reason. Some of Armagh's Ulsters over the last decade were easy won, others were bitter hard-fought marathons. I don't see the problem with this logic and simply cannot accept but that all titles are the same, "it's in the history books so let's blank out the story behind it and not discuss the merits of a particular All-Ireland". Down as an example, slightly fortunate to win 91, Meath and Dublin were arguably better teams but in 94 it's hard to argue that Down weren't the best team in the country. Many argue that Armagh were lucky in 02 and I can see where they're coming from although I would disagree. Are we not allowed to say that the Kerry team of this decade has weaknesses? Isn't this a discussion board?

Yes I am the same poster.

Puskass. your contributions here are rapidly losing you credibility. 

Let no one suggest that the 2008 Kerry team was a poor team.  The team was littered with greats ffs.  They were simply beaten by the sum of the parts of lesser gifted team Tyrone who, as a well gelled team, overpowered the individual and (prior to the AIF) spectacular greatness of the Kerry stars.

An added and significant factor was the superior brilliance in: understanding the game, in dealing with the opposition's strengths and weakness, tactical nouse and esp in managing the pre-match psychology as displayed by Micky Harte.  As in the hurling final, Micky is a candidate for MotM imho.

I may not be expressing myself very well. Where have I suggested Kerry 08 were a poor team? Don't know what you're on about there. Anyone who deoesn't have great respect for Kerry is a fool. But the greatest respect?

They are a very good team with a number of great individuals but have not proved themselves a great team in my opinion. They've lost most of the defining games of the decade. Will the Kerry oul boys in the pubs in Ventry be talking about the great Kerry team(s) of this decade? I doubt it. Unless they beat Tyrone next year and win the All-Ireland next year. Then there is a chance of redemption.

Let me put it this way, I figure this decade will be remembered in years to come as the decade when an emerging force from Ulster, Tyrone (shown the way by Armagh who blazed the trail lest we forget) stood up to Kerry and beat them not once, twice but thrice. Ergo, team of the decade. There will be few tales told to grandchildren of the risible All-Ireland Finals of 04, 06 and 07. Before ye all jump on me, let me stress that they were risible not due to Kerry but the feeble challenges of the challengers, with one exception Armagh in the 06 which was a great game up to the collapse in the last 10 minutes.

The defining games of the decade in my opinion have been Kerry-Meath 01, Kerry-Armagh 02, Tyrone-Kerry and Tyrone-Armagh 03, Tyrone-Armagh and Tyrone-Kerry 05, Kerry-Armagh 06 (putting Armagh to bed for the decade), and Tyrone-Kerry 08. Kerry have lost all but one of theirs and Tyrone have won all of theirs.

[magickingdom]

why was kerry v meath a defining game? kerry got hammered? then again meath got hammered the next day. why no defining games in 2004 or 2007?

[puskas]

and where were those tyrone players for 7 of the last 10 years? two great teams played a great game on sunday and tyrone won by pulling ahead in the last 3 minutes. theres nothing else to it. as fear said above if tyrone win next years ai their the team of the decade, if they dont kerry are...

Puskass. your contributions here are rapidly losing you credibility. 

Let no one suggest that the 2008 Kerry team was a poor team.  The team was littered with greats ffs.  They were simply beaten by the sum of the parts of lesser gifted team Tyrone who, as a well gelled team, overpowered the individual and (prior to the AIF) spectacular greatness of the Kerry stars.

An added and significant factor was the superior brilliance in: understanding the game, in dealing with the opposition's strengths and weakness, tactical nouse and esp in managing the pre-match psychology as displayed by Micky Harte.  As in the hurling final, Micky is a candidate for MotM imho.

and i thought they won because they got 3 quick points in the last 3 minutes of the game after kerry had missed a great chance for a goal...its called breaks sometimes you get them sometimes you dont

ah but you see, 3 quick points when the fat is in the fire at the end of a game don't just happen as if by magic. kerry and armagh (until recently) were masters at the one or two quick points at the end of a game to close it out and cross the line. are you suggesting that monaghan and kerry are equals and kerry just got the breaks 2 years in a row, two great teams etc. u can't have it both ways.

kerry's psychological spooks when facing tyrone post-03 may possibly have something to do with it I'd wager (just like most of the rest of the country when level with kerry going into the last few minutes)

[puskas]

why was kerry v meath a defining game? kerry got hammered? then again meath got hammered the next day. why no defining games in 2004 or 2007?

It was an unprecedented collapse in the history of the game of a reigning All-Ireland champion, and of a Kerry team. A defeat of the magnitude hitherto only inflicted on forlorn Ulster and Connacht sides in Croke Park, and an ominous sign that something was very rotten in the Kerry pysche. The harbinger of things to come in 02 and 03...

[puskas]

why was kerry v meath a defining game? kerry got hammered? then again meath got hammered the next day. why no defining games in 2004 or 2007?

what games in 04 or 07 do you think were decade-defining games?

[magickingdom]

puskas, monaghan have a team capable of winning an ai. if they stick together (and stay off the beer), they could well win one soon.. football is not like hurling where the skill level of killkenny/cork/tipp/galway just about rule everyone else out (really killkenny at this stage).

the kerry/armagh game in 06 btw also turned on a late score (donaghys 65th min goal). the thing with kerry when they lose tho is they come back. does anyone think the 2008 defeat is any worse than 2005? its not and we won 2006 and 2007. you mentioned the meath game in 2001, we were mauled and were back in the ai the following year. i love the team of the decade argument, our 35 ai have been well spread out, we've been the team of most decades but its really not a big deal. when the bookies open their account for 2009 we wont be too far off the pace

why was kerry v meath a defining game? kerry got hammered? then again meath got hammered the next day. why no defining games in 2004 or 2007?

what games in 04 or 07 do you think were decade-defining games?

none, but then i dont think any of the games you mentioned were defining

why was kerry v meath a defining game? kerry got hammered? then again meath got hammered the next day. why no defining games in 2004 or 2007?

It was an unprecedented collapse in the history of the game of a reigning All-Ireland champion, and of a Kerry team. A defeat of the magnitude hitherto only inflicted on forlorn Ulster and Connacht sides in Croke Park, and an ominous sign that something was very rotten in the Kerry pysche. The harbinger of things to come in 02 and 03...

you cant win every game every year! look at what happened to meath when galway got their hands on them in the ai in 2001? the bar is always set higher for kerry

[the green man]

Sligo, won their first provincial in eons. Definitly Sligo