Who are the team of the decade?

[GalwayBayBoy]

Why are there so many votes for Armagh?    Unbelievable!

Lots of Armagh members I would imagine.

[KERRYMAD]

meaningless poll, whats wrong with 2009 is there not going to be an all ireland final??

be patient and re apply this poll again next year when the decade comes to a close

and for arguments sake say kerry wipe the floor with tyrone would that victory not count or vise versa.

its like asking who won the race without a sprinter yet at the starting line

[Bogball XV]

Very close imo. The fact that Tyrone have yet to defend their title plus the fact that Kerry have 1 More title would shade it imo in Kerry's favour.
2009 will settle it.

Ulster:
Tyrone draw Derry in the Ulster preliminary round, come through after drawing in Celtic Park, meet Armagh in Clones and win, before getting beat by a last minute goal by Monaghan in the Ulster semi.  They are a wee bit unlucky with the draw in the qualifiers and draw Meath Donegal, but come through anyway, before meeting a fired up Mayo, again, it's tight, but they come through.  So there they are in the 3rd round of the qualifiers and lo and behold they draw the Dubs in Croker, they lose by 1 after a titanic struggle (Brogan actually plays more than 6 mins this time).
Meanwhile, in Munster:
Kerry get lucky with the draw and get a bye into the semi, there they play the winners of Clare and Waterford, luckily the game is in Killarney.  They duly win and meet Cork in the provincial final (again in Killarney), they come through and are in the quarters.  Amazingly they lose to Dublin in the quarters - still their performances have cemented their title (made up and irrelevant as it is) of 'team of the decade' and so they go home happy.

[armaghniac]

The team of the noughties may well be different than the team of this decade.

Indeed the Armagh - Galway AI finals in 2009 and 2010 may open up the debate about the team of the decade. 

[Guillem2]

14 votes for Armagh now? Are they allowed internet access in the padded cells?

[Onion Bag]

The Armagh votes are only put down to take the bad look of it,

But there are people voting for Mayo and the Dubs, now they should be in a padded cell in straight jackets 

[Puckoon]

Soft championships, munster is easy, we were injured, ye cant beat us. Blah blah blah.

Ye are AI champions lads, ye fully deserve this, but know your place. Kerry, so far, are the team of decade, the medal count in league, province and All Ireland all prove this.
To suggest they arent the best because they havent beaten you is arrogant in the extreme.

I cant understand why Tyrone fans cant just accept being a fantastic team. Unless we declare ye the greatest team ever, award ye 15 all stars, admit ye had the best player ever, best manager ever and were also in the match of the year then ye will keep going on about the southern media having an anti tyrone / northern agenda.

Enjoy being AI champions lads and dont go ruining your credibility with silly claims that make no difference anyway.

I think the entire debate is flawed. There are always a mindset (and how it can be construed as arrogance is beyond me HHNB) who in any sport will say that to be the best you have to beat the best. Tyrone have beaten Kerry this decade in every game that counts. There is no refuting that argument. So it could be said that they are the best because they have beaten the best (Kerry being among the best, if not the best team in the land). On the flip side of the coin, Kerry have been unable to beat Tyrone in important games so it could be said that they are not the best, seeing as they have not beaten the best (Tyrone being among the best, if not the best team in the land).

However - there is not a level basis for comparison. You cannot lay the Munster and Ulster (or indeed Leinster) provincial championships side by side and as you have done above - claim that Kerry's provincial medal haul counts. Now its just the way it is, Munster is an easier passage to the later stages of the AI series. I fully believe that if Kerry were in Ulster, they would win Ulster championships - they are a great team. They would however, struggle to win them year in, year out like many of the good teams do.

[his holiness nb]

The all ireland numbers would only be relevant if both teams started out from the same point every year. As Kerry get a free pass to the last 12 every year then the only relevant stats are head to heads and three nil is as emphatic as you can get.

Getting to the last 12 is one thing, but you dont get from the last 12 to 4 all ireland wins and countless finals unless you are a class side.

Counting head to head battles between the two sides to decide who is team of the decade is ridiculous.
Its not Kerrys fault Tyrone werent good enough to get far enough to face them in the years they won.

The begrudgery towards Kerry by some on here is unreal. Tyrone are the better team this year. Make the best of that.
As they say form is temporary, class is permanent. this phrase sums this whole debate up imo.

[his holiness nb]

OK Puck, to stengthen the inflated opinions Ulster folk have of their own championship, please feel free to remove the provincial part of my argument and base it purely on league and all irelands.

One argument made is that Kerry get an easy passage to the last 12, I wonder why they won more leagues so?

[armaghniac]

I fully believe that if Kerry were in Ulster, they would win Ulster championships - they are a great team. They would however, struggle to win them year in, year out like many of the good teams do.

I think you mean Armagh here, in recent years. 

We need Hound's ranking, to add to the debate.

[Puckoon]

I certainly dont begrudge Kerry anything. Im pretty sure my post shows that.

You are however, fighting a battle that doesnt need to be fought - Kerry's record in AIFs speaks for itself. 35 titles they have. 35!

However, I feel I should highlight a few things.

In this decade Tyrone and Kerry have contested 2 and 3 national league finals.

They have two victories each, with Kerry losing this years final to Derry.

In the same period, Kerry have qualified for 5 AIFs in consecutive years. Tyrone have only qualified for 3.

Kerry have beaten Mayo and Cork to claim 3 AIF titles (if Saffron Sam's time keeping is correct - which I think it is). In the same period Kerry have lost AIF finals to Armagh and Tyrone (twice).

Tyrone have won 3 AIF titles in this time, which is the same as Kerry and have yet to be beaten by Kerry on this stage.


One thing Kerry have done which Tyrone have failed to do, is win back to back AIF titles.


So Ive removed your provincial part of the arguement, and presented the actual roll of honour for this decade.

The roll of honour suggests it is neck and neck - with one team at present yet to beat the other.

Draw your own conclusions.


BTW - I dont have an over inflated opinion of the Ulster championship. I can just acknowledge that it is longer, and has been alluded to by many journalists and pundits over the general course of the decade in discussion - much tougher to win - than Munster.

[his holiness nb]

You are however, fighting a battle that doesnt need to be fought - Kerry's record in AIFs speaks for itself. 35 titles they have. 35!

Its the Tyrone fans harping on about team of the decade. Are you saying because Kerry have 35 all irelands we should shut up and let you claim to be team of the decade when you arent??

Theres all sorts of silly arguments to be made either way, but back to the very basics, Kerry have more all Irelands ie, they have been better this decade. Pure and simple.

Tyrone have a chance to equalise this next year and draw level.
And by Armaghniacs reckoning ye still have 2010 to claim that particular title 

[Puckoon]

The all ireland numbers would only be relevant if both teams started out from the same point every year. As Kerry get a free pass to the last 12 every year then the only relevant stats are head to heads and three nil is as emphatic as you can get.

Getting to the last 12 is one thing, but you dont get from the last 12 to 4 all ireland wins and countless finals unless you are a class side.

Counting head to head battles between the two sides to decide who is team of the decade is ridiculous.Its not Kerrys fault Tyrone werent good enough to get far enough to face them in the years they won.

The begrudgery towards Kerry by some on here is unreal. Tyrone are the better team this year. Make the best of that.
As they say form is temporary, class is permanent. this phrase sums this whole debate up imo.

Strange to suggest that there is no basis for comparison between head to head meetings when discussing the two best teams of the decade? Surely that combined with the totality of success is paramount to the end result of any debate?

By the way - you are right about it not being Kerry's fault that Tyrone werent good enough to meet them in the years they won. You are especially right about 2004.

[Puckoon]

You are however, fighting a battle that doesnt need to be fought - Kerry's record in AIFs speaks for itself. 35 titles they have. 35!

Its the Tyrone fans harping on about team of the decade. Are you saying because Kerry have 35 all irelands we should shut up and let you claim to be team of the decade when you arent??

Theres all sorts of silly arguments to be made either way, but back to the very basics, Kerry have more all Irelands ie, they have been better this decade. Pure and simple.

Tyrone have a chance to equalise this next year and draw level.
And by Armaghniacs reckoning ye still have 2010 to claim that particular title 

I feel like you arent listening, which is frustrating.

Have you even looked at the statistics? You spoke about leagues 2 posts ago - and I showed you the league statistics...

I am not claiming Tyrone are the team of the decade. I never said that we were, nor will I concede that we are not. It is, as I said, neck and neck.

2 leagues each. 3 AI's each (in the proper time frame of the decade). Kerry have yet to beat Tyrone.

[Main Street]

Kerry know they are the team of the decade and are more concerned
with shutting up all the old lads back home who yap on about the greater Kerry teams of former decades.
And then there is the wee elephant of Tyrone in the corner of the room