O'sullivan is best all round player playing today

joyce and mcdonald while good players couldnt be put in same league as either gooch,matt connor or peter canavan.these 3 were game changers and geniuses..matt scored 3-9 off the famous kerry back line in the all ire semi in 80..and he wouldnt have had an awful lot of back up...

I wouldn't consider Joyce or Donnellan a great, I was just comparing them to McDonald as I tgought the galwayman would be well placed to comment, I don't think the criterion is natural talent anyway but 'greatness' alone

We're talking in terms of the best of all time here, would you say he was as good as Cooper or canavan, you're the one that rates McDonald better than him, I'd have him streets ahead of McDonald

I'm not slagging Joyce, i'm just surprised that a person from Galway would consider mcdonald a better player, that is whats being discussed btw galwayman, not natural talent and flair, but who was the more effective, It is just a surprise to me that you'd rate McDonald over Joyce. Joyce was a fine player and I'd much prefer him on my side than McDonald when the money is down.

to say mcgeeney was the dirtiest player in gaa history is a very irresponsible statement and downright wrong.its why forums like this are so dangerous.anyone can say anything.so of all the club  and county corner backs down the years and hatchet men employed to "slow down"young lads mcgeeney was the worst?you should retract that statement at least.

I don't know why I got involved in a nonsense argument where there can be no winner. It's like being stuck in a pub that doesn't serve drink with people I don't like and whose opinions I don't rate.

McDonald is the best footballer I have seen. Skill, speed, strength, could take a score, incredible passer. Padraig Joyce is still a brilliant player, and one of the best forwards to ever play football.

Kieran McGeeney is the dirtiest player in the history of the GAA and kavvie is the worst forumite in the history of Betfair.

You are all entitled to your views. Good day to you all.

Saw Purcell once I think , but I was young then and he was carrying a bit of weight so only vague impressions for me .  Stockwell and he had a brilliant understanding  apparently .  Purcell  Top 5 of all time in his position , but best ever is always hard to quantify and measure given the evolving nature of any game .

Centre half forwards are the link between midfield and the scoring forwards , very often they are working hard collecting broken ball from midfield and distibuting it forward to those in good scoring positions . This often negates their natural attacking instinct and limits their opportunity to "bust the net " which should be an essential measure of a really great forward . Very few can be good ball winners on the 45  and net busters as well . Do both and you deserve the "great " adjective .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E6c6Q8wkis

While i would never rate Ciaran Mc Donald in the same league as greats like Canavan, Cooper or Matt Connor he was a player i rated very highly.

When you talk about greats its really a matter of how narrow or broad a definition you give the word great. I personally think it has to be a very narrow range of players who can even be considered to be great.

Mc Donalds style of play was definately unique. He always seemed to have a lot of time on the ball. He would often get a ball and take a few steps back before making his pass in a style not too different to a quarter back in american football. He kick passing with the outside of his foot was exceptional.

I'm fascinated by this concept of kicking with the outside of the foot.How does it work?

Darren O'Sullivan hit a few pearlers with the outside of the boot to Gooch there on Sunday, one of the great long distance kickers in the modern game is Darren. Francie Bellew is also very potent with the outside of the boot at club level as well I gather.

Paddletoe, to be the best forward of all time does not necessarily make one the best footballer of all time. I don't know if I'd call Gooch a better footballer than Tomás Ó Sé or Seamus Moynihan.

Reve, as a fellow Wexfordian I'd sooner have Red Barry in my team than Mattie Forde.

Hard to know where to start tk.

The 6 named below were on the team of the millenium.

    * Dan O'Keefe (goalkeeper)
    * Joe Keohane (full-back)
    * Seán Murphy (right half-back)
    * Mick O'Connell (midfielder)
    * Pat Spillane (left half-forward)
    * Mikey Sheehy (right corner-forward)

Maurice Fitz, Paidi, Dara, John Egan.

Cooper is very good agreed.

Further, Ger Power and Denis Moran each won 8 AI medals. They would be regarded as top top Kerry footballers.

I have excluded Vincent Murphy as he didnt make the breakthrough for Kerry at intercounty level.

i suppose there sort of threads are futile as peole have diff opinions and its not possible to change them.im sticking with the gooch as the best ever tho!!

Best "all-rounder" - Graham Geraghty.

Although the thread is about a ( scoring presumably ) forward , lots of other players feature on posts .

If you are six foot four (plus ) , can jump , can run , can kick a ball , can catch a ball , you are going to be very hard to mark . Donaghy fits all of these criteria , Kerry would not have won as much in recent years minus his input .

Eoin Liston was a huge influence on Kerry's all time winning team  , apart from his own scoring exploits ( vital goals a la John Egan ) it took 2 to mark him which left others free to roam . In simple mathematical terms that doubles his input to the team performance .

Jacko remains the best all-round footballer I have seen over the years , particularly in relation to athleticism , versatility , and longevity , and he was the best all-round player on the best team of all-time .   Occasionally he had a quiet match , but if you examined the reason it was because the oppositions best player(s) were marking him .  Left acres of space for his team mates , and most of the Kerry lads are natural runners so its bonanza time !

Anthony Tohill was another in that category , and he was taller than Jacko and a superb dead ball kicker to boot . Very hard to mark . As was Brian Mullins .

Best natural forward we ever had in Down was Sean O'Neill , quickest thinker on the football field I ever encountered , if you were in the right place at the right time he parted to you .  But he did make the team of the century ! As did Jacko , did he not ?

eoin Mulliagan, jesus wept,

Donaghy a tremendous shot

Geraghty is the prototype footballer, embarrassing noone mentioned him up to now, put him on Mcdoinald, both in their prime, I know ****g well what would happen anyway

Harsh you may say, but greatness, tis an exacting standard, mcDonald has never shown anything to me that he could cope with an athlete/footballer like Geraghty, Scoring 10 points in Connaught is small beans, what did Brolly say about great players looking even better in Croke Park, never seen it from Ciaran I'm afraid, d quarterback, he can carry away, just don't anyone say he ever was able to carry em when it came to the crunch, people may say, that's unfair, he's from Mayo, well, that's GAA baby. John Galvin has carried limerik for years, and out of mcDonald and Galvin, i know which onr Kerry would take.

Barney Rock was a great player I remember in my youth, mind you, most of that Dublin team were too.