GAA Football All Stars

ridicolously silly thread lustruum....not only are donegal the best team this year but they will be hot favourites for every game they play for the next year imo.....they were head and shoulders above any team they played this year and they were never really tested.....

@lostrumm
'There was not 1 player not involved in the All Ireland semi-finals and only 3 outside the finalists.'

From the counties that werent involved in the AI semi-finals, who would you say deserved one? There is not many Donal Keoghan, Emmett Bolton maybe..

If anything, I think Donegal should have had more than 8, Rory Kavanagh and Anthony Thompson were hard done by. But it would be hard to see them owning the entire half back line positions and the midfield pairing.

Lee Keegan (practically missed the Dub game) and Aidan Walsh should not have been selected imo.

Will Mc Guinness take up the job at Celtic.

richters spot on , they have set the benchmark , all 15 were from provincial winners , cork recognised for winning 3 leagues in a row , if i have any query its mayo getting 3 in defense.

then again , who gives 2 rattling fks about all stars !

the fly correct in fact the donegal players that didnt get nominated will be sorely disapointed such is their level of professionalism....

the all star selection system is flawed....always has been....can remenber 91 when the entire down full forward line were overlooked in favour of o rourke,flynn and stafford....great players in their own right,but mickey linden and james mc cartans exclusions were disgraceful imo....i know the meath dublin saga that year provided sum great moments but james mc cartan was motm in the final while colm o rourke only played 15mins of the final....

im sure the celtic cross in their arse pocket compensates for it richters!

Not in the near future anyway Gant, that was interesting though.

Yes rich but I dont think they'll be too worried as toby says 'who gives 2 rattling fks about all stars', what values have they nowadays, they'll prob just miss out on a brand new car, at the end of the day they have a celtic cross in the back pocket and are remembered for winning an all ireland.

they were awarded in 94 toby while not having played as well as in 91....that team cuda won 4 all irelands imo.....very little between down,derry and donegal in them days which revived the fortunes of ulster football.....

still richters , with carr and blaney recognised in the half forward line one cannot have too many complaints, though linden and james were fantastic players alright

donegal evs for ulster and 100/30 for all ireland lads....if anything i think they will be better next year....wouldnt pass much remarks to them in league,they will blood a few of the young lads....Cross 5/6 in ulster also looks good imo....

all ireland champions only 4 all stars toby...think it was the lowest ever for winners but as you say noone cares about them anymore....

wex got to semi in 08 , how forde didnt get one then is beyond all rational thinking , though in fairness i had give up on the all star selections well previous to that ..

I still think the good teams will have them figured out by next year. One year wonders in my view. McGuinness didn't suddenly figure out a 100 year old game all by himself.

who are the good teams iyo lustrumm.....donegal showed the rest up average....dublin the only team i can see getting anywer near them but they have to many players doing the celebrity circuit thesedays...football comes 2nd....

dunno lustrumm , might take a few years to figure them out , but having spoken to jimmy winning matches it was richly deserved and a reward for forward thinking !

Where is Jimmy working this weather.

toby....forde was agreat player.....people 4get that wexford beat armagh and run champions tyrone close a few years back.....was workin in enniscorthy back then...

Forde never scored a single point in the semi-final toby, a heavy loss in the provincial final didnt help his credentials either. Though, Wexford should have gotten one for their efforts that year.

Agree that Dublin are the nearest thing to challenging Donegal. A fresh approach next year will do them wonders, in my own opinion they under performed this year, just thought they never got going. They've serious potential but do they really want it is another thing..

Toby and richters , there were a lot of anomalies in the 1991 selection process . Colm O'Rourke only played for 15 mins in the final , but he did make a difference when he came on , his marker could not handle him .  On the other hand Tommy Dowd was on for the full match , hardly touched the ball  , contributed one pass , and got an All Star  , as well as one in 94, 95 , and 96 . His marker did not even get a nomination for an All Star . Watch the video .

Barry Breen  did get an All Star in 1991, deservedly , despite being taken off in the final , which still leaves us Down supporters scratching our heads as he had the measure of Meath engine man  Gerry McEntee up to his departure .  Gerry McEntee ran riot after Barrys departure , it nearly cost us the title . Nine points up when they took Barry off , only won by 2 .

The Meath backs could not handle Withnell's physical strength , he neutralised the 2 Meath central defenders Lyons and Harnan , allowed the Down forwards the room to show their prowess . Martin O'Connell was also lucky to get an All Star based on his performance in the final , good player though he was throughout the year .

Think Colm O Rourke was footballer of the year in 1991 so how could they leave him out of that years All Star team.

biggest all star fcuk up was brian whelehan in 1994.motm in hurling final.player of the year.yet failed to get an all star.its a flawed system.

Was a monumental omission , kavvie .

Bearing in mind that generally only players with counties in the last 8 get recognised ( and league form is probably reflected in that final 8) , why do they not get a nominated panel of the 21 on each of those 8 teams selected for the play-offs , and poll them exclusively . No person to vote for themselves or a team mate . But that would not suit the committee  media junkies who are sometimes involved in the current selection process .

Most players know who does the work on the field , particularly if they analyse the opposition . Know that the Down backs all wanted to mark the same Meath forward in 1991 as they reckoned it improved their chance of being man of the match ( awarded by Jacko that year to a player whose words to me in the tunnel straight after the match were " Withnell gave me everything " ).

correct and right kavvie an absolutely shocking ommission of probably the best pound for pound player to play the game....half back,full forward.......kelly do you remenber the incident with withnell and mick lyons below hill 16 in the first half......

who got the MOM kelly? saw the game and a couple of re-runs but its gone out of me head

Withnell had quite an interesting career for a northern protestant. playing with Down and then coming south to the loi with Dundalk and winning medals in both codes

he was a big unit too. what happened with him and Lyons?

james mc cartan was sunday game motm.....withnell won the ball on the ground......lyons squatted over him and withnell just lifted the shoulders and put lyons head over sh1t.....theres not many done that on mick lyons over his career....

fly, forde was carrying a very bad injury into that semi , lasted 30 mins , should prob have been taken off well before that.

Yes richters , there was a gasp of disbelief from the Meath supporters over that incident , think it affected the rest of the team for a while in the match . Withnell just trotted away as if it was a simple bench press .

Not sure about Withnells affiliations , was from Drumaness where GAA was pretty strong ( with their share of fanatical supporters , God bless them ,).  He was as strong as a bull , but was not regarded as unmarkable by most of the good Down backs in the club football scene . And being from Drumaness he was also party to a keen soccer scene . In 1994 he was not in favour with the management for whatever reason , not the only one in that boat , and while we won out it was with 14 fit men against a poor Dublin team on the day . Not a patch on the 91 performance where we beat the best ever squad to represent Meath , but fair play to them , they carried a few niggles on vital players into the final , legacy of their titanic matches against Dublin possibly .  Football was eminently watchable in those days .

kelly withnell is playing for the down masters this last few years and also reserve football in hilltown this last few years...he also represents norn iron over 40s at international level....his 2 goals against kerry were sublime.....he put in some shift in the 91 final without scoring......

Must be keeping himself very fit , richters , with that agenda at age 44  or so.  As you say he put in some effort in that semi final and final . First time I was in the foyer in the "new" Croker he was featuring on the lifesize cardboard cut outs on display . A while ago admittedly .