Roughest Shower of Animals

[seamus]

In my humble opinion it is only in the last 2 games that all of the Kerry public have taken this team to its heart. This was reflected in the crowds that travelled to both the semi final and final and the crowd that took to the pitch after the game was definitely the biggest i have ever seen after a kerry victory.

It could be argued that from 2001 to 2006 there were still serious question marks hanging over the team the biggest being whether we had a soft belly and were tough enough to compete with the Northern teams.
Facile victories in 2004 and 2006 left questions over the quality of the opposition we faced.
2006 reached a new low with our captain and manager being booed off the field in Parc Ui Caoimh. The baying for blood and criticism of the team reached pandemic proportions. There was serious debate on this forum and i argued at the time that it was needed and would be good for us in the long run. We are the roughest shower of animals for one reason:
We demand the highest standards and we demand success every year. This is the tradition of kerry football and the single biggest difference between us and the rest of the pack.

In some ways we are like the All Blacks. When they came home after losing the last world cup the coach was turfed out, the players were castigated and they returned stronger, fitter, mentally battle hardened and have dominated world rugby since.

Declan O'Sullivan took a break after his torrid year last year and returned mentally much tougher and prepared for anything. Playing the Dubs and Cork in Croker was a piece of cake. Dare i say it, was it a good thing?

We know have the situation whereby players like Paul Galvin and Tom 'Sullivan spend the week before the game loading the pressure on themselves and their team mates. It defied all sports pyschology which tells us to treat it as another game and not to build it up too much.
Comments like these were used before the game:
'100 years of the tradition of kerry football is at stake'
'Everything we have done as a team will be worthless if we lose to cork'
' i might never play for kerry again if we lose'

Our players are now comfortable to load the pressure onto themselves and build the game up to be something huge in the knowledge that the team can take the pressure.

Why? Well, partly because of the supporters demanding the best from them over the years and hammering them when they don't deliver.
We are so lucky to now have a team of real 'men' who can take on the burden of the tradition of kerry football and it sits well on their shoulders.
The players came in this year, physically ready, mentally ready and produced top quality football.

All critics silenced.

What do you think?

[homerj]

all true points, but the pressure and expectation for next year will be as high as ever , if not higher than ever. we are indeed a hard bunch to please, but i really think that we not half as bad as the dubs. those lads are subjected to more hype and pressure that 10 counties put together.

[JK]

I don't buy any of that for a second. Animals belong in a zoo.

I was never more embarrassed and humiliated to be from Kerry as I was when walking out of Pairc Ui Chaoimh in July 2006 after the treatment recieved by the manager and captain.The captain is only now showing the potential evident as the best underage/schools player in the country in 2000-2002.

The performances by the PLAYERS in the last two games comes from their own motivation.No one can relate to this unless we are part of the panel. Their motivation in all likelihood comes in spite of the "supporters",not because of them.Of course I acknowledge the couple of thousand genuine supporters.

But July 2006 was something that should be taboo and never mentioned again,not something to be proud about.

This animal stuff is self indulgent and makes no sense and should be forgotten about

[ardfertnarrie]

I wouldn't give any credit to the shower that thought it fit to actually boo anyone on their own team. It was a disgrace and will always remain that. The reason this team are so mentally strong is because they know the pain of defeat. They never want to feel what they did on 01, 02, 03 or 05 again.

Roll on 08.

[Deleted]

The high expectations and demands of the fans are a factor in Kerry's success but does not justify Pairc Ui Caoimh in 2006

[homerj]

lads, from where i was sitting in the stand on that faithful day in cork last summer, there was no booing, just a massive cheer when declan sullivans name was called out to be replaced and that was it. people were delighted about it, but as far as im concerned, there was no booing or giving abuse to the lad. anybody on here actually see or hear people openly boo him and give abuse cos i witnessed something else.

and by the way, it never should have happened, im not defending it by any means, but it was not as bad as people make out. anyway, there was feck all kerry people at the game that day in the first place! maybe only 5,000 or 6000.

[dart]

homerj said:

lads, from where i was sitting in the stand on that faithful day in cork last summer, there was no booing, just a massive cheer when declan sullivans name was called out to be replaced and that was it. people were delighted about it, but as far as im concerned, there was no booing or giving abuse to the lad. anybody on here actually see or hear people openly boo him and give abuse cos i witnessed something else.

I was behind the Goals in the City end that day, and I didnt hear any booing. It surely cant have been more than half a dozen drunken louts behind the dugout, and it certainly, should never be mentioned again, cause it seems as time goes by the whole tale gets bigger.

[Deleted]

I was in the City end that day also and we all heard it clearly.
It was a "cheer" or be more precise a sarcastic cheer.

Not very nice whatever you want to call it and unnecessary.

[homerj]

i think we are all agreed that it should never have happened. but it has been blown out of proportion saying he got abuse and was booed when it didnt happen.

[Deleted]

homerj said:

i think we are all agreed that it should never have happened. but it has been blown out of proportion saying he got abuse and was booed when it didnt happen.

I don't think Declan sees the difference- whether people booed or "cheered", it felt pretty much the same to him and to a lot of others.

[Jo90]

I only heard cheers against Cork, most of them followed by "about f...ing time"
However against Longford, when he came on as sub I definitely heard boos.

[Aine]

Its a vicious circle... sucess leads to high expectations... high expectations lead to more pressure. But we don't complain when we win. So was paudie right?

[austinstacksabu]

As I've said before, I cheered - sarcastically I suppose - more in relief in my eyes, that finally Jack had taken what was a ruthless and hard decision.

[meadhbh]

This year's final and last year's final were both pretty uninspiring in my opinion....
It should've been monaghan plaing on sunday and not cork
It was a fairly scrapy match and there was a lot of fouling especially in the first half.

[kerrygold]

austinstacksabu said:

As I've said before, I cheered - sarcastically I suppose - more in relief in my eyes, that finally Jack had taken what was a ruthless and hard decision.

no story is black and white,this one certainly wasnt either.

however the reaction from some fans was wrong.

if that call by jack hadnt been made kerry mighten have won the last two all-irelands,more players might have retired,the keys to the kingdom would never have been written(that mighten be a bad thing) and jack now wouldnt be making a name for himself as a good gaa writer.Finally Pat o Shea might not have got the chance to become a successfull manager and dublin might now be all-ireland champions.

[Mickmack]

Donaghy is the main difference between 2005 and now. We scored 6 goals in the Munster final, Monaghan game,Dublin game and the final. Four came from the long ball......

That option wasnt there in 2005.............

actually that option was there and wearing number 25.......... kieran Donaghy was wearing 25

[kerry07]

Perhaps we might have left Bros inside a while longer that day....Hindsight is always clear

[Walter Mitty]

Being realistic, most players are playing mainly for themselves first and foremost...cant blaim them either.

All this talk about playing for the fans just plays up to the supporters.

[AnygivenSunday]

who do you play football for walter? yourself or your team and club??