1. #ThingsLeeDid
THE PHRASE STARTED trending on Twitter between the All-Ireland final and replay, as the scrutiny on the on-field tussle between Lee Keegan and Diarmuid Connolly intensified.
A host of ex-Dublin players condemned Keegan’s actions in the media, leading Mayo supporters to defend their star man with the use of a tongue-in-cheek hashtag on social media.
2. Aidan O’Shea and ‘dive-gate’
O’Shea’s tumble against Fermanagh in the qualifiers handed Mayo a lifeline as they tried to pull the game out of the fire.
O’Shea ended up on the deck with his arms raised after he went down after feeling contact from Fermanagh full back Che Cullen. Cillian O’Connor smashed home the resultant penalty to seal Mayo’s progression.
“I’m sure Aidan O’Shea woke up this morning and regretted his actions, because he cheated,” Pat Spillane fumed after the game. “He cheated.
“It wasn’t a penalty. It was a clear dive. We spoke about simulation over the last couple of weeks, it’s creeping into the game of Gaelic football.”
3. Ex-Dubs can’t hide their disdain for Ger Cunningham
Conal Keaney caused a stir after Dublin’s defeat to Kilkenny in July, when he berated the tactical know-how of Ger Cunningham.
Keaney and Cunningham didn’t see eye-to-eye and the former announced his retirement in April. Keaney, Peter Kelly, Joey Boland and Danny Sutcliffe were among the 2013 Leinster medalists not to feature in the 2016 championship for the Dubs.
Keaney’s tweet continued a trend of ex-Dublin players calling out Cunningham in public.
Michael Carton described the set-up in the capital as “toxic” in November.
4. Player power ousts Davy Fitzgerald
After a third campaign since their glorious triumph in 2013 ended in failure, Davy Fitzgerald faced an uncertain future in Clare.
Joint-captains Tony Kelly and Cian Dillon met with the squad and decided they required a change of voice in the dressing room. Fitzgerald stepped down as Banner boss, but reappeared as the new Wexford boss a month later.
You didn’t really expect him to stay away, did you?
5. Joe Brolly and the celebrity losers
In the space of a month, Joe Brolly managed to berate Mayo and their players in three Sunday Independent columns.
The remarks that gained most notoriety was his “celebrity losers” jibe where he heavily criticised the character of the Mayo players, even asking “what type of men are they?”
Then he somehow linked Rob Hennelly’s public profile as the head of a PR company to his poor display in the All-Ireland final replay: “Hennelly seems a good lad, but was no sooner out of the shower than he was embracing his experience, as though it were some noble tragedy.”
6. Jim McGuinness: The Movie
In 2015 came the enthralling memoir from Jim McGuinness, penned by Keith Duggan: Until Victory Always. In July, it was revealed that McGuinness’s tale is to be turned into a movie.
With Oscar-nominated Kirsten Sheridan rumoured to be involved in the writing of the script, the flick is set to be produced by Irish production company Fastnet Films.
No word yet on when we can expect McGuinness’s journey from Glenties to Glasgow to appear on the big screen.
7. Ger Loughnane’s beef with Kilkenny and Galway
Ger Loughnane picked fights with some of hurling’s big guns in 2016. Loughnane annoyed those in Kilkenny by describing the Cats as a “functional” team, but the real beef was between the former Clare boss and the Galway hurlers.
In the wake of their Leinster final collapse against Kilkenny, Loughnane said live on TV: “Galway are made of absolutely nothing. You can forget about this Galway team — they have no guts whatsoever.”
Former Galway star Ollie Canning, who played under Loughnane for the Tribesmen, defended the current squad days later on Newstalk. “When Ger was in Galway, a 10-point loss to Kilkenny was probably about the highlight of it,” Canning told Off The Ball.
But Loughnane couldn’t resist having a snipe back, this time he aimed his gun firmly at the Canning brothers.
I just wonder did it even dawn on him (Ollie Canning) just how much he unwittingly supported everything I said by referring to that match. Those final few minutes put into microcosm most of the ills that have hurt Galway’s chances of success over the last 25 years.
“What is laughable is that the one man that could have prevented that collapse was Ollie Canning himself. But he wouldn’t play that year because of some perceived injustice following a stormy county final where Loughrea beat Portumna. Joe (Canning) wouldn’t play either, giving the excuse that he was going on a world tour. I think that extended as far as Limerick.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
