PAUDIE CLIFFORD HAS said that Kerry felt “disrespected” before they won a second All-Ireland title in four years today, beating Donegal at Croke Park.
“Our team has been together for a good few years now,” the Kerry forward told RTÉ’s Damian Lawlor. “Even though we won the All-Ireland in 2022, it was the first time ever we put a 70-minute performance together, and we’re absolutely delighted with it.”
Clifford said talk about Kerry being a one-man team, with an over-reliance on his brother David, showed a lack of respect for a side that has reached three of the last four All-Ireland finals.
“We would have put a lot of pressure on ourselves,” he said.
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“We would be our own biggest critics but like we did feel disrespected for a long time. A team that were in three of the last four All-Irelands and have won two of the last four, we felt very disrespected.
Paudie Clifford felt today's Kerry performance was years in the making and said they felt disrespected as a team
“Being called a one-man team when you have fellas like Joe O’Connor, fellas like Jason Foley have worked all their lives to play for Kerry – and you’re called a one-man team if you haven’t won every All-Ireland. We felt disrespected, like.”
The 27-year-old said Kerry had enough possession to make a few mistakes due to their efforts at centrefield allied to goalkeeper Shane Ryan’s kickouts.
“We knew what Donegal would bring, and we knew it would be an unbelievable workrate,” Clifford said.
“We just said we’d try and pick around them and try and take the right shots. Even though we didn’t really in the first half, we did in the second half. But we have to give massive credit to our midfielders and Shane Ryan.
“We had enough possession to be able to give a few balls away and kick a few scores wide but we still had enough of the ball.”
A few minutes later Peter Canavan asked David Clifford if he agreed that the team had been disrespected.
“Absolutely, he said. “I don’t think anyone goes out to read articles or anything like that but they get to you, look let’s be honest about it.
“You get sent something or someone sends something to you. Obviously no one likes it but it’s no good either feeling sorry for yourself, ‘Oh why are they saying that about us’ – you have to go out and prove they’re wrong.
“And to be honest, as good as our last two performances were, if we didn’t get over the line today it would have been all for nothing so I’m just delighted that we did.”
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'We felt very disrespected' - Paudie Clifford on one-man team criticism of Kerry
PAUDIE CLIFFORD HAS said that Kerry felt “disrespected” before they won a second All-Ireland title in four years today, beating Donegal at Croke Park.
“Our team has been together for a good few years now,” the Kerry forward told RTÉ’s Damian Lawlor. “Even though we won the All-Ireland in 2022, it was the first time ever we put a 70-minute performance together, and we’re absolutely delighted with it.”
Clifford said talk about Kerry being a one-man team, with an over-reliance on his brother David, showed a lack of respect for a side that has reached three of the last four All-Ireland finals.
“We would have put a lot of pressure on ourselves,” he said.
“We would be our own biggest critics but like we did feel disrespected for a long time. A team that were in three of the last four All-Irelands and have won two of the last four, we felt very disrespected.
“Being called a one-man team when you have fellas like Joe O’Connor, fellas like Jason Foley have worked all their lives to play for Kerry – and you’re called a one-man team if you haven’t won every All-Ireland. We felt disrespected, like.”
The 27-year-old said Kerry had enough possession to make a few mistakes due to their efforts at centrefield allied to goalkeeper Shane Ryan’s kickouts.
“We knew what Donegal would bring, and we knew it would be an unbelievable workrate,” Clifford said.
“We just said we’d try and pick around them and try and take the right shots. Even though we didn’t really in the first half, we did in the second half. But we have to give massive credit to our midfielders and Shane Ryan.
“We had enough possession to be able to give a few balls away and kick a few scores wide but we still had enough of the ball.”
A few minutes later Peter Canavan asked David Clifford if he agreed that the team had been disrespected.
“Absolutely, he said. “I don’t think anyone goes out to read articles or anything like that but they get to you, look let’s be honest about it.
“You get sent something or someone sends something to you. Obviously no one likes it but it’s no good either feeling sorry for yourself, ‘Oh why are they saying that about us’ – you have to go out and prove they’re wrong.
“And to be honest, as good as our last two performances were, if we didn’t get over the line today it would have been all for nothing so I’m just delighted that we did.”
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