Greatest 15 never to win a All Ireland

**The Puke** Sat Mar 05, 2011 7:25 pm

According to the Indo

Football
1 Brian McAlinden (Armagh)
2 Gabriel Kelly (Cavan)
3 Kevin Kehilly (Cork)
4 John Egan (Offaly)
5 Brian McEnniff (Donegal)
6 Glenn Ryan (Kildare)
7 Johnny Hughes (Galway)
8 Dermot Earley (Roscommon)
9 Ciran Whelan (Dublin)
10 Ciaran McDonald (Mayo)
11 Packy McGarty (Leitrim)
12 Mickey Kearns (Sligo)
13 Kevin O'Brien (Wicklow)
14 Frank McGuigan (Tyrone)
15 Eugene "Nudie" Hughes (Monaghan)

Hurling
1 Seamus Durack (Clare)
2 Stephen McDonagh (Limerick)
3 Noel Drumgoole (Dublin)
4 Ollie Canning (Galway)
5 Ciaran Carey (Limerick)
6 Sean Stack (Clare)
7 Pat McGrath (Waterford)
8 Joe Salmon (Galway)
9 Terence "Sambo" McNaughton (Antrim)
10 John Callinan (Clare)
11Gary Kirby (Limerick)
12 Martin Quigley (Wexford)
13 Jimmy Smyth (Clare)
14 Christy O'Brien (Laois)
15 Paddy Molloy (Offaly)

What would the olderhands on here like Boxty and Patrique make of those teams....Given that ye would be the ones on here that would have seen the vast majority of these lads play

**Boxtyeater** Sat Mar 05, 2011 7:29 pm

Great possibilities in this thread......must eat first.

**OMAR** Sat Mar 05, 2011 7:47 pm

Barry Owens
Eugene McKenna
Declan Browne

**Boxtyeater** Sat Mar 05, 2011 8:44 pm

The Puke wrote:According to the Indo

Football
1 Brian McAlinden (Armagh)
2 Gabriel Kelly (Cavan)
3 Kevin Kehilly (Cork)
4 John Egan (Offaly)
5 Brian McEnniff (Donegal)
6 Glenn Ryan (Kildare)
7 Johnny Hughes (Galway)
8 Dermot Earley (Roscommon)
9 Ciran Whelan (Dublin)
10 Ciaran McDonald (Mayo)
11 Packy McGarty (Leitrim)
12 Mickey Kearns (Sligo)
13 Kevin O'Brien (Wicklow)
14 Frank McGuigan (Tyrone)
15 Eugene "Nudie" Hughes (Monaghan)

I'll address the football one at the outside. I'll strike 3 for an opener: Out goes Glenn Ryan, Ciaran Whelan and reluctantly Nudie Hughes, to be replaced by Gerry O'Malley (Roscommon), Jim McKeever (Derry) and (begrudgingly) Tony McManus (Roscommon).....

There are 3 or 4 more debatable and it's for others to identify these...

**Boxtyeater** Sat Mar 05, 2011 9:08 pm

The Puke wrote:According to the Indo

Hurling
1 Seamus Durack (Clare)
2 Stephen McDonagh (Limerick)
3 Noel Drumgoole (Dublin)
4 Ollie Canning (Galway)
5 Ciaran Carey (Limerick)
6 Sean Stack (Clare)
7 Pat McGrath (Waterford)
8 Joe Salmon (Galway)
9 Terence "Sambo" McNaughton (Antrim)
10 John Callinan (Clare)
11Gary Kirby (Limerick)
12 Martin Quigley (Wexford)
13 Jimmy Smyth (Clare)
14 Christy O'Brien (Laois)
15 Paddy Molloy (Offaly)

What would the olderhands on here like Boxty and Patrique make of those teams....Given that ye would be the ones on here that would have seen the vast majority of these lads play

A tough call here: Hard to quibble with 1-9 as picked but this excludes Tony Browne and equally seriously Mick Jacob (I think)....
Mossbags would have had a fit at the exclusion of Joe Rabbitte in deference to Christy O'Brien at 14 and one of the lesser luminaries, Pat Critchley of Laois is worth a mention....I'll leave it to the hurling experts.

**The Puke** Sat Mar 05, 2011 9:29 pm

Boxtyeater wrote:
The Puke wrote:According to the Indo

Hurling
1 Seamus Durack (Clare)
2 Stephen McDonagh (Limerick)
3 Noel Drumgoole (Dublin)
4 Ollie Canning (Galway)
5 Ciaran Carey (Limerick)
6 Sean Stack (Clare)
7 Pat McGrath (Waterford)
8 Joe Salmon (Galway)
9 Terence "Sambo" McNaughton (Antrim)
10 John Callinan (Clare)
11Gary Kirby (Limerick)
12 Martin Quigley (Wexford)
13 Jimmy Smyth (Clare)
14 Christy O'Brien (Laois)
15 Paddy Molloy (Offaly)

What would the olderhands on here like Boxty and Patrique make of those teams....Given that ye would be the ones on here that would have seen the vast majority of these lads play

A tough call here: Hard to quibble with 1-9 as picked but this excludes Tony Browne and equally seriously Mick Jacob (I think)....
Mossbags would have had a fit at the exclusion of Joe Rabbitte in deference to Christy O'Brien at 14 and one of the lesser luminaries, Pat Critchley of Laois is worth a mention....I'll leave it to the hurling experts.

Tony Browne is not eligable as players have to be retired to be in contention....Thought Paul Flynn might get a spot, hard to think of many others, Jimmy Smyth would surely have the captaincy, the greatest player never to win an A/I

**patrique** Sat Mar 05, 2011 10:40 pm

they did something like this when they picked the centenary teams, and I think Kevin Armstrong of Antrim featured on both teams. Jimmy Smith of Clare was also highly commended in the hurling department.

However the indo have gonme somewhat for "well known/popular" names.

Sambo McNaughton would not get on a best ever Cushendall team never mind this one. He became famous because he was easily recognisable.

Put it this way. At Sambo's peak Cushendall half back line was James McNaughton, Leonard McKeegan and Sambo. Anyone from Cushendall and Antrim will tell you the other two were better than Sambo.

So I would have my doubts about the selections.

**The Puke** Sat Mar 05, 2011 10:43 pm

patrique wrote:they did something like this when they picked the centenary teams, and I think Kevin Armstrong of Antrim featured on both teams. Jimmy Smith of Clare was also highly commended in the hurling department.

However the indo have gonme somewhat for "well known/popular" names.

Sambo McNaughton would not get on a best ever Cushendall team never mind this one. He became famous because he was easily recognisable.

Put it this way. At Sambo's peak Cushendall half back line was James McNaughton, Leonard McKeegan and Sambo. Anyone from Cushendall and Antrim will tell you the other two were better than Sambo.

So I would have my doubts about the selections.

The indo put up a list of candidates for each position about a month ago and it was a public vote after that......

**Jayo Cluxton** Sat Mar 05, 2011 11:03 pm

Nudie was an All Star in defence and attack - think he deserves his spot. Also the incorrectly spelt Dubliner (showing a complete lack of respect) at number 9 would be fine in my blue tinted eyes .....

**gaamad1996** Sun Mar 06, 2011 5:29 pm

Ah here is this modern day or something seanie kinsella was a fine man

**patrique** Sun Mar 06, 2011 8:31 pm

The Puke wrote:
patrique wrote:they did something like this when they picked the centenary teams, and I think Kevin Armstrong of Antrim featured on both teams. Jimmy Smith of Clare was also highly commended in the hurling department.

However the indo have gonme somewhat for "well known/popular" names.

Sambo McNaughton would not get on a best ever Cushendall team never mind this one. He became famous because he was easily recognisable.

Put it this way. At Sambo's peak Cushendall half back line was James McNaughton, Leonard McKeegan and Sambo. Anyone from Cushendall and Antrim will tell you the other two were better than Sambo.

So I would have my doubts about the selections.

That explains it.

The general public I meet on holiday when discussing Antrim hurling always mention Sambo, rather than say Humpy McKillen who was the best mid fielder in Ireland for about 5 years from 1988 to 1993.

The indo put up a list of candidates for each position about a month ago and it was a public vote after that......

**Thomas Clarke** Mon Mar 07, 2011 12:48 pm

The Puke wrote:According to the Indo

Football
1 Brian McAlinden (Armagh)
2 Gabriel Kelly (Cavan)
3 Kevin Kehilly (Cork)
4 John Egan (Offaly)
5 Brian McEnniff (Donegal)
6 Glenn Ryan (Kildare)
7 Johnny Hughes (Galway)
8 Dermot Earley (Roscommon)
9 Ciran Whelan (Dublin)
10 Ciaran McDonald (Mayo)
11 Packy McGarty (Leitrim)
12 Mickey Kearns (Sligo)
13 Kevin O'Brien (Wicklow)
14 Frank McGuigan (Tyrone)
15 Eugene "Nudie" Hughes (Monaghan)

Well, I guess this sums up public voting for you. All good footballers certainly, but a few real shocking selections.

I'll start with the worst. In my opinion, Ciaran Whelan would come in behind numerous midfielders of the last 20 years alone, and should not even be in the running for a place on this selection. Going back further, Jim McKeever is a glaring ommision at midfield, and should have been there alongside Tommy Murphy. Murphy kept Jack O'Shea off the GAA Team of Millennium, so it is hard now to see how he is kept off this by Whelan.

Ciaran McDonald was very gifted and great to watch, but he looks well out of his depth in that all-Connaught half-forward line. Kevin O'Brien is another - an excellent talent but, to keep things modern, he was not as good a footballer as Declan Browne, for instance.

Tyrone would have had 3 footballers with strong claims for this list, namely Frank McGuigan, Eugene McKenna and Iggy Jones. McGuigan, though undoubtedly the most naturally gifted, was probably the least deserving, given that he was in the States during what should have been his prime. Jones would have made this team 30 years ago, but time has dulled memories. If I was forced to pick just one from Tyrone, then McKenna should have been on this side, and could have been accommodated in any of the 3 lines he won all-stars.

I'd agree with Boxty on Gerry O'Malley over Glen Ryan, and with Omar that Barry Owens should have been considered. Barry Owens between 2003-2006 was a seriously good full-back, and by a long way the best in Ireland, before illness took hold. Whether or not he would make this side is debatable, but well worthy of an honourable mention, as was his county-man Peter McGinnity. Kevin Armstrong was another great, as was Armagh's Alf Murray.

**hipster 2** Mon Mar 07, 2011 10:24 pm

eamonn heary

**mullins** Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:33 pm

hipster 2 wrote:eamonn heary

Dubs are only average or worst players hipster-no place for heary Rolling Eyes

**patrique** Wed Mar 09, 2011 11:07 pm

I've just noticed something.

Brian McAlinden in goal?

I have seen three better Antrim keepers in the last ten years than Brian.....

**patrique** Wed Mar 09, 2011 11:08 pm

And one from Armagh....

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