National Forum

David Clifford The Goat

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Jack O' Shea - the end.

GerryD (Monaghan) - Posts: 342 - 02/07/2026 10:06:34    2683590

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Replying To fizzygravy:  "Just enjoy him.
Like all the Fabolous players before him that stood out. When he is finished he'll be the bench mark for the next. The game changes, the science changes, the rules change. In his moment he is kingpin. Judge him that way and embrace the magnificence of what he is producing. Was Tiger better than Jack? Is Messi better than Pele, is Le Bron better than MJ?
Never a fair conversation. Is what we are seeing very special; yes. Don't miss the magic and don't measure the immeasurable be grateful to witness it."
Good post Fizzygravy and yoi are indeed so right.I will enjoy his talents while he is playing.
I was lucky to see sone brilliant players like Matt Connor,Declan Browne,At the moment we have David Con O Callaghan,Kobe McDonald,Sam Mulroy,Oisin Conaty,Shane McGuigan and nor forgetting the ywo Canavans who sadly are injured at the moment.Great logic in your post Fizzy.

CiarraiMick (Dublin) - Posts: 4207 - 02/07/2026 10:56:15    2683605

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Replying To yew_tree:  "He won't win 10. He currently has 2 and is 27 years of age. I'd be amazed if he got to 10."
Of course he wont but medals are irrelevant in judging a players greatness.Ciaran McDonald was a super player with no AI medal.Declan Browne same .Matt Connor has one medal.Maurice Fitzgerald was as good a player ive seen and he has 2 medals.
If a top player is lucky to play on a top team then they can win medals but many Kerry players and Dublin players have more medals than Matt Connor but were not as good as him.

My post about people not coming from the right place.No one in their right mind would say David will win 10 medals at this stage.He might never win another medal but he will play great ball if he stays injury free.

CiarraiMick (Dublin) - Posts: 4207 - 02/07/2026 11:04:00    2683608

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Not for me, yet .
To name a few that are ahead of him

In Kerry you have Pat Spillane,Mikey Sheehy,Colm Cooper,Maurice Fitzgerald

Outside of Kerry, you have Bernard Brogan,Con O'Callaghan, Paul Mannion, Cillian O'Connor there are more

ulsterrules (Donegal) - Posts: 319 - 02/07/2026 11:28:46    2683620

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Replying To TommyBermingham:  "Will be first footballer to win 10 AI medals at inter county level."
Foolish talk, he is the goat but that wouldn't matter if he never got another medal. New format, condensed season, less time to get over injuries is why he won't win near 10. It would be a shame if he only won 3 or 4 but that's football.

Saynothing (Tyrone) - Posts: 2814 - 02/07/2026 11:43:21    2683627

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Replying To ulsterrules:  "Not for me, yet .
To name a few that are ahead of him

In Kerry you have Pat Spillane,Mikey Sheehy,Colm Cooper,Maurice Fitzgerald

Outside of Kerry, you have Bernard Brogan,Con O'Callaghan, Paul Mannion, Cillian O'Connor there are more"
You were doing fine until Cillian O Connor lol.

brayballer (Wicklow) - Posts: 729 - 02/07/2026 11:44:04    2683628

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Replying To ulsterrules:  "Not for me, yet .
To name a few that are ahead of him

In Kerry you have Pat Spillane,Mikey Sheehy,Colm Cooper,Maurice Fitzgerald

Outside of Kerry, you have Bernard Brogan,Con O'Callaghan, Paul Mannion, Cillian O'Connor there are more"
I agree, as brilliant as he is, I don't think he is even the best Kerry player of all time.
But in saying that, he still has time on his side…!
Another 5 years or so. He will be 28 in January.

Fionn (Dublin) - Posts: 5132 - 02/07/2026 11:51:34    2683633

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Replying To brayballer:  "You were doing fine until Cillian O Connor lol."
LOL
;o)

Fionn (Dublin) - Posts: 5132 - 02/07/2026 11:58:10    2683635

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Replying To ulsterrules:  "Not for me, yet .
To name a few that are ahead of him

In Kerry you have Pat Spillane,Mikey Sheehy,Colm Cooper,Maurice Fitzgerald

Outside of Kerry, you have Bernard Brogan,Con O'Callaghan, Paul Mannion, Cillian O'Connor there are more"
I'd put Clifford in the top 3, Cooper, Canavan & Clifford. That's how highly I rate him. None of the players you've listed (bar Cooper obviously) are better than Clifford. In time he will be top no doubt about it.

Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 2206 - 02/07/2026 12:25:01    2683642

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Replying To brayballer:  "You were doing fine until Cillian O Connor lol."
Agreed. I'd have Alan Brogan ahead of his brother, their Dad and Mannion too. A tidy player, very underrated.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8648 - 02/07/2026 12:27:03    2683643

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Rather than have futile arguments about whether he is the best or not, let's just enjoy him and hope he stays injury free so he can continue to play football. There are so many fantastic players currently playing football and they are from less known counties . Embrace the games and enjoy them because football has never been as good

eoinog (Sligo) - Posts: 2497 - 02/07/2026 13:24:27    2683663

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Replying To brayballer:  "You were doing fine until Cillian O Connor lol."
The top scorer by far in Championship football, with Mayo a county people constantly put down their forwards.

If he had a Kerry/Dublin accent Clifford would not be in the same sentence as Cillian, yet .

ulsterrules (Donegal) - Posts: 319 - 02/07/2026 14:13:09    2683675

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Replying To ulsterrules:  "The top scorer by far in Championship football, with Mayo a county people constantly put down their forwards.

If he had a Kerry/Dublin accent Clifford would not be in the same sentence as Cillian, yet ."
He was a freetaker and could buy plenty of them. A brilliant player in his early senior years. Could gave been a better contributor from play if we had more confidence in attack, a better balanced attack and less reliant on attacking wing backs and scores from frees. Carried the weight of expectation like Ciaran Mc and Ryan O'Donoghue and often the scapegoat when results weren't good.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8648 - 02/07/2026 14:34:56    2683680

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Replying To CiarraiMick:  "Of course he wont but medals are irrelevant in judging a players greatness.Ciaran McDonald was a super player with no AI medal.Declan Browne same .Matt Connor has one medal.Maurice Fitzgerald was as good a player ive seen and he has 2 medals.
If a top player is lucky to play on a top team then they can win medals but many Kerry players and Dublin players have more medals than Matt Connor but were not as good as him.

My post about people not coming from the right place.No one in their right mind would say David will win 10 medals at this stage.He might never win another medal but he will play great ball if he stays injury free."
I absolutely agree with that. Plenty of great players in Mayo, Galway and Roscommon never won an all Ireland for example. My father always spoke fondly of the Roscommon 80s team….reckons they should have won one. I don't think not winning one takes from the greatness of individual players.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 12178 - 02/07/2026 18:06:17    2683752

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Replying To ulsterrules:  "The top scorer by far in Championship football, with Mayo a county people constantly put down their forwards.

If he had a Kerry/Dublin accent Clifford would not be in the same sentence as Cillian, yet ."
Most of his scores were from handy frees and penos.He scored big against teams like London,New York,Leitrim and Tipp and maybe a few ulster counties

brayballer (Wicklow) - Posts: 729 - 02/07/2026 18:15:28    2683757

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In top form he's practically unmarkable. Ridiculous.
A great talent and still probably not even the peak version of himself.
When he finally hangs up his boots ( a good few years from now) he could well end up being the greatest of all time.
Glad I'll never have to mark him.

Beelzedub (Dublin) - Posts: 519 - 02/07/2026 20:02:03    2683770

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I think he is a very gifted player. Beautifully balanced, kicks off both feet. He has power, agility and marksmanship in abundance.But more than that he is a wonderful role model and by all accounts a very sound and down to earth bloke.
I personally thought Diarmuid Connolly was very gifted but perhaps he lacked the temperament to cope with the verbal and physical abuse that all top players seem to attract. That's a huge strength in David Cliffords game- lads from every county have tried to shake him up and put him off his game but he nearly always prevails.Maybe it's too early to claim him is the GOAT - to use that awful phrase, but he is well on the way. Spillane, Mikey Sheehy, John Egan and Jack O Shea from that great Kerry team were brilliant footballers too but the game has changed so much that it is hard to make comparisons.

avonali (Dublin) - Posts: 2055 - 02/07/2026 20:56:41    2683778

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