I am a liverpool fan but i agree benitez is a joke, last week when they needed a goal against hull e brings on lucas leiva and robbie keane who HE bought for 20 odd million he leaves on the bench!!!! He tries to make footall to complicated, any other manager with players he has wud defo do way better than he has, except maybe steve staunton!!!!

JONNNY (Kerry) - Posts: 61 - 22/12/2008 13:35:11    169336

loyal your argument lost alot of credibility when you claimed the clare 95 team to be the best of all time. Like Kilkenny, Munster are a fantastic team and embody alot of great things about sport - passion, determination, pride, never say die spirit. they fully deserved the award. Kilkenny didnt really get challenged hopefully next year Tipp will give them a game

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4678 - 22/12/2008 13:54:44    169352

Ireland doesnt "do" Professional Sport very well. So when we have a product we can be proud of, we dive head first into it. And its feckin great! Munster are THEE Irish sporting success story of the 00's and thats a fact. And unlike all our other great sporting achievments on the international front, (small few noticable individual exceptions noted) Munster are different because instead of being the gallant fighting irish loser, they are proud and boisterous winners, and its great. They are arrogant and cut throat and its brilliant to see.
Loyal, your my boy, you know that, but Coolmore my ass! Horse Racing....they say Rugby is a minority sport....it has 200 times the following and interest that horse racing has! Everyone knows the odd fella who loves his horses and fair play, but stop ten people on the street and random and ask them to name ONE Aidan O'Brien horse and I guarantee 8 wont have a clue.

Liamwalkinstown (Dublin) - Posts: 8170 - 22/12/2008 14:14:31    169367

re: Loyal2TheRoyal

3 nations??? Ireland, England, scotland, wales, France and Italy plus the european players from around the world also and the amount of times they were pushed to the wire as a team and pulled threw is what makes them a great team. Also it shows an irish team doing well on an international stage and it still you begrudge them. I do see you point with coolmore but people would really see them as a team.

There is no way that that clare team is the best of all time this has been argued before, the clare probably the 4 or 5th best team i've seen and then you the remember the great teams of the 40's, 60's, 70's, 80's.

Muster have been in the top few teams in europe for the last 10 years now and yet some people like yourself still cannot give them credit they've proven themselves over a long period of time and yet you cannot count them as a great team!!!! Shade of bitterness maybe??

Hag_and_Cheese (Tipperary) - Posts: 6103 - 22/12/2008 14:23:10    169369

Liam, you are probably right in that eight out of ten people probably couldn't name an Aidan O'Brien horse.

Look at RTE's leading female sports presenter last night ask Jim Bolger if New Appproach would defend his crown in the Epsom Derby!!!

But that is kind of the point I'm trying to make, racing is easily Ireland's number one sport and the majority of people haven't got a clue about it. I suppose that is partly helped by the fact that they don't get the recognition they deserve at these awards. In my opinion Coolmore's achievements were far greater than Munsters in 2008 and probably have been for the last 10 years and so they should have won the award or at least finished runner up to Kilkenny but no way should Munster have got it.

By the way Coolmore is a far bigger team operation that what just goes in Ballydoyle in Tipperary. Aidan O'Brien is only one part of the jigsaw, they are other very important people involved all over the world.

Loyal2TheRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 4522 - 22/12/2008 14:41:07    169383

I thought I had conclusively proved to all and sundry on this board that the 1995 Clare team were the best hurling team ever???

Loyal2TheRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 4522 - 22/12/2008 14:43:50    169386

Hag and Cheese

Munster doing well on an international stage?????? A small region in the south of France, the U.K and a part of Italy is hardly an international stage. I don't want to take away from Munster's big achievements, I'm sure they are the best in their little Heineken Cup competiton but what they have done in no way matches up to what Kilkenny have done.

Loyal2TheRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 4522 - 22/12/2008 14:54:05    169400

loyal yes the european cup featuring teams from the uk, france and italy is an international stage. You are not suggesting that these places are somehow part of ireland? Loyal do you dislike rugby in general or just munster?

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4678 - 22/12/2008 15:28:48    169430

re: Loyal2TheRoyal

You might have proved it to yourself but the majority would say hell no to the clare team being the best of all time (look up the thread that the clare lunitic posted not so long ago)

OK?? to follow your logic a small part of europe right there's 24 PROFESSIONAL teams in it and some have limitles budgets i.e the french of the 24 teams playing i'd say 22 are compeditive Treviso and Calvisano being the exception, Also could you point out the scotland and wales would count rugby as being their national sport probably 2nd in england and there are over 200,000 registered players in france this is a little piece of europe has a population of a meer 135 million including italy 190 million.

also players from eastern europe America South africa, new zeland, oz and the pacific think that counts as a world stage.

Not to write of kilkenny they are a wonderful team the only thing their missing is a proper test.

Hag_and_Cheese (Tipperary) - Posts: 6103 - 22/12/2008 15:40:25    169442

Clare in the nineties? The second best Clare team I saw, after the 1977/78 team, and probably the 4th best team in the 1990s.

They brought colour, never say die spirit and something new to the scene, but at a close inspection they had one forward who was exceptional for a few years. You need more forwards than that to be classed as great.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 22/12/2008 22:56:05    169697

Everton played Chelsea off the Park last nite, should have won but showed our overall lack of creativity against the bigger teams by only creatig half chances. some good half chances mind you.
John Terry class defender but what does he expect when he goes in with studs up like that.
See 3inarow we do go out of our way to do liverpool favours!!!

woops (Kerry) - Posts: 2073 - 23/12/2008 09:27:49    169791

patrique i assume u talking about eamon taffe. one touch in a final and goal. job done and got subbed!!!

woops (Kerry) - Posts: 2073 - 23/12/2008 09:43:39    169801

Indeed ye do Woops! That's my Xmas present from you wrapped up! Sound as a pound boy!

Would you like anything in return?

3inarow08 (Kerry) - Posts: 2455 - 23/12/2008 10:13:31    169823

Sure send me on a Firies jersey so!!

woops (Kerry) - Posts: 2073 - 23/12/2008 10:58:21    169861

....I have an under 12's size small around here somewhere.........

3inarow08 (Kerry) - Posts: 2455 - 23/12/2008 11:30:48    169892

bad.monkey
County: USA
Posts: 553

169430 loyal yes the european cup featuring teams from the uk, france and italy is an international stage. You are not suggesting that these places are somehow part of ireland? Loyal do you dislike rugby in general or just munster?
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Well I suppose it is an international stage but compare it to the stage Aidan O'Brien and co. are seen at. Did you see "Hanging with Hector" last night? It was a media frenzy when Aidan O'Brien stepped out onto the track in Calfornia. The Americans worship the man. The same when he went down to Melbourne last year and again to a lesser extent this year. And Japan and Hong Kong the same as well.

Also I think we seen what a team effort it was last night. So as far as I am concerned Coolmore or even just Ballydoyle were far more worthy winners than Munster. Having said that, I, personally would have given the award to the Kilkenny hurlers.

Loyal2TheRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 4522 - 23/12/2008 12:26:04    169927

Hag and Cheese, could you please re-post your above message with commas, full stops and other such good punctation in the appriopiate places only its very hard to make out what you are trying to say. Also you could probably do with a spell check before you hit "add message".

Loyal2TheRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 4522 - 23/12/2008 12:28:50    169929

re: Loyal2TheRoyal

"You might have proved it to yourself but the majority would say hell no to the clare team being the best of all time (look up the thread that the clare lunitic posted not so long ago)

Let me follow your logic a small part of europe right?? There's 24 PROFESSIONAL teams in it and some have limitless budgets i.e the french. Of the 24 teams playing i'd say 22 are compeditive Treviso and Calvisano being the exception, also scotland and wales would probably count rugby as being their national sport probably 2nd in england and there are over 200,000 registered players in france, so this is a little piece of europe, a population of a meer 135 million including italy 190 million.

Also represented are players from Eastern Europe, America, South africa, New Zeland, oz and the pacific islands to name a few think that counts as a world stage.

Not to write of kilkenny they are a wonderful team the only thing their missing is a proper test. "

There you Loyal hadn't the time to re-read it the first time being mildly dyslexic i do really have to reread before i post (thanks for picking up on that very kind of you ) but if your going to picking on spelling etc. fair enough. Your post was grammartically correct well done pity is was such a pile of nonsense!

Hag_and_Cheese (Tipperary) - Posts: 6103 - 23/12/2008 13:55:42    169969

Loyal2TheRoyal
County: Meath

But that is kind of the point I'm trying to make, racing is easily Ireland's number one sport and the majority of people haven't got a clue about it.

Sorry Loyal my friend - this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. On you logic - I reckon extreme snowboarding is Ireland's most popular sport cos no-one knows **** all about it!

Dubinmeath (Dublin) - Posts: 1123 - 23/12/2008 14:08:58    169977

You have mis-read my post DubinMeath or at least you are letting on that you have.

Point 1 - Ireland's number one sport in horse racing

Point 2 - Isn't it disappointing that although Ireland's premier sport is racing, the majority of people in this country haven't got a clue about it.

Loyal2TheRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 4522 - 23/12/2008 15:20:58    170021