Keenan deserved his award. McCauley is good but was he that great this year. Did he play in all Dublins games. Where was he against Wexford and Meath. As for Aidan Walsh, he had a good AI final but wasn't great in most of the games he played prior to that. I seem to remember him kicking stupid long range wides in the Qtr and Semi finals. Walsh is now tipped for young player of the year but I think both the other niminees Peter Kelly (Kildare) and Graham Reilly (Meath) had more consistent years than Walsh.
People seem a little puzzled that no Cork forwards got allstars but in my opinion that is down to Cork management who chopped and changed their forwards all year apart from maybe Paddy Kelly. There will always be debate about who should and who shouldn't get allstars. I think it's time the allstars were picked by the public and lets see what it throws up.

Diego (Meath) - Posts: 1205 - 14/10/2010 11:13:50    796290

Agree Galvin should be in there ahead of Walsh

bistokid (Dublin) - Posts: 65 - 14/10/2010 11:19:03    796295

I would have Given it to MDMA ahead of Galvin but both were definitely ahead of Walsh

Superglue (Kerry) - Posts: 1283 - 14/10/2010 12:11:23    796359

walsh was terrible all year in my opinion. couldnt kick snow off a rope in every early rounds. always seemed slow in possesion and took poor options. Even in final, good hands but didnt see too much else. keenan is a class act, kicking off both feet and driving runs at the heart of defence. galvin was absolutely superb all year and deserves one for this year alone, never mind his overall career. think that selectors felt they couldnt give the 2 midfield places to so called weaker counties so it became keenan or galvin when in my opinion it should have been both wtih mdmc in 3rd place!

standard (Louth) - Posts: 93 - 14/10/2010 12:26:59    796374

he is a good footballer but i haven't seen enough of him

cuchulainn35 (Armagh) - Posts: 1691 - 14/10/2010 12:39:17    796391

Wouldn't go as far as to say he was snubbed.

It was a case of picking two from Walsh, Galvin and Keenan. Had Galvin got it and one of the other two missed out, I wouldn't have argued.

But such is it that someone had to lose out and Galvin was the unfortunate one. Its not a joke, its not a snub, and its not the committee purposely overlooking a good player, but there were two other candidates equally as deserving.

Hard luck to Galvin, still a very fine footballer and congratulations to Walsh and Keenan, very worthy receiptants in his place.

Loyal2TheRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 4522 - 14/10/2010 12:49:40    796407

Disgrace

MARNELL (Westmeath) - Posts: 728 - 14/10/2010 13:16:34    796433

I must say, that whilst I am in broad agreement that there were some players slightly better than Walsh, the tone of some posts is just a tad cruel. Walsh is a very young guy, he played very well when the pressure was at its most intense. Both he and Sheehan showed a lot more bottle than some guys with a heck of a lot more experience than them. Yes, he did kick some very bad wides, but I reckon any young fella with the confidence to keep on having a pop, is worth his weight in gold.

This guy will only get better, as long as people don't continually try to knock him for no good reason. Galvin and McAuley may have been better, but that doesn't make Walsh bad. Try to give one of the youngest senior players in the country a break, and, at the very least, give the lad the credit that he is due.

Culchie (Cork) - Posts: 799 - 14/10/2010 13:51:43    796466

Yeah I would have given it to Galvin ahead of Walsh.

men_of_49 (Meath) - Posts: 2019 - 14/10/2010 14:16:20    796494

Am really disappointed that John Galvin didnt get an All Star. He was the stand out midfielder in this years Championship in my opinion. Hopefully his name will appear on the Gpa selection. Am sure J Galvin would appreciate being selected by his fellow footballers than by some shower of journalists who prove to us time and again that they dont know what they are at.

creb (Limerick) - Posts: 131 - 14/10/2010 14:39:21    796520

im not sure if keenan should have got the award. he played well alright with his best game against meath but apart from that he played ok against an average westmeath, bad longford team and a bad kildare team. second half against dublin he play great too. but galvin was definetly the best of the lot leaving the other place for keenan, walsh and mcauley. imo walsh played better than keenan and against better opposition too. same for mcauley. if louth reached the semi i couldn't see keenan making an impact against cork like mcauley did. thats my opinion anyway

BettystownRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 3353 - 14/10/2010 15:22:07    796570

I simply cannot understand how Walsh got an All-Star. Saw him in both Munster semi-final games against Kerry and his (mis)use of the ball was shocking. Galvin was the best midfielder I've seen all year - his performances against both Cork and Kerry were awesome. He almost beat Kerry on his own in the Munster Final.

Overall, I think this year's crop is one of the poorest All-Star selections I can recall and selecting Walsh ahead of Galvin tells you all you need to know about the selection committee.

Having said that, I think Walsh will in the future deliver performances worthy of al All-Star. He has the football ability but is just very raw still, and it showed in most of his games this year. Despite all of the auld guff about performances over a full season, Walsh got an All-Star for a good performance in the Final. I don't know what more Galvin could have done.

SeanieG (Meath) - Posts: 28 - 14/10/2010 15:41:32    796598

maybe i gave walsh a bit too much praise, anyway it was 50/50 between mcauley and keenan for me. galvin was a dead cert

BettystownRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 3353 - 14/10/2010 15:59:21    796613

im not sure if keenan should have got the award. he played well alright with his best game against meath but apart from that he played ok against an average westmeath, bad longford team and a bad kildare team. second half against dublin he play great too. but galvin was definetly the best of the lot leaving the other place for keenan, walsh and mcauley. imo walsh played better than keenan and against better opposition too. same for mcauley. if louth reached the semi i couldn't see keenan making an impact against cork like mcauley did. thats my opinion anyway

Keenan played superbly, not ok, in every one of Louths matches.

That bad Kildare team you refer to came within a whisker of an All Ireland final appearance.
The bad Longford team went on to beat Mayo in the Qualifiers & werent disgraced by any means against Down in Newry.
Westmeath hadnt their best year ever but are no pushover.

Galvin is a superb player no doubt, but he only played 3 Championship matches.
Waterford, im not sure how he played, Kerry he was outstanding but against Cork he wasnt brilliant. If Limerick had gone a stage further he may well have got one.

Keenan was more than a match for McAuley when Louth played Dublin & he was burrowing a lone furrow for most of that match.
He didnt disappear feeling sorry for himself after 10 minutes, like many understandably did on the day.
Keenan would be & has been a match for anybody at any stage of the Championship.

Your opinion, your entitled to, its not based on much fact though.

pundit2 (Louth) - Posts: 597 - 14/10/2010 16:16:22    796626

Look no doubt Walsh is raw but there is some great skill there, midfielders usually need the time to mature and he has all the signs of being a great addition to Corks team. He performed very well in the final but this is really about recognising talent and fully developed skill and really John Galvin should have got the All Star for his performance in the league, Munster and the qualifiers. If Walsh and Cork continues as he/they are going, no doubt there will be other All Stars for Walsh...for John Galvin its a poor reflection on the judges that they cannot acknowledge the best midfielder of this years championship.

kerrykerry (Kerry) - Posts: 1779 - 14/10/2010 16:25:00    796632

your opinion aint based on facts either. mayo were terrible this year and in the 1st round anyway so were longford. kildare were a great team by the end of the champ but they were far from up to their normal standard when you played them. we may never know but i still think that if keenan was throwwn into a semi against a team like cork he would be found wanting. btw i don't need facts to have a decent opinion. not many but others agree with me too on this forum that galvin should have got one instead.

BettystownRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 3353 - 14/10/2010 17:32:32    796728

Unfortunately John Galvin does'nt get the exposure of the big stage at Croke Park, was very unlucky to lose out this year, think the Paddy Keenan inclusion was just a sympathy vote for Louth.
Donncha O Connor and Daniel Goulding can also count themselves unlucky, but the Gooch deserved one, was by far kerry's outstanding performer all year in a team that struggled.

kerryrebel (Kerry) - Posts: 28 - 14/10/2010 17:50:31    796747

Limerick's wait for a footbal All-star goes on. I agree with Standard, both Keenan & Galvin were by far the two best midfielders but did the selectors put Walsh in cause an All star team with a Louth & Limerick man at the centre just wouldn't look right? Also without Walsh, Cork would only have 3 All-stars, the lowest for an All-Ireland winning team ever. In fairness to Walsh he had a good debut year, played well in the All-Ireland final and he shouldn't be slagged off, but Galvin is a far better footballer.

county man (Limerick) - Posts: 1156 - 14/10/2010 18:17:50    796781

In other words, Kildare are only a good team when it suits your arguement!

Whats your take on Dublin then, I presume you recognise they were not 'at their normal standard' on June 27.

Looks its fairly easy to see you dislike Louth football & you are loathe to give any credit to it.


to kerryrebel, sympathy doesnt win All Star awards. Only an injustice denied him a Leinster medal to go with it. Keenan is a fabulous player who'd grace any stage.

pundit2 (Louth) - Posts: 597 - 14/10/2010 18:41:30    796804

Yeah I'd agree with some posters that the best two midfielders this were Paddy Keenan and John Galvin. It seems that Aidan Walsh got one ahead of Galvin as Cork were only getting three awards otherwise. Unlucky Mr. Galvin again!!

David (Meath) - Posts: 567 - 14/10/2010 20:18:08    796884