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The greatest footballer of all time - The return

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Colm Cooper is a brilliant footballer but best of all time? I don't even think he is the best Kerry player of all time when you think of Mick O'Connell, Moynihan and Maurice Fitzgerald. Mind you with all the success Kerry have had through the years, there is a good possibility that the best player ever does come from Kerry.

JimTheLegend (Donegal) - Posts: 247 - 08/06/2015 20:55:35    1734342

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Best forward still playing based on his past record. As Slayer said earlier Mat Connor was better. Sean Cavanagh is a better footballer I reckon. Can do it all to a very high level. Try sticking The Gooch in the half backs, in midfield or inspiring his team by putting his body on the line to stop the opposition attack.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8149 - 08/06/2015 20:57:22    1734343

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Well Gary il try and break it down like this, my young lads play a game called FIFA 2014 and in this game you can transfer players just like in real life, but all the players have stats so you can see what your buying , so if gooch was in this game he'd be :
Passing 100%
Agility 100%
Kicking 100%
Speed 100%
Awareness 100%
Cuteness 100%
Jinkyness 100%
Awesomeness 100%
Naturalfootballness 100%
So I hope that helps you out kiddo ;-)

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 08/06/2015 21:05:40    1734350

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matt connor best i ever seen gooch a close second others up there peter canavan john egan pat spillane bernard flynn declan browne tony mc tague mattie forde padraig joyce diarmuid connolly bernard brogan ciaran mcdonald barney rock colm o rourke dessie dolan dessie barry.of the present day conor mc manus looks as good as weve seen in a good while..

kavvie (Clare) - Posts: 505 - 09/06/2015 08:23:03    1734389

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Kingdomboy I'm appalled to say the least! Fifa 2014 in the Kerry region and I thought it was only us dubs into that soccer mullarkey! Tut! Tut! tut!

DUBJOHN (Dublin) - Posts: 941 - 09/06/2015 08:41:36    1734394

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Kingdomboy1 you sure give me some entertainment over the last two days, this being the second one i've felt the need to reply and I found this even more amusing than the first. I love all of your physical and defending stats in there too KB1

KingdomBoy1
County: Kerry
Posts: 2983

1734350
Well Gary il try and break it down like this, my young lads play a game called FIFA 2014 and in this game you can transfer players just like in real life, but all the players have stats so you can see what your buying , so if gooch was in this game he'd be :
Passing 100%
Agility 100%
Kicking 100%
Speed 100%
Awareness 100%
Cuteness 100% - Are you talk physical appearance? If you like small ginger people I'm glad your open about it
Jinkyness 100% - What even is this?
Awesomeness 100% - Saying all his previous "stats" are 100% it would be clear to see the gooch as an awesome player
Naturalfootballness 100% - I don't even know what to say about this one tbh

Yes its great to see one of the best players of this era return from a nasty injury and hopefully he can get back to as close to his best at possible, but the man is 32 and the game has changed a lot in the last two years and the real question is if he is fit enough to play 70mins of high (Spillanes fav word) Intensity against the bigger teams such as Cork, Dublin, Mayo etc.

The Gooch is a proven scorer and always been a joy to watch. A role model to all children in the GAA, lets just hope he can stay fit for the remainder of his career, whats left of it.

Find_the_space (Tyrone) - Posts: 313 - 09/06/2015 09:29:01    1734416

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Greg blaney sean oneill mickey linden peter canavan were all brilliant footballers Michael donnellan pauric joyce also but for me its jack o shea

prideof85 (Monaghan) - Posts: 851 - 09/06/2015 09:55:30    1734434

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I've heard a lot of great names being thrown about on here on this topic, but what about Declan O'Sullivan? Is he being overlooked just because he was on the same team as Gooch? I'd definitely have him up there in similar company, look what he did to Cork last July playing with two busted knees!!

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 09/06/2015 10:03:59    1734443

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Certainly Sean Cavanagh from the modern era.

Naysayer (Antrim) - Posts: 2071 - 09/06/2015 10:04:47    1734445

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Didn't know Neil McGee was injured!!

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 09/06/2015 10:10:34    1734455

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Best defender..........Paidí O Sé

Best midfielder........Jack O Shea

Best forward...........Matt Connor.

Barnowl94 (Galway) - Posts: 3150 - 09/06/2015 10:18:45    1734464

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What sets gooch apart for me is his balance as a player. He seems to really good at everything. Like with Michael donnallan he was a great solo runner. Mcdonald had a great range of passing and was strong on the ball. etc etc. Gooch just seems to be a great footballer. He doesn't just excel in one area, or one role doesn't define him, or one skill doesn't define him. He is a great creator, a lethal finisher, he can play as a classic inside corner forward, or go to CHF and play havoc. Id say he could do a job at wing back too if it was put to him. He is intelligent too. When faced with ger brennan, he was all about pace, i.e. he targeted brennan's lack of it. But when Keith Higgins was put on him, he completely changed his game, not making his run from deep but instead moving back and over - using higgin's own pace against him. That is what sets him apart for me. He is better than Cavanagh and indeed canavan - who was similar but just not as good at it. He is definitely the best player of the last 25 years.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 09/06/2015 10:26:46    1734474

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Dub John
We need something to keep us going over the winter months so we play a bit of FIFA , I'm a dab hand at FIFA 2010 on the wii my self, And ya soccer is coming along nicely now in the kingdom we had a Tralee team ( think it was the kingdom boys ) got to the Munster junior cup final but lost to a team from Waterford . So not only are we a dual county now but we're getting handy at all sports .

And find the space
I can't really explain naturalfootballism to out siders it's a Kerry thing .
Cuteness is basically being in the right place at the right time, and he is fairly cute with his ginger hair and his freckles thanks for noticing ;-D
And as you say he is 32 now so we'll just enjoy him for what ever time we have left.

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 09/06/2015 10:33:45    1734479

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Colm "The Gooch" Cooper is the greatest forward of all time closely followed by Peter Canavan IMO.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 09/06/2015 10:36:36    1734482

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If he was playing for Wicklow, tipp or say antrim would he still be considered the greatest?

DoireCityFC (Derry) - Posts: 1580 - 09/06/2015 10:39:16    1734484

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So kingdomboy is that why Kerry don't have many supporters at their league games ESPECIALLY the away ones,because they're all at home watching the premier league on the box! Fickle!

DUBJOHN (Dublin) - Posts: 941 - 09/06/2015 10:57:52    1734497

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Doirecity, fair point, but all the same you could say that about pretty much any of the greats.
Almost every great player in any sport has great players around him.

joncarter (Galway) - Posts: 2692 - 09/06/2015 10:58:23    1734498

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Just a class act. I may be wrong but he never looked like he bought into the whole gym monkey thing. His natural talent allowed him to orchestrate games and wreak havoc. Definitely one of my favourite players of all time.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9863 - 09/06/2015 10:59:27    1734499

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@Doirecity !No ! Kerryfolk wouldn't rate him then !

DUBJOHN (Dublin) - Posts: 941 - 09/06/2015 11:01:10    1734501

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He's not even a player that Kerry need, they won the AI without him so he's hardly irreplaceable

KB1 I think I know what your talking about, Sean Cavanagh, Brian Dooher and God had something like that but a little better. We were able to beat teams in all provinces you did seem to struggle against Ulster teams.

Find_the_space (Tyrone) - Posts: 313 - 09/06/2015 11:28:55    1734520

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