The Mick Clifford Podcast: Michael Moynihan, the GAA and championship summers
Meanwhile, RTÉ is currently broadcasting a five-part series on the history of Gaelic football. Irish Examiner senior journalist Michael Moynihan knows all about championship summers and was a consultant on the documentary.
He is this week's guest on the podcast.
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The 42
2 hours ago
- The 42
'We felt very disrespected' - Paudie Clifford on one-man team criticism of Kerry
PAUDIE CLIFFORD HAS said that Kerry felt 'disrespected' before they won a second All-Ireland title in four years today, beating Donegal at Croke Park. 'Our team has been together for a good few years now,' the Kerry forward told RTÉ's Damian Lawlor. 'Even though we won the All-Ireland in 2022, it was the first time ever we put a 70-minute performance together, and we're absolutely delighted with it.' Clifford said talk about Kerry being a one-man team, with an over-reliance on his brother David, showed a lack of respect for a side that has reached three of the last four All-Ireland finals. 'We would have put a lot of pressure on ourselves,' he said. Advertisement 'We would be our own biggest critics but like we did feel disrespected for a long time. A team that were in three of the last four All-Irelands and have won two of the last four, we felt very disrespected. Paudie Clifford felt today's Kerry performance was years in the making and said they felt disrespected as a team 📺 📱 — The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 27, 2025 'Being called a one-man team when you have fellas like Joe O'Connor, fellas like Jason Foley have worked all their lives to play for Kerry – and you're called a one-man team if you haven't won every All-Ireland. We felt disrespected, like.' The 27-year-old said Kerry had enough possession to make a few mistakes due to their efforts at centrefield allied to goalkeeper Shane Ryan's kickouts. 'We knew what Donegal would bring, and we knew it would be an unbelievable workrate,' Clifford said. 'We just said we'd try and pick around them and try and take the right shots. Even though we didn't really in the first half, we did in the second half. But we have to give massive credit to our midfielders and Shane Ryan. 'We had enough possession to be able to give a few balls away and kick a few scores wide but we still had enough of the ball.' A few minutes later Peter Canavan asked David Clifford if he agreed that the team had been disrespected. 'Absolutely, he said. 'I don't think anyone goes out to read articles or anything like that but they get to you, look let's be honest about it. 'You get sent something or someone sends something to you. Obviously no one likes it but it's no good either feeling sorry for yourself, 'Oh why are they saying that about us' – you have to go out and prove they're wrong. 'And to be honest, as good as our last two performances were, if we didn't get over the line today it would have been all for nothing so I'm just delighted that we did.'
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
It dawned on David Clifford that one All-Ireland wasn't enough
David Clifford admitted this was the first season when he realised one All-Ireland wasn't much to show for a man who made his senior debut in 2018. The two-time footballer of the year had been going season by season without giving himself the opportunity to reflect on his career, which had comprised four All-Ireland finals including a replay and just one victory. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Clifford said: 'It was probably the first year where I personally got a chance to take stock and you're looking back at it and you're kind of saying, 'Jesus, I've had six or seven great years with Kerry, but still we've only had one All-Ireland. It was the first year where I thought, 'Jesus, that's not enough.'' Like his manager Jack O'Connor and brother Paudie, Clifford had also been paying attention to how Kerry had been seen as a one-man team. If it put any pressure on him, he wasn't feeling it. If anything, he took motivation from those who were trying to soften him up. 'Look, to be honest, I think there's a bit of that coming from people that are building you up, hoping you'll fail. So that gives me a lot of motivation, to be honest. I'm not sure if a lot of it is sincere. Some of it is, of course, but I'm not sure if it all is. So it gives you a nice motivation too.' For the golden generation of All-Ireland winning minors including Clifford, Seán O'Shea, Diarmuid O'Connor, Graham O'Sullivan and Mike Breen, this latest All-Ireland victory will soften the coughs of those who claimed they had been underperforming at senior level. Clifford admits he asked himself the question if that defeat to Dublin would define this group under O'Connor. 'Look, obviously winning in '22 was sweet, but the years that followed it were tough both personally and as a team. 'The '23 final in particular, it didn't go well. Obviously, we led by three points twice in the second half and didn't get over the line and you're kind of saying, 'Are we going to be defined by that?' 'But thankfully we're not. We came back this year with a real kind of motivation. Obviously, we got knocked back in the Meath game, but we're massively proud of everyone, wow we rode in behind each other after that and look, it's unbelievably sweet now to win.'
Irish Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Jack O'Connor has 'no idea' how David Clifford deals with weight of expectation
Jack O'Connor says he doesn't know how David Clifford deals with the pressure as he hailed the Kerry super stars 'unique temperament' following yesterday's stunning All-Ireland final triumph. Clifford spent long spells out of the game, being man marked by Donegal's Brendan McCole, but he still finished with nine points from play. The Fossa man's haul included three two pointers from play - and from a total of seven shots he hit the target six times. Already a double Footballer of the Year, the 26 year old looks nailed on to land the biggest gong in Gaelic football for a third time. O'Connor (64) also spoke about the aftermath of Kerry's All-Ireland round robin defeat by Meath, a time when 'life wasn't pleasant for me,' and addressed his own future, saying it could be his 'last hurrah.' But, he was fulsome in his praise for Clifford, who was winning a second Celtic Cross. The five-time All Star, who has a sixth in the bag, was criticised in some quarters for his display in the 2023 All-Ireland Final defeat by Dublin - unfairly in a lot of eyes. That added to the pressure on him coming into his first final since then, but he fairly came up with the goods when it mattered most. And now it seems certain he will go on to win more All-Irelands under the new rules. 'David has a unique temperament,' said O'Connor. 'He just takes it all in his stride. Of course he must have felt pressure and he knew he was going to get a lot of heat. 'But we spoke about it during the week and he said, look, if I'm double-marked and triple-marked, I'll just win it and slip it. 'He's humble enough to create scores for other people and he was a massive part of our win out there because he kicked two two-pointers. 'Particularly the one on the stroke of half-time was just inspirational for us going in. Just gave an extra pep in our step. 'But how he deals with the weight of expectation, I have no idea. He's a unique temperament.' Despite Clifford's nine points from play the general consensus was that Kerry skipper Gavin White was man of the match with three points from the half back line and a series of assists and kickout wins, as well as setting up scores from both throw-ups. A close second was Paudie Clifford, who the stats said afterwards handled the ball a remarkable 76 times, and orchestrated everything good about Kerry's clinical attacking play. 'Paudie is just coming back to himself after a long oul injury and we felt that he was coming good,' said O'Connor. 'He handled some amount of ball out there and he just calmed things down. 'A big part of playing Donegal is get value out of your attacks and don't turn it over. I think Meath found that out when they didn't work the Donegal defence. They just took pot shots from outside the arc, just looking for two-pointers. 'Now you take the two-pointers when they're on but you don't force them and you work their defenders. 'I thought we worked the Donegal defenders. That in turn takes away a bit of their legs for going the other way. I thought that was a big factor. 'I didn't think that the likes of Roarty, Mogan and McHugh had a big influence in that game - attacking-wise. I think a lot of that has to do with the patience we showed in the attack and keeping them occupied.' O'Connor also spoke about the period after the shock All-Ireland round robin defeat by Meath at Tullamore, which meant Kerry didn't top their group and had to play a preliminary quarter-final. At the time many locals were restless and some of the band of Kerry pundits not too happy either. 'The part that got brushed under the carpet was that we were down a pile of men going to Tullamore,' said O'Connor. 'I know I'm like a broken record, but I keep saying that Seán O'Shea was missing that day. He's a massive part of that unit out there because he just knits everything together. He does a bit of everything. 'He wins kick-outs. He tackles. He links the play. He sets up scores and he kicks scores and he organises for us. I know that's a lot of stuff for one man to do. So he's like the conductor of the orchestra on the field. 'That was the one week where I was really down before the game because I knew he was missing. So I wasn't overly surprised that we didn't play well up there. 'There was a lot of fall-out from the Meath game and life wasn't pleasant for me for a couple of weeks there. And maybe that was behind the bit of steam I left off here a month ago.' Kerry went from barely shooting a two pointer in the League to racking them up when it mattered. Yesterday they hit five, three from David Clifford and two from Sean O'Shea (both frees) and missed four more - from Paudie Clifford, Dylan Geaney, Mike Breen and O'Shea. Donegal didn't manage any two pointers in the game, or any real goal chances, and had just three shots for two pointers in total. So what turned it around on two pointers? 'There was a simple enough reason,' said O'Connor. 'Now, I'll tell you the truth. We played eight games in nine weeks in the League in bad conditions. 'There wasn't much time now to be working on two-pointers. You're basically recovering and doing a bit of fitness work and basic stuff. 'As soon as the League was over we went into a training camp and started working on the thing. 'Because there's a bit of an art in getting the right shooters on the ball at the right angles and coming on the right cuts and stuff. 'We didn't see a big need to work on it in the League because first of all we didn't have time to do it. 'Second of all, we were scoring goals which were camouflaging the fact that we weren't getting two-pointers. Simple as that.' O'Connor quickly dismissed mention of previous All-Irelands being soft compared to this one, referring to the decider hammerings over Mayo in 2004 and 2006 on his watch for his first two Sam Maguires. This time around Kerry defeated Armagh, Tyrone and Donegal en route to the biggest prize in the game. 'I'll tell you now, when we're looking back on the All-Ireland, there won't be any asterisks beside any of them,' he said. 'They're all of the same value, in my eyes anyway.'
