JOE Brolly has defended his criticism of Kerry’s panel prior to their decisive All-Ireland quarter-final win over Armagh.
The nature of their one-sided victory made him look rather foolish since he had proclaimed in the Sunday Independent that David Clifford is the only current player worthy of the Kerry jersey.
His comments were placed under a far greater microscope when manager Jack O’Connor made sure to mention them while settling a few scores in his post-match press dealings.
O’Connor acknowledged: “One of the great motivators in life is trying to prove people wrong. We were being portrayed as a one-man team.
“I saw somebody writing this morning that said the only Kerry player worthy of being called a Kerry player was David Clifford.
“Now, David is a great player but David will tell you that there was a fair supporting cast there today.”
Brolly has now defended the offending article which also branded O’Connor’s charges “useless altogether”.
The ex-RTE pundit emphasized that his weekly column is written with a tongue-in-cheek style rather than claiming to be an all-knowing prediction of the day’s matches.
Speaking on the Free State podcast he engaged in a light-hearted exchange with co-host Dion Fanning.
The Derry native insisted: “You’re like one of these people on Twitter who read the headline of the piece and now go then, ‘Well, what do you say now?!’
“Let me try to explain this to you. My pieces are an entertainment, they’re a conversation in the pub. They’re written before the games – you understand that?
“I don’t have a crystal ball, games are chaotic and unpredictable! Anything can and often does happen.
“These pieces essentially – I’m not one bit irritated! – they’re fun.
“That’s why they’re read, that’s why people get into it and enjoy the conversation and the debate and all the rest of it.”
Despite dealing with an extensive injury list, Kerry stormed into an All-Ireland semi-final against Tyrone on Saturday July 12.
No part was played at Croker by Paul Geaney, Mike Breen, Tadhg Morley, Diarmuid O’Connor, Tony Brosnan or Barry Dan O’Sullivan.
Tom O’Sullivan limped off in the first half and Paudie Clifford was only fit enough to be subbed on at the break.
Still, O’Connor acknowledged that his introduction ‘gave everybody a lift’ and the Fossa man had a big impact as the Munster champions seized control.
