Lee Keegan joined us on OTB AM this morning to look ahead to the weekend’s Super 8 action, with a number of big talking points to discuss. Here’s the big takeaways from our chat with the Mayo footballer.
Ian Burke is like Messi
High praise indeed for the Galway forward from Lee Keegan:
“We’re talking about the likes of Shane Walsh and Damien Comer but I think without Ian Burke at the moment, these guys are not going to be getting on half the ball or scores they are. He’s like a little wizard or a little Messi in there on the top of the ‘D’ and his hands are just absolutely magnificent to watch.”
Keegan also reckons Galway don’t care about how they are winning, as long as the wins keep on coming. However, he thinks they should be putting teams like Kildare away in more emphatic style.
He’s calling Monaghan for the win tomorrow evening.
Kerry’s uncertainty is striking
Discussing Kerry’s last-gasp draw with Monaghan a couple of weeks ago, Keegan says “they look very uncertain of how to mark a top forward.”
Perhaps more worryingly from a Kerry perspective, he also reckons Fitzmaurice couldn’t rely on anyone to look after Conor McManus in Clones and that is why we saw Mark Griffin continue to get the runaround from the Clontibret man.
He finds the amount of changes Fitzmaurice made between Croke Park and Clones “a bit dramatic” and, on the topic of Mayo’s win over Kerry last summer, Keegan says: “When we played in the replay, we couldn’t get over much space and time they afforded us.”
The Mayo backroom team overhaul is going to be a massive challenge
Donie Buckley and Peter Burke have both left the Mayo backroom team in the last few days, with Tony McEntee set to follow them. Here’s what the Westport man said this morning on the mini-exodus:
"They say change is a good thing sometimes. But to lose probably three of the guys that have been with us very well over the last three years and really developed us and pushed us to the brink of All Irelands - that's tough to see.
"That will be Stephen's biggest challenge over the coming weeks. Again, from a player's point of view, we are just waiting for the notification that he has been ratified again. I can't really be saying too much about that because I don't know myself, to be brutally honest.
"For the three guys to leave - I would have had a very good relationship with the three of them. They were three different types of guys in terms of how they look at the game and how to approach the game.
Punditry with Brolly is harder than marking Connolly
Keegan’s The Saturday Game debut was made at the start of the Super 8s, and he said this morning that he found it “interesting.” He explained that he needed to brush up on his lingo, mentioning that studio-mates Tomás Ó Sé and Joe Brolly are seasoned veterans and are more practiced in putting their points across.
We also asked if it was a tougher experience marking Diarmuid Connolly or sharing a studio with Joe Brolly. “Brolly every day,” he understandably decided.
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