{"id":10285,"date":"2022-04-05T09:35:28","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T09:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/?p=10285"},"modified":"2022-04-05T09:35:28","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T09:35:28","slug":"7-players-who-were-unlucky-to-miss-out-on-a-football-all-star-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/?p=10285","title":{"rendered":"7 players who were unlucky to miss out on a football All-Star this year"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE FOOTBALL ALL-STARS were announced this morning, as 15 players were honoured for spectacular seasons in 2016.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

That left 30 footballers who were nominated out in the cold. Of those, these seven players can consider themselves particularly unfortunate to have missed out.<\/em><\/p>\n

These players were just about pipped at the post, but regardless they deserve recognition for the fantastic seasons they produced in their county colours.<\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

1. Stephen Cluxton (Dublin)<\/p>\n

\n Source: James Crombie\/INPHO<\/p>\n

Cluxton probably paid the price for his eight-minute meltdown against Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final. Dublin lost four kick-outs during that spell before half-time and his importance to their cause was highlighted as they struggled to gain possession around the middle as Kerry kicked 2-4 before the interval.<\/p>\n

Dublin conceded six goals in the championship this year, two more than in 2015. The absence of Rory O\u2019Carroll in front of Cluxton didn\u2019t help.<\/p>\n

2. Cian O\u2019Sullivan (Dublin)<\/p>\n

\n
Advertisement<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n Source: Cathal Noonan\/INPHO<\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan had another fine year and while he\u2019s looked good, he hasn\u2019t made the same sort of impact as he did the season before.<\/p>\n

That might be because we became accustomed to his sweeping role in front of the full-back line, although he can have no complaints about the selection of team-mates Jonny Cooper and Philly McMahon ahead of him.<\/p>\n

3. Patrick Durcan (Mayo)<\/p>\n

\n Source: Ryan Byrne\/INPHO<\/p>\n

No defender scored more times across the two All-Ireland finals. Durcan thrived on the big stage both days and proved he\u2019s here to stay. He kept his man quiet and carried a significant attacking threat from the Mayo half-back line.<\/p>\n

Durcan wasn\u2019t quite as consistent as Lee Keegan or Colm Boyle throughout the summer, but if an All-Star was handed out for the final alone, he\u2019d pick one up.<\/p>\n

4. Peter Acheson (Tipperary)<\/p>\n

\n Source: Ryan Byrne\/INPHO<\/p>\n

A year ago it would have seemed implausible to suggest that a Tipperary player was close to winning an All-Star, but tomorrow night Acheson will watch Premier team-mate Michael Quinlivan collect the huge honour.<\/p>\n

The Dubai-based midfielder faced some difficult competition for the second midfield slot, with Brian Fenton virtually guaranteed a place. Acheson thrived under Liam Kearns and his team will hope they haven\u2019t seen the last of him in a blue and gold jersey.<\/p>\n

5. Kevin McManamon (Dublin)<\/p>\n

\n Source: Donall Farmer\/INPHO<\/p>\n

McManamon was probably leading the race to win Footballer of the Year after Dublin\u2019s semi-final win over Kerry, but two relatively quiet final performances dropped him down the pecking order for an All-Star.<\/p>\n

\n
\n SEE SPORT
DIFFERENTLY<\/p>\n

\n Get closer to the stories that matter with exclusive analysis, insight and debate in The42 Membership.\n <\/p>\n

Become a Member<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ultimately it was a race between McManamon and Dean Rock. Rock\u2019s nine points in the replay were enough to edge him over the line. That\u2019s dissapointing for the St Jude\u2019s attacker, who enjoyed his most consistent year for Dublin.<\/p>\n

6. Gary Brennan (Clare)<\/p>\n

\n Source: Ryan Byrne\/INPHO<\/p>\n

Brennan was unplayable at times on Clare\u2019s epic journey to the All-Ireland quarter-finals. A colossus in midfield, the Ballyea man was the first Clare footballer to be nominated for an All-Star since 1997, following in the footsteps of Frankie Griffin and Martin Daly.<\/p>\n

As with Acheson, Brennan deserves enormous credit for winning a nomination coming from a lower division county.<\/p>\n

7. Kevin McLoughlin (Mayo)<\/p>\n

\n Source: Cathal Noonan\/INPHO<\/p>\n

McLoughlin was one of the lynch pins of Mayo\u2019s run to the All-Ireland final. He improved in each game and became more comfortable in the sweeper role as the season went on.<\/p>\n

The Knockmore star wasn\u2019t considered one of the front-runners to pick up an award, but deserved his nomination nonetheless for his impressive year.<\/p>\n

The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!<\/p>\n

Click Here: <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE FOOTBALL ALL-STARS were announced this morning, as 15 players were honoured for spectacular seasons in 2016.\u00a0 That left 30 footballers who were nominated out in the cold. Of those, these seven players can consider themselves particularly unfortunate to have missed out. These players were just about pipped at the post, but regardless they deserve…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10285\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}