Ger Loughnane has said All-Ireland champions Kilkenny lack the charisma to be remembered alongside the truly great teams in the game as he defended his description of Brian Cody's side as "functional".
The Cats are chasing a third Liam McCarthy in a row this summer - a feat only achieved twice before - but Clareman Loughnane believes they lack the swagger and ability of their legendary peers to be spoken of in the same hushed tones.
He had previously labelled them "functional beyond belief" and defended that view on Sunday evening.
“I think functional is a great compliment to pay to any team," Loughnane told RTÉ2'S League Sunday. "They're so hard-working and they're so organised. That is my idea of functional."
"You know what you get from Kilkenny. You get relentless work rate right from the start. You get this attitude that, ‘no one will outmuscle us, no one will out work us'.
"In no way, personnel wise, charisma wise, would you compare them the Kilkenny team of 2006 or 2012."
"They’ll set themselves up, they’ll deny the other team space and then everyone will work in a totally honest way. Then they have a few players, the likes of TJ Reid and Richie Hogan, who can get the scores. They are a team of what we have in the last two or three years.
"In no way, personnel-wise, talent-wise, charisma-wise, would you compare them the Kilkenny team of 2006 or 2012.
"In my time, I've seen two-in-a-row done eight times. I've seen the three-in-a-row done only twice, and it was done by two absolutely iconic teams. One was the Cork team from '76 to '78... the other one was [Kilkenny 2006 to '08], probably the greatest team ever seen.
"In a historical context I would love to see a team join those who are of equal status to them talent-wise."
"It's a controversial thing, and Henry doesn't agree. It's a reflection on the other teams out there that they can't stop them."
Cats legend Henry Shefflin defended his county men and insisted that if they do go on to climb the steps of Croker in September, their status as an iconic side will be impossible to dispute.
"I don’t think we’re being fair to those players," he said. "It’s easy for us to sit down and talk about the last three-in-a-row team because we’ve time and reflection.
"The lads last year, there were four competitions they played in, they won every one of them. If they win the All-Ireland this year they deserve to be up there with those teams."
