Joe Brolly has voiced his opinion on the recent spat between RTÉ hurling analyst Michael Duignan and Wexford manager Davy Fitzgerald.
During Wexford's defeat to Waterford in the All-Ireland hurling quarter-final in Pairc Ui Chaoimh last weekend, Duignan tweeted his disapproval of the sweeper system in hurling, even suggesting its use should be banned.
In the post-match press conference, Fitzgerald said he respected Michael Duignan and Henry Shefflin as players, but not as pundits, largely because neither had the requisite experience of managing at the highest level.
This wasn't the final word either as Duignan responded on Morning Ireland and in his Daily Mail column later in the week.
In a discussion about the prevailing attitude towards GAA punditry, Brolly criticised the seeming desire for excessively diplomatic, 'Rose of Tralee style' punditry.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, Brolly defended Michael Duignan's right to voice his opinion and said that Fitzgerald had a lust for the limelight.
"I can enjoy Davy Fitzgerald as much as the next man but no one craves the spotlight more than Davy," Brolly said.
"I was behind Davy at the Leinster final and it was hilarious. Every time he knew the camera would come to him - after a score - he would immediately go hyperactive.
"I had no doubt watching him that was part of the act.
"He reminds me of that great episode of Father Ted where the woman gets very excited about Fr. Ted and says 'I hear you're a racist now, Father'. And starts punching the air and shouting.
"It's a huge ethical debate in hurling about whether there should be sweepers because we've seen what they've done in football"
"I think it's perfectly reasonable for hurling people to bemoan the fact that some hurling managers are damaging the game and damaging the spirit of the game by playing a sweeper system.
"Davy obviously has great qualities in terms of being able to motivate teams but the man would crawl over crushed glass to get to a mic and he loves publicity.
"And that's fine but to say it was unfair for Michael Duignan to to take him on about the sweeper system? It is a huge debate in hurling.
"It's a huge ethical debate in hurling about whether there should be sweepers because we've seen what they've done in football."
Brolly scoffed when asked whether he was worried about damaging a player or manager's reputation in his analysis, referencing recent complaints about his analysis of Ger Cafferkey and the Mayo full-back line.
"Ah come on... seriously we're not in the nanny state yet, although we're not far away. Poor Davy's offended, like. Boo-hoo.
"I can give you an example from last week. We were doing the Sunday night programme and I was looking at something which has been a really obvious problem for Mayo, their full-back line.
"I've had a load of people on from Mayo saying this is a terrible character assassination of Ger Cafferkey. Eh? What?
"It's a really fundamental thing to talk about. Ger's a good footballer but he's not a full-back.
"I don't see anything wrong with saying he's a difficulty in the air. That's just part of football analysis.
"Will we be reduced to anonymising players? Saying that some of the Kerry forwards are good finishers and others aren't just as good as they are.
"You get into all this sugary stuff that is patronising."
