Colm O'Rourke tore into Michael Murphy, called Donegal flops and said Sean Cavanagh was talking nonsense in a heated debate ahead of the Ulster final.
Appearing on RTE's The Sunday Game, O'Rourke launched into a bizarre tirade questioning the Donegal legends credentials and disputing that he has been one of the top players in the country for over a decade.
"Over the last decade, they really have been a dismal flop later on in the championship," O'Rourke said of Donegal.
"They haven't even gotten to an All Ireland Final."
In a brief moment of peace, Cavanagh and O'Rourke both seemed to agree that Donegal should have done better in the All Ireland over the last ten years. Cavanagh, for his part, was more critical of Donegal than Murphy individually.
"He can't win games on his own unfortunately. When it comes to an All Ireland Final, somebody stops Murphy and then they haven't got anything else coming from up the field," Cavanagh said.
"Michael Murphy can't be winning ball in midfield, he can't be scoring 1-6 every single game."
But O'Rourke was having none of it. In the opinion of the Meath man, Murphy has failed to deliver on the biggest stage on a regular basis.
"The best players are those that have performed at the highest possible level on a continuous basis in semi-finals and finals."
"That's sort of Jim McGuinness nonsense as well. He's not on his own," continued O'Rourke.
"He's not the best player"
When asked my Cavanagh to name a better player, O'Rourke name-checked a number of Dublin stars, such as Brian Fenton, that he would rate higher than Murphy.
"Fenton has performed because he's got Kilkenny in front of him and O'Callaghan in front of him," Cavanagh retorted.
"These guys take the heat, and that opens the gate for other players."
O'Rourke again made the point about big players performing on the biggest stage, yet failed to mention Michael Murphy's wonder goal in the 2012 All Ireland final, which Donegal won.
"You cannot compare the Dublin players with anybody else, because they have been the best by far and their record proves it."
"Until he does it on a consistent basis in All Ireland Semi-finals and finals, you can't compare him with the Dublin players."
Based on the frustrated expression on Sean Cavanagh's face at the end of the chat, it's fair to say that the Tyrone legend wasn't convinced by O'Rourke's argument.
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