Dublin’s defenders will tell Jim Gavin which Kerry attackers they want to mark in Sunday’s All-Ireland final, believes former Dubs star Ray Cosgrove.

Paddy Andrews cringes. He winces a couple of times during a searingly honest interview. On Sunday, he may claim a sixth All-Ireland SFC medal, but the 31-year-old knows it could have been a seventh.

After more than eight years of this column, the arse long torn out of it, maybe it’s time to start taking requests.

Seamus Moynihan has called on referee Maurice Deegan, his umpires, and linesmen to offer David Clifford a greater level of protection in Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

They will mention 2002 and 2008 as ones that got away, but for ex-Kerry star, Darran O’Sullivan, the All-Ireland loss that cut deepest was the classic Stephen Cluxton final in 2011.

A week on from the spectre and inspiration of Colm Cooper hovering over Cillian O’Connor in Gooch’s own backyard of Killarney, Mayo and Kerry return to another beloved playground of the Dr Crokes genius — Croke Park.

There were four big football games on Saturday evening, three blowout wins for Meath, Dublin and Tyrone, and one thoroughly enthralling contest in Castlebar.

17 days ago, Donie Buckley turned the car and headed north from Ennis. Like he had done for the five previous years.

Before they all gathered for lunch in the Dromhall Hotel yesterday to move on from the All-Ireland final evisceration by Corofin in Croke Park, a handful of Dr Crokes players and stalwarts happened upon company in the clubhouse on Lewis Road.

Things didn’t finish up for Darran O’Sullivan as he would have liked, either with Kerry or when he last played against their opponents tonight, Mayo.

A throbbing ankle? What former Cork defender Kieran O'Connor presumed was a legacy from chasing fast corner-forwards turned into a nightmare he's battling every day.

It wasn’t a shock but still there was a twinge of sadness when the news broke yesterday morning.

Yesterday morning when awakening to the realisation that our summer drought had been temporarily disrupted, those of us with a more positive disposition heading to Croke Park would have been mindful that a previous Galway-Kerry All-Ireland quarter-final played at headquarters had also been accompanied by considerable precipitation.

Why do GAA players look so miserable on the front cover of their autobiographies?

When Tipperary and Mayo were pulled first in the qualifier draw my instinctive reaction was that Tipp were still paying a heavy price for taking an eye off the ball against Cork in the Munster semi-final, writes Declan Browne.

Wicklow manager John Evans is holding out hope he may be asked to be part of a Kerry senior management team in the future.

Corofin’s Martin McNamara is delighted to have Kieran Molloy and Liam Silke available for today’s All-Ireland semi-final, but is disappointed that they have had to sacrifice a Sigerson Cup final, as a result.

AT the halfway point of the decade, I selected the players who were best positioned to make any all-decade side.

Recently retired attacker Alan Dillon reckons the Mayo and Cork forwards are kindred spirits, undervalued and underappreciated by the majority of neutrals.

The level of scrutiny Gaelic footballers are subjected to is taking the enjoyment out of the game, according to Kieran Donaghy.

First time John ‘Tweek’ Griffin travelled to hurl for Kerry, he couldn’t believe it when players headed for the pub the night before. But over a fiercely committed 15-year career, he saw improvements, a new ambition, the melting away of some old divisions, and even a little glory. He drove much of that progress himself, making a few enemies along the way. But when he retired last year, to modest fanfare, he knew he had given the jersey all he could.

Provincial championship victories for Cork clubs over Kerry are infrequent enough for yesterday’s Munster Club SFC final to be toasted beyond the confines of Nemo Rangers’ expansive Trabeg base. But giddy suggestions their 0-16 to 0-11 victory over Dr Crokes may be the trigger for a Cork football resurgence might be stretching the point some.

The best ever and the worst ever. So goes Paul Kerrigan’s description of Nemo’s last two Munster finals.

Could Cooper yet be forced to walk naked in atonement through the streets of Killarney, asks Mike Quirke.

In times past, pieces of magic may have drawn a few lines in a local paper’s match report the following week and been firmly consigned to history after that. But not anymore it seems, writes Mike Quirke.

Catch up on this morning's headlines...

Colm ‘Gooch’ Cooper has staunchly defended the decision to have a testimonial, one that has caused controversy in GAA circles.

Kerry’s teenage football prospect David Clifford has committed to the Kingdom for next season, turning down the opportunity of a start with an AFL club in Australia.

A sporting autobiography confirms some street truths and puts others to bed as nonsense. Tony Leen analyses the nuggets, the insights, and the revelations in Colm Cooper’s book — which is published today.

Not yet 19 and the compilation of his best bits and hits already makes for compelling viewing.

Ask a Dublin football fan to list off the Dublin forwards. Realistically how far down the list would you get before they mentioned Paddy Andrews? 

Colm Cooper’s first port of call when considering the offer of a testimonial evening in his honour was the GAA’s Director General, Páraic Duffy.

The chronology of Tadhg Morley, the Kerry footballer, runs in predictably straight lines.

The Leaving Certificate results were delivered yesterday. Much debate and fanfare mixed with smiles and tears were shared, no doubt, across the country.

I can stand over my comments because I know, hand on heart, I’m not trying to stick a knife into any fella. Because I’ve been that fella. Pundits have said I was the best in the country. And they’ve given me flak and urged me to retire, writes Colm Cooper.

Here's your lunchtime news bulletin

Philly McMahon says he won’t “lose any sleep” over the retirement of old rival Colm Cooper, saying they never met when the Kerry legend was in his prime.

Donnchadh Walsh admits the Kerry players felt compelled to finally beat Dublin for manager Éamonn Fitzmaurice who came out batting on their behalf last week.

The ambivalence of Joe Brolly towards Colm Cooper shouldn’t shock nor should it surprise, writes John Fogarty. 

Kerry's Colm Cooper has revealed the reason he brought the curtain down on his inter-county career.