‘Greatest’ tag keeps on giving as Brennan and Hooperman trade digs
THERE are those who use social media purely as a vehicle for selfpromotion, who retweet praise and post vacuous commentary on the issue of the day (or hour) in a bid for relevance.
And then there is Killian Brennan, who has proven to be just as fond of using poo emojis on Twitter to rile one of his former clubs as he is producing nifty nutmegs on the pitch.
A three-time Premier Division winner with two different clubs, not to mention the same number of FAI Cup successes, the St Patrick’s Athletic midfielder was named 2013 PFA Ireland player of the year and is one of the most gifted, not to mention decorated, left-footers the League of Ireland has seen over the last 20 years.
Yet the Drogheda native is 34years-old and currently in a running spat with not just the official Shamrock Rovers Twitter account, but also their mascot Hooperman. If that sentence alone is not worthy of the Greatest League in the World hashtag then what is?
At the start of this season the FAI co-opted the phrase for the title of a magazine as well as their official podcast. They missed the point of it ... spectacularly so .‘ The Greatest League in the World’ started off purely in an ironic sense, a selfeffacing tag for supporters to turn to when the latest haphazard scenario arises.
Like when a referee turned up to Dalymount Park and called a Bohemians-Rovers derby off because there was a divot beside one of the penalty spots (as happened not so long ago). Or just last week, when a manger quit his job only to receive a six-month ban from all footballrelated activities by the FAI the following day for ignoring a previous sanction. Step right up, former Athlone Town boss Aaron Callaghan.
After Brennan came off the bench to wrap up the points with a coolly taken penalty for St Pat’s against the Hoops last Friday, things went into to overdrive. For brevity and a true sense of the trolling, all errors remain.
‘Be doing autographs in the square tallaght 3pm tmo if anyone’s interested #footbal-llovesus,’ he wrote, referencing the hashtag of their own which Rovers had trending on social media in a bid to get more children playing football.
‘Very quiet the lads must have chucked there phones at me along with everything else #footballl-ovesus u out there #hooperman #mouths,’ he continued, before returning to the issue the following day.
‘Had to cancel the signing today in the square tallaght me bus was late blame @Buseireann #footbal-llovesus.’
That last message was perhaps a nod to the fact Brennan is currently in the middle of a two-year ban for drink driving. He had two far-fromhappy spells at Rovers, the last of which saw his contract ‘terminated by mutual consent’ in 2016, while one of his younger brothers, Gavin, was also shown the exit door by current head coach Stephen Bradley.
The youngest sibling, Ryan, is now a teammate at Richmond Park having left Rovers at the end of last season and while it is clear that there is no love lost, it would just epitomise the Greatest League in the World if, somehow, Rovers and the elder Brennan have one final fling before he hangs up his boots.