McGUINNESS Steps down

[wowwow]

jim mcguinness has stepped down.

[kerrygold]

No real surprise here really, with McFadden and Lacey in decline, McHugh gone walk about and the remaining team still doing much of same, Donegal are in transition now.

Donegal under Jim in 2012 were hugely impressive, hugely disciplined and their approach to the game was hugely positive in the way they went about their business.

They perfected a highly effective defensive game and secondly they perfected a very efficient break away game at speed from defence.

Jim's project was very interesting but difficult to sustain the levels of performance required year in year out.

[cool1]

No great surprise really. He brought a professional approach to a reasonably talented group of players. Player reserves would not be in big supply but he worked on a system to best reward their abilities. He deserves great credit for this. With his work in Scotland and after the players going to the well already this year it would be highly unlikely that even with Jimmy at the helm that Donegal would have been contenders in 2015.

[givehimaball]

Will be interesting to see how many follow him in terms of retirements.

Would not be surprised to see a lot of big names go after him.

Donegal might be valuable in terms of a sneaky bet for relegation back down to Division 2

[glengael]

We presume they'll appoint a replacement from within pretty quickly. donegalman might be able to let us know the contenders.

[kerrybhoy06]

Their minor coach- Bonner will prob take over as they will be undertaking a bit of a rebuilding phase and his finalists will be driving this

[onlykerry]

Big decision for the Donegal county board - do they go for continuity and somebody from the Mc Guiness school of play or do they look for somebody who can develop the system of play to take Donegal to another level. How much do they believe in their ability to progress or are they of the belief that they have a limited squad and can only win with the Mc Guiness play book/style.

[donegalman]

Oct 4, 2014 15:13:50 GMT kerrybhoy06 said:

Their minor coach- Bonner will prob take over as they will be undertaking a bit of a rebuilding phase and his finalists will be driving this

Not likely. I think it is going to be his second in command from 2012, Rory Gallagher.

Its not straight forward though. Gallagher left at the beginning of this year with some controversy. It allegedly involved his managing of a club team within donegal while at the same time being involved with the county team...not a good idea apparently.

But.. he was well liked by the players and knows the game inside out. He is successfully managing within the county and getting very good results with a highly achieving team. He also managed the u21s this year who were beaten in the ulster final by a last minute cavan goal. So he hasnt been sitting around.

My money would be on him, and it may not take that long for the appointment to take place. Martin McHugh took the sligo IT job last week for next years sigerson, perhaps ruling himself out of contention for the county job in equal measures?

Bonner did manage the senior team for a good few years back 15 years ago, without success. I dont think he will get it, although he too would be popular with the players. I think that the players will almost demand a similar style of manager to McGuinness, and Gallagher is as close as you are going to get. Outsiders might include Kevin Cassidy, but I think he has burned too many bridges with the county board. Also you could assess the chances of current assistant Damien Diver from Ardara, a great player in his day, and a good knowledge of the game too.

Rank outsiders would have to include the likes of 1992 players or even older. But they wont get it. (unless Bonner does).

McGuinness worked miracles in the county. His legacy is a complete boom in the numbers playing football in the county. Registration in club membership at underage levels has rocketed. His achievement is taking a team ranked no 19 in the country and winning 13/14 ulster championship matches which included beating tyrone 3 times. An all ireland in 2012, and finalists this year after last years melt down. The donegal team of pre 2011 was a reckless bunch of good footballers who never got it together in a meaningful way. I think that next year would have been a step too far for him and he was 100% correct to walk. This business is a ruthless business, and people are inclined to forget the good times very quickly and look at the bad times all of a sudden as a measure of where you are at. We are all guilty of it, including myself sometimes.

So I really hope he has a very successful and happy time at celtic (if thats possible), and we see him in the stands supporting donegal.

[givehimaball]

Oct 5, 2014 2:35:55 GMT donegalman said:

Martin McHugh took the sligo IT job last week for next years sigerson, perhaps ruling himself out of contention for the county job in equal measures?

You'd imagine with the 2 lads involved it's far less stress for him to avoid the manager gig, especially after Mark's summer off.

Oct 5, 2014 2:35:55 GMT donegalman said:

McGuinness worked miracles in the county. His legacy is a complete boom in the numbers playing football in the county. Registration in club membership at underage levels has rocketed.

I'd imagine this will probably be his most important long-term legacy.

Oct 5, 2014 2:35:55 GMT donegalman said:

His achievement is taking a team ranked no 19 in the country

Have to take issue with this - no way were Donegal this far down the pecking order - they had finished 3rd in Division 2 in 2010 and only lost by 2 points after extra-time to Down, who got to the final in 2010 before McGuinness took over and Armagh who knocked them out of the qualifiers had finished 1 place higher in Division 2. They might not have been among the serious contenders but the notion that they were in the bottom half of teams contesting for Sam is well wide of the mark.

The fact that pretty much the same squad went on to have such success is a shocking indictment of the previous management.

[donegalman]

Have to take issue with this - no way were Donegal this far down the pecking order - they had finished 3rd in Division 2 in 2010 and only lost by 2 points after extra-time to Down, who got to the final in 2010 before McGuinness took over and Armagh who knocked them out of the qualifiers had finished 1 place higher in Division 2. They might not have been among the serious contenders but the notion that they were in the bottom half of teams contesting for Sam is well wide of the mark.

The fact that pretty much the same squad went on to have such success is a shocking indictment of the previous management.


Some truth in this but I think that on championship form we were abysmal. 2007 2 hammerings to tyrone and monaghan..
2008 was better but lost at home to derry before losing at home to monaghan. 2009 losing at home to antrim and then getting whipped by cork. 2010 losing at home to down and getting hammered by armagh. Its not pretty. I would say we were probably in the bottom 3 teams in ulster at least on form.

If we were even ranked no 12 in the country, his achievement was massive, in winning 13 out of 14 ulster matches in the following years. Only 3 of these games were at home.

The legacy of the McGuinness era is a willingness to push yourself, and discipline as well as belief, which was totally lacking in the old days. I cant see them returning.

His legacy has also trickled down beyond donegal and ulster football, taking tactics to a new level. ie your all ireland victory 2 weeks ago was a perfectly implemented plan that certainly deviated from traditional kerry football.

No mistake, it is a different game now in his wake.

[stevieq]

Oct 4, 2014 8:12:33 GMT wowwow said:

jim mcguinness has stepped down.

Good

[Ballyfireside]

I feel there wasn't room for the two 'chiefs' that were Rory Gallagher and Jim, so Rory walked. Rory's return is inevitable if he is available and officers are sensible; we should beware, he may outclass Jim!

Anthony Molloy was a great player and is a sturdy pundit; a manager?

Jim brought so much to the game and consistently acknowledged his affection for his days in Kerry. He came through so many challenges, rejections, hardships, both personal and professional. The die hards are as sorry for him as a person as they are of losing as a county and the sportsmanship of Donegal supporters after the game has been appropriately aired on here.

Jim often spoke of the economically disadvantaged counties; his lack of subs v ours this year wasn't unrelated to that, although it is not the full story, well not the root cause anyway. Soccer also has the majority in Donegal, 60%-70%.

As John B would have said, 'history might be kind to Jim'. You'd can only wish him well, go neirí an bothar leat Seamus agus may those splinters point in the right direction as you slide dowm the bannisters of life!

[donegalman]

Nicely put K Man, yes Molloy did have a go with the minors a few years back with little success. I think it will be a big surprise if Gallagher does not get the job. He was popular with the players and was directly involved in 2012 and last year too. I dont think he will outclass Jim though. He would have to win every single game bar 2 or 3 in the championship for the next 4 years to do that! What we need to do is moderate our expectations, as it is unfair to expect the same effort from a relatively small panel of players every year. In a few years when there will be some underage blood in big numbers coming through, we should have a cracking side again. WE wont be bad next year either, but it is a huge challenge especially with the likes of mcgeeney back in armagh, mickey harte in his last year in tyrone and one or 2 other counties out for revenge in ulster too, never mind the dubs, a success starved mayo and of course you guys. (plus cork if they get their act together.

[Deleted]

Will this mean the end of blanket defenses?

[southward]

RTE this evening claiming that James Horan is the favourite for the gig.

[Ballyfireside]

Horan is a non runner as his like Jack O'Connor he will not entertain the tactics that won the last Sams for Donegal and Kerry. He trounced Donegal last because they simply didn't turn up. I also think Jim was severe on himself by saying that he didn't want his tenure to be remembered for losing to Mayo by 16 points; if that is the case he will now be remembered for losing to our 'system' and which was a compulsory adoption of his own. In fairness I'd say he'll be remembered for '12 and the culture change he brought about in a relatively short period of time. You'd wonder could he ever return, moreover given the volatility of soccer management.

Donegal are now in a similar position to where us All Ireland champs were a few short months ago.

Hey donegalman, can you tell us what % of Donegal is soccer v Gaelic? Would there be more Gaelic towards the south? Lots of my fellow Kerrymen don't believe that soccer would be in such a minority in Donegal, what with the historic links to Celtic, etc. Ulster emigrants also mostly headed to Scotland while Munster generally headed to London and The South East.

[donegalman]

It is a pity K Man, that Horan is a non runner, i would be suspicious of these news snippets coming through about odds being slashed, it seems to be a favorite way the bookies have of getting a bit of publicity going. Horan knows how to get to an all Ireland final, and his knowledge of how to win and how to play against top teams is invaluable if you asked me. Couple this with a freshening up of things, as well as perhaps a totally new approach to offer the players, might bring out the best in them rather than another year of digging the trenches even deeper. I think a 5th year of this would mentally be too much. Anyway, I still see Gallagher coming in with Diver as his assistant.

re Soccer in Donegal, I dont have official figures, and wouldnt be able to put an exact number on a percentage.

I would judge by the membership of clubs, registered players, as well as attendances and state of the grounds, you would be looking at a 50/50 split at grass roots level. You would also see both soccer and gaa being mutually understanding in terms of training and commitments, as there is a cross over that has to be dealt with in terms of club fixture clashes. Most of the donegal county players played soccer at club level before making their choice to specialize in the gaa.

In terms of geographical spread of GAA strongholds, look no further than west of killybegs. Glen, kilcar, ardara and glenties are where the game is at its strongest. I dont think they play soccer at all west of killybegs. (excluding ardara who had a very tidy soccer team about 10 years ago). GAA in Ballyshannon to Donegal town is very strong, but Ballyshannon has slumped badly in the last 5 years from being a senior club to a division 3 club. (apparently about 25 of their panel and first team players emigrated to Western Australia). Donegal Town has boomed. East Donegal is the heartland of soccer, and has very strong teams, although Ballybofey has a very strong GAA club all through the ages.The north of the county was almost exclusively soccer, but massive inroads have been made in terms of playing GAA. Innishowen particularly so. I would still say it is more a soccer part of the county though. West Donegal is split 50/50. The middle of donegal is almost uninhabited.

[Ballyfireside]

Jazus that's a great insight donegalman into the geographical spread.

I would totally disagree with you that Horan would be a good idea; it was Donie Buckley of Kerry and Horan's assistant that beat Donegal in '13. That famous dispossessing tackle of was it Neil Magee was straight from Donie's top drawer and if you don't know all about him then find out, as it is interesting, he is a Kerryman of course!

[Ballyfireside]

V honest article by Tomás in today's Independent on Jim.

[MrRasherstoyou]

Best of luck to JMG, he had a massive impact on the GAA, and I'm sure he will continue to be involved. Wouldn't be surprised to see him return to Snr IC management at some stage, a mind such as his with his background must in some way crave to pit himself against the other coaches and teams at the highest level in our games.

Whatever about the negativity expressed re-the style of play he fostered, the fact is that he drew more people to watch, and by some accounts to play the games, due to the fascination with him and the challenges he brought and the achievements he made.

I think it should always be remembered though that his players deserve the most credit for the past 3 out of 4 years, and they often seem forgotten in the rush to glorify and mystify JMG's magical powers.

[givehimaball]

Oct 13, 2014 13:37:23 GMT MrRasherstoyou said:

Best of luck to JMG, he had a massive impact on the GAA, and I'm sure he will continue to be involved. Wouldn't be surprised to see him return to Snr IC management at some stage, a mind such as his with his background must in some way crave to pit himself against the other coaches and teams at the highest level in our games.

Whatever about the negativity expressed re-the style of play he fostered, the fact is that he drew more people to watch, and by some accounts to play the games, due to the fascination with him and the challenges he brought and the achievements he made.

I think it should always be remembered though that his players deserve the most credit for the past 3 out of 4 years, and they often seem forgotten in the rush to glorify and mystify JMG's magical powers.

From the way some seem to go on, you'd swear that before Jim took over, Donegal were struggling to find 15 players to line out and of those that did a serious number of those 15 had pretty much come straight from the pub and the match was merely a chance to get some fresh air before they headed back to the pub. However when you look at the stat of their much repeated 3 first round loses in the Ulster championship and their actual league form, and things look a lot clearer in terms of where Donegal were.

In 2010 they lost to Down (who got to the final that year) by 2 points after extra-time and that was only after Coulter got a goal 4 minutes from the end of extra-time.

In 2009 they lost to Antrim (who to be fair probably had their best Ulster championship in ages, considering they got to the final) by a point. However this has to go down as a bad result.

In 2008 they lost to Derry (who had won the league that year) by 2 points.

In terms of the league - in 2010 they finished 3rd in Division 2, in 2009 they got relegating from Division 1 [they did manage to win 2 games against Tyrone and Westmeath and drew against Mayo) while in 2008 they won 4 games to finish 4th in Division 1 and had actually won the league in 2007.

Also while they might be a bit mickey mouse they did win the McKenna Cup in 2009 and 2010.

While they might not have been serious contenders in terms of the race for Sam, they clearly weren't that far off either, especially in terms of player talent.

There was a very serious core of talent already in place [Karl Lacey had already won All-Stars in 2006 and 2009] and if anything they had seriously under-performed in terms of championship performances prior to Jim taking over.

The fact was that pretty much all of the players who had success during Jim's stint in charge were already intercounty players for Donegal before he took over - he might have changed their approach and improved their fitness but I don't think he did much in the way of their skills as footballers.

Of the 20 players Jim used in the final against Kerry, 14 were playing for Donegal before he arrived - and if Martin McHugh and Kevin Cassidy had been around that could have been even higher.

There was 4 players on the starting 15 for the final given their inter-county debut by Jim and all 4 were subbed off [O'Connor, McHugh, MacLoone and MacNiallias] The 2 subs who were given their debut by Jim were McBrearty and McElhinney. If I were involved with Celtic, I'd be wondering about Jim's ability to develop young players.

In a sense Jim was also probably helped a good bit in terms of buy-in to his approach as the squad knew that they werent that far off the serious contenders and that the 3 prior championship performance weren't a proper representation of what they had talent-wise.

[donegalman]

givehimtheball, youre paragraphs above could be the inspiration for the entire structure of a book.

Yes of course we had good players before his arrival, but no better than the likes of Kildare or Meath in today's terms. To get them not only to achieve but to consistently achieve at the highest level, is remarkable. I couldnt picture either of them winning 13 out of 14 ulster games in 4 seasons. Nor could I picture either of those teams reaching 2 all irelands, and winning 1 of them.

I am going to do a bit of the old beal bocht here, and suggest that donegal has almost zero gaa tradition. we won 3 of our 8 ulsters in the last 4 years. (out of 130 odd years). Suddenly we are competing with the very best teams in the country. And yes you are also right that the team deserve enormous credit for buying into McGuinness plan. The annual hammerings that we took around the country were hard to take. Dublin in 2002, armagh in 2004 and 2005. Tyrone and Monaghan in 2007, Cork in 2009 after a humiliating defeat to antrim at home. (not to mention defeats to cavan in 2005 and fermanagh THREE TIMES in 2001, 2003 and 2004). The armagh defeat in 2010 was in ways the worst ever. What other teams in the country have been beaten by fermanagh 3 times in the space of 4 seasons other than another division 4 side.

We were muck.

Now we are not. We are suddenly building a tradition in the present, from next to nothing. We would have given any team in the country a good game, a single game that is, in a given year, and that was it. Not so from now on. thousands welcomed the defeated team home on monday 22nd. the speech was about having to accept that if we were going to compete at the very top level each year, we would have to accept defeats of this magnitude along the way.

McGuinness was as good a loser as he was a winner. There are thousands playing gaa now in the county, and attending gaa club games when in the past they wouldnt. I feel that this is an equal achievement to what he won. Consistency and belief is his legacy. Yes the game is not what it was, but it was only a mater of time before it was going to go this direction. It will evolve again and again before long, last year we thought that mayo were on to something special. This year we all thought the same about dublin. But they will come back next year, thanks to JMG with a plan B.

I also think that we will see him again in about 5 years time in charge of donegal.

In the mean time, we will see, but I think that there is much to be positive within the county. I wouldnt agree with everything that he did, but his record will show results and consistency that we never achieved before him.

[Mickmack]

McGuinness, who stepped down the week before last, will give his first interview since on RTÉ’s The Saturday Night Show tomorrow.

[fitz]

Oct 13, 2014 15:29:49 GMT givehimaball said:

Oct 13, 2014 13:37:23 GMT MrRasherstoyou said:

Best of luck to JMG, he had a massive impact on the GAA, and I'm sure he will continue to be involved. Wouldn't be surprised to see him return to Snr IC management at some stage, a mind such as his with his background must in some way crave to pit himself against the other coaches and teams at the highest level in our games.

Whatever about the negativity expressed re-the style of play he fostered, the fact is that he drew more people to watch, and by some accounts to play the games, due to the fascination with him and the challenges he brought and the achievements he made.

I think it should always be remembered though that his players deserve the most credit for the past 3 out of 4 years, and they often seem forgotten in the rush to glorify and mystify JMG's magical powers.

From the way some seem to go on, you'd swear that before Jim took over, Donegal were struggling to find 15 players to line out and of those that did a serious number of those 15 had pretty much come straight from the pub and the match was merely a chance to get some fresh air before they headed back to the pub. However when you look at the stat of their much repeated 3 first round loses in the Ulster championship and their actual league form, and things look a lot clearer in terms of where Donegal were.

In 2010 they lost to Down (who got to the final that year) by 2 points after extra-time and that was only after Coulter got a goal 4 minutes from the end of extra-time.

In 2009 they lost to Antrim (who to be fair probably had their best Ulster championship in ages, considering they got to the final) by a point. However this has to go down as a bad result.

In 2008 they lost to Derry (who had won the league that year) by 2 points.

In terms of the league - in 2010 they finished 3rd in Division 2, in 2009 they got relegating from Division 1 [they did manage to win 2 games against Tyrone and Westmeath and drew against Mayo) while in 2008 they won 4 games to finish 4th in Division 1 and had actually won the league in 2007.

Also while they might be a bit mickey mouse they did win the McKenna Cup in 2009 and 2010.

While they might not have been serious contenders in terms of the race for Sam, they clearly weren't that far off either, especially in terms of player talent.

There was a very serious core of talent already in place [Karl Lacey had already won All-Stars in 2006 and 2009] and if anything they had seriously under-performed in terms of championship performances prior to Jim taking over.

The fact was that pretty much all of the players who had success during Jim's stint in charge were already intercounty players for Donegal before he took over - he might have changed their approach and improved their fitness but I don't think he did much in the way of their skills as footballers.

Of the 20 players Jim used in the final against Kerry, 14 were playing for Donegal before he arrived - and if Martin McHugh and Kevin Cassidy had been around that could have been even higher.

There was 4 players on the starting 15 for the final given their inter-county debut by Jim and all 4 were subbed off [O'Connor, McHugh, MacLoone and MacNiallias] The 2 subs who were given their debut by Jim were McBrearty and McElhinney. If I were involved with Celtic, I'd be wondering about Jim's ability to develop young players.

In a sense Jim was also probably helped a good bit in terms of buy-in to his approach as the squad knew that they werent that far off the serious contenders and that the 3 prior championship performance weren't a proper representation of what they had talent-wise.

Pre JMG, Donegal would strike no fear into you and lips licked if drawn against them in the last 8. Under JMG, lips not licked but chapped until a few weeks ago of course

[Annascaultilidie]

Oct 17, 2014 9:36:52 GMT fitz said:

Pre JMG, Donegal would strike no fear into you and lips licked if drawn against them in the last 8. Under JMG, lips not licked but chapped until a few weeks ago of course

If we had to play them again tomorrow it would be tough again.

[MrRasherstoyou]

Oct 13, 2014 22:47:46 GMT donegalman said:

givehimtheball, youre paragraphs above could be the inspiration for the entire structure of a book.

Yes of course we had good players before his arrival, but no better than the likes of Kildare or Meath in today's terms. To get them not only to achieve but to consistently achieve at the highest level, is remarkable. I couldnt picture either of them winning 13 out of 14 ulster games in 4 seasons. Nor could I picture either of those teams reaching 2 all irelands, and winning 1 of them.

I am going to do a bit of the old beal bocht here, and suggest that donegal has almost zero gaa tradition. we won 3 of our 8 ulsters in the last 4 years. (out of 130 odd years). Suddenly we are competing with the very best teams in the country. And yes you are also right that the team deserve enormous credit for buying into McGuinness plan. The annual hammerings that we took around the country were hard to take. Dublin in 2002, armagh in 2004 and 2005. Tyrone and Monaghan in 2007, Cork in 2009 after a humiliating defeat to antrim at home. (not to mention defeats to cavan in 2005 and fermanagh THREE TIMES in 2001, 2003 and 2004). The armagh defeat in 2010 was in ways the worst ever. What other teams in the country have been beaten by fermanagh 3 times in the space of 4 seasons other than another division 4 side.

We were muck.

Now we are not. We are suddenly building a tradition in the present, from next to nothing. We would have given any team in the country a good game, a single game that is, in a given year, and that was it. Not so from now on. thousands welcomed the defeated team home on monday 22nd. the speech was about having to accept that if we were going to compete at the very top level each year, we would have to accept defeats of this magnitude along the way.

McGuinness was as good a loser as he was a winner. There are thousands playing gaa now in the county, and attending gaa club games when in the past they wouldnt. I feel that this is an equal achievement to what he won. Consistency and belief is his legacy. Yes the game is not what it was, but it was only a mater of time before it was going to go this direction. It will evolve again and again before long, last year we thought that mayo were on to something special. This year we all thought the same about dublin. But they will come back next year, thanks to JMG with a plan B.

I also think that we will see him again in about 5 years time in charge of donegal.

In the mean time, we will see, but I think that there is much to be positive within the county. I wouldnt agree with everything that he did, but his record will show results and consistency that we never achieved before him.

"But they will come back next year, thanks to JMG with a plan B". Can you explain that for me please?


My point about the players was that they had to put what was planned into practice. They had to do all the training, all the preparation, the work and so on, and go out and actually do it. Until you have players who can and are willing to do all that, then the coach can be Merlin and it won't make more difference than "improvement". Hence last year, with as far as I recall the same coach, Donegal were brutal after the Tyrone game in the UC. Now I know the reasons, but the fact is that they couldn't get even close to what they had been for the previous 2 years. Because that commitment by the players just wasn't possible last year.
You cannot say confidently that any group of players of some ability when coached by JMG would produce a similar result. Yes he would surely improve them if they were underperforming but still only if they themselves wanted to do so, to the level that would be set by him.

So for example, if Jim were to try coaching Galway, and it failed pretty badly, the conclusion would be what? That the Galway players were not good enough. And/or that they didn't buy into the plan/requirements. That for me would be proof that the Donegal players deserve alot more credit for having actually made those wins & performances in Ulster and the All-I series happen.

Jack O'Connor might not have got the current Kerry squad to do what they did this year. Pat Gilroy the same in 2011. It was the players themselves who stepped up and embodied the ideas and plans. furthermore, whatever about rigidity of structure and tactics, the players on the field had to be able to make complicated and difficult decisions in response to what happened in the game. As Donegal did in the All-I semi this year. Yes JMG had planned, and sent out orders but it's not as simple as that.

[Ballyfireside]

Hey guys, trust me, Donegal were in a bad place when Jim took over and in my opinion and with respect, Donegel had even greater potential in the era of Brendan Devenney, Eamon Sweeney, Michael Hegarty, Roper, etc. If this team had Jim as a leader then history would be different, but every county has that to say.

The manager makes the greatest individual contribution; he is on duty 24/7 and that is not counting the time he is thinking things through.

[donegalman]

Hi MrRashers, I will try to explain that statement, rereading it I phrased it a bit funnily. I mean that Dublin will tighten up their defense a bit. A good bit probably. And maintain about 90% of their offensive game. The semi final will be the catalyst for this, I suppose 'thanks to JMG' is not the best way of putting it. But he would be directly responsible for whatever change the dublin camp are going to make. Otherwise it could well have been the dubs lifting sam 4 weeks ago and there would have been no change to their style. I am too tired to digest the rest of your thread properly, so I will have another go at it 2moro.

[glengael]

Interesting that he chose to go on a light "entertainment" show rather than a sports show or the Meaning of Life programme.

[Annascaultilidie]

No mention of the weather conditions though...

www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/off-the-ball/snorefest-in-donegal-club-clash-does-not-bode-well-30665347.html

Snorefest in Donegal club clash does not bode well

Colm Parkinson

A result that caught my eye over the weekend was the Donegal senior football championship clash of Glenswilly and St Michael's.

The game, between two of the best teams in Donegal club football, ended 1-4 to 1-2 in favour of Michael Murphy's Glenswilly.

A shocking statistic is that neither team scored a point from play in the game. This must be some kind of record in senior championship football.

This is the legacy Jim McGuinness has left behind in Donegal.

Copycat club managers trying to emulate what Jim did with the Donegal inter-county team, with much less coaching ability and less talented players, is resulting in dour games like this.

I've defended Donegal's tactics many times in the past but it's difficult to have anything positive to say about a scoreline like that in club football, especially given the quality of players that both sides fielded last weekend.

Spectators simply won't pay in to see football like that.

Games like this one show that the doomsday scenario Joe Brolly predicts will happen the inter-county game because of massed defences could yet come to pass.

Irish Independent