GAA PUNDITS have turned on former Donegal manager Jim McGuinness over his public attacks on the current Donegal team and its manager Rory Gallagher.
And one pundit went as far to point out that McGuinness mentioned Gallagher just four times in his recent book – but refers to him indirectly 44 times in recent comments in his Irish Times column.
Will Slattery from the Irish Independent said: “If a Donegal footballer ever comes across one of Jim McGuinness’ columns on a morning when the team is mentioned it probably makes for uncomfortable reading – like watching divorced parents bicker while one of the kids is within earshot.
“The former Donegal manager is one of the authoritative voices on Gaelic football and since he started writing in the Irish Times over a year ago he has tackled a number of topics – championship structures, punditry in the GAA, defensive systems – in an interesting and thought provoking way.
“But when the man who led Donegal to All-Ireland glory in 2012 writes about his old team, something feels amiss.”
And Joe Brolly said: “Since leaving the Donegal job he [McGuinness] has heaped pressure on Rory Gallagher without ever mentioning his name. Jim is extremely Machiavellian make no mistake about that.”
After Donegal lost to Tyrone in last Sunday’s Ulster final, McGuinness used his subsequent column to criticise the game plan. Again, Gallagher’s name was missing from most these paragraphs but they were obviously directed at him.
Newstalk pundit David Brady said: “You are entitled to write what you want as a columnist but I do think it is sad.
“It is two men who led Donegal to victory and it is not a nice thing to see. There is without a doubt a certain degree of innuendo with regards to Rory [Gallagher]. Rory does have a certain amount of responsibility but so do the players.
“It has gotten very personal against one of his old comrades.”
Brady said the underperformance of a number of Donegal stars was a major factor in their loss to Tyrone, rather than some “awful sideline blunder” from Gallagher.
“Some past county managers don’t want to say one bad word about their players and there was every reason for Jimmy [McGuinness] to do it after last Sunday,” Brady said.
“It [his criticism] was solely directed at Rory Gallagher.
“If players don’t kick any long balls in, who have been there for ten years, they should have the ability and experience to change things. They’re not robots.
“If you read Jim McGuinness’ book, he mentions Rory Gallagher about four times.
“If you read his columns, he mentions him about 44 times. He should have done this and he should have done that.
“Last Sunday was an Ulster final that Donegal might have won – if they had won would Jim McGuinness have been overjoyed for Rory Gallagher? My honest opinion is no.”
The highly respected commentator Jerome Quinn took to Twitter to criticise McGuinness.
“Is anyone else uncomfortable with Jim’s shameless & constant digs at Rory Gallagher, a man who was crucial In 2012?” he tweeted.
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