NOT FOR THE first time, a manager has expressed his dismay around the rule insisting on a player leaving the pitch in order to treat an injury.
Last year it was Cork hurling manager Pat Ryan reacting to a couple of plays that Tim O’Mahony was not on the pitch for against Clare in the Munster championship.
This time, it was Donegal manager Jim McGuinness, questioning the wisdom of the rule as they conceded a goal while their centre-back Caolan McGonagle was of the pitch receiving treatment in the first half of their 1-25 to 1-15 win over Derry.
“I don’t know, it’s very, very, very frustrating,” said McGuinness.
“It’s very frustrating and the same thing happened us last year. Games are defined by moments and we were in a situation where we were an unfair advantage. For what? What did we do?
“A fella gets a pain in his calf and all of a sudden we’re a goal down. That could have killed us. That could have lost us the game.”
He continued, “No matter how I feel now, I’ll tell you what, I’d be ten times more annoyed tomorrow morning if that was the reason why we lost the game. I’m not a lawmaker. We’re just coaches.
“We do think about the game, but if I told you my own opinion then everybody would have a headline tomorrow because that’s the way it was. I’m not against the rules.”
Warming to the theme, McGuinness continued, “I actually really like the rules but if you’re watching the media and the noise around the media and the way people twist your words in the media, they try to make out that you don’t like the rules or you’re railing against this.
“You guys ask us our opinions and we give an honest assessment of that. People then twist that, I think heavily twisted that over the last month or two because I spoke with Jim Gavin on the phone a couple of times and I acknowledge the work that they’ve done and I think most of the rules are absolutely brilliant.
“I had a couple of comments about the two-pointer which I still don’t agree with and the whole thing kind of blows up. But listen, that’s the world we live in. You can’t control that, nor do I want to. We’re just going to focus on Monaghan and get on with that in the next couple of weeks.”
Donegal will now head to Clones to face Division 2 champions Monaghan in what will be a sturdier test of their credentials.
“Once you can progress to the next round, that’s all that matters,” said McGuinness.
“I was speaking to my wife last night and she was asking me how I feel about the game and I said if we can get out of Ballybofey with a one point victory I’ll be the happiest man in Donegal. That’s what the Ulster Championship is. These are the questions that are asked of you.”
Donegal made three late changes to the starting line-up with the most eye-catching being the introduction of Michael Murphy. Despite his years out, he lasted the entire game and while he wasn’t a hugely influential figure in this game, he didn’t have to be.
“Michael’s in good shape,” said McGuinness.
“He’s worked very, very hard and he’s got himself up through the levels and we’ve tried to manage him as best we can to put him in a situation where he could do that.
“We’re happy with Michael. Patrick (McBrearty) as well stepped in and brought a lot of fire to some of his attacking play which is great. He’s been out for a period of time as well so it’s lovely that these boys are starting to now come into the fold and step up.
“Jason McGee getting in and getting minutes. So yeah, all of that is definitely positive and we’re going to have to find ways to hopefully keep progressing and keep progressing them as well.”
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'That could have killed us' - McGuinness objects to injury rule
NOT FOR THE first time, a manager has expressed his dismay around the rule insisting on a player leaving the pitch in order to treat an injury.
Last year it was Cork hurling manager Pat Ryan reacting to a couple of plays that Tim O’Mahony was not on the pitch for against Clare in the Munster championship.
This time, it was Donegal manager Jim McGuinness, questioning the wisdom of the rule as they conceded a goal while their centre-back Caolan McGonagle was of the pitch receiving treatment in the first half of their 1-25 to 1-15 win over Derry.
“I don’t know, it’s very, very, very frustrating,” said McGuinness.
“A fella gets a pain in his calf and all of a sudden we’re a goal down. That could have killed us. That could have lost us the game.”
He continued, “No matter how I feel now, I’ll tell you what, I’d be ten times more annoyed tomorrow morning if that was the reason why we lost the game. I’m not a lawmaker. We’re just coaches.
“We do think about the game, but if I told you my own opinion then everybody would have a headline tomorrow because that’s the way it was. I’m not against the rules.”
Warming to the theme, McGuinness continued, “I actually really like the rules but if you’re watching the media and the noise around the media and the way people twist your words in the media, they try to make out that you don’t like the rules or you’re railing against this.
“You guys ask us our opinions and we give an honest assessment of that. People then twist that, I think heavily twisted that over the last month or two because I spoke with Jim Gavin on the phone a couple of times and I acknowledge the work that they’ve done and I think most of the rules are absolutely brilliant.
“I had a couple of comments about the two-pointer which I still don’t agree with and the whole thing kind of blows up. But listen, that’s the world we live in. You can’t control that, nor do I want to. We’re just going to focus on Monaghan and get on with that in the next couple of weeks.”
Donegal will now head to Clones to face Division 2 champions Monaghan in what will be a sturdier test of their credentials.
“Once you can progress to the next round, that’s all that matters,” said McGuinness.
“I was speaking to my wife last night and she was asking me how I feel about the game and I said if we can get out of Ballybofey with a one point victory I’ll be the happiest man in Donegal. That’s what the Ulster Championship is. These are the questions that are asked of you.”
Donegal made three late changes to the starting line-up with the most eye-catching being the introduction of Michael Murphy. Despite his years out, he lasted the entire game and while he wasn’t a hugely influential figure in this game, he didn’t have to be.
“Michael’s in good shape,” said McGuinness.
“He’s worked very, very hard and he’s got himself up through the levels and we’ve tried to manage him as best we can to put him in a situation where he could do that.
“We’re happy with Michael. Patrick (McBrearty) as well stepped in and brought a lot of fire to some of his attacking play which is great. He’s been out for a period of time as well so it’s lovely that these boys are starting to now come into the fold and step up.
“Jason McGee getting in and getting minutes. So yeah, all of that is definitely positive and we’re going to have to find ways to hopefully keep progressing and keep progressing them as well.”
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Derry Donegal Injury issue Jim McGuinness