WHEN THE KERRY engine was purring and all was going their way in the first half of the All-Ireland final, the RTÉ cameras could not resist lingering on Donegal manager Jim McGuinness on the touchline.
He cut a haunted figure, pale and fidgeting. His hands went to his face and he rubbed his eyes as if to try to wake up from a nightmare.
And then something that rarely is picked up by the cameras; McGuinness locked in panicked debate with selectors Colm McFadden and Neil McGee.
They could see what was happening on the pitch but were powerless to do anything about it.
There is no shame in that whatsoever.
Kerry were staffed at the back with raw-boned aggressive defenders such as Jason Foley and Mike Breen. Going forward Brian Ó Beaglaoich and Gavin White were immense, White in particular, while they also had the cool heads of Paul Murphy, Sean O’Shea and Paudie Clifford to retain the ball around the middle. Up top, you have the greatest forward to play the game.
The blend of talent and motivation – this was a Kerry team playing with more spite than is customary – was irresistible.
In order to stop them, Donegal needed big performances and their strategy needed to be bang on. Both elements were completely off on the day.
We will come back to that, but it’s not too early to ask a few questions about where Donegal go from here.
And you would have to start with the manager. When Jim McGuinness said, “It’ll be a fairly heavy post-mortem after this one,” in the post-match press briefing, he gave a clear indication that he will be there in 2026.
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To these eyes, there is no doubt in that. If a position coaching soccer was available and suitable, he would be doing that.
There are life choices too at play. This is a man who is building a new family home, for a large family, in rural Donegal. For a decade he was involved in gaining coaching qualifications and pursuing a career in soccer. It takes a lot of imagination to build a case that he has a future in that sport, given that his only time as a manager was a six-month spell in lower tier American soccer that ended through poor results.
And being frank about it, slogging up and down the road on Friday nights in a team bus managing a League of Ireland team would be a step down.
It’s what happens next will be of the utmost intrigue.
Can McGuinness dedicate himself to another couple of seasons with Donegal, with the threat of diminishing returns?
If so, giving over another three or four years when success might not come as thick and fast, all the while maintaining certain standards would be of some service to Donegal.
If he does continue, there will be many nights spent with the sketchpad, rustling up ideas to break out of the tactical inflexibility that helped Kerry along.
“Kerry came hard they came hard early. They set the terms of the game. Then you’re trying to manage that and you’re trying to claw your way back in,” he said afterwards.
“We tried to respond to that, but at the end of the day, they were still keeping the scoreboard ticking over. Very quickly, you’re in a fight. Whereas we wanted to be in a position where we were going to control the game, they were going to control the game, we were going to pick them off, they were going to pick us off.”
The zonal defence was the big ticket item that the Football Review Committee wanted to abolish. Let’s not lose sight of the fact this is Kerry we are talking about here, but they have shown that if you resist the temptation to hand the ball over, then you’re on the right track.
Who would be reporting for the start of pre-season?
Michael Murphy has earned the right to retire on his own terms. He had a brilliant season, one of his best, but he suffered in this final.
Missing a handy free and allowing Joe O’Connor to turn over a careless handpass to Ryan McHugh was completely uncharacteristic. Kerry repeatedly targeted him by dropping their kickouts down on top of him. But when he struggled then, his own personal cause wasn’t helped when Shaun Patton was doing the same.
Tyrone’s win in Ballybofey was also built on the same foundations.
Will Patrick McBrearty wish to come back for another season of bit-part roles? And Ryan McHugh, who has recently become a father?
What happens if all leave? As well as being McGuinness’ eyes and ears in the dressing room, it would create a huge leadership vacuum.
There are many baffling moments from the All-Ireland final. Some looked to be the result of completely overthinking. Donegal are renowned for the amount of time they spend in hotels, on weekend training camps and residentials.
Even before the season, they spent a week at a training camp in Abu Dhabi. Anyone that has been to Abu Dhabi couldn’t fail to notice the serious human rights abuses, the suppression of dissent and their abuse of migrant workers.
At the time, The 42 was the only media source to report on this. Some others followed, but surely there must be a sizeable number of people in and around Donegal GAA that are uncomfortable with the choice of venue.
Either way, all this time away has to be filled. A report coming out of the camp in their pre All-Ireland final camp at the Slieve Russell, Ballyconnell, where they trained at the grounds of the Kildallan clubs, was that they never wanted to see another PowerPoint presentation again.
Perhaps that led to them operating on Donegal time before the match. They were late coming over to be greeted by Irish President Michael D Higgins. They had to be asked twice by stadium announcer Jerry Grogan to come and join the parade. And even before the parade rounded towards Hill 16 – surely one of the most evocative sights of Gaelic Games culture – they had broken and headed off down the pitch for yet another physical primer.
All of this just looked silly though when Kerry observed all the faff that goes with the official stuff, completed a full lap behind the Artane Band, and then blew Donegal off the pitch in the first quarter.
But the one that will haunt Donegal was not the decision to leave Paudie Clifford unmarked, but to refuse to alter that approach and remain locked in to a zonal defence system.
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“Allowing their best ball player to be unmarked, is crazy,” said RTÉ analyst Lee Keegan at half-time.
For Donegal’s defence to work, it depends on the opposition feeling pressure to attack and bring the ball into positions where Donegal can turn you over and go from there.
Kerry felt absolutely no pressure here, because they had the finishers, the composure to hold onto the ball, and the nerve.
The difficulty for Donegal now is the blood in the water.
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Where to now for Donegal after a final where they were thoroughly outplayed and outthought?
WHEN THE KERRY engine was purring and all was going their way in the first half of the All-Ireland final, the RTÉ cameras could not resist lingering on Donegal manager Jim McGuinness on the touchline.
He cut a haunted figure, pale and fidgeting. His hands went to his face and he rubbed his eyes as if to try to wake up from a nightmare.
And then something that rarely is picked up by the cameras; McGuinness locked in panicked debate with selectors Colm McFadden and Neil McGee.
They could see what was happening on the pitch but were powerless to do anything about it.
There is no shame in that whatsoever.
Kerry were staffed at the back with raw-boned aggressive defenders such as Jason Foley and Mike Breen. Going forward Brian Ó Beaglaoich and Gavin White were immense, White in particular, while they also had the cool heads of Paul Murphy, Sean O’Shea and Paudie Clifford to retain the ball around the middle. Up top, you have the greatest forward to play the game.
The blend of talent and motivation – this was a Kerry team playing with more spite than is customary – was irresistible.
In order to stop them, Donegal needed big performances and their strategy needed to be bang on. Both elements were completely off on the day.
We will come back to that, but it’s not too early to ask a few questions about where Donegal go from here.
And you would have to start with the manager. When Jim McGuinness said, “It’ll be a fairly heavy post-mortem after this one,” in the post-match press briefing, he gave a clear indication that he will be there in 2026.
To these eyes, there is no doubt in that. If a position coaching soccer was available and suitable, he would be doing that.
There are life choices too at play. This is a man who is building a new family home, for a large family, in rural Donegal. For a decade he was involved in gaining coaching qualifications and pursuing a career in soccer. It takes a lot of imagination to build a case that he has a future in that sport, given that his only time as a manager was a six-month spell in lower tier American soccer that ended through poor results.
And being frank about it, slogging up and down the road on Friday nights in a team bus managing a League of Ireland team would be a step down.
It’s what happens next will be of the utmost intrigue.
Can McGuinness dedicate himself to another couple of seasons with Donegal, with the threat of diminishing returns?
If so, giving over another three or four years when success might not come as thick and fast, all the while maintaining certain standards would be of some service to Donegal.
If he does continue, there will be many nights spent with the sketchpad, rustling up ideas to break out of the tactical inflexibility that helped Kerry along.
“Kerry came hard they came hard early. They set the terms of the game. Then you’re trying to manage that and you’re trying to claw your way back in,” he said afterwards.
“We tried to respond to that, but at the end of the day, they were still keeping the scoreboard ticking over. Very quickly, you’re in a fight. Whereas we wanted to be in a position where we were going to control the game, they were going to control the game, we were going to pick them off, they were going to pick us off.”
The zonal defence was the big ticket item that the Football Review Committee wanted to abolish. Let’s not lose sight of the fact this is Kerry we are talking about here, but they have shown that if you resist the temptation to hand the ball over, then you’re on the right track.
Who would be reporting for the start of pre-season?
Michael Murphy has earned the right to retire on his own terms. He had a brilliant season, one of his best, but he suffered in this final.
Missing a handy free and allowing Joe O’Connor to turn over a careless handpass to Ryan McHugh was completely uncharacteristic. Kerry repeatedly targeted him by dropping their kickouts down on top of him. But when he struggled then, his own personal cause wasn’t helped when Shaun Patton was doing the same.
Tyrone’s win in Ballybofey was also built on the same foundations.
Will Patrick McBrearty wish to come back for another season of bit-part roles? And Ryan McHugh, who has recently become a father?
What happens if all leave? As well as being McGuinness’ eyes and ears in the dressing room, it would create a huge leadership vacuum.
There are many baffling moments from the All-Ireland final. Some looked to be the result of completely overthinking. Donegal are renowned for the amount of time they spend in hotels, on weekend training camps and residentials.
Even before the season, they spent a week at a training camp in Abu Dhabi. Anyone that has been to Abu Dhabi couldn’t fail to notice the serious human rights abuses, the suppression of dissent and their abuse of migrant workers.
At the time, The 42 was the only media source to report on this. Some others followed, but surely there must be a sizeable number of people in and around Donegal GAA that are uncomfortable with the choice of venue.
Perhaps that led to them operating on Donegal time before the match. They were late coming over to be greeted by Irish President Michael D Higgins. They had to be asked twice by stadium announcer Jerry Grogan to come and join the parade. And even before the parade rounded towards Hill 16 – surely one of the most evocative sights of Gaelic Games culture – they had broken and headed off down the pitch for yet another physical primer.
All of this just looked silly though when Kerry observed all the faff that goes with the official stuff, completed a full lap behind the Artane Band, and then blew Donegal off the pitch in the first quarter.
But the one that will haunt Donegal was not the decision to leave Paudie Clifford unmarked, but to refuse to alter that approach and remain locked in to a zonal defence system.
“Allowing their best ball player to be unmarked, is crazy,” said RTÉ analyst Lee Keegan at half-time.
For Donegal’s defence to work, it depends on the opposition feeling pressure to attack and bring the ball into positions where Donegal can turn you over and go from there.
Kerry felt absolutely no pressure here, because they had the finishers, the composure to hold onto the ball, and the nerve.
The difficulty for Donegal now is the blood in the water.
*****
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Donegal GAA going forward Soul-searching