Jim McGuinness: 'We, the management and the players, had nothing to do with the statement'

The 42

13 hours ago

JIM MCGUINNESS SAYS he, his management team and players were unaware of the Donegal GAA statement issued this week condemning the six-day turnaround before their All-Ireland quarter-final against Monaghan.
Donegal won today's clash 1-26 to 1-20. They trailed by seven points at half time, 1-15 to 0-11, but booked their place in the semi-finals after a dominant second-half showing.
On Monday, Donegal GAA expressed their disappointment that a request to have the game arranged for Sunday, rather than Saturday, was denied.
As his post-match press conference came to an end this evening, McGuinness said:
'I just want to say one thing, there was a statement put out during the week. We, the management and the players, had nothing to do with the statement.
'We didn't know the statement was going to be put out. There was an awful lot of noise, an awful lot of articles and an awful lot of stories about that statement, that we weren't happy and we were disappointed and annoyed.
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'The management and the players knew that once we got beaten against Tyrone, that we were going to be facing into three games in three weeks, and that that was the way it is.
'The statement was released by the county board, on the back I think of people in Donegal and clubs in Donegal not being happy. But as a management team, we were okay with the game.'
The 2012 All-Ireland winning boss continued: 'From my own point of view, you should never, ever make an excuse for a game before a game is played. I have never done that in my life and so I want to make sure that distance is there, because it's disrespectful to Monaghan.
'If we got beaten today and the first half followed through into the second half, people would say, 'Sure he was saying that during the week'. We had nothing to do with it. Nor did we know it was going to be put out into the ether until I read it myself on the phone.
'That's very important from a management point of view and the players point of view: we were happy to be here today because we got beaten against Tyrone and it was always going to be that way. It was always going to be three games in three weekends and suck it up and let's get on with it.'
While Man of the Match Shane O'Donnell revealed McGuinness shared 'harsh words' in the dressing room after a 'big wake-up call,' the manager insisted the key to victory was changing nothing.
They outscored the Farney county 1-15 to 0-5 in the second half, Michael Langan with the goal, and 0-11 to 0-0 from the 48th to 68th minutes.
Monaghan's Kieran Duffy and Michael Murphy of Donegal. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
'I would imagine from a Monaghan point of view, with the two-pointer they kicked just before the break, they'd be like, 'Right, this is it, we have the magic formula,'' said McGuinness.
'We didn't change anything, to be honest, because we had the work done, we had the plan going into the game done. We just doubled down on that. We didn't change any personnel, we just trusted the fellas to get it right themselves.
'Then it's over to the players. It's a moment then where you've gotta say, 'Listen, we're in a hole here and only the players can get themselves out of that hole'.
'So very, very happy they responded the way they did, and very happy with the bench as well. That was very important as well, everyone that came on made a massive contribution.'
McGuinness hailed the character of his players as they await their semi-final opponents and face into a week off.
'They're great lads and they're great football players, and they've put a lot into it. You don't want to just limp out of an All-Ireland quarter-final, particularly when you're Ulster champions, and it's very important coming down and representing the province from that point of view.
'We wanted to step up, that's really the bottom line. We wanted to step up and show what we are capable of doing, and the manner of it is very encouraging.'