Latest news with #HellForLeather
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Jim McGuinness keen to deliver again for Donegal's team of us
On a recent edition of Hell for Leather, the RTÉ series chronicling the history and nature of Gaelic football, Jim McGuinness spoke about the time he took the Donegal team to the Downings Bay Hotel during his first spell in charge. It was a stormy day and he told his players: "This is Donegal, this is us. Those houses on the hill, they are the people of Donegal and they are a waiting on a team. That team is going to be us and we are going to win the All-Ireland." And win the All-Ireland they did in 2012, in McGuinness's second year at the helm. Jimmy was winning matches and his only defeat before that day of triumph came in the previous year's semi-final against Dublin. A defining game it was and one that did not please the purists, with Pat Spillane on The Sunday Game couch, saying: "Donegal should be tried for crimes against Gaelic football" and that Dublin's win was "a victory for Gaelic football". He wasn't finished there, signing off with: "Gaelic football as Donegal wanted to reduce it to would degenerate it into a shambles". Spillane would later do a U-turn of sorts and wrote in his Sunday World column: "McGuinness did a damn good job with Donegal this year". The Kerry legend could not resist a dig, however, adding that despite the manager's new-found methods his side did not win the All-Ireland. 'The system', as defined by McGuinness was in its earlier stage of development. It was honed that bit more, a bit more finesse added in the run-up to Donegal winning Sam for a second time. So 'the system', a way of setting up that protected Donegal defensively and forced opposition into low-percentage shots, entered the GAA lexicon. Monaghan v Donegal highlights In this new footballing world with two-pointers on offer, it requires a great sense of discipline to ensure 'the system' remains in place. Monaghan kicked four twos in the opening half of their quarter-final against McGuinness's men. Seven points down at the break, time to be worried? No, it would seem, with the manager backing the Donegal players to "get themselves out of that hole". That second period saw Monaghan's two-point efficiency wane and the opposition were making greater hay at the other end. Donegal's geographical location leaves it open to Atlantic depressions and the high winds that result. "The wind is not conducive to kicking the ball so you have to carry the ball to keep hold of possession," Michael Murphy explained on Hell For Leather. "Kick passes and fist passes aren't over long distances," he added. A case then of McGuinness using the elements to his advantage, with Donegal in full flight a combination of a quick, direct transfer of the ball by hand before a meaningful delivery by foot. The latter was exemplified by that pinpoint kick pass to Murphy from Karl Lacey that resulted in Donegal's opening goal in the 2012 final. The cult of the manager did not gain prominence in the GAA until the 1970s. The arrival of Kevin Heffernan and Mick O'Dwyer added immeasurably to the Dublin-Kerry rivalry. The two men were not on speaking terms. Eugene McGee, Billy Morgan and Seán Boylan were others who possessed a certain aura. Jim McGuinness, by way of his presence and force of personality, ensured that he was successful right from the start of his managerial career. He guided Donegal to an All-Ireland U-21 final before he took a over a senior squad that were at a low ebb. His second coming again followed a fallow period for the county, with Paddy Carr stepping down as boss just months into his reign and much disgruntlement around the running of underage academies. McGuinness, armed with a UEFA Pro Licence, did try his hand at soccer coaching in China and the USA, but with little success. His name was out there with regard to coaching roles in the League of Ireland. Nothing materialised, however. Hard to transfer your know-how from one code to another in practice, it would seem. That said, McGuinness, as an inspirational leader of others, was noted by the former Cork City women's manager Danny Murphy, when the Donegal native was asked to put on a training session at an FAI coaching conference. "Over the years I've worked or observed some great coaches and managers but only a few possessed an aura. Jim was one of those," said Murphy. "His words capture your attention, straight off. Everything about him is impressive. Like, there is his stature. I'm not a tall man. He is. When I stood next to him, it was like Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Twins. "So, people literally look up to him. He delivers instructions on a training field and all eyes are on him. "Force of personality is a big thing in sport. You have to lead 30 to 40 people depending on the size of your club. You don't do that through a textbook. You do it by interaction, by connecting with people. Straight away, within seconds of listening to him, my reservations went. "I wasn't thinking 'right this is a newbie to our sport'. I was listening to the level of detail he was giving the players, the precise nature of the instructions. I remember it as if it was yesterday, that's how taken in by it, I was." And now McGuinness's ability to lead men, to leave them hanging on his very word, will be put to the test once again. One goal. Delivering another All-Ireland for Donegal. Simple as that. Michael Murphy was brought back for no other reason. Meath are the opposition in Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final. Jim and Co will have studied the Royals. They will take nothing for granted against a side who have taken a few scalps so far. Donegal's road so far has been long and winding since they accounted for Derry in their Ulster opener. McGuinness has complained about the schedule, having to play Mayo in Roscommon, and six-day turnarounds. But his side are now where they want to be. They've have had two weeks to prepare for Meath. Be prepared for the scorching sun at Croke Park. Donegal will be ready for the heat of battle, hoping to win again for the people in those houses in Downings and the countless more who follow the green and gold.
The 42
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The 42
Mayo, God help them! They'll never learn
BEFORE WE GET straight into the events of Wednesday night, let's rewind a little to a bit more Mayo history. Even allowing that this is Mayo, and Gaelic football life seems a carousel of self-pity lasting 70-odd years, the All-Ireland final defeat to Tyrone in 2021 has been identified as The Day The Music Died. While this county have long been the messy bitch and feckless bastard who deal with their issues by drawing attention upon themselves, one person perfectly placed everything into perspective. It had to fall to Kevin McStay, writing in the Irish Times, to decipher the black box recorder. He brought us to a time when Cathal McShane shanked a free wide on 50 minutes, with a total of 27 minutes left to the finish. 'Mayo missed a penalty, kicked eight further wides, two others shot into the goalkeeper's hands, had crazy turnovers and fell into a pattern of awful decision making,' he wrote. He stopped short of calling it a meltdown, but then he launched a stern defence of the Mayo management and players, in particular Aidan O'Shea. He looked deep into the crevices and shouted down wells, wondering how the county have never been able to shape or fashion a production line of classy inside forwards. And then he pointed to the future. Things will change. Nothing stays the same. On Monday night, in the latest episode of Hell For Leather, RTÉ's glossy production on Gaelic football, there he was again talking about Mayo's failure in the 1989 All-Ireland final and the emotion behind it all as Dermot Flanagan choked up and Willie Joe Padden 'ah shucked'. Advertisement Kevin McStay playing for Mayo, 1989. James Meehan / INPHO James Meehan / INPHO / INPHO He then asked what people wanted: that Mayo should just go away and never play football again? That they wouldn't challenge again? This is the thing about McStay and Mayo. Perhaps it was the logical Army man in him, more likely it was a gift granted to him by his exile in Roscommon town; he never bought into the hysterics around Mayo football. Eventually, the hysterics came for him. We will come back to that in a minute. Just because he didn't join in the mass weeping didn't mean he didn't care. There is a tale that he shared during his years writing a column with The Mayo News. One time he was on a transatlantic flight to America and soon realised he was sitting close by another Mayo football fanatic. Within minutes, they were in the aisle and budging over occasionally for the 'scuse mes' on the way to the toilet. They discussed Mayo football, the characters involved, the structures and supports, analysed every player, got into the weeds, dived deep, all those things. Right up to the point when the captain of the plane announced that all passengers should immediately return to their seats to strap in for the descent to the airport. They had spent the entire flight talking football and barely felt the time go by. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO Back to the hysterics. On Wednesday night, the Mayo county board issued a statement. In three different fonts, sizes and colours, you were informed before you read the first paragraph that the 'Mayo Senior Football Management are Relieved from their Roles'. It then went on to detail how the county management meeting was held in Castlebar and how the decision was made 'to relieve Kevin McStay and his management team from their roles with the Mayo Senior football team' – and this is where it goes from over-zealous to just spiteful – 'with immediate effect'. A cursory line or two of thanks, and no mention of his recent health issues which flared up while on Mayo duty and forced him to withdraw ahead of the visit to Tyrone in the group stages. Words are everything. The Mayo county board either sought to use them to hurt, or to show someone who's boss. Either way, they have come out of it looking somewhere on a scale of crass to insensitive. Dunno if you've heard, but Mayo have been in the news a bit recently. It might have done no harm to make sure their press release was gold-standard. The GAA is an association that regularly brings in Public Relations Officers of each county for peer group meetings to help drive standards and learn from each other. Guess this won't be making any future presentation. There is no way McStay and his set-up wanted to quit as Mayo management, even allowing for his health scare in the middle of the championship. And sure, Mayo are entitled to have whoever they want in charge of them. They could point to results that they could fashion into a narrative of diminishing returns. But a last-play defeat in a Connacht final? Getting to two league finals and winning one? Was it that bad? Was it really? What's noticeable since the announcement is just how former Mayo players such as Lee Keegan and members of the press have reacted. You won't get far in the intercounty world if you are a sweetheart all the time, but there was something old-school about McStay that a lot of people in the media respected. In this game, you have a lot of face-to-face time with managers. Some are clearly contemptuous that they have to go through with it, their Main Character Energy affronted. Others are fake-humble bullshit artists with false charms and automatic laughs, too enthusiastic and without feeling. A great deal of them, still, are fundamentally decent and live in the real world. McStay is one. Related Reads 'I don't think there's someone in Croke Park trying to take Donegal down' How will eliminated teams reflect on 2025 Sam Maguire exit? Perhaps, as reported in The Connacht Telegraph, McStay and his management team did not want to shuffle off nicely and make life nice and handy for the Mayo county board. More power to them. But they were still owed more respect from their own county. * Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
The Irish Sun
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
GAA fans ‘loved seeing and hearing' the late Micheal O Muircheartaigh as he features in RTE documentary Hell for Leather
GAA documentary series 'Hell for Leather' premiered last night on RTE and featured huge GAA stars. The documentary, which can be streamed on the Advertisement 2 The GAA community has truly missed the Kerryman and his iconic commentary 2 There was delight throughout the country as Ó Muircheartaigh took to our screens again Credit: RTE ONE Fans were particularly delighted to see the great Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh who The legendary commentator shared his insight into the origins of the sport of Gaelic Football in the first episode of the documentary series. He explained what Caid was in the documentary which is believed to be the building blocks of Gaelic football. He said: "Kerry had a game of it's own going way back. This is hundreds of years ago. All you needed was a Caid, a pig's bladder. Advertisement Read more on GAA "There was no control of the numbers that would be involved. "Played on open territories. Parishes would meet in the centre, and then the game would start "It was a hard game, there was no real strict rules." Fans took to social media to praise the first episode of the documentary series. Advertisement Most read in GAA Football Exclusive One fan said: "Loved seeing and listening to Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh once more on this Hell For Leather documentary" Former Down and Kilcoo captain Darragh O'Hanlon simply put: "Hell for Leather what a show." Brendan Cummins defends time-keeping in Munster GAA hurling final between Cork and Limerick Sports journalist Daniel Hussey said: "Excellent first episode of Hell For Leather. Well worth a watch back on RTÉ Player." The documentary series took seven years to reach the screens as it began production as the natural successor to hurling series The Game in 2018. Advertisement The series was unfortunately delayed due to Covid, an All-Ireland final played during a lockdown and the consequences for sport, film-making and life in general during that time. The project was part funded by Coimisiún na Meán, the Department of Finance, the Gaelic Athletic Association and sponsors Collen. The series featured stars such as Brian Fenton, Colm Cooper, David Clifford and Cora Staunton. But fans were most excited to hear legend of the game Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh. The Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh Cup was unveiled Advertisement The Cup is to be given to the winners of the Allianz Football League Division 1 Final. It was unveiled in the build up to the Fittingly, Kerry were crowned champions and captain Gavin White was the first to lift the Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh Cup at Croke Park.
