John McIntyre reckons Ger Loughnane's attack on the Galway hurlers was over the top.

Loughnane labelled the Tribesmen as 'gutless' after their recent Leinster SHC final defeat to Kilkenny, something which McIntyre - who succeeded the outspoken Clare man as Galway manager in late 2008 - feels was totally unwarranted.

"Loughnane was a great manager and Clare would never have won two All-Irelands without him, but he - and another pundit Joe Brolly - seem to forget these players are amateurs and are entitled to more respect," McIntyre wrote in the Connacht Tribune ahead of tomorrow's All-Ireland SHC quarter-final between Galway and Clare.

"It's no wonder Davy Fitzgerald has tried to distance himself from his former manager's low opinions of Galway. In one way, this sulphurous background adds to the build-up to the quarter-final. I just hope Galway bring their game face, refused to take a backwards step and perform as though their lives depend on it."

He added: "Considering that Loughnane was Galway boss for two years in 2007 and '08 and worked with a few of the longer serving players on the current panel during that tenure, his outburst is even more incendiary. It's like as though he's still holding a grudge from those days over things not working out after his high-profile appointment.

"Locals thought Loughnane was going to be the Messiah, but his two championship campaigns ended with a 10-point quarter-final defeat to Kilkenny and a somewhat humiliating loss to 14-man Cork respectively."

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