Jim McGuinness has clarified that it wasn't his decision to put the Donegal club championships on hold until after the county's involvement in the All-Ireland championship ended.

The Donegal manager acknowledges, however, the decision has played a key part in the county's run to their second All-Ireland final in three years.

"Without a shadow of a doubt," he is quoted in the Irish Times.

"And our clubs made the decision to postpone the club championship, not Jim McGuinness. I proposed two rounds of the championship early in the season - one at the end of April and one at the beginning of May. And the clubs said: 'That's too early, Jim, it's not going to work . . . we propose putting it off.' And that decision has brought us to the All-Ireland final."

McGuinness noted how injuries sustained in club games had undermined Donegal's All-Ireland challenge last year.

"We had picked up injuries the night previous," he recalled of one particular training session last year.

"This was two weeks out from the Ulster final, or a week out, I'm not sure now . . . and half of our players had been knocked out of the club championship, heads were down, we had the injuries then that had to be dealt with.

"And then on top of that we had fisticuffs in the Michael's/ Glenswilly (game), I think it might have been. And county players going toe-to-toe with each other. And that's the same boys then that are going in to battle with each other two weeks later.

"So you'd all these negative dynamics . . . you're managing a situation, not a team. The clubs have given us the opportunity to manage the team this year and prepare as best we can."

Tweet

Most Read Stories