"Galway didn't deliver when the pressure came on. Blaming the manager is a pathetic cop-out."

Ger Loughnane pulls no punches.

"If the players are strong enough on it, it's a difficult one for him. If you plough on with that hanging over you, bar you win every game between now and next September, it's going to be just a case of hanging there."

All-Ireland winning Galway captain Conor Hayes believes Anthony Cunningham is on thin ice.

"For me it's all about creating that high performance environment and to instill a culture of wanting to win with Kildare as opposed to just wanting to play for Kildare."

New Kildare manager Cian O'Neill sets out his stall for his three years at the helm of the Lilywhites.

"By resigning we wish to remove any obstacle that the players might perceive as preventing them from winning the All-Ireland."

Mayo are on the lookout for a new manager following the resignations of Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes.

"It wasn't a pretty first half but it was never going to be. But we got over the line. Se's goal was a massive score, we were going to need that to win the game."

Slaughtneil assistant manager John Joe Kearney pinpointed Se McGuigan's 40th minute goal as the pivotal moment in the Derry SFC final.

"It is a bit more special because of what happened last year. We had that with us all year, and it was about more than the winning of a cup or a medal."

The memory of their late team-mate Eamon Carroll, whose anniversary Mass was celebrated seven days earlier, inspired St Patrick's to Louth SFC success according to manager Jim Holland.

"I'm thrilled to reach another county final. You look at the Kilkennys of the intercounty world or here in Cork when Blackrock, Newtownshandrum and Erin's Own were reaching finals consistently since around 2000. This is where we want to be."

Sarsfields manager Pat Ryan is looking forward to renewing acquaintances with Glen Rovers in next Sunday's Cork SHC final.

"We were knocked out at this stage last year. We have been waiting for this round for the last 19 weeks. When you are playing Stacks it is a kind of bigger game again. We are just very glad to be back in the quarter-finals."

Dr Crokes manager Martin Byrnes had former Kerry star Eoin Brosnan to thank for his match winning point against Austin Stacks yesterday.

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