The war of words between James Horan and Bernard Flynn has escalated with the latter calling the former Mayo manager a 'sad man'.

The two-time All-Ireland winning Meath corner-forward hit back at Horan who labelled him a "tit and an eejit" in the wake of his observations on Aidan O'Shea and Mayo following a recent challenge match with the Royal County.

"To be referred to on a radio show and newspaper column as a "tit and an eejit" by former Mayo manager James Horan for what I believed was an honest observation is petty," Flynn writes in The Irish Daily Mirror.

"My observation of what I saw might have been close to the bone for some Mayo people but not others.

"It's perhaps indicative of the man's own short comings and ultimate failure to get a very good Mayo team across the line when they should have won at least one All-Ireland during his four year tenure.

"The same James Horan felt it appropriate when it suited him to invite this said "tit and eejit" to a sports seminar he was organising when he was struggling to get bums on seats.

"Anyone who knows me well knows I'm neither of the above but for a former inter-county manager to call a former player a tit is quite pathetic. Sad man.

"The personal abuse on social media doesn't bother me. It goes with the territory. It's not something I would associate with the many decent people from Mayo I know."

Flynn added: "Can you imagine past managers like Sean Boylan, Joe Kernan, Jack O'Connor, Mick O'Dwyer and John O'Mahony but to name a few getting embroiled to this extent because someone said something about one of his past players? It just wouldn't happen.

"Reggie Corrigan summed up my point superbly on Saturday morning when he described the magnificent Brian O'Driscoll - the most sought after man in this country for selfies - who he played with for years and what he done in these situations.

"Reggie described it as it was what O'Driscoll did in the exact same situation. He said that O'Driscoll's mantra was team and team duties always came first and foremost and selfies and pictures when those team duties were done came second.

"Does this also make Reggie Corrigan a "tit and an eejit"?

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