“Your county needs you.”
Darran O’Sullivan goes full Uncle Sam on the GAA Hour this week as he starts a rallying cry for Jim McGuinness to return to the Donegal hot seat.
Paddy Carr has resigned as manager, the county board is in disarray trying to solve issues with the academy, and just to put the icing on the cake, the senior team have been relegated from Division One.
Derry’s Paddy Bradley and Armagh’s Aidan O’Rourke took over the county for their last game, but it’s unsure whether they will stick around or not.
McGuinness, who lead Donegal to an All-Ireland title in 2012, said just last week that he offered his services at the beginning of the season but never heard back from the county board.
On the latest episode of the GAA Hour, O’Sullivan thinks that the former manager should offer those services once more.
“If I’m O’Rourke or Bradley I’m getting out of dodge. They’re going to be thrown under the bus – are they going to get a kick out of the lads? It’s hard to see that they would.
“If it was there own county I might say stick around, but no, if I’m them, I’m getting out of dodge, it’s too messy from the top down and there’s nothing positive there.
“A week or two ago Jim McGuinness came out and said he offered his services and he didn’t hear back. Well, I would be saying to offer him now because they need somebody now and there’s very few who would get a kick like him.
“There’s no point in coming out with these statements, ‘oh I offered my services’ – he was kicking them when they were down, the county board.
“It was a nice chance to get a dig in – I offered and they never got back to me – well, if I’m the county board, the players need somebody now, they need someone who will give them a kick up the hole, and I think he would get a reaction.
“Even Michael Murphy might go in as a selector, I don’t know, he might stay away for a year or two. They need somebody where they wouldn’t be able to blame anyone.
“I think the players need somebody they would be able to get a kick from.
“The likes of Paddy Bradley and O’Rourke, I would be going ‘it’s not worth the stress, it’s not worth it’ and you would get out of dodge.
“Then you put the emphasis on the Donegal people who want to get the team back to where they are, and I was saying – Jim, you came out two weeks ago with a big statement, your county needs you.”
Related links:
- Darran O’Sullivan thinks Stephen Cluxton’s Dublin return will be’sideshow’
- Kevin Cassidy throws down the gauntlet to Jim McGuinness on Donegal return
- Donegal club claims they couldn’t have won county championship without Jim McGuinness
