“Have a bit of respect for your teammates” – Aaron Kernan questions the manner of Stephen Cluxton’s absence

"If you're leaving, then leave so it's not hanging over the team all year."

A lot has been said about where Dublin went wrong against Mayo on the pitch, but really there were chinks in the armour from the start of this season. Players retiring created a dent, followed by players opting out for the season which left a bigger dent, but the biggest hit of all was the bizarre circumstances in which Stephen Cluxton has appeared to have left Dublin. By refusing to talk to anyone or admit to the media that he had retired, a cloud was hung over the Dublin squad, their talismanic leader of the last two decades had just appeared to vanish. Dessie Farrell had enough hurdles to deal with when taking over this team, but by the goalkeeper refusing to clarify whether he had retired or not, seemed like an extra and unnecessary strain on the management. Speaking on the GAA Hour, former Armagh star Aaron Kernan, believes that the whole situation was handled in the wrong way.

"If you go back to the Cluxton thing, I don't know if it was just handled poorly in terms of the wording of that Wexford game or whatever. "For me, if I look back, it was just very disappointing. If Stephen had an issue with the COVID breach, fair enough, you just say it and you sort it out.

"Or if you're leaving, then leave, so it's not hanging over the team all year, or making your new management, let's be realistic, look foolish.

"Have a bit of respect for him or your teammates, and just cut loose, and say 'that's it, I've retired', and put an end to it.

"But it dragged on, then Eric Lowndes left, then Paul Mannion wasn't coming back, then there were other retirements where you could say they were people who were always going to retire.

"There was just a few bits and pieces that you never seen with Dublin, that you absolutely never seen with Jim Gavin's era, or Pat Gilroy for that matter beforehand.

"We have just seen Dublin for 10 or 12 years now, where the team has come absolutely first, and any issues have been absolutely nailed straight away. "There was just an awful lot of stuff that seemed to be flying around this year, that was very unusual for them."