McShea Say: Move heaven and earth to get McGuinness and Lacey back involved 

The two things I want to see happening in Donegal football as soon as possible are the appointment of our new inter county manager and a coach, followed very quickly by getting Karl Lacey back at the helm of our Academy. 

There is the usual speculation and rumour about who the committee of five will appoint. But there is a genuine desire by all football followers to see Jim McGuinness once again take up those reins.  

However, Lacey simply must also be brought back no matter what issues need to be resolved to make this happen. 

The league final at the weekend saw Naomh Conaill beat St. Eunan’s by one point, 0-9 to 1-5, in what was a very poor match between two understrength sides. 

There was a very small attendance at this game, and I believe the new fixture calendar, which was to streamline club football, simply has not worked. 

While it is naive to expect to see any change from Croke Park, playing the All Ireland finals in September once more would be a step in the right direction. 

The void of no inter-county games for almost six months, is doing nothing to promote our games and it could well see some top players decide to become involved in other sporting disciplines. 

Football is just crying out for rule changes, and looking at last week’s football final Stephen Cluxton, arguably football’s best ever goalkeeper, only left his goal to kick two excellent points from dead balls early in the match. 

The first half of this final was very poor and it was difficult to watch Kerry players consistently kick the ball back to their keeper. It made for dreadful entertainment and did not do anything to help Kerry win this final. 

The sooner the backpass to the goalkeeper is banned the better. There is no skill involved in this lateral football and with most clubs persisting in this negative play, attendances will continue to dwindle until the game is made more attractive. 

It is also past time to forget about penalties being used to decide vital championship games. This system should never have been introduced - it is a farce and should be dispensed with before a ball is kicked in next year’s championship. 

Even in normal match conditions, the extreme tension that accompanies the taking of a penalty in Gaelic football has to do with the fact that missing the kick doesn’t just deny you three points. A penalty miss is quantified negatively. 

Sure, the goal chance has been missed but the opposition has also received a massive unearned boost. A missed penalty can seem to cost a team six points. A good example of this is the penalty Kevin McCabe put over the bar for Tyrone in the 1986 final against Kerry. 

Tyrone were six points in front at that time and it was universally acknowledged that they would have won that final if they had not been awarded that penalty. A missed penalty is one of the best weapons devised to knock the stuffing out of a team, especially if the opposition rub it in by getting a score of their own soon after.

Club odds 

As we are on the cusp of the club championship, a look at the odds this year reads very similar to last year’s figures. 

Despite their league final defeat, St. Eunan’s are once again favourites to win the Dr. Maguire Cup at 15/8 followed by Naomh Conaill at 5/2.

Next comes Kilcar at 3/1, followed by Gaoth Dobhair at 5/1. Glenswilly are available at 12/1 followed by Aodh Ruah and St. Michael’s at 20/1. 

It does seem that both Naomh Conaill and St Eunan’s are ahead of the posse at this stage, but in the hope that we have a new county management in place very soon, some players with potential to do a job in the county jersey are urgently required. 

There must be some promising young players in the county, but the distance between promise and fulfilment is vast. Football ability can be assessed, but character is the x-factor.

Snub

You can never be sure how potential brilliance will respond when it is faced by the rigours of inter county football. Picking teams is always subjective but looking at the Irish News Ulster Team of the Championship. 

I found it difficult to understand why Oisin Gallen did not feature on that selection. Oisin is undoubtedly one of the best six forwards in the province and his display against Ulster champions Derry was top class.

I didn’t see a better performance by any forward in Ulster this year. It was disappointing to note that no Donegal player gained selection, but despite the well documented difficulties this year there is a positive sense of anticipation regarding the future of our county team.

At the weekend, a National paper documented the eight teams that they feel will be the biggest threat to the Dublin/Kerry dominance next year. 

Donegal were not seen as a threat but I would expect that Donegal should not be far away from ruffling a few feathers in 2024 if the right man is at the helm.

I watched Jamie Brennan playing across the half back line for his club Bundoran recently and he was excellent in his new position. He was like a player transformed, and if he brings this form to the county side, he will be a real positive to the team. 

Manager James Keaney was very perceptive in seeing Jamie’s ability to excel in his new location.