Philly McMahon questions Donegal’s intentions ahead of Mayo clash

Former Dublin footballer and All-Ireland winner Philly McMahon has questioned Donegal’s approach to the National League ahead of their final game against Mayo this weekend, suggesting their selection choices and energy levels indicate a team uncertain about whether they truly want to reach a league final. 

Speaking about their performance in last week’s defeat to Tyrone, McMahon said Donegal looked "flat" and lacked intensity, despite fielding a side with several changes. 

The former Dublin defender understands Jim McGuinness’s long-term approach but believes Donegal’s rotation policy carries risks. 

"Ulster football is another level, and for you to win an Ulster championship, it’s massive because you’re playing with teams that are at the top table," he said.  

"Donegal are at the stage where they can progress from last year and are probably disappointed that they didn’t progress further last year. In Ulster, they have to come up against the likes of Tyrone, Armagh, and Derry, so I understand what McGuinness is saying, but what he says has an impact on the energy of the group." 

McMahon noted that Dublin, during their dominance, often rotated in the league but never dropped their standards and was particularly concerned that Donegal’s fringe players failed to step up against Tyrone. 

"You saw last weekend; their energy was down. Now we used to do the same in Dublin where if we were plain sailing in the league with two games to go, fringe players would get a run, but you would still hope that you have strength in your squad to go on and win those games. That’s your standard setter to potentially win an All-Ireland. 

"I was worried when I saw Donegal last weekend, even though they still had a strong squad, their energy looked down, they looked flat, and I just thought if McGuinness was going to make that amount of changes, then those players would be so hungry that they’d step up and win that game." 

And it’s that lack of intensity, he believes, that can be dangerous, so close to the championship. 

"Fringe players don’t go on the field and not want to win a game, and maybe Tyrone sniffed at that bit of complacency a bit and felt Donegal didn’t really want to win that game with 11 changes." 

That brings us to this weekend and the real question — what does Donegal do now? They’ve already rotated heavily against Tyrone, so does McGuinness stick or twist against Mayo with a league final potentially looming? 

"What they do this weekend is the big one because they’ve now already played the fringe players. Do they do that this weekend again? Because that Derry game in the championship is going to be massive." 

The elephant in the room is whether Donegal actually wants to reach a league final. McMahon finds it hard to believe that any team would actively want to avoid winning. 

"I just think it’s extremely hard for any player at this level to go onto a pitch and think you’re going to lose,” he said.  

“If McGuinness’s intention is not to get to a league final, well then you have to lose. How do you do that? You play a second-tier team. And if you are one of those players, then your squad should be strong enough to compete for a starting jersey. 

"It’s a strange situation, I get it, but how can you control losing a game? There were times when I played for Dublin when the squad was so strong that the lads on the fringes actually stepped up even further in these situations. It’s the same team, playing the same system." 

Another debate has surrounded Donegal’s fitness levels, with some attributing their underwhelming performance against Galway to a heavy training schedule. McMahon dismissed that idea. 

"There’s a lot of nonsense about physical preparation and peaking but the truth is, for all the science involved now, it remains an inexact one. There was a lot of speculation that Donegal’s performance in Salthill against Galway was a result of heavy training the week of the match,” said the two-time All-Star.  

“Now I can’t say for certain that wasn’t the case, but I can say that it would be crazy to do that." 

McMahon believes overloading players in training so close to key fixtures is counterproductive. 

"It’s a dangerous game to play if you’re trying to fatigue your team. If you’re a manager of a team, your job is to facilitate the group to get the best out of them. In the league, most of the teams are so good that the big prize for them is an All-Ireland, so what you’re trying to do is use the league to drive standards and see how your systems work. 

“Let's say you go out and play a game after dogging the team and you say you won’t look at that performance, but you only have a short number of games to understand what works and what doesn’t work particularly for this year because every year it’s different. What worked last year might not work this year. 

“If someone says that Donegal were dogged the week of the Galway game, I think that’s silly. What do you get out of dogging a team so they can then go out and get bashed that weekend? What’s the benefit? Not to get to a league final? Why would you do that? 

“The risk is too high, and you want to keep your squad strong and avoid injuries. The stronger your squad is, the performance levels will drive up.”