McGuinness explains league approach

Jim McGuinness played down the importance of the Allianz League all spring but has admitted he was “disappointed” with Donegal’s relegation on the final day of the season.

It has been no secret in recent times just how much emphasis McGuinness puts on the championship compared to the league.

The Ulster and All-Ireland champions open their title defences with a meeting with Tyrone in Ballybofey on May 26.

McGuinness was recalling the last 12 months when giving his annual report to county committee in Ballybofey on Tuesday.

“After winning the All-Ireland last year we did make a management decision not to overcook the players,” McGuinness said of Donegal’s approach to the league.

Donegal were relegated from Division One when Dublin’s Paul Mannion kicked an equalising point in Ballybofey last month.

“We didn’t push them hard in pre-season and it’s been well-documented we train at a very high intensity level for championship football,” McGuinness said of their early 2013 work.

“I don’t believe it’s sustainable — the level we worked at over the summer — to be used over a year.

“So, that was the reason we took the decision we did. We didn’t want to burn them out and we did the exact same thing last year.

“We trained one night a week for the last five of six weeks of the league with the aim to have them very fresh for the championship. That approach served us very well before.

“We had to win our last game again but unfortunately we were caught in the last minute by an equalising point. We were very disappointed we didn’t stay in the division as it was something we wanted to do.

“We didn’t, though, approach the league with a win-at-all-costs attitude. That’s the attitude best served with these group of playing come summer. We can keep it for the championship. The preparations are going well.”

McGuinness also admitted Donegal’s All-Ireland quarter-final win over Kerry last August was the first time they believed they could win the All-Ireland title.

“When we had come through that, as a group it was the first time we believed we could win the All-Ireland,” McGuinness said.

Donegal followed that up with arguably their best performance of the campaign — a 0-16 to 1-11 win over Cork at Croke Park.

McGuinness added: “There was a lot of momentum in the county and the team played very well against Cork. We showed our true potential for the first time in 2012.”

Donegal won the All-Ireland final with a 2-11 to 0-13 win over Mayo in September when early goals from Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden set McGuinness’s team on their way.

“That [the Cork win] took us to the All-Ireland final and there’s not much more to say about that weekend,” McGuinness said of the All-Ireland final win. “From a personal point of view, it was fantastic to be involved with it, to be with the players and be part of what was essentially Donegal GAA history. It was unbelievable to bring a second All-Ireland to the county.”