Cassidy: Rift between McHugh and McGuinness may have led to All-Star's departure

By Peter O’ Dwyer

Former Donegal footballer Kevin Cassidy has speculated that Mark McHugh may have quit the county’s panel as a result of Rory Gallagher’s departure or due to a worsening relationship with manager Jim McGuinness.

The talented half-forward last week stepped away from the senior football panel along with Gary McFadden, Antoin McFadden and Thomas McKinley.

In the aftermath, Donegal selector Damian Diver said that McHugh made the decision as he was no longer enjoying his football.

“It has been said that [McHugh] is not enjoying his football and has no hunger or desire to play the game. I said earlier that if you are going to air your laundry in public then at least tell the truth,” Cassidy wrote in his Gaelic Life column.

“By saying that he has lost his appetite you are only adding fuel to the fire and the rumour mill will go into overdrive,” he added.

“Some of the stories flying about Donegal this week are not fair on the player or the team management and are becoming a major distraction for all involved. I feel the departure of Rory Gallagher has had a lingering effect on the squad.

“Rory would have been popular within the squad and himself and Mark [McHugh] would have been especially close. And if relations between Jim McGuinness and Mark have drifted then this could well be a likely cause.”

McGuinness announced last September that Gallagher – his right-hand man since 2011 – would not be returning for the 2014 season as he looked to make changes to the coaching set-up.

Cassidy said that if the pair have fallen out McGuinness should be doing all in his power to settle their differences as McHugh is too important to the Donegal style of play.

He also stated his belief that Donegal did not currently have the players to either replace the 2012 All-Star, or to develop a new style of play without him.

“Whatever has happened Donegal cannot afford to lose players like McHugh he is too important to the way Donegal play… The game plan nearly hinged on how he played so to take him out of the equation leaves a massive gap to fill. I don’t think Donegal have the players to fill that gap, nor do I think that they have the players to develop a new system,” he wrote.

“I feel that Jim should be doing all he can to persuade Mark to stay. If there are issues then be the bigger man for the good of the team and try sorting them out,” he added.

The fallout from the four squad members’ departures is nothing new to Donegal, according to Cassidy, as a county that has always struggled to keep their internal affairs from the general public.

To illustrate his point that Donegal “always had difficulty keeping everything in house”, he referred to an anecdote former Monaghan manager Banty McEnaney recently told.

“He was Monaghan manager and we were playing them in the championship, he put his training on an hour later than ours knowing that our team and tactics would be leaked and he could pick his team accordingly,” the two-time All-Star wrote.

Cassidy was dropped from the Donegal panel in 2011 following his part in a book about the 2010 Ulster SFC.