Jim McGuinness: 'I was willing to help. The door was closed on me'

HELP OFFERED: Jim McGuinness. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

Former Donegal All-Ireland winning manager Jim McGuinness has confirmed he was part of a potential new Donegal management team involving Rory Kavanagh and Karl Lacey.

Additionally, when Kavanagh pulled out of the race McGuinness said he was willing to assist whoever took over, but the county board never called him back.

Speaking on the Irish Examiner’s Gaelic football podcast, the 2012 Sam Maguire winner explained he had also agreed to help out with the academy U14s and Michael Murphy was also on board before Karl Lacey stepped down from his position as Donegal GAA's Head of Academy Development. McGuinness was not a in a position to take the manager role but was open to joining a ticket.

“I’ve been involved at soccer at a high level for a number of years. I just finished my pro licence. Obviously, the Donegal job came up in the summer. There was a lot of people looking for me to get involved behind the scenes, wondering would I take something on or do something. When that happens, it is difficult. Obviously, your heart and soul is where you are from.” 

McGuinness has been linked to various managerial jobs in recent years in Gaelic football and the League of Ireland. At one point in the search for Declan Bonner’s replacement, St Eunan’s manager Rory Kavanagh was the favourite with Karl Lacey reportedly as coach. It later emerged that he removed himself from the running.

“It was very difficult for me not to take it,” said McGuinness. “They did call me and spoke to me and asked me, I explained that. I also explained I wasn’t going away in the summer. We had come home; we made that decision as a family. I knew I would be here until the summer at least. I said I was available to do something with the team or help with the team. Rory and Karl were considering that situation, I was going to go along with them.

“Rory and Karl, for want of a better word, are your babies. They are guys you coached. I wanted to see them go on the right foot and help them,” he explained. “I said that to the county board. Then when the Rory thing didn’t work out, they never came back to me. We never had another conversation. The one thing I found disappointing about what happened was whenever they decided to put the management team they had in place, the whole thing was supposed to be a confidential process.

“But the night the new management team was named, everybody that was interviewed for the job was name-checked. I found that difficult. I was having conversations with the county board; I am going to be here until the summer and I am happy to help. I am happy to do something. Whenever they named the management team there for this year, they said they had spoken to me, spoken to Rory Kavanagh, Martin McHugh. They name-checked everybody.

“It was almost like they were sending a signal. We have asked all these guys and they don’t want it. As if you were turning your back on your county. That was not the case. I had said to them I was happy and available. Even Karl had asked me would I do something with the U14s and I said that I would, that I would help them out. Michael Murphy was going to get involved as well.” 

McGuinness continued: “(I was) willing to help and trying to help. The door was closed in many respects on me and the word was filtered out at the county board meeting that all these people had been spoken to. I didn’t feel that was a true reflection of what happened behind the scenes.” 

Last month Karl Lacey, who was Head of Academy Development, resigned citing “a lack of support.” 

In a show of solidarity, his departure was followed by a mass resignation from other academy coaches.

“Ironically, whenever they called me and asked me about doing the job and I said I couldn’t for those reasons, professionally focusing on soccer for now, I asked about Karl Lacey in relation to the job. The message I got at that stage was that he was doing such a brilliant job in the academy they didn’t want to interfere with that. That is the god’s honest truth. That is what I was told.

“My own fella, he was at U14 trials before Christmas. Three or four Saturdays in October, one in November. They were supposed to be back and haven’t been back since. We are in the middle of March now. The U16s are a month or six weeks away from the Buncrana Cup and they haven’t done anything. There is going to be a lost year I feel for underage players in the county. That is devastating.” 

McGuinness also took issue with elements of the selection process.

“I mentioned about confidentiality. The people who selected the management team for this year, that process was kept confidential. The people they interviewed wasn’t kept confidential. Obviously, it transpires that two of a three-man committee that selected the manager ended up on the backroom team. There is probably a governance (issue) there that needs to be looked at for future reference.” 

In an extensive discussion on the Examiner podcast, available Wednesday, McGuinness concluded by stressing that while there are several issues, it is essential the academy situation is resolved.

“The bigger picture is that we need everything to be looked at. The structures to be looked. To understand what has happened. We need ultimately the kids back on the field, that is the most important thing of all because they might end up not having a season at all. It is looking that way at the moment. That is hard to believe, but it is.”