'It happened by chance': Galway boss explains Guardiola meeting

Galway football manager Pádraic Joyce was pictured meeting Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola last November after their 4-1 win over Dortmund at the Etihad Stadium

Pádraic Joyce: "I just feel it is important to have the players really know and understand where we're going as a group, what we are trying to achieve. Some players buy into it, some don't." Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

One of the great unknowns in the GAA landscape is the off-season. We hear loosely what goes on during the season, in training camps and around games. But the off-season? That remains largely opaque.

That is despite the fact that management teams are formed and broken in those months. New inter-county careers are quietly shaped and others are ended. There are those weighing up their own futures, there are those trying to secure their future. There is plenty of conflict along the way.