Jim McGuinness: I only take counsel from people that have been there and done that

JIM IS WINNING MATCHES: Donegal manager Jim McGuinness. Pic: ©INPHO/Tom Maher.

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness has made a staunch defence of his coaching practices, insisting he is not going to change.

McGuinness’s side gave a strong account of themselves in their Division 1 win over Dublin, their first time back in Croke Park since last year’s All-Ireland final defeat to Kerry.

It was a game where Donegal’s commitment to zonal defending came unstuck but McGuinness will be abiding by his principles.

“There’s loads of opinions out there and there's loads of people saying loads of things, but at the end of the day that doesn't have any impact in my thinking whatsoever,” he maintained.

“I don't listen to those people, most of them have never coached at Inter-county level, most of them have never stood on the sideline, most of them have never won anything as a coach.

"So, I don't take counsel from people, I only take counsel from people that have been there and done that.

“If it's an All-Ireland winning manager or a top coach, I'll listen to them and I'll listen to what they have to say. But I don't listen to anybody outside of that because it doesn't make sense.

"It doesn't make sense, otherwise they should be on the sideline competing against me.

“So, there's a lot of noise and there's a lot of talk, we're going to do what we feel is right every single day and that won't change. Just because 10 people say that's what happened and that's the right thing, that doesn't mean that's going to change our mind the next time around.

“If we feel it's the right thing to do, that's what we'll do. That'll always be the case. You cannot have a situation where outside influences impact on your group and thankfully that has been the case.”

McGuinness continued: “You just get on with going to the pitch, trying to coach the lads and trying to win football games and that's not going to change in the summer.

“If you want to run with that or anybody else, run away with it but it'll not impact on how we approach games, definitely not.

"We played 11 games last year and nobody was complaining, do you know what I mean? So, we'll decide what's right and we won't be listening to anybody else.”

Ger Brennan confirmed that Dublin held no meeting regarding a protest at Allianz’s sponsorship of the National Leagues. He stated he would be happy to be interviewed with the company’s logo in the background.

“So there was no meeting, there was no conversation, there was nothing like that. As Dublin manager, I'm apolitical, I'm here to concentrate on the football and that's exactly how we're going about our business.

“Whatever players want to do and members of the management team in their own capacity, if they're taking a stand on a particular issue, they have our full respect and full support, but I don't know where the story came from. I have ideas.”

Theo Clancy and Lee Gannon will be out for the entirety of the league with leg and chest injuries respectively, Brennan said.

“In an in-house game last weekend, Theo went for a kick-out and he landed awkwardly. He broke a bone just above his ankle. He went in for surgery last week.

“Lee Gannon just had a very strange pec issue that he had to get fixed up and he's going to be off at the National League as well.”