Donny Doherty diary in the Irish News

[Maguire01]

I noticed Joe Brolly had a wee dig at this rubbish in this week's GL!

[Gold]

cant wait for my weekly dose of donny tomorrow!

[ONeill]

For the love of God. Bad enough as it was, when we start to see your playing pure dung, the fact that 30 guys were eying her up, All of a sudden we were a team of Darren Anderton's and There was groin niggles and hamstring strains galore it's time to sink the ship. The IN prides itself on grammatical competence.

Will Simon Doyle exaggerate an article on this?

[red hander]

'The IN prides itself on grammatical competence.'

Dunno about that, you regularly see spelling mistakes in their headlines, let alone the copy

[wherefromreferee?]

What an absolute pile of tripe.  Joe Brolly also had a dig at it in Fridays Derry Journal.  (Prob the same report?)  Dont like to agree with him that often, but this time he's bang on the money...

[Rav67]

Donny's Diary - All eyes on the cup (size) Donny's Diary
All eyes on the cup (size)
23/01/08

Saturday 20th January: 10:34pm

I was up in Belfast today seeing Rose-Anna and she dragged me around every clothes shop in the city.

Before, when she talked about Karen Millen, I thought it was a mate from college, but apparently not.

Warehouse, Oasis, Monsoon, Top Shop, I was in them all.

She wanted to get a new outfit for a friend's party she is going to tonight.

She pestered me about going to it too, but with training at nine tomorrow morning I didn't fancy it.

Going out to the Bot, staying sober all night and ending up stuck on some sofa in the Holylands listening to some drunken wingnut drone on about football at three in the morning is not my idea of a good night. No thank you.

I'm hardly getting to see Rose-Anna at all though.

Between her being in Belfast and us doing all this training, it's tough.

And that reminds me, I texted her two hours ago, but nothing back yet.

But back to the clothes shops.

Anyone know why the lingerie section is always down by the changing rooms?

Rose Anna takes 40 outfits in to try on and I'm left standing like a numbnut surrounded by knickers and bras.

I mean, where do you look? You can't wander to a different part of the shop because she has told you to stay close to the changing rooms.

Apparently she needs your opinion on all the different outfits even though you can bet your last penny that your opinion will not influence any possible purchasing decisions. �So where do you look?

And they have the heat turned right up in those shops too.

So there you are, winter coat and scarf on, with a big red face and the sweat rolling off you like a racehorse.

And the looks you get from the single girls are none too pleasant either.

I got one today from a really fit blonde that just cut me in two.

Out she tottered from the changing room, high heels, spray on jeans, tight little shirt and one of them little leather jackets.

She looked the part I have to say.

I gave her a little smile and a nod of the head and the filthy look that she shot back was horrific.

It was a mixture of disdain and disgust and made me feel like I was wearing a plastic mac and had just flashed her.

I mean, did she think I was there just to gawk at the wonderbras?

It was obvious I was waiting on someone. Wasn't it?

I tell you, by half five today, I was a broken man.

Shop after shop, outfit after outfit until eventually she got something that she liked.

Have to say she looked well in it too. A short little purple dress with matching shoes...

Still no reply from the text.

Sunday 21st January: 3.22pm

Great session this morning. Lt Jackie really knows his stuff.

At the start, we thought that he was a bit of a lunatic.

Thirty minute runs and all that ranting and raving threw us in the beginning, but now we are all really enjoying the training.

Apparently the 30-minute run is something he does with every new team he is involved in.

He says it is a way of weeding out those that do not have the balls to make it.

"Look here, lads. Talent will only bring ye so far," he said.

"Genius is one per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration and it is the same with success in sport.

"If ye quit during a 30-minute run then you will quit when the going gets tough in the game. Simple.''

He is a bit of a philosopher, is our Lt Jackie.

Everything we did today was short and sharp and the ball was involved.

Don't get me wrong. It was tough and there were some killer drills with little time to recover, but it was enjoyable, and for Donny Doherty to be enjoying training is something of a miracle.

Monday 22nd January: 10:14pm

Oh what a difference a day makes. Went to club training tonight and what a monumental catastrophe.

We have a new manager in this year. An outside man from Derry and what an absolute balloon he is.

"Ah, the county star is making a little appearance, fellas. How are you, young Doherty?'' was how he greeted me when I walked in the door.

I had missed one training session and this was him getting a little dig in. But things got worse.

The actual training was terrible and utterly pointless.

Ten 800-metre runs with a mile run to finish. Not a ball in sight and what a waste of time.

I protested at one point and was told that if if I didn't like it I could take myself back to the county and enjoy my football with them and that he had no problem dropping me.

I was furious and should have walked.

Here was some boy who won an Intermediate Championship in Derry about five years ago and suddenly Ballyvogue are forking out a couple of hundred a quid a week for him.

I could save us a lot of money because after one session it's obvious that he doesn't know his rear end from his elbow.

He's insisting that I train every night with the club as it doesn't clash with county training. But it's going to be a disaster.

The club training is totally different to that of the county and is in fact counter-productive.

If I do what this clampet wants then I will be out four times a week training and a match or two at the weekend - and that's before you even think about the weights programme that we are doing with the county.

It's a joke.

And people wonder why players want a few pound when clowns like him are making a second living out of the GAA.

Monday 22nd January:

nearly midnight

Rose Anna eventually got her fingers working and texted back.

Just two days late.

"Sorry 4 not gettin bak sooner DD. Had a brill time on Sat. We met up wit a Stag party from Galway & had a gr8 nites craic. Went out 4 a few wee tipples y'day 2. I'm swamped with college work and will ring tomorrow. xx.''

What's that about? I really don't get women. Is she annoyed cos' I didn't go the party?

Is she trying to make me jealous? Or does she not give a damn?

Jaysus I don't know. Think I might be jealous though! But keep it to yourself...

[Rav67]

And people wonder why players want a few pound when clowns like him are making a second living out of the GAA.

[/quote]

So Donny is pay-for-play now as well!

[T O Hare]

i tackled rose-anna in the bot on saturday night.. nice bit of gear.. 

[Donagh]

Is it just me or is it starting to improve, slightly...

[red hander]

Jaysus, are you beginning to go soft Donagh?

[T O Hare]

not sure if its getting better but i would hate it to stop now for some reason! it the gaa roy of the rovers
i bet ya everyone reads it

[Will Hunting]

With all this talk of pay-for-play, not getting to see the girlfriend, and an'outside man' managing the club, is it safe to assume that Peter Canavan writes this diary?

[LaurelEye]

Is it just me or is it starting to improve, slightly...

Maybe it's that after Peter the Great's magnum opus last week, anything looks good in comparison.

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Going out to the Bot, staying sober all night and ending up stuck on some sofa in the Holylands listening to some drunken wingnut drone on about football at three in the morning is not my idea of a good night. No thank you.

Hateful aul bollux.

[Rav67]

Going out to the Bot, staying sober all night and ending up stuck on some sofa in the Holylands listening to some drunken wingnut drone on about football at three in the morning is not my idea of a good night. No thank you.

Hateful aul bollux.

Just cos your idea of a good night involves gettin wrote aff at the Bot and pestering someone who can play a bit about how you could've been South Armagh's answer to Bomber Liston