Sent one of his own players out to injure an opponent then goes on about duty of care when his own get a bit of treatment, he fully believed his own hype there for a bit, criminal not to start Paddy McBrearty in the AIF v Kerry
I presume this is about Leo McLoone hitting Joe McMahon in 2011?
If so, where's the evidence McLoone (at the time a young lad who was distraught after the game) was sent on to do that by McGuinness?
As for McBrearty, he was doing well off the bench, including in the Ulster final and the semi against the Dubs. Maybe he should have been starting, but young O'Connor was doing well too with his running. Anyway, Paddy wasn't why we lost that final. Paul Geaney reacting quicker to a deflected point attempt, Durkan slipping on a kick-out, each resulting in a goal, was the difference in a very tight, cagey match.
49mins...Leo McLoone comes on as a sub
51mins...McLoone comes in late on Joe McMahon and strikes him on back of head with closed fist
55mins...After lengthy delay McMahon leaves the pitch with concussion
61 mins..McLoone is replaced
First, McLoone should have got the line, no question. What use would it have been to McGuinness to have Donegal down to 14 men for the last 20 minutes, and then Leo gone for the following games, possibly at that point including an Ulster Final?
And what does the quick substitution prove?
Leo wasn't a thug. He was arguably ahead of Michael Murphy the previous year as the most influential player on the U-21 that ended up losing that final against Dublin. He's been an excellent, if unsung, player for Donegal all through the decade just gone, a strong lad ideally suited to carrying the ball on the break and taking a score, including quite a few goals. He wasn't some hatchet man to be sent on by the manager when an opposition player needed "sorting out".
The lad was in tears after the game. I've always assumed he was upset at having knocked McMahon cold and, I'm sure, taking (deserved) abuse from the Tyrone players for it. That makes far more sense, that his head was gone and that's why he was taken off, than any conspiracy about being sent on to take out a player.
