On the Sunday Game, Joe Brolly said that the high dropout rate among Armagh senior footballers was the fault of Kieran McGeeney's management style
And he said that the Crossmaglen Rangers players, in particular, find McGeeney's approach offputting
What is the point of this? They swear allegience to the cult of Kieran. You get eight Crossmaglen players leaving the panel because of the lack of imagination and the lack of fun in the group.
On the evening show, Pat Spillane disputed this claim, saying it was his information that there was no rancour.
I've been a critic of Kieran McGeeney and I certainly don't rate him as a top manager. But I think the criticism of him has been over the top. They haven't the conveyer belt of young talent coming through.
I was listening to Joe today and felt he was over the top in his criticism. When he talked about Crossmaglen players not making themselves available. Talking to Crossmaglen players, that is not true.
We spoke to Crossmaglen midfielder Johnny Hanratty earlier this week about the true opinions towards McGeeney within the club.
Jamie Clarke, who left for the United States yesterday, released a statement which was tweeted out by Armagh GAA this afternoon. Anyone who watched the recent BBC doc on Crossmaglen knows that Clarke's desire to travel is the reason for his exile from the Armagh setup.
Clarke won't be playing for Crossmaglen next year, never mind Armagh.
Statement from Jamie Clarke pic.twitter.com/ojG3ZqxglT
— Armagh GAA (@Armagh_GAA) June 3, 2016
In his Gaelic Life column this week, Joe Brolly gave his uncompromising response to the complaints from Armagh.
The Armagh county board made a complaint to RTE last Sunday.
The hysterical reaction from a few people to the discussion in the RTE studio on Sunday is a smokescreen. Kieran McGeeney’s managerial performance is a matter of public record.
As is the serious ill health of the county game and the damage it is wreaking on the clubs. ”Poisonous and personal”, said Paul Grimley, before accusing me of using my kidney donation and charity work as a defence against criticism.
The man is an irony free zone. There was nothing either poisonous or personal about what I said. Now the Armagh Board has made a complaint to RTE. Spineless isn’t the word.
