Cross-legged. Head-to-toe in black. Left-hand bears his sole piece of jewellery, a silver ring. Within that hand, he clutches a glass of sparkling water. Jim McGuinness sits in Dublin city and ponders the report that Donegal's star forward Patrick McBrearty has suffered a cruciate ligament injury and is out for the year.
McGuinness knows McBrearty as well as anyone. The former Donegal manager was the man on the sideline who sent McBrearty on for his senior debut against Antrim in a preliminary-round fixture, just hours after he had played for the minors in the curtain raiser. This year McBrearty looked on the cusp of his best season yet until he suffered the cruel blow during the Ulster final victory over Fermanagh last Sunday.
"I think it will be very difficult for Paddy and knowing him the way I do know him, he is so passionate about it." McGuinness says, the glass now sitting on a nearby garden table while his hand sturdily strokes his chin as he continues to contemplate the news.
The 24-year-old has been a crucial player for Declan Bonner's side this season, seemingly thriving thanks to the return to form of Michael Murphy and the addition of another marquee forward in Jamie Brennan. While his loss will hurt Donegal, McGuinness believes McBrearty can still have an impact this year, in the same vein as the injured Stephen Cluxton who sat in the stand with an ear-piece during Dublin's Leinster final victory last weekend.
"A lot will come down to how Patrick recovers and if he can be strong and be positive and almost see beyond himself, which is an incredibly difficult thing to do in the circumstances. But I think he is well capable of doing that, Patrick. Then I think he could have a really important role to play in the squad."
That is not to say his loss won't be felt on the pitch. McBrearty was in the kind of form where once he was on the ball, the direction he headed in didn't really matter. Towards the goal, sideline or backwards, the Chíll Chartha man just needed an inch and it was over the bar. McGuinness leans forward to emphasise this, his absence will force Donegal to adapt or perish.
I just felt over the course of the national league and the championship Donegal had worked out a way to get Patrick on the ball and get him on the ball in crucial moments. The way it was working was when he did get on the ball, the ball was gone and over the bar. He was so razor sharp and accurate that it only took that moment and all of sudden it was two, four, five, six, seven points in a game.
It is disappointing for everybody. Like Diarmuid Connolly, you want to see the best players in the country play in the game and now all of a sudden we’ve lost one of the most exciting forwards in the country.
The McBrearty news exists as a cloud that arose in the midst of an entirely unrelated storm for the GAA sphere. Kildare’s rage against the refixing of their round 3 qualifier against Mayo continues with the county adamant they will not play in Croke Park.
There is no mistaking the consideration McGuinness dedicates to all things. 'Key concepts', 'Theoretically' and 'sayings in psychology' are all prefaces he relies on before discussing GAA matters. At times he takes a brief pause to consider his thoughts, before establishing uninterrupted eye contact with whoever asked the question. The Newbridge saga is like any other GAA theme, he considers it from every angle.
It depends if this is just politically or is it just literally a point of principle or is it, 'The whole country is against us here but we're going to stick to our guns here lads and you create that siege mentality.' I always say nobody knows what goes on behind the dressing room door. I can see it from both sides, obviously. There's a lot of dynamics. Croke Park have to do their job, the county want to give themselves the best chance....
It's never as straightforward as people suggest.
A compromise of Portlaoise or Tullamore has been muted in recent days, but this is one view the All-Ireland winning manager cannot understand: "From a Kildare point of view, they've sort of backed themselves into a corner to an extent. If it's not Newbridge now then what's the difference between going down the country and Croke Park?"
If this is going to be just about Newbridge, then it's got to be Newbridge, if that makes sense. There's no point going to Tullamore or somewhere. That's still away from Newbridge. For me, it would be either Croke Park or Newbridge. I don't understand how another venue facilitates what they were fighting for.
Either way, Donegal will watch this weekend's contests with interest, given two of their three Super 8s opponents are yet to be decided. McGuinness will certainly be watching the action, as he is scheduled to appear on Sky Sports coverage for Saturday's game regardless of location. Yet before he departs this promotional evening, there is still the question of just how close to events he will actually be this summer.
During RTE Sport's live commentary of Donegal's Ulster championship semi-final against Down, former Meath footballer Bernard Flynn made an interesting assertion about the former manager who he was told had been involved and spoken with the Donegal panel before games this year. McGuinness is well versed in this practice. He holds a Master’s of Science in Sport Psychology and is a former team-mate of Bonners. So, had he spoken to the panel or taken any training sessions this year?
No, no coaching sessions.
... So you have spoken to them as a group?
Suddenly the eye-contact is gone, the hand's interlink and land on a crossed knee and the head slowly leans back.
No coaching sessions... (laughs)
Jim McGuinness will join the Sky Sports analysis team for this weekend's games between Cavan vs Tyrone and Kildare vs Mayo live on streaming service Now TV and Sky Sports Arena.
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