Kieran McGeeney has responded in phlegmatic fashion to Joe Brolly's 'obsession' with him. He was even so generous as to concede that Brolly seemed like a nice fella when he met him.
McGeeney told the Irish Examiner he found the whole thing flattering.
I am flattered by Joe's obsession with me. He likes to be the centre of attention and that's grand. Let him batter away.
I can't stop people having opinions and if people want to dress opinions up as facts, that's a different thing.
I am not really into facilitating people's obsessions with things.
Brolly and McGeeney were members of the Queen's University Sigerson Cup winning team in 1993 (what a year that was Brolly).
And we know the story Joe told about Eamon Coleman's funeral. McGeeney sat down with the Derry lads at the wake. He said little but stared at Brolly, eventually tutting and saying that Joe could have been a great player but had wasted his talent. There was a brief stunned silence until Brian McGilligan piped up 'You're one crazy bastard, McGeeney!'
McGeeney, however, offered no anecdotes but graciously said that Joe seems 'grand' from the meetings they have had together.
I am sure he is a nice fella. I've met him a couple of times and he seems grand, but he likes to be the centre of attention.
Honestly, it is water off a duck's back to me.
Brolly's assertion that Crossmaglen players are opting out of the Armagh setup due to McGeeney's approach isn't quite supported by the Cross players themselves. We spoke to Crossmaglen and former Armagh midfielder Johnny Hanratty about the true attitude to McGeeney within Crossmaglen. Read here.
