"To this day, people would say to me, Kieran (McGeeney) got way too much. And I'd be thinking to myself, 'You don't know what you're talking about.'"
Johnny Doyle zapped a few of the myths surrounding Kieran McGeeney in a terrifically frank and wide-ranging discussion with Anthony Moyles and Niall Kelly on the second episode of the Hard Shoulder, Balls.ie's weekly GAA's podcast.
Doyle believes that McGeeney was treated 'disrespectfully' towards the end of his reign as Kildare manager. He also dismissed the popular image of McGeeney as an uncompromising drill sergeant.
"I've often gone to Kieran (McGeeney) after a League game and said 'Lookit, I'm going down to the local and going to have two or three pints'. And he'd say 'Work away. There's no problem.'
He was far from the drill sergeant people thought he was."
Other topics Doyle touched on include:
- how the nature of the sporting media has changed since he began playing for Kildare
- how Leinster counties have become cowed by the rise of Dublin
- the impact and approach of Mick O'Dwyer in his early days with the Kildare senior team
- why he chose to quit when he did at the end of the League in 2014
- he also tests his knowledge in the bitter-sweet 'Kildare heartbreak quiz'
Listen below:
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.
John was speaking on the second episode of this year's Hard Shoulder podcast, a weekly GAA podcast hosted by Meath legends Anthony Moyles and Niall Kelly. The podcast will run for the rest of the season and will feature many more special guests, and scientists [citation needed] believe it will improve your life by somewhere in the region of 84%.
In addition to the big interview, we quiz our guests and discuss some of the big stories to arise from the past week.
On the first episode last week Bernard Brogan was interviewed about Dublin's dominance, his abilities vis a vis his brother Alan, and how he'd approach the game had he born in a different county. Listen here.
You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.
