FORMER ALL-STAR Kevin Cassidy has claimed that Mark McHugh may have quit the Donegal GAA squad because of a breakdown in relations with manager Jim McGuinness.
Kevin Cassidy
Kilcar player McHugh stepped away from the county team along with Gary McFadden, Antoin McFadden and Thomas McKinley.
Donegal selector Damian Diver suggested later that McHugh made the decision as he was no longer enjoying his football.
But Cassidy said that such claims are only adding fuel to the fire.
“It has been said that [McHugh] is not enjoying his football and has no hunger or desire to play the game. I said earlier that if you are going to air your laundry in public then at least tell the truth,” Cassidy wrote in his Gaelic Life column.
“By saying that he has lost his appetite you are only adding fuel to the fire and the rumour mill will go into overdrive,” he added.
“Some of the stories flying about Donegal this week are not fair on the player or the team management and are becoming a major distraction for all involved. I feel the departure of Rory Gallagher has had a lingering effect on the squad.
“Rory would have been popular within the squad and himself and Mark [McHugh] would have been especially close. And if relations between Jim McGuinness and Mark have drifted then this could well be a likely cause.”
McGuinness announced last September that his trusted assistant Gallagher would not be returning this season as he looked to make changes to the coaching set-up.
Gaoth Dobhair manager Cassidy said that if the pair have fallen out McGuinness should be doing all in his power to settle their differences as McHugh is too important to the Donegal style of play.
He also said he didn’t believe that Donegal have the players to either replace the 2012 All-Star, or to develop a new style of play without him.
“Whatever has happened Donegal cannot afford to lose players like McHugh he is too important to the way Donegal play… The game plan nearly hinged on how he played so to take him out of the equation leaves a massive gap to fill. I don’t think Donegal have the players to fill that gap, nor do I think that they have the players to develop a new system,” he wrote.
“I feel that Jim should be doing all he can to persuade Mark to stay. If there are issues then be the bigger man for the good of the team and try sorting them out,” he added.
The fallout from the four squad members’ departures is nothing new to Donegal, according to Cassidy, as a county that has always struggled to keep their internal affairs from the general public.
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