Mayo GAA boss Stephen Rochford has dismissed the suggestion Jim McGuinness was brought in to speak to his side before their All-Ireland final with Dublin last weekend.
Former Donegal player Martin Carney revealed on Newstalk that McGuinness had attended a training camp held by Mayo in Limerick.
He suggested that he wasn’t there to talk about forward play, and said he felt he was brought in to possibly devise a defensive plan to combat the Dubs.
McGuinness is the last manager to earn victory over Dublin, with that famous semi-final win in 2014.
However, he refuted the claims when he appeared on Sky Sports as a pundit for the All-Ireland final last Sunday.
McGuinness expressed his disappointment that the rumours had been broadcast as fact – pointing out that it was disrespectful to suggest that the Mayo management would call upon an outsider.
Rochford said he was completely mystified by the rumour and doesn’t know how the origins of the story began.
Rochford told The Irish Times, “The Mayo guys I’m looking to help me are the 33 guys that were available last Sunday.
“I don’t know where the Jim McGuinness story came out of. I’ve huge regard for what Jim McGuinness did above in Donegal, but I’ve never spoken to the man or I’ve never met the man. I don’t know where that story came out of at all.
“And I suppose why it would or wouldn’t become a concern of mine if it brought a lack of focus or became a distraction to us.
“It didn’t. If somebody wants to say the Pope is training us next week, so be it. It isn’t something I’m going to lose any sleep about it and it won’t distract us from what the task is on Saturday week.”
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