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Dublin manager Anthony Daly looks on. INPHO/James Crombie

‘He had no idea’ — Anthony Daly hits back at pundits

The Clare man admitted he agreed with some of what Kieran McGeeney had to say recently.

ANTHONY DALY SAYS he agrees with Kildare football boss Kieran McGeeney’s recent criticism of GAA pundits.

McGeeney lashed out at media experts after the Lilywhites’ championship exit to Tyrone in June.

Daly was criticised after the Dubs’ heavy defeat to Tipperary in the national league semi-final, because they panel prepared with a training weekend on Bere Island, off West Cork.

And the Clare native insists he knows where McGeeney is coming from.

“We all saw Eddie Brennan on the Sunday Game telling us how stupid it was a week before a league semi-final,” Daly says. “The madness of it all!

“God, I remember a prominent ex-manager in the game saying how he saw a colleague of mine running a team a few years ago on a summer’s evening and the stupidity of it all. And the sun shining. What he didn’t know was it was a football team from Milltown Malbay that were after having the Willy Clancy festival and they needed a fecking run up a hill. He had no idea, he was out walking a dog.

“Some of the stuff that’s said; I agree with McGeeney sometimes on stuff – I don’t mean the cowards end of it! – but some of the stuff said people don’t really know.

“Bere Island was one weekend when we had a window of opportunity between Fitzgibbon and UCD did make the Fitzgibbon weekend this year and DIT had a good chance as well.

“There was a weekend there and an opportunity there. We had to go for it, like, it was something we had to do just as  a team building exercise that every team from under-14 up do some sort of thing. Sure, don’t they bring them bowling for a night. My girls go off bowling anyway with Shannon Gaels,” he added.

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