Every sport has that one manager who all players wanted to represent. For soccer, read Sir Alex Ferguson and for hurling it’s Brian Cody. But when it comes to Gaelic football, who’s the gaffer that players dreamed about playing under?
According to former Kildare footballer Eamonn ‘Leper’ Callaghan, that man is former Donegal boss Jim McGuinness.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Forty-Five podcast, hosted by former Dublin stars Eamon Fennell and Ross McConnell, Callaghan spoke glowingly of the 2012 All-Ireland winner despite some horror training stories that he’s heard on the grapevine.
“I wouldn’t have liked to have trained under Jim McGuinness but I would have liked to play for him.
“I imagine the training was fairly rough, from what you hear, but to play for him, I’d say you’d run through a wall for him.
“I would have like to have been part of a team that he was involved in. They would do anything for each other, and McGuinness definitely brought that to them”
You can listen to Eamonn’s thoughts on Jim McGuiness as well as other topics, such as skinny jeans to life after GAA, below.