Stale Donegal hit by negativity from all angles

Recalling the Armagh-Donegal game from a fortnight ago, I'm reminded of one striking incident where Donegal won a free on the halfway line, with the home defence not yet set.

Any chance of a quick free bombed into the forward line to exploit the chance? No, their first move was to turn and play it backwards.

It summed up Donegal at present - and for a few years, in truth. It smelled of a team who are too 'safe' in their approach. There's an air of staleness around them.

It feels like the county is at a low ebb at the minute and there's no doubt it has been a torrid time for the new regime. Negativity is coming from every angle.

Michael Murphy retiring in the off-season has been compounded by injuries to Paddy McBrearty and Ryan McHugh.

Karl Lacey's high-profile exit from academy set-up has added to the discontent. We've had Jim McGuinness revealing (in the Irish Examiner) that he had been involved in a prospective coaching ticket with Lacey under Rory Kavanagh and then criticising the county board for their handling of the process.

It's often remarked these days that Donegal are in transition. And yet they haven't changed their style of play in years.

Transition is often about style of play, structure, set-up, as opposed to simply being about a raft of new players unseating the older generation. New players have arrived, but the style hasn't changed.

To be honest, I feel that was one of the reasons Murphy left when he did. One of the greatest forwards who ever played the game and yet they were so reliant on his influence, he was asked to play midfield, roaming around the middle third, performing the donkey work.

It wasn't sustainable for him to do that. I think if Donegal had been more ambitious in the latter part of the last