James McCarthy reckons Ger Brennan was trying to “rattle a few cages” and generate a response from his Dublin squad with comments that the axe might be about to fall on certain players.
In the aftermath of Dublin’s recent league defeat to Mayo in Castlebar, Brennan issued a warning towards some of the more experienced players in the Dublin dressingroom.
“We’ve a panel of about 50 there now, with guys coming back from Sigerson duty, guys coming back from Ballyboden, and we need to cut the panel down,” Brennan said.
“I would suggest, probably, some of our fellas who’ve been around the block, that there will be a few tough decisions to be made.
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“If a guy has done what he’s done over the last couple of years, it’s probably decision time for a couple of guys in terms of what they want to do.”
But McCarthy believes his former Dublin team-mate’s intention was mostly to stir the pot.
“I’d say there’s a bit of tongue in cheek with Ger. I’d say he’s trying to rattle a few cages more than anything and trying to get a response from guys. I’d be thinking it’s more down those lines than anything,” says the former Dublin captain.
“But again, a lot of guys have been very successful as well, so you’ve got to look in the mirror at times [and ask] if you’re not putting the hard yards in.
“There’s no easy way around it, you’ve got to be consistent week to week in the league – especially the guys who have probably been successful, they’ve got to be particularly strong for Dublin at the moment.
“They’ve got to be the shining lights to give these younger guys time to bed in as well. There is an emphasis on and an onus on these guys to be playing at a high level.
“But I’d say it’s just a nice subtle message to the guys through the media to wake them up a bit.”
Dublin face Monaghan at Croke Park on Saturday night, the loser of which will face a real challenge to avoid relegation from Division 1.
“Confidence is a big thing in sport,” McCarthy adds.
“It starts in training, that’s what always started it for me. If you’re not performing strong in training, it’s very hard to switch it on in Croke Park on a Saturday, or up in MacHale Park last week.
“You’ve got to get stuck in and get yourself ready and try to turn it around. Sometimes you’ve just got to have a few gritty performances to build yourself back up.
“Obviously, the game against Monaghan on Saturday is important, there’s no better team to have a rattle off Dublin than Monaghan from my own experience over the years. It’s a big game for both teams.”
♦ McCarthy was speaking ahead of Wednesday’s Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup final between University of Limerick and University College Cork at Croke Park, 7.35pm.
