DONEGAL team manager Rory Gallagher has slammed “crazy notions” about the alleged fitness, or otherwise, of his captain Michael Murphy ahead of Saturday’s crunch clash with Dublin in Croke Park.
And the Belleek man said: “People are looking for things that aren’t there sometimes.”
Speculation has been mounting over Murphy’s condition, in a year when the talismanic captain has only managed two points from play in the Championship and has looked jaded at times, by his own exceptionally high standards. Despite the dip in form, he still managed to hit two superb and crucial points against Cork last Saturday, so we can only imagine how lethal he would be at full throttle.
And pundits like James McCartan and James Horan have suggested he is tired and possibly facing burnout after 10 gruelling years with Tir Chonaill. But the man who celebrated his 27th birthday gently told reporters at a press conference “not to be writing obituaries for another wee while”.
So is he only catching up after an earlier niggling leg injury: “Not a bit,’’ added Murphy.
“I am in good shape and I am confident myself that I am in good shape and I am injury-free, which is a huge part of it. I have got a good bit of training, am totally injury free and I am feeling well, but I will leave everyone else to analyse how I am moving.”
And he was strongly backed by an emphatic Rory Gallagher: “I think it is crazy that people get a notion and it develops and develops,’’ he said.
“Michael is in great condition, absolutely great condition and is moving really well. Yes, he had an ankle injury, but he has a fair volume of training. I think that people look for things that aren’t there sometimes. If you compare it to other sports, you see Lionel Messi, what age is he playing from? Look at John O’Shea of Sunderland, he has been playing for Man United since he was 17.
“Michael knows how to look after his body, no more so than other people. He is playing a long time, but I am pretty sure he intends playing a lot longer.’’
Manager Gallagher is adamant he does not like how “the whole country” obsess about Dublin: “The whole country obsesses about Dublin but, when you are in Ulster, you worry about Ulster, you keep an eye on Dublin all year and we have made notes on them,” he said.
“They are a very good side, but it is up to others to determine how good they are. All we are concerned about is to be better than them on Saturday evening. We are happy to get them now and we only worry about ourselves and we feel we have had a consistent level of performances and we know we are going to have to improve that.
“We have everybody fit and available, which is massive for us. This time last year and in 2013, some of the boys were carrying wee niggles and, with the exception of Big Neil [Gallagher], we have a fully fit squad, which is a very good place to be.”
So Gallagher and co have a really mammoth task, irrespective of what condition their talismanic captain is in by the time this fascinating battle is over. But that does not mean they are not beatable, as Gallagher emphatically states: “For sure, they are beatable and I think Dublin would be aware of that as well but, to beat them, you have to do an awful lot of things right.
“You must produce a level of intensity that is greater than theirs. You have got to make sure that, when you get the chances, you put them away and that is the challenge for us.”
