FRESHLY retired Donegal great Michael Murphy has insisted that not even the return of Jim McGuinness as manager would have convinced him to stick around for another season.
Murphy called it quits last month, just over three weeks after Paddy Carr's surprise appointment to the position vacated by Declan Bonner.
Murphy was adamant that the two developments weren't linked and said he wished to emphasise that 'in the strongest possible way', following speculation that the 33-year-old may have stuck around for another manager.
Murphy, who captained Donegal for over a decade and played for 15 years in total, said it ultimately came down to him losing his 'energy' and enthusiasm for the level of work required to remain at the top.
Speaking at the announcement that he will work as an analyst for Championship broadcaster GAAGO next season, Murphy said he was already '90 percent' sure after June's qualifier defeat to Armagh in Clones that he was finished.
"It had zero to do with it," maintained Murphy of Carr's appointment. "It was a decision for myself. For me to give Paddy Carr what was required this year and for us all to give Donegal what was required, I knew the level required and I just knew myself in my heart I wasn't going to be able to give it. It's a difficult thing to say after all those years but that's essentially where it is at. I'm content with that now."
Throughout the lengthy process of finding a replacement for Bonner, McGuinness was consistently linked with a return. Asked if that might have changed his retirement plans, Murphy shook his head.
"No is the definite answer," he said. "Whoever was the manager, I'm not in a position where I am able to give (less) than what I know I need to give. I know some players can do that and I know some players can manage and mind themselves at the beginning of the year, maybe take a Tuesday out or a Thursday out. That would absolutely crawl me, I would be an anti-Christ around the place. I wouldn't be an influence. I wouldn't be doing Donegal a service in any way.
"So whoever it was coming in to manage the group, it wouldn't have changed things a bit, and I mean that in the strongest possible way."
Murphy recalled being the last player to leave the dressing-room in Clones after the Donegal loss and said he travelled home with his parents from the game instead of joining his colleagues on the team bus.
"Listen, I asked myself, 'Why did I do that? Was it a selfish thing to leave the team that time?'" he said. "Potentially, but that was the decision I came to at that time. It probably further underlined that it was my first step towards detaching."
Despite winning the All-Ireland, five Ulster titles and three All-Stars, Murphy leaves with regrets.
"Without a doubt," he said. "There's regret after every year. There's regret over five Ulsters (final losses). There's regret over this year just gone. (Losing the All-Ireland final in) 2014 is a big one, definitely, that stands out. And the Ulsters, a couple of them, that we didn't win. Not taking anything from the winners of those games, that's important to say, but there were times when we just didn't perform."
Supporters would love to see Murphy return at some stage to aid the management team or, perhaps, to lead the county.
"You need to have so many ducks in a row there to be able to give 100 percent of your energy to it," he said of managing Donegal. "I would have a bit more of a question mark around that now than I would have had maybe four or five years ago."
