Donegal continued their strong start to Division 2 over the weekend, with Jim McGuinness' side securing a 1-17 to 0-15 victory over Louth to maintain their undefeated record in the league.
It was a game that the home side were expected to win in Ballyshannon, something they managed to do on the back of Jeaic Mac Ceallabhuí's goal 15 minutes from full-time.
While McGuinness has enjoyed his return to inter-county action up to this point, he does have some concerns about one aspect of inter-county GAA at the moment.
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GAA: Jim McGuinness wants officials to cut out tactical fouling
Having been away from the sport for a decade, Jim McGuinness was always going to be walking back into a different inter-county GAA landscape. Areas such as player conditioning and tactical setups have developed quite a bit over that period.
The 51-year old was at the forefront of a major revolution in sport during his first time in charge of Donegal, while he has now introduced a high pressing style reminiscent of soccer's 'gegenpressing' in 2024.
In saying that, there are some areas of the game has not enjoyed this season.
Speaking to RTÉ after yesterday's game, McGuinness said that the amount of tactical fouling in Gaelic football is something that will have to be looked at by officials moving forward.
It is challenging. We want to play transitional football. A lot of times it is not possible. There is a lot of tactical fouling going on, a lot of people slowing the game.
I’m not sure if the officials are up to same level in terms of what the opposition teams are looking to do.
If the game is to become faster in that way then things like that need to be nipped the bud early on or else it continues on for the rest of the game.
It’s difficult to progress the ball quickly, probably because of possession football. In possession football, you are pushing 13, 14, 15 players on. The counter-balance to that is that if you lose it then you are in big, big trouble, so you cannot allow a transitional moment.
Even now when you do get the turnover, you’re probably not going to get up the field the way you want to get up the field because of that dynamic.
Possession football is then kind of dictating dynamics. You either make your case to the linesman or referee and remonstrate, or you accept it.
It is clear that inter-county Gaelic football could do with a refresh in terms of its rules, with the spectacle in many games being affected by what is widely regarded as an overly negative approach. New GAA President Jarlath Burns has formed a 'Football Review Committee' to look at some possible rule changes in the sport moving forward.
However, any such changes will have no impact on the 2024 season. For now, Jim McGuinness will be concentrating on returning Donegal to the sport's top table.
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