At half time in Dublin's All-Ireland quarter-final win against Donegal, Peter Canavan had little hope to offer Donegal supporters watching on Sky Sports.
When Canavan stated that he felt Dublin were heading for a 12 - 15 point win - they led by five at the break - Jim McGuinness' head dropped. McGuinness either didn't believe the Tyrone man's opinion or it was the dagger to what little optimism he still held for his county's prospects.
Canavan followed this up by offering reason for why he felt Donegal were heading for a thrashing. In a statement which was followed by nervous laughter, Canavan attributed a lack of energy in the Donegal legs to the previous regime. That is, McGuinness.
Dublin aren't going to hold back. Jim Gavin is going to be saying about what happened a couple of years ago 'Let's make a statement. We owe these boys one. Let's go out and deliver.'
On the other hand with Donegal, I look at a lot of players with mileage on the clock - men who really need to stand up here and as Jim says get that energy and drive it forward. But I don't think it's in their legs. Too many of their key players have been exhausted from the regime the previous manager put in place.
I don't think it's there.
While everyone else in the studio laughed - apprehensively - McGuinness was unmoved. There was no smile. What he offered to Canavan was more like a death stare.
