Dublin great James McCarthy isn't convinced that new boss Ger Brennan is about to wield the axe on a group of household names, suggesting that the threat of being dropped was merely a "subtle message" delivered through the media.
McCarthy believes that Brennan was probably trying to "rattle a few cages" and to provoke a response from senior players when he suggested after their National League loss in Mayo that some decorated performers were on thin ice.
It was Dublin's second Division 1 defeat following their Round 1 loss to Donegal and Brennan indicated that he was about to chop down his panel having looked at 51 different players so far this year.
Brennan said it was "some of our fellas who've been around the block" who should be concerned about their situation. Dublin are due to play Monaghan in Round 3 of the League this Saturday evening at Croke Park.
"I'd say there's a bit of tongue in cheek with Ger," said McCarthy, who was speaking in advance of tomorrow evening's Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup final. "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 more along those lines than anything else.
"But again, a lot of guys have been very successful as well. You've got to look in the mirror at times 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 now.
"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 subtle message to the guys through the media to wake them up a bit, I'd say."
Brennan fielded an entirely rookie half-back line against Donegal in Round 1 and has handed out six League debuts in total over the two games so far. McCarthy, reflecting on 2023 when Dublin bounced back from disappointments in 2021 and 2022 to collect Sam, said it's important that the current group stay confident.
"You can't be sitting around feeling sorry for yourself either," said the Ballymun man. "You've got to get your game back on and get going. 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 McHale Park last weekend. You've got to get stuck in and get yourself ready and try to turn things around.
"Sometimes you've just got to have a few gritty performances, you've got to just dig in and be tough in some of the games and grind them out nearly to be able to build yourself back up."
Meanwhile, McCarthy confirmed that former Mayo midfielder Seamus O'Shea, whom the Dubliner lined out against in the 2013, 2016 and 2017 All-Ireland finals, is his new club manager at Ballymun Kickhams. O'Shea, brother of current Mayo star Aidan, has replaced Laois man Greg Ramsbottom.
"He's just living in the area," said McCarthy, rubbishing the 'rumour mill' which had suggested that John Small might be taking the role after retiring from Dublin duty.
"Seamie has kids down in the Ballymun nursery and stuff so we nabbed him one day and had a chat with him. He's been roped in now. We were joking that we used to knock into each other a fair bit on the pitch over the years but no, we're delighted to have him in with Kickhams."
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