Outgoing Meath boss delivers scathing parting shot at GAA pundits ‘ripping decent people apart’

Mick O'Dowd is not happy with the standard of punditry in the GAA.

The Meath man retired as football manager on Saturday night after four years of service to the senior team came to an end in Derry. https://soundcloud.com/user-787320910/football-show-2-mp3 But he went down swinging with a stinging rebuke of the level of analysis in the organisation, saying that pundits are ripping decent people in the GAA apart.

"I’ve just invested my heart and soul in the job because I love Meath so much, as a volunteer," he told reporters after the three-point defeat to Derry in Owenbeg. "I don’t think people realise the work that goes into it. "There’s a bit of a culture within the GAA now where you have these overpaid, inflated egos acting as pundits that are just ripping decent people in the GAA apart. "It seems to be a culture that’s taking over. Maybe it’s society. There’s a lack of respect for people, for their work and their effort. But that’s nothing I can change."

There's definitely a bigger forum for opinions anyway. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/752132446674677760 In recent years, many an inter-county manager has been lambasted live on TV and, sometimes, it even passes by without a second's thought. O'Dowd is out of that limelight for now but he's only passing on the burden of losing to Dublin to the next man. Listen to the GAA Hour here.