Murphy: Give us time to steady ship

MICHAEL MURPHY has pleaded for patience in the aftermath of Donegal’s relegation to the Allianz League’s second tier. This is the third time that the 28-year-old Donegal captain (right) has suffered demotion — he was also involved in 2009 and 2013 squads who suffered relegation but bounced back spectacularly each time. Three years after the 2009 drop, Murphy captained Donegal to the Sam Maguire, while they responded to their 2013 demotion by reaching the All-Ireland final the following year. But where stability was their friend previously, transition is the new reality and Murphy believes that Declan Bonner’s new-look team must be given the time to gel. ‘Performance-wise we are trying to implement a new style of play and we made no secret of that and trying to implement a new team too,’ admitted Murphy. ‘You are coming up against teams that are playing with each other together for three or four or five years; the Monaghans and Mayos of this world. ‘They are introducing one or two new players into it but they know each other’s movements and their style of play. ‘It takes games and takes years to build that up, and we realise that ourselves with the team we had prior to this. You have an understanding that it’s going to take a while to build that up, but the positives I think are there. ‘We just need to carry them out over a 70-minute game rather than in patches. In intercounty football if you are carrying it out in patches you get found out.’