REBOUND TO HAPPEN?
Rochford: I took my time & went for the role that was right for me
GAELIC GAMES
The two-time All-ireland final manager fell out with Mayo officials after last year’s Championship and agreed to coach Donegal just weeks later.
It smacked of a two-fingered salute to his native county but the former All-ireland winning Corofin boss said it’s nothing of the sort.
Rochford said: “I think that would be a bit disrespectful to Donegal to think it was anything to do with a rebound.
“I said from the outset that I would have seen myself being involved in inter-county football in 2019. Following Mayo’s exit from the Championship last year I felt I was going to be involved with an inter-county team.
“I had one or two approaches from clubs but to be honest my view was that I wanted to be involved with an inter-county team and then a couple of opportunities came up as regards discussions with some counties.
“I was reluctant to do anything that was going to be in a Connacht sense. Donegal became the closest team with both potential and a vacancy. They made the offer and it became very much a situation that a lot of things fitted.
“But it certainly wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction. It was probably about five or six weeks after I left the Mayo job and I had spoken to Declan Bonner maybe a fortnight after that. So maybe over the course of probably a three-week period it all came together.”
Rochford quit Mayo last September due to an apparent lack of support from the county board.
He said: “As a Mayo person, and having the pride that you take in representing the county and the people of Mayo and working with them, it was very disappointing. I suppose it wasn’t what I had foreseen but having said that, it’s a big boys game and you just suck it up and move on.
“The Mayo team are in good health, as I see it, and I’ve moved on to Donegal and am enjoying the operation there. It’s just history.”
Taking down Dublin remains Rochford’s ambition – despite switching counties. “The team that ultimately beats Dublin, be it in a five-in-a-row year or a six-in-a-row year, will enjoy that like no other win, not just because they’ve won a game but because they’ve taken down potentially the greatest team in living memory,” he said. “I certainly think that gap is closing.”
They made an offer and a lot of things fitted. It wasn’t knee-jerk