Louthhavealot to do after horror show: McGrath

LOUTH manager Pete McGrath might not have won himself any new admirers for his brutally frank assessment of his side’s performance against Carlow but he’s been around long enough to know there was no point in trying to dress it up.

After watching his Louth side get thoroughly dismantled by Carlow, McGrath spoke for nearly seven minutes with the media.

Louth were just three points down with a little over 10 minutes to play but the final margin of 11 points was more representative of just how much Carlow were in control.

“The (All-Ireland) qualifiers can be a form of medication if you get a reasonable draw,” offered the Down native. “You could be drawn against the losers of Mayo and Galway or Monaghan and Tyrone and that wouldn’t be pretty. What the rest of the season holds I don’t know, but to date you have to say it has been a pretty calamitous season.”

Sunday’s game represented an eighth consecutive defeat across league and Championship since McGrath took charge in the wake of his exit from Fermanagh.

“I wasn’t sure what Louth football was like,” he said. “I found out early on with the unavailability of players and a couple of injuries that it was going to be a struggle but I felt the players were up to it and management was up to it.”

McGrath stopped short of saying he regretted taking the job but admits they have an ocean of work to do before the qualifiers.

“You don’t regret it but you say I have maybe made better decisions in my life. But you go on, we’ll see what the rest of the season holds, get the players together and sift trough the debris.”