Armagh forward Jamie Clarke feels that there is a false perception of Kieran McGeeney amongst some people.
Speaking in an interview with The Irish Times, the Crossmaglen man revealed how McGeeney helped to lure him home from New York last November, having met up amongst a group of mutual friends after Conor McGregor's victory over Eddie Alvarez in Madison Square Garden.
Last Sunday saw Clarke one of 12 scorers as Armagh dished out a 30-point hammering to Offaly to move up to second place in Division 3 and he admitted to having some nerves when originally meeting up with the former All-Ireland winning captain towards the end of last year.
"Of course! Sure you're nervous every time you meet Kieran," he said. "Ah look, I think people have the wrong impression of him. He's an innovative coach. He's not your stereotypical GAA coach. He's doing so much work behind the scenes that nobody ever sees. It's difficult because when the players don't perform, he takes all the flak for it.
"We met that night but planned to meet just the two of us the next morning. We got a coffee and went and sat in Bryant Park. It's funny because we were looking around us going, 'It's unreal, isn't it? But it's not, you know…' He loves New York too. But we know what it's like being athletes and wanting to be winners.
"He told me his plans and what he wanted to achieve. And I told him that I wanted to be part of it and would he have me back? He said no bother and that the main ingredient is to put your head down and work hard."
Tweet