Cribbin lashes Duignan as chaos continues in Offaly

Offaly football manager Tom Cribbin has taken umbrage made at comments made by Michael Duignan as the chaos currently gripping Offaly GAA continues.

Former All-Ireland winning hurler Duignan caused a stir in the county on Tuesday night when he lashed the attitude and discipline of the Offaly footballers and suggested that their behavior reflected badly on the hurling team.

The hurlers had been the focus of attention earlier in the week after a letter written by Offaly manager Joe Dooley came to light in which he criticised the county board for their treatment of the hurling team, with particular reference to the availability of facilities in O’Connor Park in Tullamore.

"You can't compare the hurlers with the footballers," said Duignan.

"There are discipline issues with the footballers in this county. They don't want to train, they have no pride in their jersey, they're going on the beer and all that sort of thing.

"None of that is going on with the hurlers, all they want to do is represent their county," he added.

Duignan’s comments provoked a fierce reaction from Cribbin, who is currently preparing his side to face Monaghan in the All-Ireland qualifiers after they were heavily defeated by Wexford last month.

"He's totally out of order. I'd be disappointed to hear an Offaly man and ex-All-Ireland medal winner talking about the county's footballers like that," said Cribbin.

"He has no call bringing the footballers into an argument that has nothing to do with them. It's most unfair to make comments like that because they're not true.

"It's doing Offaly no good," he added.

"I'll defend the footballers to the hilt because they are a good bunch of lads."