Jim McGuinness has spoken out numerous times in recent weeks about his major concerns regarding the GAA's split season.
Jim McGuinness said the condensed nature of the inter-county football season devalued the state championship and needed to change.
McGuinness used Donegal's pre-Championship press conference on Friday night to reiterate his dissatisfaction with the current split season calendar.
“It will take a few weeks to give the provincial championship the respect it deserves….[and] It's about giving the players the respect they deserve,'' the Donegal boss told BBC Sport NI.
McGuinness said Donegal's team will be better than the others, given the three-week gap between victory over Armagh in the Division Two league final and the Ulster SFC opener against Derry, Mickey Harte's target for the third consecutive year. He acknowledged that he is in a much better position than some counties.
“We are one of the lucky counties that has three weeks, and a lot of other counties have this weekend off as well.
“This is a debate that's happening across the country. I think the pendulum has swung too far in one direction. We're going to have to get back to the middle, that's how I feel.”
“Championships used to be the highlight of the summer.”
Donegal have suffered injuries to key players Patrick McBrearty and Ryan McHugh, as well as a number of other members of the squad.
McGuinness believes it is too much to expect players to “recover quickly from a game and work hard again for the next game”.
“I don't know who it's helping. I don't think it's really helping anyone. It doesn't help the manager, it doesn't help the players, it doesn't help the supporters. It's challenging for everyone. Soft pitches and all that. ”
“Certainly the pendulum has to swing back to the middle because at the end of the day the GAA Football Championship was the highlight of the summer and now it doesn't even take place for most of the summer.
“So I think we're going to have important conversations that will continue for weeks and months.”
Patrick McBrearty limped off during Donegal's win over Meath a week ago and missed the Division Two league final win against Armagh
Asked about the fitness of captain McBrearty and fellow Kilcar player McHugh, who missed the Division Two league final after sustaining an injury against Meath a week ago, McGuinness said he did not know whether they would be suitable for Celtic. Park contest on April 20th.
“There are a few others, probably six or seven on the same boat.
“You want to finalize these decisions by the next few days. [before the game]. Perhaps some of them will succeed. Some of them may be. ”
Speaking after the game against Meath on March 23, McGuinness said McBooty suffered a “pretty serious” injury after hobbled into the first half, but gave no details on the exact nature of his illness. It has not been done.
