Pat Spillane has claimed the 'gegenpress' tactic being employed by Jim McGuinness since his return to the Donegal hotseat was used by Kerry manager Mick O’Dwyer nearly 50 years ago.

Writing in his Sunday World column, the Kerry legend stated: “The messiah, Jim McGuinness, is back.

“His latest innovation is the introduction of Jurgen Klopp’s gegenpressing tactic to Gaelic football. I don’t want to ruin the narrative, but Mick O’Dwyer was doing this in the 1970s.

“Without the ball, everyone was a defender and when we had possession, everyone was an attacker.

“Anyway, Donegal have made a decent start with Oisin Gallen emerging as a marquee forward. But a poor second-half performance against Derry in the McKenna Cup final and a laboured one-point win over Cavan in round two of the league suggests McGuinness still has a lot of work to do.

“I doubt if the players at his disposal are as talented as the 2011 crew.”

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