News Round-up: Leinster Council chairman Liam O'Neill took the opportunity to criticise intercounty managers that "see themselves as more important than the county boards which appointed them" in his programme notes for yesterday's championship double header at Croke Park.

Adopting a forum regularly utilised by Seán Kelly during his presidency, O'Neill - without naming names - seemed to have a particular group of managers in mind.

"The whole cult of the manager started in the 1970s when Dublin-Kerry games were seen by the media as clashes between Mick O'Dwyer and Kevin Heffernan. The role and status of managers has evolved to a stage where now some managers see themselves as more important than the county boards which appointed them.

"It's not healthy to see managers and county officials at odds with each other and we hear stories of managers interfering in fixtures and stopping young players from playing with second-level and third-level teams.

"I'm sure they do this for what they consider to be the best interests of the team of which they are in charge, but it might be useful for them to have a close look at the teams which have won All-Irelands in both codes over the last 10 years. If they do they will see that the managers of those winning teams all worked well with their respective county boards."