Jim Mcdonnell

Do people think he is the right man to take Degale to the next level. Degale obviously has talent but one thing I found very poor was his lack of basic advice during the Groves fight.

Personally I find him a smug, disgusting individual who is making Degale arrogant without cause.

As an afterthought, did anyone see the tactics talk on Ringside with Adam Booth anf Groves. That is what a trainer should be like.

Tactically he certainly came off second best in that fight compaired to booth, maybe thoses years trying to keep danny williams away from mars bars have taken there toll

A lot of talk has been about him getting sacked. We will see I guess.

He seemed to panic in the corner. He just seemed to shout at Degale when he should of gave him calm advice. His game plan hadn't worked and he didn't have a plan B for Degale. Should be given the boot.

Think it all depends on how DeGale sees it. If he personally feels happy with McDonnell in his corner, then he should stay. One defeat doesn't end a fighter's career, and likewise a trainer shouldn't automatically be written off because of a single disappointing night. DeGale has been vocal of his support of, admiration for and rapport with McDonnell in the past, but as with all cases you wonder how much of that was said simply because things were going well, and how likely that is to change all of a sudden when the going gets tough.

I personally think they are suited to each other. They are both poisonous little toads who can continue to blow one and others trumpets.

"Degale will be the best British boxer ever".... Yep, course he will Jimmy.

Is tricky, am always a bit loath to see a guy make a change every bump in the road because Alex Arthur used to do this and it hardly did him any favours. However the criticism of his performance in this one is valid as others have said did not appear to be much in the way of a plan b.

Would like to think this was just a little over confidence on both Jim and James part and lessons will be learned. The other problem is who replaces him. People will inevitably call for him to go state side like Khan but cannot see Warren fancying this, because have to think with him half way across the world he will have Arum and GBP making eyes at him and would think Frank would not be overly keen on this on the back of losing Amir in this way.

88Chris05 wrote:Think it all depends on how DeGale sees it. If he personally feels happy with McDonnell in his corner, then he should stay. One defeat doesn't end a fighter's career, and likewise a trainer shouldn't automatically be written off because of a single disappointing night. DeGale has been vocal of his support of, admiration for and rapport with McDonnell in the past, but as with all cases you wonder how much of that was said simply because things were going well, and how likely that is to change all of a sudden when the going gets tough.

You make a good point there Chris about things being said when all is going well, only for the opposite to be true when it goes jubblies up. Personally i feel Jim should be given his chance even though i don't like him, but if Degale is to go on to world level he'll need to change.

DeGold needed a calm voice in his corner and all he got was a screaming moron with no real advice. If I was DeGold I would get rid of him I know it could have been a one off but McDonnell looked clueless in the corner.

McDonnell trains him hard, he goes a bit far with the compliments sometimes, but i think he's the right man for DeGale, their close knit, @kev he told him to get his finger out and graft late on, nothing wrong with that in my eyes. Jimmy Tibbs would be a good trainer for him, but he might have trouble there because of his ego.

Personally I think initially they were shocked at Groves' tactics but assumed he wouldn't be able to maintain and then, by the time it dawned on them that they needed a KO or a KD, it was too late and, coupled with the fact that DeGale didn't look likely to put a dint in Groves (except with his head, shoulder and elbow) they failed to come up with a solution.

Thing is, Groves has given people a blueprint on how to beat DeGale and any fighter worth his salt should be looking to follow that example. However, any DeGale trainer worth his salt, will be tailoring DeGale's training as to how to combat it. Wonder if mcDonnell will be given the task and if DeGale is good enough to adapt.

It will be interesting to see who DeGale is matched with next as he wasn't given a 12 round beatdown (only a boxing lesson) so I would be surprised if they stuck him in with a feather fisted punchbag to build up his confidence.

personally i think he should keep his trainer. don't like the trend of sacking people because of a poor performance from an athlete. doesnt happen as much in boxing as say football but it still annoys me.

if degale does get rid of him he would look a fool, he was saying he had the best trainer in the world before the fight, and im sure they didnt train him to stand there taking shots, not throwing the jab and lunging with heads and elbows. this loss should do him the world of good and hopefully his team can work on his weaknesses and improve him as a boxer instead of relying on his natural skill and rubbing his already over inflated ego.

Steven_89 wrote:McDonnell trains him hard, he goes a bit far with the compliments sometimes, but i think he's the right man for DeGale, their close knit, @kev he told him to get his finger out and graft late on, nothing wrong with that in my eyes. Jimmy Tibbs would be a good trainer for him, but he might have trouble there because of his ego.

He does seem to work him hard DeGale is always in very good shape although I would say the fact he is an Olympic gold medalist would suggest he isn't scared of putting a bit of graft in when he's in the gym. I seen they were very close knit with all of McDonnells family.
He was telling him to graft late on but was offering nothing during the early and middle rounds. When DeGale looked like he had lost a round McDonnell mainly just screamed a pile of garbage at him.
I'm not his biggest fan as you probably can tell.
I would say though that DeGale has improved a lot since his pro debut and some of the credit for that has to go to McDonnell. Maybe I was harsh I think DeGales problem against Groves was that the occasion got to him, McDonnell never helped though. He should probably stick with him for the time being but I don't think he will get to the top with Jim.

Jim McDonnald is alrgiht, sure he has done a few bad things, like armed robbery, killing Jez etc. But he has done it all in the name of love for Elizabeth.

He desperatley wanted Elizabeth back and to go into cahoots with her again and buy the Rovers Return, okay it was a bad idea to hold up a bank without a balaclava and actually queue up long enough for the cameras to see your face, but he is a passionate guy.

I think if he gets parole and wants to train James DeGale they should let the Ulster man have a go, why not?

I think if he gets parole and wants to train James DeGale they should let the Ulster man have a go, why not?
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He's tied up with Steve, SO HE IS

Trevor McDonald would do a better job than jim.

Jim McDonnell jumping up and down when Jimmy Lennon announced 'and still undefeated' was really really funny.

Shows how much he actually knew about Groves.

Captain Charisma wrote:Jim McDonnell jumping up and down when Jimmy Lennon announced 'and still undefeated' was really really funny.

Shows how much he actually knew about Groves.

He must have felt like a muppet Captain, was brilliant i must admit.

Well Generally he has done a good job with Degale. Although Groves was the first time he faced a fighter with a decent trainer and prospects and you have to say that while Degale deserved at least a Draw out of the fight, tacticily he looked lost at sea where Groves was being looked after by a strong game plan set up by Booth...

I also thought that when Degale made the bet with Groves and Jim stood next to him like a school mate edging on his pall, it just did not look right..

So it would not shock me if changes are made but its hard to call at the moment as Groves is not a bad fighter and Degale more than matched him on the night while having a bad day at the office, So would a change disrupt his solid start to pro boxing?.. maybe..

I think Degale need to look to him self and ask why he was out smarted by the Groves corner and pretty much gave away the win.. and Also Warren needs to take a good look and see if Degale needs someone to ground him and just let his talent do the talking. We all know you got to sell a fight but you need to do it with more of a swagger and not a stink.

Degale is class though, no doubt in my mind.