Johnny Doyle talks about change in the GAA and how Kildare fans can reconnect with the team

Kildare legend Johnny Doyle says that there has been a major change in the social activity of county footballers since he was last involved with Kildare, and that may be hampering the general lifestyle of the players.

The Allenwood stalwart only called time on his career with the Lilywhites two years ago, but he says things have even changed int the short time he has been away from the scene, although they were beginning to change while he was there.

"The big change I've felt has been when we used to go and play a League match in Newbridge. You put the bag into Coffey's [Bar] then afterwards and you mightn't collect the bag out of Coffey's until the Monday. That is gone," he said at the launch of the Inter-Provincial Championship series.

"That social aspect is completely gone. If lads did that now you'd be calling them in and saying "What's the problem here?"

"And players want that. Liam Kearns was on about it during the year, and it was refreshing to hear.

"If your manager says to you there's training Tuesday and Thursday, and whatever you do in between, if you want to drink work away, there'd be war from the players and from the supporters. It's me and ye who expect the high levels of commitment."

Doyle is a selector for the Leinster side ahead of tonight's Inter-Provincial clash with Connacht in Parnell Park, and the 38-year-old will have a good first hand view of some of the players from Kildare's rivals in the province. The Lilywhites have not reached a Leinster final since 2009, and Dublin's monopoly in the province shows no sign of abating any time soon.

There has been a seeming decline in the level of support for the county team in the past year or two, something that new selector Ronan Sweeney touched on last month when he outlined how the fans have become slightly detached from the team. Doyle believes that results haven't been good enough, and Kildare need to start winning big games to bring the fans back on board.

'"I suppose what Ronan was trying to say is that we need to start winning to get the support back and there's only one place you can do that, which is on the field.

"Results haven't been good. It's no different to any other sport. On a Saturday evening you might be sitting down or go to the pub and you want to be associated with success.

"Whether we like it or not the facts are there. You don't want to criticise anyone but the results haven't been there.

"We had reasonable success at provincial underage level and it's about converting that at senior level and that is the challenge."