The Gaffer

In 2002 under the glare of 60,000 Dublin fans along with a smattering of Donegal fans, Jim McGuinness pleaded with referee Pat Mc Enaney for a free that never came. The moment stuck in my head as here was Donegals one true warrior searching for help. It was an ominous sign of what was to come. The game is remembered by Donegal fans as "the morning after". Famously six days previous, Donegal had drawn with Dublin in an epic All-Ireland Quarter Final. The team (and most fans) then proceeded to go on the lash for the next week. While this story has undoubtedly been blown way out of proportion, the performance the following week was well below the fare served up the week previous. However what it did highlight was the attitude among the players, that they were happy with an Ulster Final appearance and a draw against Dublin.

That team was potentially more talented then the current cohorts but they lacked the required mentality to succeed at a higher level. Similar only twelve months ago as the team bowed meekly from the Championship at the hands of Armagh people continued to ask the question of Donegal's mentalilty. What then has happened to turn this team of party animals into a well drilled, organised and mentally tough side? The answer is Jim McGuinness.

Having watched Donegal since in the mid-nineties, two things have been consistently obvious. One was that we never had a game plan and secondly that the team wasn't blessed with a never say die attitude of say an Armagh. While I don't mean to put down the teams of this era - the first 20 minutes of the second half of the 2003 All Ireland Quarter Final against Galway in Castlebar is still the best I've ever seen a Donegal side play - their success was borne from raw talent. In the aftermath of one of many humbling we've received - a qualifier loss to Cavan was particilily galling - the underlying feeling was never of despondency in the team but of the performance. If only somebody could come in and show the players they were letting Ulster titles and All-Irelands slip away, we'd be a formidable outfit. However, for whatever reason even great bainisteoiri like Mickey Moran and Brian McIvor, couldn't tame the wild beast. 

McGuinness has chiseled the raw talent at his disposal into a well oiled machine. In unison with the organisational side of things he's instilled an inner belief in the players. Last June against Down, early in the second half Donegal got into a commanding position without kicking on. Players seemed afraid to take shots on and this resulted in a game of hot potato on the Down '45. Even in the final minute when they needed a score to tie it up players passed the burden until Rory Kavanagh kicked a fine score. (His point that day illustrated the issue of this blog, the talent was/is there, it's the other components that are lacking).Compare this to the Kildare game where Kevin Cassidy stepped up with the game on the line and took the shot on. Where was he against Down? He hasn't suddenly become a good striker of the ball but he now wants to put his neck on the line. Bravery in sporting situations is not going in for the big tackle but in executing skills when the pressure is at its most intense. Being prepared to miss and take the blame that goes with that, is what Cassidy really done when he threw boot to ball.

In University I was a member of a group who presented a lecture on why we thought Warren Gatland was basically the dogs bollox of rugby management. He had taken a team who conceded four tries against Fiji to eliminate themselves from the World Cup and made them Grand Slam champions within six months conceding a record breaking two tries over the course of the whole Six Nations.While this achievement is noteworthy, fast forward three years and Gatland has never been able to reach these peaks again. History is littered with managers who thought they created kingdoms only to quickly realise it was little more then a fiefdom and the king came looking for the rent. In an era when sports teams invest millions in analytics, successful strategies are copied and better quickly. Great managers appreciate this and constantly tweak their approach slightly - even when their team is winning. Gatland failed to do this, as did Joe Kernan. This challenge is going to quickly fall at McGuinness' door. Passing this challenge will not only see him leading the Sons of Tir Connail up the steps of the Hogan Stand but will give him entry to the select club of truly great managers.

Seamus McDaid is an out of work sports agent living in New York City. Follow me @fbspecial.