Jim McGuinness: Donegal fans brave cold to welcome back their football messiah

It could only be the McGuinness effect.

As second comings go, facing an Armagh under-20 team in the Dr McKenna Cup three days into the new year was about as low key a beginning as could have been conjured up.

But opening night of McGuinness 2.0 was always going to be a draw for a Donegal GAA public palpably willing on the team to restore the county's fortunes after the annus horribilis of 2023.

So the stand at MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey was packed on a chilly evening as a crowd of 3,825 turned up to see the return of their messiah.

OK... it wasn't quite of the magnitude of back in January 2006 when an astonishing attendance of 19,631 arrived at Casement Park (do you remember that place?) for a McKenna Cup semi-final battle between Ulster's then mighty gladiators Tyrone and Armagh.

But anybody who cut it a bit fine in making their way to Ballybofey left themselves with the task of scouring the Twin Towns for a parking space as the throw-in drew near.

'Maybe it's just being cooped up all winter'

The man himself joked that a rare dry night in the Hills this winter had made the punters decide a bit of fresh air was in order.

"Maybe it's just being cooped up all winter in bad weather and storm after storm coming in," smiled McGuinness after his side's facile 3-16 to 1-6 victory.

"It's great to be back in MacCumhaill Park and it's very important for us to win here and to try and keep on winning here."

Asked about the excitement his return has generated within the county, McGuinness made clear his desire to harness a "feel-good" factor seemingly further bolstered by the installation of former Tanaiste Mary Coughlan as the county's first female GAA chairperson.

"Everybody wants the best for Donegal football and people that are coming in now, please God, will all work together," McGuinness said.

"We will work together with the board and hopefully vice versa and with the clubs, working with the board very closely as well. It's going to be very important."

Jim McGuinness handed debuts to five players including 17-year-old fellow Naomh Conaill club-man Finnbarr Roarty who impressed hugely

Even during his first hugely successful Donegal stint between 2011 and 2014, which yielded three Ulster titles and an All-Ireland triumph, some clubs in the county did become irritated with, what they perceived, was a lack of access to their county players.

Reading between the lines, McGuinness wants to avoid a repeat.

"There is a young team here and we have to look to develop them. We have to look to try and get the group to grow, but equally there's a lot that needs to be done off the pitch as well in terms of the development of underage structures in the county and facilities and resources. The female game is exploding.

"All those things have to be taken care of so hopefully now there is a coming together and a feel-good factor, obviously with Mary at the helm. She's a woman that has been there and done that in terms of management and she will not suffer any fools. If there are any tough decisions to be made, she won't shirk them either.

"I think that's great to have and hopefully now everybody will row in behind her and work for the common good which is Donegal football."

McGuinness handed debuts to five players in Wednesday's contest, including his 17-year-old fellow club-man Finnbarr Roarty, who produced a hugely-impressive Donegal senior bow despite having yet to train with the Naomh Conaill seniors.

"He has done really well in pre-season. He's tenacious. He's physical for his age and his stature and he's getting better on the ball all the time so I'm definitely very happy with his performance," added the boss, who also praised the performances of other debutants Ciaran Moore and Senan Carr, with Roarty's club-mate Kevin McGettigan and Na Rossa's Oisin Caulfield completing the newcomers.

McGuinness was also delighted that the likes of last summer's Donegal star turn Oisin Gallen, Peadar Mogan, Caolan McGonagle and Stephen McMenamin were also able to "get minutes" into their legs after missing much of pre-season because of niggles.

'Ulster always number one competition for us'

Sunday's game against a surely more experienced Tyrone outfit should represent a more meaningful test as Donegal prepare for their Division Two League opener against Cork in Ballybofey on 28 January.

McGuinness says Division Two must be Donegal's immediate priority before focusing on an Ulster Championship campaign - where they will face Mickey Harte's Derry in their opener on 20 April - which he says will "always be the number one competition for us".

"We want to focus on Division Two and try and win as many games in that division as possible. That's our short-term goal.

"After that, then using that as the best preparation as possible for the Ulster Championship. Whenever that competition is over, we'll refocus on the next one.

"We can't be thinking about things that are beyond us at the moment. We had a very difficult season last year. We're trying to recover from that."

Similarly to the recent challenge game against Roscommon, Wednesday's mismatch against Armagh suggested Donegal may employ more kick-passing than during McGuinness' first reign.

Jim McGuinness says he and his backroom team, which includes Colm McFadden (right) will have to come up with something new to upset gaelic football's leading counties

While giving nothing away about his tactical plans, McGuinness says he and his fellow backroom men will again have to come up with something new, just as was the case during his revolutionary first reign.

"We don't want to be the same as everybody else, that's for sure, because in that situation the status quo will remain and the teams that are winning All-Irelands will continue to win All-Irelands.

"We know who we are. We're a team that's normally in Division One and if we're in Division Two, we're not happy about being in Division Two.

"We're a top-eight, top-10, top-12 team historically and so, for us, we have to find a way to get to six, to four and to two and to one.

"And that's the reality. We're going to have to think long and hard about that. We're going to have to be creative and come up with strategies and game plans that put us in that position if possible at all."

The only mild irritation displayed by McGuinness in his post-match thoughts was when the subject was brought up of the privacy fence being erected at Donegal's training facility at the county's headquarters in Convoy.

"That was a story that was created to cause a wee bit of tension and probably from within and I don't think those stories are worth a mention to be honest with you.

"People in Donegal know exactly what's going on there. We're lucky to have Convoy and lucky to have the facilities that we have."