By Niall Gartland
FORMER Donegal forward Brendan Devenney was glad to hear this week’s news that Jim McGuinness will remain in charge of their senior intercounty footballers – and he adds that McGuinness’ detractors should be careful what they wish for.
Devenney says that there were some murmurings of discontent in the wake of their All-Ireland quarter-final exit at the hands of Dublin, but he offers the counter-argument that McGuinness’ overall record across two stints speaks for itself.
He does, however, acknowledge that Donegal peaked at the wrong time this year, an exhilarating performance in the Division One final followed by a championship campaign that was blighted by inconsistency.
“There was a real consistency in Jim’s first two years back in charge, culminating in that All-Ireland final defeat to Kerry.
“After that loss, Jim went to ground, he didn’t do interviews with any of us [Devenney is a contributor to Highland Radio], and I think the players got back at it very early, and wanted to hit the ground running.
“It turned out to be a huge mistake in terms of their season trajectory. During the league, they were too good for a lot of teams, they were going too well in a way. It was ‘wow’ stuff, but you also thought, hold on a second, why are we 20 points ahead of Kerry at Croke Park.
“It didn’t make sense in a way, and then there were the lows of the Down and Cork games in the championship. We’d a good win over Kerry again, albeit they had a man sent off, but we were beaten at home twice and then lost out to Dublin after extra-time.
“You could see in the second-half, that Donegal didn’t have the energy that they should have had, it wasn’t there.
“It’s a bit of a head-scratcher, but it was only one year. You have some hardcore GAA people around Donegal throwing out this and that, but contextually, you have to remember that Jim has been in charge for seven years in total and they only failed to win the Ulster Championship in two of those years. That in itself is phenomenal, without even mentioning the three All-Ireland final appearances.”
Asked if McGuinness can take a leaf out of Mayo’s book, particularly in relation to the high press, Devenney again stressed that Donegal’s focus should be on getting their timing right and peaking when it matters most.
“Donegal didn’t sit in a zonal all the time, they did push further up the pitch at times. They didn’t commit to Mayo’s style, but many teams didn’t.
“But what I think is more relevant is that Mayo just came with an unbelievable energy on All-Ireland final day.
“I remember they came up to us in February with a full-court press all over the pitch. They nearly caught us a few times, and we’d have been in trouble only we have so many nippy players, Peadar Mogan, Ryan McHugh, Shane O’Donnell – players who get you out of trouble, which not every team would have.
“I did find it a very interesting tactic though, it did look like it could bear fruit. Donegal managed to get on top of it, and ended up beating them quite easily, but I think it’s a great example of a team working on a plan early on.
“That’s the big learning point for Donegal – they need to get a few young players in, bring a bit of energy, and that has to be the big thing for Donegal next year. Jim knows that himself so I think the man deserves room to do that.”
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