Only those who were in Crossmaglen on June 26 2010 can fully appreciate what Jim McGuinness achieved the following season.

Shay Given may train with the Donegal senior footballers tomorrow night as Jim McGuinness’s team continue their preparations for next month’s Ulster semi-final against Fermanagh or Antrim.

He’s 31 now and it’s 12 years since he was the fresh-faced pup of the Donegal squad.

While the majority of Donegal’s panel are eyeing a third successive Ulster final win, Paddy McGrath would prefer to call it his fourth.

Donegal 0-12 Down 0-7

Wrapped in a Brazilian flag sporting the name of his late friend Tomás Maguire at Donegal’s Ulster final homecoming in July, Paddy McGrath admits he was emotional.

Just two years ago last June, the only Donegal man ever to lift Sam Maguire gave a damning appraisal of just where the state of football was at in the county.

FORMER Donegal boss John Joe Doherty last night revealed he was misquoted by Allstar defender Kevin Cassidy in the book ‘This Is Our Year’ and rubbished claims by Cassidy there was a player revolt in the county during his spell in charge.

All-Star wing back Kevin Cassidy has been dropped from the Donegal senior football panel, following suggestions that Jim McGuinness was unhappy with the defender's participation in a newly-published book.

ALL STAR wing-back Kevin Cassidy has parted company with the Donegal senior panel following a meeting with manager Jim McGuinness yesterday.

THEY’VE been getting a little bit hot and bothered over a book up in Donegal, if you haven’t heard.

IN HIS role as guest speaker at a Derry supporters’ function some years ago, Anthony Tohill revealed one of the best tips he ever received in a changing room.

BACK in 1992, when they won the All-Ireland for the first time, the composition of the Donegal team was such that it rewarded players nearing the end of their careers and held out the promise of further glory for those starting out on theirs.

ON Sunday he will battle to book Donegal’s berth in the All-Ireland senior football final and defender Anthony Thompson will be able to reflect proudly on his own role in shaping the development of some of the county’s young talents.

DONEGAL men are a traditional bunch. This is more than a flippant opinion.

Dermot 'Brick' Molloy has picked up a knee injury which will rule him out of Donegal's All-Ireland quarter-final tie.

THE next time you hear anyone spout generalities like “the role of the manager is overrated” or that “all inter-county teams train as hard as each other these days”, you might gently rebuke them by reminding them of this past weekend and how Donegal — or rather Jim McGuinness’s Donegal — are Ulster champions.

HISTORY, heartache, histrionics... none of it meant anything to Jim McGuinness yesterday.

ADRIAN HANLON has been released from the Donegal senior football panel this week for a breach of discipline.

DONEGAL debutant Dermot Molloy’s first taste of championship football whetted the appetite before his summer was cut short.

“TYPICAL Crossmaglen” was the refrain that carried on the chilly Cavan air yesterday afternoon.

Legendary GAA commentator Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh was last night honoured in a special two-and-a-half hour live programme broadcast by RTÉ Raidio na Gaeltachta in front of an invited audience of over 200 people, which included GAA officials, former players, media colleagues, family and friends.

Jim McGuinness was last night ratified as Donegal's new senior football manager, after he had been nominated unopposed for the position.

IT’S THE marching season in the north, but this was more of a stumble over the line for Paddy O’Rourke’s Armagh against a very green Fermanagh outfit before 7,000 fans at Brewster Park.

Former midfielder Jim McGuinness has publicly stated his interest in becoming the next Donegal senior football manager.

WICKLOW GAA chiefs will give Mick O’Dwyer “the space he wants” to decide on his managerial future with the Garden County.

UNEASY lies the head that wears the crown is an old saying that applies very directly this week to sports managers.

John Joe Doherty has become the second senior football manager to step down following defeat in the opening round of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.

JAMIE CLARKE celebrated his 21st birthday yesterday to put the finishing touches on a weekend where he was the toast of his local ground at Oliver Plunkett Park.

WE’VE been here before.

THE all-Ulster clash of Armagh and Donegal was the pick of last night’s All-Ireland senior football qualifiers first round draw.

HIS 1-4 from play will make the headlines but the huge purple bruise that swelled his right eyelid spoke volumes for Benny Coulter’s overall contribution yesterday.

Donegal 2-10 Down 1-15 (aet)

AS his life in football has been full of them, John Joe Doherty knows the value of taking a second chance.

Dermot Molloy will join his Under-21 colleague Michael Murphy in the Donegal full-forward line for Sunday's Ulster SFC quarter-final against Down at Ballybofey (throw-in 2pm).

THE last time Down rolled into Ballybofey for championship Sunday, Donegal manager Brian McIver went against the grain of his predecessors.

WIN, lose of draw on Sunday, Down’s supporters will be able to tell themselves that it is just like watching Real Madrid.

WHEN Donegal’s ace forward Michael Murphy lines out at the edge of the Down square on Sunday, he will do so having spent much of the week studying rather than thinking about what challenges may face him at Ballybofey.

FIRST things first. Jimmy McGuinness is chatting idly about his playing days in Donegal when he casually remarks in a thick north-western accent that he’s “a half Kerryman”.

YOUNG Footballer of the Year Michael Murphy has given Donegal fans the news they wanted to hear – he’s got no interest in quitting Gaelic games to pursue an Aussie Rules career.