McGuinness to continue as Donegal boss

The Donegal County Board have confirmed this evening that Jim McGuinness will be in charge of the county's senior footballers for the 2014 season.

In a short statement released via their Twitter page, the Donegal board said: "Donegal GAA are delighted to announce that Jim McGuinness will continue as Donegal senior football team manager for the 2014 season."

The Tir Chonaill men lost both their Ulster and All-Ireland SFC titles this summer, leading to speculation that McGuinness was considering his managerial future after three seasons of a four-year term.

The Glenties man denied reports last month that he had agreed to another year at the helm. It was understood that he was frustrated that the panel's preparations were hampered by club fixtures and the structure of the county Championships.

Speaking to BBC Northern Ireland at the time, McGuinness said: "The biggest thing for me is to be able to prepare the team properly and I don't think we got that opportunity this year in some levels. So that's one of the issues we'll be looking at and there's also a few other things as well."

Those issues seem to have been ironed out with club delegates agreeing to postpone the 2014 Donegal Club Senior and Intermediate Championships at a County Board meeting in Ballybofey on Tuesday night.

According to sources, McGuinness wants no Donegal Club Championship matches played while his side are still involved in Championship action, while he also sought for club league games to be run off on one day rather than spread over a full weekend.

The club delegates voted 20-6 in favour of the decision to postpone next year's Donegal Club Senior and Intermediate Championships until after McGuinness' charges exit the Ulster and All-Ireland Championships.

The former midfielder met with the clubs last week to discuss those matters, and he also held talks with Donegal GAA officials today before they released a statement confirming that he is continuing in his managerial role.

McGuinness' third season ended in disappointment as Donegal endured a 16-point demolition at the hands of Mayo in last month's All-Ireland quarter-final. They also suffered relegation from Allianz League Division 1 earlier in the campaign.

He had some much better news to celebrate last Friday when his wife Yvonne gave birth to twin girls at Letterkenny General Hospital.

The new additions make it five young children for the couple and an especially busy family and work life for McGuinness, who has served as a performance consultant with Celtic Football Club since last November.