Stirring words but an opportunity lost again

The odds are against Jim McGuinness making a go of it as a professional football manager but the Donegal man knows plenty about the mental side of sport and how it transfers across codes and other boundaries.

Now on the backroom staff with Celtic and working on his ‘badges’, McGuinness was taking his first ever training session with Donegal late in 2010 when he planted the seed that would blossom into the county’s second All-Ireland senior title less than two years later.

He looked on as his new squad ran through a routine drill at half pace, stopped it and then challenged them to do better. The same process continued time and time and time again until both he and the players knew they were finally moving at full pelt.