Why is Jim McGuinness such a good manager ?

[Mike Sheehy]

Incredible job he has done given the resources that Donegal have, at least in terms of player numbers etc.
I think Eamon Fitz is a good manager but Donegal will have a huge advantage on the line.

I wonder what separates him most from other managers...is it his tactical genius or his ability to motivate ?

[AZOffaly]

Kerry mind games.

[DennistheMenace]

I think Kerry will beat Donegal in the final by 2 points.

[Dinny Breen]

Leaving aside the yerra I suppose when you look at the 5 components of what makes an athlete/team great - lifestyle, technical, tactical, physical and mental - Donegal definitely have the edge on tactical and mental over most teams as evidenced yesterday and that has to be put down to McGuiness. Other young managers such as Horan, McGeeney, Jason Ryan etc to me all seem tactically constraint particularly their inability to change the flow of a game through changes and tweaks. 

[AZOffaly]

Does Jimmy have that ability?

[Mike Sheehy]

Kerry mind games.

I think his record speaks for itself AZ. In Kerry we have no problem acknowledging genius when we see it.

[Mike Sheehy]

Leaving aside the yerra I suppose when you look at the 5 components of what makes an athlete/team great - lifestyle, technical, tactical, physical and mental - Donegal definitely have the edge on tactical and mental over most teams as evidenced yesterday and that has to be put down to McGuiness. Other young managers such as Horan, McGeeney, Jason Ryan etc to me all seem tactically constraint particularly their inability to change the flow of a game through changes and tweaks.

I think his ability to anticipate how the other side will react to his own tactics are where his true genius lies. Also, it was very noticeable that by the end of the game Dublin were playing almost exactly the same way as Donegal i.e short handpasses (albeit with poorer execution) so his ability to dictate the tempo and way the game is played by both sides is also very evident. You could almost see the strings coming out of both sets of players subtly being pulled this way and that throughout the whole game. It was a masterclass.
Jim Gavin looked stunned at the end.

[thewobbler]

I've been thinking about this a good deal since yesterday, trying to put a handle on what it is.

I've been bandying about a term in my mind - "collective awareness". It's that point in time when a group of players realise they have what it takes, and they all pull in the one direction.

Anyone who's ever been involved with a team has most likely seen it happen to their team within championships, within entire seasons and even within games. Once it happens, training immediately improves as nobody is shirking or pulling injuries, nobody is along for the ride. Those 200m runs have a purpose other than to get fit. Those tactics make sense, because everyone is buying into them. Observations on performance and roles are embraced, not perceived as attacks. Egos are channelled. The manager knows what he's talking about because he's in control.

Sometimes it happens inexplicably: just a single win and players start to believe. Other times, it's because 1 or 2 players either come on board and raise the bar, or draw a line and try move the bar. The rest realise what is happening and it comes together like a jigsaw.

Anyone who's ever been involved with a team knows that collective awareness can switch off as quickly as it switches on. Dublin yesterday are a prime example of a team that switched off. Those negative thought lines about celebrity status of players, wrong team selections, wrong tactics, that have been been easily quashed over the past 18 months, probably all came to their minds during the game, and maybe even to the boil last night. It doesn't take a lot to set these things off: this time last year it happened to Donegal, only worse.

Kerry seem to have an inbuilt collective awareness. It's part of their DNA.

From what I've seen of Donegal, Jimmy appears to be a master in raising collective awareness.

He got the most important players in Donegal - Murphy, Lacey, Gallagher, McFadden - onboard straightaway, and they've been dutiful servants since.

He convinced his panel that before they can beat teams, they need to be able to stop them. That was year 1. The results were good and success was immediate.

Once he had them able to tackle and defend properly, he got them to start attacking. That was year 2, and they battered almost everyone who came their way.

In the midst of this, and ever since, he's gotten rid of players who don't do collective awareness. It's made them stronger.

Year 3 wasn't good: two awful beatings. That's the most impressive thing about this year. He has got them going again. That same core he built the team around in year 1 set the bar again, and the young fellas coming in have risen to it.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Incredible job he has done given the resources that Donegal have, at least in terms of player numbers etc.

Are Donegal's playing numbers that small? It's a very big county with hardly any hurling. Would have thought they have plenty of playing numbers. At least in comparison to most others.

[DennistheMenace]

I guess the next thing is for Hollywood to just make a movie based on McGuinness now called The System.
The Americans need to watch out in the Ryder Cup too.

[Armamike]

Leaving aside the yerra I suppose when you look at the 5 components of what makes an athlete/team great - lifestyle, technical, tactical, physical and mental - Donegal definitely have the edge on tactical and mental over most teams as evidenced yesterday and that has to be put down to McGuiness. Other young managers such as Horan, McGeeney, Jason Ryan etc to me all seem tactically constraint particularly their inability to change the flow of a game through changes and tweaks.

Would have thought Jimmy's strength is greater in the game plan and prep side than during game time. Donegal have a well rehearsed game plan that they stick to rigidly which is key to their success.

[AZOffaly]

I thought the same. I'm not sure I've seen a lot of tactical flexibility. If Donegal control the tempo, turn you over and counter in waves, they beat you. If you control the tempo on them, you have a chance.

[bcarrier]

Population at the last census:

Mayo 130,638

Kerry 145,502.

Donegal 161,137.

Dublin 1,270,603


and ...

"Talent is over-rated, I would have always stressed that from a young age,"

"Hard work will always beat talent.

"Some lads just haven't been able to put it in, for millions of different reasons. A lot of the guys who I grew up with were superstars when they were 18 but are nowhere to be seen now.

"Sometimes it's the luck of the break, sometimes it's attitude. I always had the highest expectations for myself and you always should. I always backed myself in everything I did. It's not a cockiness. It's just a sort of a self belief thing."

[omagh_gael]

Very good post Wobbler. Agree with all of it. I believe that our win in 2008 contained a lot of those elements. After an apparent season ending defeat in Newry something clicked amongst the group. A cathartic moment where the whole team went 100% after Sam. The team became greater than the sum of it's parts and players who were on the fringes (Penrose, T Mc Guigan, McCullagh etc) dragged us home. IMO, the whole beard thing, whilst appearing silly, served a purpose in not only uniting the team but the county as a whole.

[Mike Sheehy]

Population at the last census:

Mayo 130,638

Kerry 145,502.

Donegal 161,137.

Dublin 1,270,603

Interesting. I didn't realize they had such a population advantage on us.

The odds are getting more and more stacked against us as we go on.