SIX ULSTER FINALS AS a player, and Kieran McGeeney never knew what it was like to walk back into the Clones and Croke Park dressing rooms on any of those days as a loser.
And then came management. If McGeeney made the most of his attributes to grow into being a serious county footballer, then it’s not a stretch to see his management experience as being broadly along similar lines.
Maybe it is a bit crude when you consider the plaudits offered up by his former players in Kildare, and even when Armagh couldn’t buy a win in his first four years, he always had the backing of his players.
But the bare facts are that this was his fourth consecutive Ulster final as a manager and it transpired to be his first win.
So how does it compare?
“As a manager, you have a few more grey hairs,” he begins.
“The thing about management is you draw all the outlines. It’s the players that colour it in.”
All this year, he has maintained that he was not terribly fussed about the Ulster title. Perhaps that was to take pressure off a panel that might have been living with scars.
Either way, he’s the newly-minted manager of a group of players who are now Ulster champions.
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“I think they do want it, but I think the big part is probably more down to the narrative around it,” he explains.
“You want to win every cup that you’re in. As a manager, when I read people saying the same as the Round Robin competition, the Super 16s, people don’t want to win it (Ulster) bad enough.
“I just think it’s horseshit. None of those people have ever stood in a changing room and said that because it’s just pure nonsense. The boys definitely want to win.”
There are few teams as closely bound as Armagh now. But it counts for nothing tomorrow, when hangovers are shook off and the swimming pool beckons for a recovery session.
As he always does, McGeeney moves it on. There’s always another challenge. As it happens, that will come in the form of Derry in the Athletic Grounds in a fortnight.
“Listen, I’m sure there’s loads of people watching who think they could be here and beating us. First of all, those fellas that played in four finals, it was one point that separated them from the other three,” he said.
“One point from play, the other went to penalties. We had our chances in that one. They’ve shown their quality.
“The thing about Ulster is there’s a lot of quality around it. You have to be at your very best. It does come down to those small margins, whether it’s penalties or those free kicks on a particular day.
“Today, they’re on the right side of it. I suppose a lot of that won’t come out in extra time. They didn’t want to let it slip.
“Fair play to them. They deserve huge credit for what they did. That’s all they do. It’s in their hearts to determine it.”
And with that, he diminishes his role in all of this.
It’s hard to imagine any manager in the game who has been scudded with abuse and crap as McGeeney. Some have repeatedly stuck the boot in gleefully.
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It would therefore come as little surprise for him to indulge in a little gloating. But he wouldn’t for a second.
“I can honestly say a hand on heart, I don’t put the same emphasis on management as other people do. I’ve had my time in the sun.
“I enjoyed it until then. There’s always something you haven’t done. Somebody always likes to point it out.
“For me, I don’t mind taking the shots. I’m probably better at that than I am at most other things. We’re only half way through the year.
“We’re in the Championship anyway. You’re hoping to get more.”
And what’s more for him and his players?
“They also know now they’re back at the starting line tomorrow morning. Kerry are back training, Derry’s waiting in the wings for us. They have been now for two weeks.”
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'I've had my time in the sun' - McGeeney finally lands Ulster as manager after six as player
SIX ULSTER FINALS AS a player, and Kieran McGeeney never knew what it was like to walk back into the Clones and Croke Park dressing rooms on any of those days as a loser.
And then came management. If McGeeney made the most of his attributes to grow into being a serious county footballer, then it’s not a stretch to see his management experience as being broadly along similar lines.
Maybe it is a bit crude when you consider the plaudits offered up by his former players in Kildare, and even when Armagh couldn’t buy a win in his first four years, he always had the backing of his players.
But the bare facts are that this was his fourth consecutive Ulster final as a manager and it transpired to be his first win.
So how does it compare?
“As a manager, you have a few more grey hairs,” he begins.
“The thing about management is you draw all the outlines. It’s the players that colour it in.”
All this year, he has maintained that he was not terribly fussed about the Ulster title. Perhaps that was to take pressure off a panel that might have been living with scars.
Either way, he’s the newly-minted manager of a group of players who are now Ulster champions.
“I think they do want it, but I think the big part is probably more down to the narrative around it,” he explains.
“You want to win every cup that you’re in. As a manager, when I read people saying the same as the Round Robin competition, the Super 16s, people don’t want to win it (Ulster) bad enough.
There are few teams as closely bound as Armagh now. But it counts for nothing tomorrow, when hangovers are shook off and the swimming pool beckons for a recovery session.
As he always does, McGeeney moves it on. There’s always another challenge. As it happens, that will come in the form of Derry in the Athletic Grounds in a fortnight.
“Listen, I’m sure there’s loads of people watching who think they could be here and beating us. First of all, those fellas that played in four finals, it was one point that separated them from the other three,” he said.
“One point from play, the other went to penalties. We had our chances in that one. They’ve shown their quality.
“The thing about Ulster is there’s a lot of quality around it. You have to be at your very best. It does come down to those small margins, whether it’s penalties or those free kicks on a particular day.
“Today, they’re on the right side of it. I suppose a lot of that won’t come out in extra time. They didn’t want to let it slip.
“Fair play to them. They deserve huge credit for what they did. That’s all they do. It’s in their hearts to determine it.”
And with that, he diminishes his role in all of this.
It’s hard to imagine any manager in the game who has been scudded with abuse and crap as McGeeney. Some have repeatedly stuck the boot in gleefully.
It would therefore come as little surprise for him to indulge in a little gloating. But he wouldn’t for a second.
“I can honestly say a hand on heart, I don’t put the same emphasis on management as other people do. I’ve had my time in the sun.
“I enjoyed it until then. There’s always something you haven’t done. Somebody always likes to point it out.
“For me, I don’t mind taking the shots. I’m probably better at that than I am at most other things. We’re only half way through the year.
“We’re in the Championship anyway. You’re hoping to get more.”
And what’s more for him and his players?
“They also know now they’re back at the starting line tomorrow morning. Kerry are back training, Derry’s waiting in the wings for us. They have been now for two weeks.”
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Armagh At long last GAA Gaelic Football Ulster Final