CIARAN MCKEEVER HAS expressed his delight at the return of Kieran McGeeney to the Armagh senior football setup but reckons that ‘he should never have been left go in the first place’.
McGeeney’s six-year tenure as Kildare boss came to an end in September and earlier this month he was added to Paul Grimley’s back room team in Armagh for next season.
“I’m delighted he’s back in Armagh”, said McKeever. “He should never have been left go in the first place. I speak to him every week, even when he was away for seven years.
“The boys are all delighted he’s back in. We’ll be meeting in the next week or so. I’m sure we’ll have an interesting meeting.”
McKeever believes McGeeney will have no difficulty in forging a partnership on the sideline with Grimley.
“Him and Paul will work well together. Obviously they’ve worked together before. There’ll be no conflict there between the two boys. They’ll have a good relationship and that’ll be it.
“The calibre of Geezer, he’ll come in and demand so much of us. That’s what he based himself around when he was playing and that’s what he’ll demand of us. He was like that in Kildare. He’ll demand of us and maybe more.”
Ciaran McKeever training with the Irish squad today.
Pic: INPHO/James Crombie
But McKeever, who has linked up with the Irish squad this week before the second International Rules test, has warned that improvements from the Armagh players will be necessary in order to yield success.
“Geezer would be the first man to tell you that he’s not going to put silverware on the table. It’s down to the players. Our mindset has to change. We’ve a good management team there in place and they’ll put the foundations down for us.
“It’s up to us to buy into it. To be successful at county level, you have to sacrifice a lot in your life. The potential is there but our mindset has to change. We’ve to put the work in.”
