Donegal’s Paddy McBrearty: We needed manager Jim McGuinness back to get us over the line in the big games

For one, there is a curiosity around McGuinness, his management style and his unwillingness to conform with whatever is in vogue in the tactical landscape of the game.

Secondly, it has been 10 years since the 2012 All-Ireland winning boss was involved with inter-county football, so people were keen to see if he could survive in this modern world.

Above everything else though, there is an expectation that comes with a team managed by McGuinness, and that is to win Championships.

Donegal captain Paddy McBrearty was only 17 years old when McGuinness gave him his debut in the yellow and green jersey, but his county was in disarray last year, and as the sands of time keep spilling relentlessly into the lower half of the hour glass, the sharpshooter has been in a hurry to get back to the top.

This desire for success is what led him to knocking on Jim McGuinness’ front door to ask him to come back, and now that his team are preparing for Sunday’s Ulster Final after beating the favourites Derry and the 2021 All-Ireland champions Tyrone, he is glad that he did.

“We left a lot of big days behind us. We felt as players — how do we get over that line? We always thought if we had someone like Jim then we could win those big games,” McBrearty explained.

“Thankfully he did come back; it was a lot of conversations, and we had to really convince him that this group was good enough, and that we would do whatever he said, and thankfully he did come back.

“The standard and expectations in terms of what he demands from you as players is the same, but the game itself has changed since he was last here in 2014, so it’s interesting to see how he has come back into Gaelic, and it’s been a seamless transition now.”

Despite only being a teenager during McGuinness’ first reign in charge, McBrearty doesn’t see the manager any differently now that he is in his 30s and captain of the squad — the relationship is pretty much unchanged.

“You just have your individual role with Jim. You are literally told what to do and that’s basically it, and whether it was 2011 or 2024, it is the same message really that he is trying to get across.

“It’s just a title really, being captain — Jim is the main voice in the dressing room, he covers everything and it makes everyone else’s jobs really easy.”

Another returning member to the Donegal set-up this year is Ryan McHugh, who stepped away from the panel last season, but now is back and central to everything that’s been good about the team.

McBrearty added: “He’s [been] playing 10 years now and he’s 30, the same age as myself. Probably the break away did him the world of good mentally and physically, and Jim coming back.

“It’s given Ryan a really good stepping stone this year and when Ryan plays well we generally play well, so long may it last.”

Another typical feature of a side managed by McGuinness is to give nothing away, whether that’s potential tactics, or something that could fuel the opposition, so when McBrearty was asked if his side were the favourites in the upcoming Ulster Final against Armagh, he was casually coy and respectful.

“I don’t know, you will have to look at Paddy Power, I don’t know. I’m not a gambling man.

“We drew with them in The Athletic Grounds and only beat them by a point in Croke Park so we are definitely not underestimating Armagh. We know them well enough, and it would be very foolish of us to underestimate them now.“