Jim McGuinness aims to inject some directness into Donegal's style of play 

Jim McGuinness wants to eradicate the lateral habits that have crept into Donegal’s style of play in recent times. 

The Glenties man - back in charge of the county’s senior footballers for a second stint - says slow and ponderous build-up is affecting the team’s ability to punch quick and decisive holes in the opposition. 

It’s early days but there certainly was a more direct approach to efforts in last weekend’s 2-12 to 2-6 challenge win over Roscommon in Ballyshannon. And the 2012 All-Ireland winning coach hopes his squad can now quickly grasp that transition as the McKenna Cup Division 2 of the NFL come quickly into focus. 

“Personally, I think we’ve done too much of that over the years and maybe some of the mistakes against Roscommon were due to the fact we’re not used to going straight with the ball. 

“It’s a running game we’re all born and bred with here and we’re used to that. We’ve kinda went away from that.

“But it shouldn’t be that big of a step from us so it was nice to see that most of our big scores against Roscommon came from the transitional moments”.

There was a genuine sense of excitement along the splendid new perimeter of Fr Tierney Park last week and supporters’ optimism was further buoyed by those same direct counters McGuinness referenced. 

And the players’ own desire to hunt and put pressure on the opposition was another familiar reminder that a certain standard is now once again in place. 

“Every day I go to the pitch to train the boys, there’s a buzz,” McGuinness said on the current mood inside the camp. 

“That’s the bottom line. We want to work hard and to do our best for the county and see where that takes us. There’s no guarantees in football. That’s the one thing everybody has learned. 

“All we can do is try our best and if we’re in that place then we’ll see”. 

Last time out, when McGuinness first stepped up to the plate with Donegal senior footballers, he brought a large cluster of the 2010 U-21 group. That injected energy, enthusiasm and freshness to matters. 

And the likes of Rory Kavanagh, Neil Gallagher and Colm McFadden are on record previously as saying it rejuvenated disillusioned older minds at the time. 

McGuinness will be hoping 2024’s crop of cubs can have a similar effect. 

They were a big part of what we wanted to achieve the last time around and they’re hungry, fresh and they are easy-carried. They’re not hard work, they’re happy to be there and they push senior players, trying to go above and beyond to impress. 

“That’s important too. We’ve been very happy with those lads. They’ve worked hard and hopefully it will help them with the U-20 team”.

Meanwhile, McGuinness played down the significance of Donegal’s new privacy fence, currently being erected around the main GAA Training Centre pitch in Convoy. 

With tongue firmly planted in cheek, he joked: I can confirm that it’s not eight metres, it’s eight foot! I’m hoping we can get it triple-secured so the people who put out the stories in Doengal stay out! There’s no moat but there could be an electric fence!”